Week 10 - Masterless Samurai - Osamu Kitajima - For the Ronin within you
- The Hobo
- Mar 8, 2021
- 2 min read
Stylistically one of the coolest albums I’ve heard, Kitajima produces this insanely cinematic genre blend of traditional Japanese and contemporary rock. Being an album released in 1979, the contemporary rock sound was carried forward by artists like Jethro Tull, Dire Straits, Pink Floyd and the Beatles; influences that do make themselves known while listening to the album. Kitajima, being a multi-instrumentalist is able to meld the sounds of the koto and shakuhachi (a bamboo flute) with the sounds of western electric bass, drums, synthesizer and saxophone to produce this extremely unique fusion sound. The album is something of a prog-rock jazz fusion, but it rocks in a delicate sense. The emphasis on the flute/wind instruments over funk grooves makes this album so incredibly fascinating to listen to.
Off of the album, my favourites are
Golden Mean - The opening track to the album, the flute and koto sound lend themselves to this dark mystical quality. Acting as the introduction to the mysterious Ronin you follow sonically through the whole album, the track sets the tone of the album perfectly.
Hitsuku… Where Is the Real Japan? - I don’t know what it is about this track but the overall feel of it is very reminiscent of Jethro Tull and Dire Straits. The groove moves in a similar fashion to those two bands. This is not just me; just to confirm I’m not to crazy, I made my dad (who has heard a lot of Dire Straits and Jethro Tull) listen to it to and he too found some indescribable similarity in the feel of the track to the two bands’ respective sounds.
Koshaku… To the Point - The Pink Floyd influence becomes really evident on this track. It has a slow build and the soft guitar accents hint at the psychedelia Kitajima was influenced by while the flute still grounds the listener in the Japanese context. A track with far greater subtlety in its influences compared to a few others on the album, it's one that rewards its listener for listening intently.
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