Susumu Hirasawa [平沢進]. A complex, long and incredibly original musical career, carried out by a fascinant, charming and inventive man behind several musical instruments, social causes and multimedia projects, across countries and cultures. There is a feeling of exceeding richness and soulful reflection at the background of everything he does, and this album is naked proof of it: majestic, arrestingly beautiful and filled to the brim by the musical traditions of South East Asia (Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand), The Philosopher's Propeller [賢者のプロペラ] is a conceptual album dealing with the philosophies behind these largely ignored vertients of Asian thought and folklore, such as the Zawgyi [ဇော်ဂျီ] of Burma. Yet, of course Hirasawa also brings to the table his particular "science-fictional" approach, a futurism filled with concerns ranging from the ecological to the ethnical or even sexual aspects of life. First lets explore who is this man, capable of creating a record exclusively using solar panels, making up instruments on the spot or befriending Thailand's kathoey [กะเทย] community. It is nothing short of amazing.
His career as an independent composer and musician was quite particular; in love as a teenager with science fiction and philosophy treatises, Susumu was artistically inspired by the radical cultural renovations of the sixties and the early seventies in Japan. These were not only politically radical, but inquired on the possibilities of technology, gender and the human mind. During the seventies "futurology" of the Alvin Toffler kind was quite popular, and subsequent advances in social and urban planning, along with the radical reimaginations of psychology, gave space for utopic thought. Born in 1953, Hirasawa was 13 at the midst of the revolutionary sixties, and right in time for the musical and stylistic imaginations of both the seventies and the eighties some years later. Kraftwerk were planting the seeds of electronic music worldwide, being techno or way wilder experimentations; at the same time, the rock scene was blossoming in its prime. Both tendencies are noticeable in the young Hirasawa, with a hand on keyboards and an electric guitar on the other one. He was also a pioneer in his home country: it is incredible the fact that his first band MANDRAKE was attempting heavy metal back in 1973, when the genre was arguibly still in the concretion phase. Strong punk and krautrock influences were added to the repertoire, as these new currents also collided with Hirasawa's interest. While there were many new bands at least exploring these genres or mildly adding them to their commercial style, Hirasawa was at the center of it.
Some years later -1979- Susumu Hirasawa joins P-MODEL, an "electronic rock" band quite fit for his search of ever-integrating both musical genres and themes. It was a long project, stretching in time to the year 2000 itself; at this time Susumu had become a collaborative member, focused on his own solo career as a musician since 1989. Yet those P-MODEL years were quite influential, both for Japan as a whole and for Hirasawa as a musician. Occasionally popular, most of the band's material consist of otherworldy explorations on music, aesthetics and computer-generated graphics. Fully experimental, there are P-MODEL themes out there pretty much in the Nine Inch Nails vein. Industrial, ambient, noise, techno and rock were part of this extreme and fruitful approach, allowing Hirasawa the very important phase of just messing around with stuff. Producing equipment and electronics were going crazy at the time, and both last-of-the-line technology and messy housemade fixes were equally important in achieving a particular sound. Most of this technology was being manufactured in Japan itself (such as the worldwide CASIO keyboards, in origin カシオ), and thus Hirasawa had the upper hand in this exploration, which in time became such a passion he would invent his own intruments.
All this trajectory comes to fruition with his solo career, when Hirasawa achieves absolute control over the composing process. His imaginations about the future of mankind, Earth and culture itself take thus a prominent space, in sometimes cryptic lyrics describing a inner universe in ever-growing expansion. These themes are biographical as well. His interest for high-flight literature was well-complemented with a curiosity for the physical, the manual. He studied in the electronics department of Honjo Technical High School, and graduated first with a project consisting of building up a TV from scratch; having also being a repairman, and graduated cum laude in interior design, he also has been a lecturer at the Yamaha Music Foundation. On the ecological side, he is a vegetarian, and also an anti-nuclear activist (a movement strongly rooted in postwar Japan).
"When the sound of popular music began to change, it was necessary to change instruments in order to match the tonal color to the feeling of the new era of music. The music and the message had to change to match the realities of the age in which we were living. I changed to electronic music because I feel that sounds should reflect life around us, a life now filled with media, mass production, and science and technology"
On the technical side, Hirasawa has also become renown as the purveyor of massive interactive live shows, using wireless technology in order to allow both present and livestream fans to affect the development of live performances. These include from affecting the audiovisual background of light, sound and screen patterns, to even vote songs, transitions and many other aspects. Since the release of this present album, he has also strived to power them exclusively by solar energy. As the budget of live shows is not generous enough to hire professional consultants, Hirasawa himself and his staff developed their own fit
"If I hadn’t studied every detail from the ground up, it never could have happened – things about solar cells, energy storage and conservation, the methods to engineer electrical current, and so on. In order to create an entirely solar powered live show, I studied FM transmitters and such together with my staff. It wasn’t fun, but because I was seriously interested in getting it right, I found that I was enjoying the work while I studied it"
All these elements, together with sometimes outlandish instruments (some of them, like the laser arp, of regular use to Hirasawa) and the dreamy, sometimes downright alien musical environment make every show pretty much unique, and aside from the technical staffers, he alone carries out most of the work. This, of course, makes so that this one-man orchestra has to help himself by MIDI loops, recorded samplers and other automation processes. Thus, he is already busy playing the dominant chords of any given song at keys, playing electric guitar (an instrument he deems important to play live) at the solos and also singing, aside from triggering pre-recorded loops with both pads and laser technology. He does so while monitoring the live audience's feedback, and so this is quite a feat. And, speaking of Hirasawa's voice, let us start reviewing this album song by song.
The first track bears the name of the album, "Philosopher's Propeller-1" [賢者のプロペラ-1], and is the first of two versions (one opening and other closing the album, respectively). Majestic, glorious soft pads open the track, in a quite un-Japanese style despite the language of its lyrics. The chorals are idiosyncratic, bearing similarities with Cambodia's "operatic" styles and sutra chanting; but they are no doubt modified by Hirasawa's touch, and his spectacular delivery. His voice reaches high, potent falsettos when necessary, but also remains rich and deep for the choruses and progressions. He indeed reaches operatic tones in the soprano vive and demeanor; in this, his voice itself dissolves any distinction between female and masculine roles, allowing for a fresh, innovative performance. The lyrics empathise the Asian-African background of the song, with references to each country's contribution to the wisdom or "alchemical project" which serves as a theme for this conceptual album.
The next song, Rubedo [ルベド], indeed refers to the last stage among the four-step-process of medieval alchemy leading to the magnum opus. It refers to the reddening of substances [in Japanese, 赤化]. As any Jung reader knows, these stages have a psychological association with them, particularly strong in Asia (where the vulgar conception of alchemy as proto-chemistry also developed, leading to gunpowder among many other things). Hirasawa's interest in "collective consciousness" probably provides for this track a rich background. Rubedo represents the coming to an end of the individuation process and the birth of a new personality. In Jungian terms, this also points to the integration of the "male-and-female" aspects of the mind, and, interestingly, this track includes a majestic female choir sang by members of the transsexual community of Thailand, being the first of the album in doing so. Musically speaking, this is a beautiful, envolving, deep track. The contrasts between the almost tragic, low pad pattern of the song involve not only the voices masculine and female but also background synth noise which imitates the
gamelan style of South East Asian countries such as Java. As it is widely known, the rich metalic sound and "weird" atonal musical system of this instrument bears religious importance, and the fact of Hirasawa being able of duplicating its complexity with electronic gear is nothing short of amazing.
Then we move to the next phase of the alchemical task, the "Nigredo" [ニグレド] or "darkening" of substances [黒化]. It refers to the a-differentation of matter or mind, a state of dissolution preceding to the boundary-establishing self. On a much lower register, Hirasawa's voice shines by itself. As in the previous track, there is a dialogue with native Thai voices (which I can't translate, regrettably), this time addresing in a soft, calm manner. Yet, this song uppers its game with the powerful, ever beautiful chorus, at times backed by both male and female ensembles. The male choirs are fully reminiscent of Buddhist sutra-chanting such as that of Laos and Cambodia, while the female-kathoey choir is high-pitched, with the richness and vocal pecularities of traditional folk and religious music in this region of the world. The lyrics also refer to India, as the first track of the album also does; the influence this land had over most of Asia (including China and Japan for centuries) is considerable, and thus the religious overtones of this album do not ignore it. I must say, the Japanese lyrics on this song are beautifully written.
The next phase, or "Albedo" [アルベド, the "whitening" phase 白化] also has a corresponding track, fully instrumental. The albedo refers in alchemy to the introduction of external factors to the nigredo, cleansing its elements in order to bring to light individual elements, which then on become dialectic in virtue of the cointidentia oppositorum (a theme also well known within Buddhist thought). This "cleansing" is portrayed by Hirasawa in a breathtaking yet so simple piece as this one. Just piano keys over a soft pad layer, the only vocals in this song is the monk-like humming of the male ensemble. Peaceful and relaxing, this marvelous song has just a couple of chords and like 3 variations within the piece; if geniuses do a lot with very little, this song proves Hirasawa a genius indeed.
The next song is way more dramatic; it is oficially translated in German, "Quadratur des Zirkels" [円積法]. The title is reflective of the enterprise it describes within the context of the album, and the music portrays agitation and chaos. Many elements are really P-MODELish here: it bears a lot of the early Hirasawa while adding the thematic elements of the album. Chorus samplers of Hirasawa's voice are used as a musical instrument, and the profuse use of sampling gives the impression of a chopped-up track, in a good way. The epic use of pads in the "solo" is quite in the style of the artist, and really elevates the tone of this track. Hirasawa's voice does everything else, also reaching all kind of weird tonalities and falsettos while remaning dignified, and even serious. An experience.
Next we have "The Garden Where the Solutions are Found" [課題が見出される庭園], opening to an overwhelming sensory attack taking you by surprise. The intrincate, marvelous synth work in this track is incredible, and so are the female vocals of Hirasawa's Thai ensemble. This is an instrumental track in that it does not have Japanese lyrics, but voice is really central to it. Hirasawa's signature 「いいや 」(or IIYA) singing as I call it is looped as a musical instrument, playing with both choral bits and instrumental music in a playful and dreamlike way. As many people have noticed in Youtube comments, Hirasawa is able to mindblow listeners with just open vocals, due to the sheer richness of his voice. I myself think so, and I no doubt consider Hirasawa one among the best singers worldwide, as far as I know. The next track is "An Expert Mountain" [達人の山], a meandering track guided by a powerful synth phrase which, as Quadratur des Zirkels, also portrays a conflictive mood. Yet, at the same time is solemn and collected; musically speaking is slow and almost martial in that it incorporates a lot of percussive samplers. Its guitar solo is noteworthy as it encapsulates Hirasawa's highly unconventional guitar playing. He not only uses extremely artificial chords but also taps the guitar almost like it's a synth, going for extremely high and low sounds and harmonics. His using experimental and modified versions of the Talbo trademark guitar is also something he's known for.
Next song is "Opus, or The Fool's Rose Garden" [作業(愚者の薔薇園]; this song has a lot of synth layering, and it sounds quite like traditional bowed string instruments of the regions it describes. As an example, the beautiful MIDI progression behind the verse part -very much like growing and decreasing waves-, and the bouncing, enchanting slide the lead synth has, mimicking the traditional styles of Thailand or Cambodia. Vocally, this is a gorgeous track, with lots of chorals coming from all mentioned ensembles, and a lot of self-sampling by Hirasawa himself and his many vocal registers. It is something to behold, and pure talent at experimental singing; there are many colorities to each kind of vocals, some solemn, other filled with pathos, and the traditionally-inspired ones so exalted and joyful. It is a great doorway to Hirasawa's style an universe in my opinion.
The next track. "Rotation (LOTUS-2)" [ロタティオン(LOTUS-2], is not exclusive of this album, as it later appeared on the Millenium Actress [千年女優] (2001) soundtrack. Hirasawa used many samples from this album in such OST, as he was working on both productions at the same time. The track is upbeat and frantic, with unexpected dramatic turns in both music and vocals. While more "accesible" than others, this is a highly unconventional track very much in the Susumu HIrasawa style: martial-like choirs, epic percussion pieces and beautiful synth pads inspired by South Asian's musical styles. Perhaps the more energic, "punchy" track on the album, it does not feel out of place here. After Rotation, we get the closing of the album, "Philosopher's Propeller-2" (賢者のプロペラ-2). As I said before, this second iteration of the album's title signals its ending; yet, it is not a version of the first song. It is a version on Albedo [アルベド], the fouth track; this time incorporates lyrics, and stretches a little longer than its instrumental counterpart. As minimalistic as the first version, this track explores Hirasawa's wonderful voice in a contemplative yet striking song. Its lyrics are somewhat surprising on first instance, but make full sense if we take notice of Hirasawa's previous attempts and declarations on making this album solar-powered. It is a song speaking of solar turbines leading the world to a better future, just as the ancient philosophers carried out their widely ignored enterprises for the sake of mankind's progress. The language is highly poetic, and you can check out my translation of this track
here. This theme is also portrayed on both the album's title and its cover, as this last one depicts a wind turbine over Hirasawa's forehead.
Thus we come to The Philosopher's Propeller's end, a musical trip I fully recomment to everyone. Hirasawa's highly unconventional style is a jewel of contemporary music, and his foresaw on both music and the deeper impulses of society are precious to any person exposed to both. Also, I'd like to think my positive review has not spoiled a direct contact with his musical universe; hype can ruin certain things. It is better to discover these things by mere accident, to really value them as they deserve, in their very personal and particular dimensions.
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