this is an album i discovered listening to the radio- i heard café du parc and wanted to listen to more!! according to his website, sonorité was a new endevour for Nobuchika, to explore the possibilities of the piano
, and he does so VERY successfully, with vastly different pieces in both melody and emotion.
DISCLAIMER!! on his website Nobuchika has a page for NFTs (although it is currently empty) and i do NOT fuck with this!! i'm talking about the music still but just to make that clear, not a fan of that
released: 15th June 2011
my favourite track: requiem
this is a very nice opening song to sonorité: a nice, steady piano tune, without much dissonance and largely major in tonality. there's no fancy electronic effects here, just simple piano. its rather lovely, and a good way to begin the album.
and now we're introduced to Nobuchika's use of technological editing! whilst the central focus is on the piano in this one, you can hear noises of birdsong and talking in the background throughout the piece. the piano really is the centre stage though, it's so.. upbeat, almost with naievety??? maybe its just in retrospect to having heard the full album, but it feels like some sorta hero in an RPG embarking on their quest with lots of optimism. its really nice!!
the opening of otonami feels notably more jazzy than the previous two tracks- not JAZZ jazz, but certainly that sort of feel. the 3/4 tempo undoubtedly helps with this alongside the more modal melody. again, you can hear people talking in the background.
i find it super interesting how in this track, the reversed piano is almost used to immitate strings, i think? a day is VERY peaceful to me, i think it's the combination of the long-held reversed/synthesised notes and the steady melody
this track instantly makes me think of more classical/romantic (the time period) music- there's less editing than in a day, and there's some chromaticisms and dotted rhythms which make it feel really classical/romantic to me? there's small parts of dissonance but overall bagatelle no.2 is steady and reaasonably simple
at a much more upbeat tempo than bagatelle no.2, aquarelle has a strikingly playful feel, presumably executed by the staccato + use of quavers. the repeated pattern on the piano has interesting harmonies, i can't quite tell what the interval is but it sounds really cool!!
..and we slow back down, comfortably so. there's some slight dissonance in the harmonies again, giving parallel a somewhat mysterious feel to it? to me its less classical-sounding than bagatelle no.2, and for some reason is making me think of Celeste (like, the video game)?? (please note i am no expert on celeste nor its music)
now a little fact about me is i'm a sucker for a good requiem, having sang in a fair few in my time. Nobuchika's eighth track on sonorité certainly fits the feelings of a "mass for the dead"- the discordant harmonies continue and i love it. both spooky and mournful (especially when the higher piano melody starts), the tone is set very clearly and effectively. the louder piano "stabs" REAALLY get you that sense of grief in all its parts. you can totally tell that Nobuchika is experienced in soundtracks- throughout the whole album but especially in requeiem
VERY INSTANTLY koto elaborates on the spookier undertones of the previous two tracks. there's a background noise which to me sounds a bit like high-pitched crickets in a field, but also electricity? there's birds that can be heard at one point so i'll go for the former. the melody here is fairly sporadic, if at all fluid, and full of dissonance- we get a tritone!! c and f sharp!!!! (yes i went and checked this). i can understand not liking this track so much- i probably wouldn't listen to it outside of the album, but within sonorité i think it's delightful, especially when you go all music nerd and look for the details.
oh but am i glad to hear a clear piano melody again, it really makes you feel like you've just escaped some haunted forest or something. hnappian is nice; its gentle, it reminds me of some of einaudi's stuff which i think classes as neoclassical?? this is a shorter track and i don't have loads to say about it but its nice
i shit you not i heard this and was instantly all "no way is that an alberti bass and a chromatic melody??!!!" that's how petite étude starts anyway, and the staccato melody and accompaniment really lends itself to the "petite" nature, i think. there's a slight intermission (NOT the musical term) where we go more legato, and then we're back. there's a slight accelerando to the end- it's another shorter one, but goes back to the more playful nature of aquarelle
this is a more electronic one, still featuring the piano but nobuchika is clearly experimenting more with electronic musical techniques. if i'm not mistaken this track does in fact include a "loop" (i might be wrong, i'm not an expert on electronic music at all :p). there's a less clear melody again, but its not as abstract as koto by any means.
theres water noises in this one!! it's relaxing piano melodies again, although i think in the background you can hear sounds like people playing? which i think is a really nice touch. i don't have much to say about kokyu, but i sure do enjoy it, it's nice and peaceful and vaguely nostalgic. there's bits of reversed piano towards the end which also lends to the nostalgic tone (and for me personally, makes me think about zelda tears of the kingdom !!). its a bit repetitive, but i think that's the point. the kokyū is a traditional japanese stringed instrument- i'm not desperately familiar with it, but it feels like that adds to the piece somehow???
the opening beginning phrase reminds me of a bell, almost like a school bell? the staccato + reverb on the later high-pitched piano melody links to the idea of "water" well in my opinion. i'm pretty sure there's audio panning in this as well which is really cool! there's bits of reversed piano again which makes this track link very nicely with kokyu before it.
fittingly titled, this is the last song in this album! after the intricasies of the last couple of songs, lastly feels much more grounded in its melody. i don't have loads to say about it; it feels very definitive and conclusive, and is just nice piano. i really like the cadence on the end!