Bleep

Returning to his 99LETTERS project with a newly focussed “gagaku techno” sound, Takahiro Kinoshita has fostered a complete upheaval of his musical capabilities in the past few years. Kaibou Zukan was a departure from his previously house oriented output, revelling in the cloudy atmospheres of lockdown-inspired beats and surgically cut Japanese instruments. Quickly following up with a companion album, Kinoshita travels even further into the abyssal textures he hinted at before, presenting a profound “mystery tape” with Makafushigi.

Arguably his most experimental work to date, Makafushigi pushes the boundaries of Kinoshita’s production, far beyond the “anatomical picture book” of Kaibou Zukan into a hazier series of longform explorations embodying a mysterious, unknowable world. Leaning further into ambience and darker, foggier moods, Makafushigi stretches and scatters Japanese strings and percussion across its extended runtime, with the afterimages of techno beats fading in and out of the churning sonic fog.

Chanting vocals are warped and submerged amongst the gritty sirens of ‘Kaiki (怪奇)’, simultaneously enchanting and imposing with its heavy, rhythmic drones. Glitching whispers and chirps trickle in as pounding bells and unidentifiable sounds cut through the haze, eventually making way for the shimmer of a beat slowly emerging with lustrous shards of strings and plucks. ‘Makafushigi (摩訶不思議)’ opens similarly, its mechanical breaths and distant voices overtaken by an ominous bass. Cascading waves of string plucks break the tension before the looming clouds of rumbling drums and zapping electronics roll in again.

99LETTERS continues to evolve in excitingly new directions with Makafushigi, some of his most immersive work yet.