Last week, I was pleasantly surprised when a cd dropped on my doormat. A cd by a singer named Erina Koyama titled AMMO. This album was released this past July, but it had only reached me after it had gone through various hands. The origin of the cd was the commmons label, which is a label initiated by Ryuichi Sakamoto and backed by record company AVEX. A somewhat unlikely combination, as AVEX was previously known for spitting out one ultra-commercial idol after another. However, the commmons website has the following to say about it: "This [collaboration] provides the infrastructure of a solid record company and the freedom to do things differently".
And different is certainly one way to describe the music of Erina Koyama, however that wouldn't do her much justice. Different can mean a lot of things, both positive and negative. Much depends on what you are looking for in music though. If you're part of a conservative mainstream audience, then AMMO doesn't have much to offer for you. But then the whole commmons label would be lost on you. Who is this for then? Well, people who are always on the lookout for something new. On AMMO, you pretty much get something new with every single track. It's actually near impossible to classify this music and still I am tempted to put a stamp on it. It's what I personally would refer to as sunday morning music. I know that doesn't say anything about the music itself, but bear with me here. We've all experienced those sunday mornings, where the previous night's party is still echoing through your head (and I'm not talking about a hangover). You turn on the radio and you experience the music differently then you would on any other moment of the week. For some music it works and for some it doesn't. AMMO is made for sunday morning and really contributes to that magic of the moment experience.
Well, that's all nice and abstract, so let's get a closer look/listen. Like I said, it's not very mainstream and it requires some initial effort to get actually 'get it'. Most of the songs emit a very positive vibe, which is not unique for Japanese music. You can just put your mind on blanc and let the album flow through you. There are no extreme ups and downs here, yet after listening to AMMO, you still get that feeling of fulfillment and a longing for more. Erina doesn't just experiment away, as these are well build songs, but there's always some unconventionality to them. That's probably because she doesn't use very common arrangements, mixing traditional Japanese instruments with subtle electronics. Initially her voice reminded me of Shiina Ringo, who also does her share of experimentation, but Erina is not that edgy and settles her voice more dryly in the mix.
It's an interesting story how this album came to be. AMMO is the international release of NOMMO, which was the title of the Japanese version. NOMMO was created under a project called 'Growing Drops'. Early this year, Erina posted rough drafts of the song on the project's website and the audience could make comments about the songs. Then she took those comments and reworked those into new versions of the song. This went on for a few iterations and the album was eventually released on June 25. Essentially the songs on the album were 'grown', through audience participation. One could say that this is Web 2.0 in full effect.
To summarize, AMMO would do your record collection a lot of good, provided you're open for new experiences. It does create one problem though and that is that it leaves you wanting for more. That is a problem, because there isn't much comparable material out there. But then perhaps, it would be a good idea to check out some of Koyama's earlier work.
