Subliminal: The Enchanted World of Yasuaki Shimizu

A deep dive into Yasuaki Shimizu’s expansive discography beyond Kakashi and Utakata no Hibi.

Welcome to the spirited, enchanting world of Japanese musical visionary Yasuaki Shimizu… A contemporary and longtime collaborator of members of Yellow Magic Orchestra, Shimizu helped define the sound of ’80s Japan through his extensive studio work (his saxophone is featured on hundreds of albums from Taeko Ohnuki, Minako Yoshida, Seigén Ono, the list goes on…) and wildly innovative solo projects. He is known worldwide for his 1983 Japanese-Armenian new wave classic Utakata no Hibi with his band Mariah and his 1982 solo album Kakashi, which has also become a massive cult hit in recent years with its instantly recognizable cat album cover and electronic jazz grooves. Shimizu’s ingenious contributions to music and sound go well beyond these two albums though, and we hope to cover some more ground with this deep dive on the saxophonist’s catalog.

Shimizu will be touring America for the first time since the ’80s this week and next. Read a recent New York Times feature on Shimizu “This Japanese Sax Polymath Might Be a Postmodern Bach”, which expounds on his approach and the tour. “What captivates me is the texture of sound,” Shimizu said, “how it moves within a space, and my relationship with time as the sound floats through it.”

Tickets to the Los Angeles show at JACCC’s Aratani Theatre are long sold out, but you can still join us next Friday, March 28th at In Sheep’s Clothing HQ for a live “In Conversation” Q&A and listening party with Shimizu hosted by Palto Flats’ Jacob Gorchov and Temporal Drift’s Yosuke Kitazawa.

Limited tickets are available now: https://link.dice.fm/d001c09e16e7

Diving into the influential saxophonist / composer’s extended discography.

IQ 179 – The Nervous Subversive Activities Prevention Law (1981)

One of Shimizu’s earlier solo works, IQ 179 can be considered a pre-cursor to Mariah of sorts and features support from members of the band including Masanori Sasaji (keys, synth), Takayuki Doi (guitar), Hideo Yamaki (drums), Morio Watanabe (bass, drums), and Jimmy Murakawa (vocals), along with special guests like Kazumi Watanabe (guitar), Ryuichi Sakamoto (synth, drums), and Minako Yoshida (vocals). Organic Music’s Chee Shimizu (no relation) writes: “While resonating with UK New Wave and US No Wave, it explores countless new directions, showcasing an abundance of cutting-edge and remarkable tracks. This album is a masterpiece within a masterpiece, filled with ideas that lead to “Scarecrow” and Mariah’s Uta Kata no Hibi.”

Today’s Latin Project (1983)

“A leftfield reimagining of vaunted Afro-Cuban jazz classics, in a new school futuristic’ Japanese Pop style, shouldn’t sound so interesting as it does in Today’s Latin Project. Launched on the demise of one famous group (The Tokyo Cuban Boys) and the rise of one important, new musical voice, Yasuaki Shimizu, you’d expect something titled Today’s Latin Project to be something more than a tossed off record label creation… For Yasuaki, this made up group allowed him to further explore the world music influences he had began to roll in circa Kakashi and うたかたの日々. In due time, two years later, as Yasuaki Shimizu and the Saxophonettes he’d dive fully into latin music on the aptly titled Latin. ” – Fond Sound (read their full feature on this album here).

Music For Commercials (1987)

A collection of Shimizu’s commercial work, the ambient orchestral compositions here have been cited as an influence by library music enthusiasts like Oneohtrix Point Never. Shimizu: “TV commercials in the late ’70s and ’80s didn’t advertise the practical features of products, they were meant to build strategic corporate images. You might even say they took a musical approach in their visual expression, though perhaps that’s an overstatement. Being restricted to a time span of a minute or less made it ideal work for refining my intuitive powers. I made a conscious choice not to remix the tracks for this album. The final version of the original recordings appear here untouched, although I do remember working to link the individual tunes, and on the overall mood.”

Subliminal (1987)

Recorded in Paris, Shimizu’s masterpiece 1987 album Subliminal was born from the multicultural scene in the city. “I wanted to capture the spirit of my everyday encounters with the people around me,” Shimizu says. Sung in English, French, Japanese, and Senegalese Wolof, the album takes a world-without-borders approach featuring guitar from Martin Meissonnier, who produced a number of African singers including Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade, Salif Keita, Ray Lema, Papa Wemba, Manu Dibango and Wasis Diop, along with vocals from French-Tunisian Amina Annabi, Senegalese Wasis Diop, French Marten Ingle, and others.

Dementos (1988)

After completing the groundbreaking records Kakashi, Subliminal, and Utakata no Hibi (with his band Mariah), Yasuaki Shimizu moved to Paris for the next era of his career. His 1988 album Dementos sees the maverick saxophonist collaborating with London’s avant-garde artists such as Flying Lizards’ David Cunningham and Tears For Fears’ Manny Elias, and the percussionist Pandit Dinesh, who had worked with Thompson Twins and Heaven 17. He also recruited his sister, Mieko, and recorded her engaging in “hours of idle talk.” Shimizu: “I invited my sister Mieko from Japan and had her join me in long, silly conversations. When you suddenly hear these songs, they seem to be singing incoherent things, but as you listen to them, they gradually become familiar – and a certain atmosphere emerges. There are people who say that they are self-satisfied and no one will understand them, and people who give surprisingly good feedback, and at times like these, I think that the human mode of communication is particularly mysterious.”

Yasuaki Shimizu & The Saxophonettes – Latin (1991)

Latin is a CD-only release from the early ’90s continues Shimizu’s explorations of electronic-jazz-dance-ethno-minimal-fusion. The album heavily incorporates sampling and MIDI with playful references to Latin grooves that in some ways parody but also expand upon the sound palette in innovative ways. Opener “Besame Mucho,” features some twisted, screwed vocals from “Papa Shimizu” that beautifully contrast with the smoky latin-jazz groove. Originally recorded in 1983, it remained unreleased for 10 years because Shimizu insisted that “aging gives it a richer flavour.”

Yasuaki Shimizu & The Saxophonettes – From the Cello Suites (1996)

In the 1990s, Shimizu took a sharp turn into classical, adapting Bach’s cello suites for tenor saxophone. From his website: “Shimizu was strongly attracted to the triangular relationship between Bach, saxophone, and space. As a new attempt by Shimizu to use the reverberation of the place, rather than the sound of the saxophone, and to make the space itself sound like an instrument, recordings were made in the huge underground space of the Oya Quarry in Utsunomiya, and in the Consipio Studio, a converted warehouse.”

Shimizu: “About two years ago, I suddenly started to become interested in Bach. It wasn’t a phenomenon where a Bach melody popped into my head, but rather it was as if the various nuances surrounding the word Bach had slightly ruptured the thick bag of the unconscious and were floating lightly in the territorial waters of my consciousness. So I wondered why it was floating in such a place, and concentrated for a bit to think about it. They say that humans are animals with broken instincts, and this is absolutely true. Even the act of eating does not mean that eating = life, but rather that it is based on the relationship of eating – illusion – life, and if you’re not careful, you’ll get fat. (Though it’s fine to get fat anyway.) In this way, the real world mediates illusions in all things, so sometimes strange and interesting phenomena appear. Actually, they are really interesting. (In a good way.) Now, I, too, interpret these illusions in a convenient way and live happily, but one day, the relationship between Bach, saxophone, time and distance suddenly occurred to me, and I wanted to somehow make this a reality.”

Kiren (1984)

A “lost key chapter” in Shimizu’s discography, Kiren was originally meant to be the followup to Kakashi, but remained unreleased after the now cult classic failed to find an audience. Kiren explores experimental dance music and bridges the gap between his early 80s recordings and his later work with the Saxophonettes. It’s a bit proto-techno, wonderfully traditional, vaguely new-wave, and fully lush with Shimizu’s horn and sampled instruments!

Chee Shimizu: “Latin and Kiren were recorded in the same studio at almost the same time, but neither were projects for a record label. Instead, they were born out of a free environment of collaboration that existed between Shimizu and his great collaborator, the late producer Aki Ikuta. Latin itself would not see the light of day until 1991, but both of these albums may be his most energetic works, just before Shimizu further pursued the conviction he displayed on Kakashi and Utakata no Hibi and moved to another stage. What do I mean by “conviction”? Shimizu’s own words might help explain it: “At that time, I could recognize that all of the various scattered elements I had been interested in since I was a child were collecting together inside of me, and becoming a single organic material.”