Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Ni!: Hikikomori
Ni!: Hikikomori
ByWith its disparate sounds assembled almost like parts in a band, Hikikomori comes out an easier and more mesmerizing listen than an experimental jazz album really should. Sax and trumpet lines weave drifting melodies that unspool organically. Bass clarinet drones add mysterious flavor, sometimes sinuously Eastern, sometimes simply otherworldly. Amidst them all, Sukhodolskiy sprinkles a range of quasi-percussive sounds (slap-tongued reeds, brief horn blats and more) to make light rhythmic beds amidst the swirls.
Playful spots such as "Ninja and Childrens" suggest the flavor of light ambient techno, even though all the beats are made by non-digital means. Sparser pieces like "Covid and Holy Woof" or "Donkey Racing" (amusingly apt, that one) simply create a wide sonic space to float through in no hurry at all. Effects are common but judicious, mainly a coat of reverb to build the horns' tones into immersive envelopes of echo. Otherwise the gear is used just to layer the parts and then get out of the way. Whatever technology is behind it, Ni!'s sound is a fundamentally natural one that still never seems quite of this Earth.
Track Listing
Violent Freedom; Kicked Out of the Bar; Eben Kidnappers; Ninja and Childrens; Sawmill; Covid and Holy Woof; Donkey Racing; Sorry, Friend....
Personnel
Leon Sukhodolskiy
clarinet, bassAlbum information
Title: Hikikomori | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Ni!
< Previous
Sun Ra: Ten Great AfroFuturist Albums
Next >
The Dark Fire Sessions
Comments
About Leon Sukhodolskiy
Instrument: Clarinet, bass
Related Articles | Concerts | Albums | Photos | Similar To