SUSUMU YOKOTA
The Boy and the Tree (The Leaf Label)
Reviewed by Holly Day

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This is definitely one example where I wish I'd received more information in the CD press pack about the recording itself. As it is, I don't know if all of the amazingly beautiful music on this disc is performed solely by Japanese composer and (Philip Glass co-conspirator) Susumu Yokota or if he had help, and I don't know if the amazing sounds are organic in nature or if the whole composition was put together by computer, or both. What really matters in the end, though, is that the music is just wonderful to listen to: bells of all sizes chime and gong seemingly at random, bubbly sounds swirl about like a miked water cooler, fingers drag across xylophones and various stringed instruments, the occasional wailing vocal punctuation, all working together to create these mesmerizing atmospheric pieces that can make your apartment feel as warm and alive as springtime even in the middle of winter.

© 2003 - Holly Day