Hiroshi Yoshimura -- Maple Syrup Factory

 

A few times in my childhood up to my time in university, I was able to head to some of the maple syrup farms north of Toronto to witness the annual sugaring off. We could see the extraction of the sap from the trees and the buckets would be transported to the sugar shacks to be melted down to the various grades of maple syrup. The flapjacks that got made there were always the best I've ever had especially with the fresh butter and syrup on top.🥞

I was reminded of those times when I saw the title of this song "Maple Syrup Factory" under the YouTube video. This was by Hiroshi Yoshimura（吉村弘）, a Yokohama musician-composer who went beyond those labels to become an artist in sound design and graphic design before his untimely death in 2003 at the age of 63.

"Maple Syrup Factory" was a track on Yoshimura's posthumous album "Flora 1987" from 2006 and consisted of pieces that had been recorded in 1987 but never released. There's something very innocent and quietly joyful with this song as if it were Santa's special but more reserved maple syrup branch working hard in comparison with its far more boisterous North Pole main factory. At the same time, there's a certain instrument in the back working its magic to the effect that I think it could have been included in the "Loki" soundtrack.

Diego Olivas of FOND/SOUND gave his own review of the album and "Maple Syrup Factory" in particular back in 2017 that you can take a gander at right here.