CATCH WAVE

One of those rare albums of a rather brilliant nature, 1975's 'Catch Wave' found the experimental Japanese electric-violinist Takehisa Kosugi going it alone after his five year stint as head of the similarly-intoned Taj Mahal Travellers. Nicely described by one critic as 'existensial drone music', Kosugi's work both with-and-without group has always been of a very spartan and experimental nature, and about as far from conventional forms of rock & pop as one can really get. A similar touchstone could be the synthesized soundscapes of Klaus Schulze's 1970's albums or the earlier electro- moans of Terry Riley and Steve Reich, yet somehow Kosugi transcends even these stylistic boundaries; truly, there is nothing quite like 'Catch Wave'. Rare is the album that simply cannot be stopped or paused, even for a miscrosecond, yet the quivering, rolling and vibrating strains of Kosugi's phaser-laced violins simply transfix you and take hold, drifting seamlessly along a single unbroken line for what seems like a blissful eternity. Very much like a certain psychotropic experience musicians and artists are known to enjoy, 'Catch Wave' is a pure and dramatic experience of a deeply transcendental nature. Quite extraordinary, utterly engrossing and all consuming. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2013