Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Dovuaski - Tokyo, the Monochrome City [Sad Tokyo - 2013]

“Tokyo, the Monochrome City” is a dense, moody, often bleakly hazed yet mainly highly compelling & deeply  atmospheric mix of repetitive electro fed mood scapes, bleak to busy city based field recordings, with the occasional dart of thin /locked down beatscapes.

Dovuaski is sound Artist, DJ, Engineer, Drummer based in Nakano, Tokyo- this cd release, on his own Sad Tokyo label, is his first ever release. And I must say it’s a extremely well conceived & executed debut release, which mangers to create it’s own distinctive mood & vibe that focus very much on the monotony & endless churning of a modern city, and the great loneliness with-in a crowded city scapes.

The release features eleven tracks in all, with a total running time of just under sixty mintues.  Though many of the tracks do stand up on their own, really this album truly comes alive a one long journey. The tracks move from moody & repetitive  guitar licked electronica with subtle noise elements & field recording weaves. Onto sleek yet bleak meetings of cars & rain field recording mixed with in fixed industrial texturing. Though to mixers of  set waltzing organ work & distant people chatter. Onto locked down beat scapes, which meet downwardly swirl mixers of locked guitar textures & spacey electro effects. Through to trance inducing mixes of down-beat ambient electronica, rhythmic banged piano textures, and hazed/ morphed field recordings.

The label describes the album as just dark ambience with field recording elements, and yes there are both of these things present on “Tokyo, the Monochrome City”- but there’s also a whole lot more too with elements of fixed electronica, slurred & clean sounding post rock, found-sound beat making, sleek industrial & noise elements mixed in too. I guess if I could compare it to anything I’d say it brought to mind Ulver when they used to have a more urban based sound around Perdition City, & the two Silence eps- but the sound here is more sophisticated & focused, with it’s own distinct feel.    

All told it’s a most impressive opening shot from Dovuaski, and I look forward to hearing what the future brings for this project- so this is well worth a look if you into moody & urban focused sound making that mixes together elements of locked down electronica, dark ambience & bleak field recordings.

Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5

Roger Batty
Latest Reviews

Dovuaski - Tokyo, the Monochrome ...
“Tokyo, the Monochrome City” is a dense, moody, often bleakly hazed yet mainly highly compelling & deeply  atmospheric mix of repetitive electro fed...
250424   Hot Spur - Hot Spur( Blu Ray)
250424   Happy End - Happy End( Blu Ray)
250424   Electronicat - Saturation
240424   Soma - Me Dais Mucho Asco
240424   Koobaatoo Asparagus - Onna-musha
240424   Magda - And Suddenly, Just L...
230424   Andrea Taeggi - Nattdett
230424   Seedpeople - SeedPeople(Blu Ray)
220424   Shiver - Shiver Meets Matthew...
220424   Elegant Beast - Elegant Beast...
Latest Articles

The Music of Clay Ruby & Burial H...
Over the last couple of decades Wisconsin native, Clay Ruby has been creating some of the world’s finest dark electronic music under the Burial Hex mon...
280324   The Music of Clay Ruby & Buri...
290224   Sutcliffe No More - Normal Ev...
100124   Occlusion - The Operation Is...
181223   Best Of 2023 - Music, Sound &...
051223   Powerhouse Films - Of Magic, ...
181023   IO - Of Sound, Of Art, Of Exp...
210923   Lucky Cerruti - Of Not so Fri...
290823   The Residents - The Trouble W...
110723   Yotzeret Sheydim Interview - ...
250523   TenHornedBeast - Into The Dee...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2023. Twenty two years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom