Joe Hisaishi -- Syntax Error/Syntax Error II

 

Well, after writing about aidoru over the decades for the past three articles, I feel that I should finish tonight's round of KKP articles with something totally different.

If it weren't for "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I wouldn't have realized that composer/arranger extraordinaire Joe Hisaishi（久石譲）wasn't just about the heartwarming Studio Ghibli orchestral soundtracks. Over the past few years, I've learned that he has gone into City Pop (even going behind the mike himself) and some frenetic fusion and funk early in his career.

Let's add one more genre to his impressive collection. Hisaishi has even dove into avant-garde technopop...or maybe just plain techno. In June 1985, he released his 2nd solo album "α-BET-CITY" which was assessed by "CD Journal" as being a project in which Hisaishi supposedly insisted that the synthesizer ought to be a synthesizer and not a copy of any other instrument. Well, if this track "Syntax Error" is of any indication, then the master definitely showed off that the synthesizer was indeed a synthesizer.

"Syntax Error" does copy what sounds like some animal out in the jungle but aside from that, there's nary a familiar instrument that the synths emulate. It's a regulated cacophony of synthesizers working together like an assembly line in a factory, except that instead of a physical device, this line is disgorging all sorts of sounds to create a soundscape for aural consumption. There are no hints of Kiki, Totoro or Howell hiding out here...unless they were assimilated by the Borg. I get hints of Yellow Magic Orchestra circa early 1980s as I hear "Syntax Error". 

As a sequel, Hisaishi created "Syntax Error II" for his compilation album "Curved Music" from September 1986 which is quite a bit shorter than the original but no less crazy. This time, I'm hearing an especially busy Art of Noise in this piece that brings images of a robotic pest exterminator going on a search-and-destroy mission on some ants. The whole thing about "Curved Music" is that all of the tracks were involved in various commercials, and "Syntax Error II" was actually used for an ad selling the "Nikkei Business Daily" newspaper. Man, I wonder whether Hisaishi was at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on an especially volatile day of trading when he was inspired to create this track.