Monday 23 March 2009

Insen by Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto

Carsten Nicolai and Ryuichi Sakamoto have managed to produce a purely gripping sound with there collaboration to produce the album, Insen. The album has a strong chilled out vibe to it with the use of ambient beats and subtle piano play. It is an album not to be missed by all, ticking all the right boxes in such a vast experiment genre.

It’s one of the most laid back approaches to music you will hear. Without vocals the instruments have been combined smoothly to give you a simple yet effective sound that will have you hooked from start to finish. It is a clever use of rather infectious simplicity.

Insen is suitable for almost any occasion. It takes you away to your own special place, when all you need is to just relax. It is also perfect for reflection, as it clears your mind with its subtle soothing tones and captures your imagination. It is a slice of musical genius, and exceeds every purpose it originally set out to.

It makes ideal background music for any formal occasions and will reflect its calming nature through to any listener, making those special occasions go that bit smoother.

I would strongly recommend this album to anyone, but I believe it would be ideal for anyone suffering from a sleeping disorder. In my own experience it works so well at clearing your thoughts and allowing you time to relax. It reduces stress levels considerably and calms every part of your body.

Classing this under the label ’experimental’ will often put listeners off from the very start. With an open mind you can clearly see how this album breaks the mould in terms of its classification. It is so unique in its style and the easy listening approach will reach out to a large audience of all different ages.

The album combines old and new, with the clever use of piano and electronics. There are no overpowering sounds throughout and it makes for such a fluent listen. In combining the two the intention is to reach out to a large age range of listeners and I believe it does this perfectly.

Often with experimental chill out albums, each track will sound too similar and listening to each one become too repetitive. With the Insen album, each track manages to keep its personal identity. It keeps the listener enthralled for the full duration and manages to connect them to each track.

In summary, it is the best easy listening album I have listened to. It’s the kind of music you can listen to any time of the day and it is suitable for every occasion. I would recommend it to everyone as a must listen, due to its unique and mesmerizing sound.

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