PRF-019 新月 / Live 1979 CD \2620
79年にABC会館ホールで行われたライヴの公式ライヴ音源。オープンリールを使い、サウンド・エンジニアが録音したもの。バンドがひとつのピークに達した時期で、日本の演劇を組み合わせたステージが展開されている。たしかにスタジオで録音されたものは「鬼」に代表されるような和製ジェネシスと言われるものだったが、3曲のアルバム未収曲も含め通してこのライヴに接すると演劇性がまず最初にあって、それが何よりもこのバンドというか集団のエネルギーだったようにも感じる。かつて同日のオーディエンス録音盤もリリースされたが、本CDの音質は数段良い。[収録曲] 鬼/白唇/朝の向こう側/発熱の街角/雨上がりの昼下がり/少女は帰れない/科学の夜/赤い目の鏡〜殺意への船出パート2/せめて今宵は 国内盤
イタリアのサイトTales of WonderでのMetagaiaのレビューです。
http://web.tiscali.it/talesofwonder/
Hidden behind the monicker of Metagaia, there's the figure of Haruhiko Tsuda, who was the guitar player of Shingetsu, a japanese sinphonic prog act, well-known among the Genesis lovers.
However, this Metagaia's debut album called "Phonogenix", recorded between 1995 and 1999 and only recently recovered and released by Musea records, is really far from Shingetsu. So all the prog listeners should be warned of it.
Haruhiko definitevely abandoned progressive rock and now he plays a so relaxing music half-way between New Age, Ambient and ethnic music.
I think you should unprejudiced listen to this work and, believe me, you will find lots of songs deserving your deep attention: "Divinity Rising", "Psyche Of Cloud", the melancholic "A Signal Glows In The Dark", "Home", so impregnated with oriental tastes and moods and finally "Water Harp" featuring the other ex-Shingetsu Akira Hanamoto on the piano .
A very fine album, good for relax yourself, very good for listening a melodic but so substantial music and useful to ask yourself if "our physical universe is merely a tiny part of the whole one".
This project by Shingetsu’s Haruhiko Tsuda has turned out to be a really nice discovery for these hears.
Though I am not usually a big fan of New Age and Ambient Electronic albums, this particular work really deserves to rank in my favorite albums for this genre.
The major characteristics that makes Phonogenix such an enjoyable listen are the fact Metagaia does not try to impose a pure standard styling and a motionless musicality. On the contrary, though obviously based upon Ambient Electronic soundscapes and New Age tendencies, Metagaia draws tangents to other very apart styles, incorporating them with great success, due to a very intelligent reading of those different venues.
Therefore, some RIO and Jazz Rock structures and sounds are thrown in the mix, as some symphonic progressive reminiscences are also present.
The music is very imaginative, sometimes with ethnic entries that highly enrich the music, other times with instrumental soloings that are insightful and extremely well played, like in the case of the Sax solo in the opening track…a real achievement.
The album widens the borders of a usually somehow hermetic style, by presenting different approaches and inspirational emotions that, when combined, create a great variety of atmospheres. By doing so, Metagaia’s Phonogenix results in an album that not only is enjoyable but also very refreshing for the style.
I really recommend this album to a large piece of the progressive community. It is a release that will ensure the New Age fans with an intelligent and emotive album, but that is also set to be properly enjoyed by those who, even if normally not fond of the style, will appreciate the inspiration and the joining of the Jazz and RIO moments in a mainly Ambient album.