DRFT15
Takuro Okada
The Near End, The Dark Night, The County Line
VINYL/DIGITALPre-order (worldwide) via Bandcamp
1. Following Morning
2. The Room
3. Shadow (2024 Mix)
4. Before
5. Mizu
6. Reflections / Entering #2
7. Mirror
8. Evening Song
9. Taco Beach
10. Ohme Part 1
11. Ohme Part 2
12. Howllin Dog
13. The Near End, The Dark Night, The County Line
As fitting for Takuro Okada’s first collection to be released outside of his home country of Japan, the title evokes the vastness of an unknown world that lies just beyond the periphery of the senses. For Okada, growing up in Fussa, Tokyo–home to the Yokota U.S. Air Force base and the clash of customs and traditions that come with it–meant navigating through the familiar and the unfamiliar, observing and absorbing the uniquely hybrid culture that would play a large role in shaping his musical identity as a guitarist, producer, and band leader. While Okada honed his skills playing to American military members inside clubs along Fussa’s infamous “Bar Row,” at home he would experiment with home recording techniques and develop his skills as a producer.
This album contains selections from the expansive archive of recorded material Okada has amassed over the past decade. While his past releases have included notable collaborators such as Haruomi Hosono, Nels Cline, Sam Gendel, and Carlos Niño, among others who have contributed to his band and ensemble recordings, this collection showcases Okada as a solo musician, focusing mostly on his main instrument, the guitar. These tracks demonstrate his mastery in bringing out strange and beautiful tones from the instrument, from ambient and American, to psychedelic and other-worldly harmonics. This multiplicity of sounds serves as testament to Okada’s versatility as a musician, while his singular approach to the act of recording keeps it all cohesive as the unmistakable work of Takuro Okada.
---
思い返せば、ギターを始めて手にした10歳の頃から"私の音楽"と"録音"という行為はとても密接なものだ。音楽家の家庭ではなく、ごく一般的な日本の家庭で生まれ育った私の家には当然マイクやMTRといった録音機器は揃っていなかった。そんな中で自宅にあったビデオカメラを用いた多重録音が初めての私のテープマシーンとなる。その方法は、まず初めにビデオカメラでバッキングをする私を撮影し、それをビデオテープに録画する。次にビデオデッキで先ほどのバッキングトラックを演奏する私が映るテレビの前でベースを弾いている姿をさらに撮影し、それを再び、、と繰り返してワンマンバンドのマルチ・レコーディングが、日本のどこの家庭にもあったビデオカメラとビデオデッキを使えば出来ることを発見した。それからおよそ20年の月日がたったが、今日も私はその頃の自分と同じようにギターを弾いたり録音をしたりして日々を過ごしている。
このレコードはここ10年の間に私が自宅や友人の家で日記のようにレコーディングしていた楽曲の中から、私のメインの楽器である"ギター"にフォーカスした楽曲を集めたコンピレーションとなっている。ここに収録されたいくつかの楽曲はbandcampで個人的にリリースしていた音源だが、この度新たにミキシングを施し、オープンリールテープを用いてトラックダウンした。
このアイデアをくれてリリースの手助けをしてくれたtemporal driftのヨウスケさん、パトリックさん、アートワークの写真を提供してくれたサトミさん、そしてロサンゼルスでの寝床を私にシェアしてくれた3匹のネコの友達に感謝したい。
—岡田拓郎
Looking back, ever since I first picked up the guitar at 10 years old, “my music” and “recording” are activities that have been closely entwined. I was born and raised not in a family of musicians, but rather in an ordinary Japanese home. There were no microphones, multitrack recorders, or any recording equipment to speak of just laying around the house. But there was a video camera that could be used for multitracking, and it became my first tape machine. Here’s how it worked: I would film myself playing a backing track and record it on videotape. Then, as the tape was played back on the VCR, I would sit in front of the TV screen and film myself again playing along on bass, and so on. I discovered that I could make multitrack recordings as a one-man band, with just a video camera and VCR—devices that were found inside virtually every home in Japan. It’s been almost 20 years since then, and I still spend my days playing guitar and recording, just as I did back then.
This record is a compilation of songs I recorded over the past 10 years as kind of a diary, at home and at friends' houses. The track selections were made with a focus on my main instrument, the guitar. Some of the songs were previously released on my Bandcamp page, but have now been newly mixed and tracked down on open reel tape.
I would like to thank Yosuke and Patrick from Temporal Drift for giving me this idea and helping me with the release; Satomi for providing the photos; and my three feline friends for sharing their space with me during my stay in Los Angeles.
—Takuro Okada
2. The Room
3. Shadow (2024 Mix)
4. Before
5. Mizu
6. Reflections / Entering #2
7. Mirror
8. Evening Song
9. Taco Beach
10. Ohme Part 1
11. Ohme Part 2
12. Howllin Dog
13. The Near End, The Dark Night, The County Line
As fitting for Takuro Okada’s first collection to be released outside of his home country of Japan, the title evokes the vastness of an unknown world that lies just beyond the periphery of the senses. For Okada, growing up in Fussa, Tokyo–home to the Yokota U.S. Air Force base and the clash of customs and traditions that come with it–meant navigating through the familiar and the unfamiliar, observing and absorbing the uniquely hybrid culture that would play a large role in shaping his musical identity as a guitarist, producer, and band leader. While Okada honed his skills playing to American military members inside clubs along Fussa’s infamous “Bar Row,” at home he would experiment with home recording techniques and develop his skills as a producer.
This album contains selections from the expansive archive of recorded material Okada has amassed over the past decade. While his past releases have included notable collaborators such as Haruomi Hosono, Nels Cline, Sam Gendel, and Carlos Niño, among others who have contributed to his band and ensemble recordings, this collection showcases Okada as a solo musician, focusing mostly on his main instrument, the guitar. These tracks demonstrate his mastery in bringing out strange and beautiful tones from the instrument, from ambient and American, to psychedelic and other-worldly harmonics. This multiplicity of sounds serves as testament to Okada’s versatility as a musician, while his singular approach to the act of recording keeps it all cohesive as the unmistakable work of Takuro Okada.
---
思い返せば、ギターを始めて手にした10歳の頃から"私の音楽"と"録音"という行為はとても密接なものだ。音楽家の家庭ではなく、ごく一般的な日本の家庭で生まれ育った私の家には当然マイクやMTRといった録音機器は揃っていなかった。そんな中で自宅にあったビデオカメラを用いた多重録音が初めての私のテープマシーンとなる。その方法は、まず初めにビデオカメラでバッキングをする私を撮影し、それをビデオテープに録画する。次にビデオデッキで先ほどのバッキングトラックを演奏する私が映るテレビの前でベースを弾いている姿をさらに撮影し、それを再び、、と繰り返してワンマンバンドのマルチ・レコーディングが、日本のどこの家庭にもあったビデオカメラとビデオデッキを使えば出来ることを発見した。それからおよそ20年の月日がたったが、今日も私はその頃の自分と同じようにギターを弾いたり録音をしたりして日々を過ごしている。
このレコードはここ10年の間に私が自宅や友人の家で日記のようにレコーディングしていた楽曲の中から、私のメインの楽器である"ギター"にフォーカスした楽曲を集めたコンピレーションとなっている。ここに収録されたいくつかの楽曲はbandcampで個人的にリリースしていた音源だが、この度新たにミキシングを施し、オープンリールテープを用いてトラックダウンした。
このアイデアをくれてリリースの手助けをしてくれたtemporal driftのヨウスケさん、パトリックさん、アートワークの写真を提供してくれたサトミさん、そしてロサンゼルスでの寝床を私にシェアしてくれた3匹のネコの友達に感謝したい。
—岡田拓郎
Looking back, ever since I first picked up the guitar at 10 years old, “my music” and “recording” are activities that have been closely entwined. I was born and raised not in a family of musicians, but rather in an ordinary Japanese home. There were no microphones, multitrack recorders, or any recording equipment to speak of just laying around the house. But there was a video camera that could be used for multitracking, and it became my first tape machine. Here’s how it worked: I would film myself playing a backing track and record it on videotape. Then, as the tape was played back on the VCR, I would sit in front of the TV screen and film myself again playing along on bass, and so on. I discovered that I could make multitrack recordings as a one-man band, with just a video camera and VCR—devices that were found inside virtually every home in Japan. It’s been almost 20 years since then, and I still spend my days playing guitar and recording, just as I did back then.
This record is a compilation of songs I recorded over the past 10 years as kind of a diary, at home and at friends' houses. The track selections were made with a focus on my main instrument, the guitar. Some of the songs were previously released on my Bandcamp page, but have now been newly mixed and tracked down on open reel tape.
I would like to thank Yosuke and Patrick from Temporal Drift for giving me this idea and helping me with the release; Satomi for providing the photos; and my three feline friends for sharing their space with me during my stay in Los Angeles.
—Takuro Okada