Frog of Earth

Originally released in Japan on JVC’s excellent Music Interior series but also later in Germany on Klaus Schulze’s Innovative Communication, Seigén Ono’s debut album is a minimal masterpiece from the then 26 year old composer. A stellar supporting cast of studio musicians is featured here including saxophonist Yasuaki Shimizu and nearly all members of cult band Mariah. Though the album can easily be labeled New Age, classical, or Japanese ambient, it seems to occupy its own space entirely within these worlds. Seigén reflects in the liner notes: “I need space. I need slow music, but I also need loud, heavy music. People say that ‘New Age’ music is calm and quiet, but for me it also has to involve straight-ahead rock plus the avant-garde. There are many studio musicians in Japan who play beautifully with no mistakes. But they have no personality. A good computer sequencer can give you that, but I require personality.”
Recommended – Full Listen
A1 Manhattan
A2 Model-93
A3 Waterfront
B1 Mallets
B2 Shikaruni Pt. 1
B3 5/8 RP
B4 Suimen-Jo Niwa
Art Direction – Katsumi Asaba
Coordinator [Production Coordination] – Hiroshi Aono, Kunijiro Hirata, Tetsu Hoshika
Cover, Photography By [Inner Photographs] – Koichi Inakoshi
Design – Masato Ohki
Engineer [Assistant] – Norio Aicha
Executive-Producer – Toshio Azami
Liner Notes – 山本智志
Mastered By – Tohru Kotetsu
Performer – Asuka Kaneko, Hajime Mizoguchi, Hideo Yamaki, Kazuko Terasaki, Masanori Sasaji, Masatoshi Maeda, Morio Watanabe, Ryomei Shirai, Seigén Ono*, Takako Seike, Takayuki Hijikata, Tamio Suzuki, Toshihiro Nakanishi, Yasuaki Shimizu, Yukihiro Matsubara
Producer, Recorded By, Mixed By – Seigén Ono*