Prelude For The Spring by Seigo Aoyama

Like the tenuous proposition of Pink Shabab's sad Disco songs, on Prelude For The Spring, the third album from Japanese experimental musician Seigo Aoyama, the focus is tension and release. Working with a range of opposing and harmonious sound forms, he presents a compelling, yet sometimes tension-filled, form of Ambient music.

Inspired by the seasonal change of dormancy to new life, the concept of disparate sounds and textures (like xylophone, saxophone, choral voice, guitar, orchestral) combining to reflect the wonder of Mother Nature largely works but tracks like Day Fly with its urgently twanging guitar and quietly soaring synth creates an unsettling but appropriate vibe. The result is a frisson that sparkles with insight and disquiet, like walking outside on an early Spring day and feeling the goose bumps tingle as the sun dips.