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Mizu is the new name for the artist formerly
known as Issei Herr. Forest Scenes
is their second album, under a second name.
Will this trend continue? I certainly hope
not, because in the long run this is
confusing. When i look back at the files of
music i liked from 2023 and 2024, am i going
to remember that these are both the same
person?
Probably not. Maybe that's a problem with my
increasingly porous memory. But, still: once
you start releasing music just stick with one
name, okay? It makes finding related things
easier for your fans, and really you don't
want to complicate things and make it so that
people skip something just because they don't
know who the artist is. This is Rule 1 of
Brand Recognition, people!
To that i must add that if the music made by
Issei Herr / Mizu was uninteresting, i
wouldn't care. But in fact i do find this
music interesting: Mizu starts with the cello
and then twists it through electronics and
comes out with interesting ambient electro
pop.
And I would say that Forest Scenes shows
growth from the Distant Intervals
album. The first track is the aptly named Enter,
and it is a slow burn into the album. Synths
flutter over some kind of creaking noise, and
then the cello swells up in a nice, dramatic
moment. Mizu adds in some wordless vocal
samples on Pump, where the strings
keep a hypnotic rhythm.
Sounds wash by as a noise whirrs in the
background of Rinse. The overall
effect of this songs reminds me of the
instrumental numbers on The Moon and
the Melodies, and anything that
channels that ambient classic get my approval.
Pavane features nicely layered cello
one plucked and one bowed. Mizu combines this
with clattering percussion to build some nice
tension as the song progresses.
On Flutter we are back to the
atmospherics of the first track, while the
cello, well, flutters around. It is an
ontologically sound song. The Way to
Yonder has sawing strings, whooshing
synths, and drumming that builds slowly,
giving this song a nice propulsive movement.
And then we reach a track called prphtbrd,
and I have no clue how you are supposed to
pronpounce that. The nonsense name seems like
something that software forced an abbreviation
on, a la Autechre
track names. And this song has a strange,
chugging percussion, satuttering vocal
samples, and odd whining tones. It is very Autechre,
almost frantic, and yet the rhythm droves it
along. Nicely done and very different.
And then Mizu ends the album with a nice
ambient track called Realms of Possibility.
The cello saws away slowly over a slight
clicking percussion, with 11 minutes for the
sounds to stretch out.
The album begins in an ambient haze, rises
to some aggressive and digitally manipulated
noises, and then fades out into a long slow
haze. The arc of the album is beautiful, but
it seems over too quickly.
And to me, that is a sign of good work. I
can lose myself in this album, and then it is
over, the past haze fading out, and I am
jarred back to reality. Mizu continues to
impress. Now please: just stick with a name
already.
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