UCHU NIPPON SETAGAYA [宇宙 日本 世田谷]

I will start by saying that I find this to be an absolutely wonderful album. There is something about Fishmans that really touches and enthralls me no matter the style of music being focused on. Partially it is the sincerity I hear in Sato's (or Satoh) vocals, his falsetto and fragile vocals. I have read that the lyrics are very meaningful. I still know some Japanese having worked there in the 90s when Fishmans was active, but I don't feel the need to look up translations as the music is meaningful to me as is, and I like to bring my own meaning to things. I will one day, and that may deepen my appreciation still, when the weather is right for it.

It is a regret of mine that I did not get to see or know Fishmans while in Japan, but this band has become very special to me in more recent times and I'm still getting to know this band more deeply.

I have read that there were difficulties and conflict during the process of making this album, apparently the singer/ guitarist/ songwriter Sato had been upset with the direction that the band wanted to take and his depression was getting worse and the band was upset that Sato was very controlling and this ultimately ended up being very much a Sato album where they felt they were given little opportunity to contribute. Even if a certain melancholy comes through on the album, the difficulties do not show for me, but then maybe that's because Sato got his way in the end. I could be getting this wrong, but however it worked it out, I like the results.

One thing I love about this album is just how different it is from "Long Season", which is THE work that most associate with Fishmans, and is the most acclaimed both for studio and live versions, and I like the diversity on this album. That said, it's not without its similarities. Both albums float along, can be trippy, are atmospheric, can be ambient, have familiarity and beauty.

Skimming reviews, I have read people say that "Long Season" is THE masterpiece, and then others conveying, "Forget Long Season being the masterpiece, this is its true masterpiece!" I would say that they are both masterful at what they each do. Like with apples and oranges (and "Orange" is another lovely Fishmans album) one can have a preference, but neither need be considered better than the other. I love and respect each in its own right.

It has taken me multiple spins to I feel really "grok" and appreciate every track on the album. I immediately loved the first three tracks and the last, but the others were not doing it for me so much. It helped when I could just let the whole album float along without actively thinking about it. Especially the longest track had felt overlong, too repetitive even for me and not as dynamic as I wanted. I came to appreciate the subtly and Honzi's violin is epic enough (she is such a star). But I will go into track details more below.

"Pokka Pokka" opens this album beautifully presenting quite off-beat music with a definite Japanese melodic flair. I find it magical, and the strings are so beautiful and brings a repeated motif that touches me deeply. I love the atmosphere,

"Weather Report" is another highlight of the album for me which brings a change of mood. It is more techno and trip-hoppy, and does to some extent bring to my mind favourites of mine like Boards of Canada and The Orb. And its joyous, yet also has a certain fragility coming though in the vocals that resonates with me. I adore this, including the techno beats.

"Ushirosugata" I also find wonderful and part of the melody actually reminds me very much of the theme from the TV show "Snuff Box" and other things that English composer and comic actor Matt Berry composed (he is a favourite of mine).

"In the Flight" had not enamored me quite as much at first as those others, I think because I had heard a live I preferred, but it really grew on me. It's more direct and folky in part, but also very dreamy, and I love it. There is reverb in the vocals, which might remind one of music like that of Melody's Echo Chamber. I like the harmonica in this and the kind of downtempo vibe. I think Radiohead could do a very good cover of this.

"Magic Love" definitely was a grower for me. It's getting back to some more of Fishmans reggae/pop roots, and I really appreciate it in the context of the album, but also it has for me wonderful passage in the middle that elevates it beyond similar music. While appreciation is about the moments for me, also an album is more than just the sum of its parts commonly, and this track works so well for me when flowing with the music. And I enjoy the groove.

"Back Beat ni Nokkatte" ? again this has reggae qualities, and blues qualities, and a jangly guitar part that would not be out of place in The Residents' "Moisture" off Commercial Album. It's dreamy and has a wonderful piano passage.

"Walking in the Rhythm". Now I'd heard a live of this I really like, it has reggae and strong African vibes. This version did feel too long to me at first, rather plodding on the whole with is rhythm that the song is walking in, and even too repetitive for me. I would listen and started adding more harmonies in my head, but now I appreciate the subtlety of it, I like the variations, I like the chorus, and I love it when Honzi is playing her violin. There is a quite subtle layering that supports the length, She doesn't step in huge and showy, but it still adds excitement. I have come to love this. Yes, I'm sure that for many this could be very trimmed, and it might be seen to become too much like over-extended atmospheric ambient music in the end with its repeated motif. But that has its purpose as I find that sets up a mood for the next and final track beautifully (the whole is greater than the sum of its parts).

"Daydream", along with "Long Season" is considered by many to be among the very, very best of Fishmans. It is so dreaming and floats along. I find it beautifully atmospheric. And I also find it exciting while chill, and while a little unnerving, I also find it sublime.

I do wish this was a more informative review, but like the music of Fishmans, I'm just floating. Now the part I dislike, the rating. I gave an over two hour Fishmans live album five stars, then I decided to give Long Season five stars, but what about this? I love this in its own right. It is more "pop" than Long Season, quite likely will be seen as less "progressive" or less related to Prog, and so I would be more reluctant to recommend this to Progheads. This is a masterpiece to me of what it is rather than Prog genre music, and I don't want to penalise this for not being Prog generic music that I often am not into at all even if acclaimed by many Progheads (I'm a music lover, not a Proghead). So reader and potential buyer beware!

Three stars would feel like not only a disservice to the album from my perspective, but a disservice to how I feel. So I thought that maybe I will compromise with a four, but then I am not following my heart, and my heart says five. I would not expect most others to rate or value it as highly. This is a wonderful and remarkable album to me in its own right, and it is an album, like with other Fishmans albums that I can play again and again and again very happily. I kind of wish that it would never end. Speaking of endings, I find it so sad that this would be the last Fishmans studio album. Rest in peace Shinji Satoh, and long live your music and legacy.

Note: After returning again and again to various Fishmans albums, I do count this as my favourite Fishmans studio album release with the live 98.12.28 Otokotachi no wakare being my favourite of all (that version of Long Season is so great).

(This review was written in Apr 07 2023)

While I may not have been all that fond of Long Seasons, it did introduce me to Fishmans and I am grateful for it as they definitely do have a great dream pop and dub sound. I think after I listened to their live album of 98.12.28, I became a bit more interested in Fishmans as a whole, and with my recent endeavors of their 1997, and last album of Uchu Nippon Setagaya, they really cemented themselves within my brain.

Unlike making a repeat of Long Seasons and releasing a big song, Fishmans went back to a multi-song structure for this album, but they do dabble a bit more in song structure, clearly as a refinement from Long Seasons. I think the best thing about this album, for me, is how lively, yet very laid back these songs feel. I think it is mostly due to the downtempo and reggae inspired sound found here, but I never feel like these songs ever grow into something super intense, or increasing into tempo, most songs here stay a relative and smooth tempo that are quite slow, but I think it works out in the group's favor as it makes their dream pop and psych rock sounds feel all the more buoyant, and a little nostalgic for me. I don't know why, or how, but these tracks make me feel like I lived in late 90s Japan a long time ago, even though I was born long after the 90s, and I am not even Japanese. Maybe it is some past life deja vu, but the fact this album can make me feel nostalgia for a time and place I never even been in makes this quite a powerful trip.

I also have to take praise where it is due with the long track of Walking The Rhythm. Man, this song is so good, with its first minute consisting of this beautiful piano and rhythm movement and then shifts into this very sweet ambient dream pop soundscape that I just adore. I personally believe, compared to their other long song of Long Season, this track beats it out of the water in terms of consistency and power.

I do have one problem with this record and it is the fact most of the stand out moments on here just seem to be relegated to the last 3 tracks. I mean I really enjoy all the songs on here, but I think if you compared Pokka Pokka or In The Flight with バックビートにのっかって or Daydream, it just ain't no contest to me on which is better. I think if the band spread these last three songs throughout the album and try to make all the other songs into something also truly special, I think we might have a masterpiece on our hands.

A very great record from this little trio from Japan. Sad this is the last album they made, but I am glad they have left us with some great music. Definitely will look into more of their stuff, and who knows, maybe review more. They definitely piqued my interest here, and I think one day, I might find my absolute favorite from them.