Aurora (Susumu Hirasawa album) – Wikipedia

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1994 studio album by Susumu Hirasawa

Aurora
Susumu Hirasawa - AURORA.png
Released February 25, 1994 (1994-02-25)
Recorded 1993
Studio
    • Eggs Shep Studio, Oshino, Minamitsuru, Yamanashi
    • Key-Stone Studio, Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo
    • Wireself Studio, Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo
    • Onkio Haus (mast.), Ginza, Chūō, Tokyo
Genre
Length 60:11
Label Polydor K.K.
Producer
  • Susumu Hirasawa
  • Yūichi Kenjo (co.)
  • Hitoshi Maeda (exec.)

Aurora is Susumu Hirasawa’s fourth solo album.

Overview[edit]

His first main solo album in three years following a period where focus was directed on the Defrosted P-Model, Aurora, which Hirasawa has said can be considered a second solo debut,[1] is a turning point in his career. Unlike the previous solo albums, Aurora doesn’t feature guest musicians, with almost all instrumentation handled by MIDI-compatible devices.[2] The music was composed with the Amiga The Blue Ribbon SoundWorks programs Bars & Pipes Professional, which he started using for “more natural orchestration”,[3] and SuperJAM!,[4] whose “Bartok” style he modified by inputting data from his own songs, irreversibly turning its patterns and variations into “Hirasawa” style ones.[5]

Aurora was created to appeal to the instinctual side of the listener as opposed to the logical, in likeness to tales and myths,[6] emphasizing vocals and melody. The songs were written so that the album would lack any inherent story or concept, inviting the listener to create their own reading.[3] However, as he wrote the lyrics out, seven of the album’s ten songs ended up having to do with “you” (キミ, kimi), which accidentally created undertones of a story about two people. Hirasawa wanted to avoid that if at all possible, but felt that was just the way the language worked and left it as is.[3] Many words representing natural phenomena were included in an attempt to resolve complaints about the lyrics being opaque. Hirasawa chose words that were easy to understand and had a large impact, the word Aurora came from this decision as well.[3]

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The album’s booklet is adorned with Buddhist imagery. Advertisements for Aurora used the phrase “The Greatest Music of All” (至高の音楽, Shikou no Ongaku).[7]

Track listing[edit]

All tracks are written by Susumu Hirasawa.

Title
1. “Stone Garden” (石の庭 Ishi no Niwa) 6:02
2. “Love Song” 7:02
3. “Aurora” (オーロラ Ōrora) 4:17
4. “Song of the Force” (力の唄 Chikara no Uta) 5:28
5. “Take the Wheel” (舵をとれ Kaji wo Tore) 4:32
6. “Snow Blind” (スノーブラインド Sunōburaindo) 6:40
7. “The Double of Wind” (風の分身 Kaze no Bunshin) 4:51
8. “In the Square” (広場で Hiroba de) 4:34
9. “Island Door (Paranesian Circle)” (トビラ島 (パラネシアン・サークル) Tobira Shima (Paraneshian Sākuru)) 13:29
10. “Ringing Bell” (呼んでるベル Yonderu Beru) 2:57
  • The official translations of the titles of the songs are stylized in all uppercase letters.
  • “Snow Blind” contains a sample of “Oh Mama!” by P-Model, from the album One Pattern.

Personnel[edit]

  • Susumu Hirasawa – vocals, electric guitar (Talbo), acoustic guitar (Yairi), synthesizers (E-mu Proteus/2, Korg MS-20, Korg M1R, Roland JD-800), sampler (Akai S1100), drum machine (Roland R-8 with DANCE card), Amiga (2500), sequencer (Bars&Pipes Professional), programming, production[2]
technical
  • Masanori Chinzei – recording, mixing
  • Motohiro Yamada (Eggs Shep Studio), Harumi Ōta (MIX), Tsutomu Okada (MIX) – assistant engineering
  • Masao Nakazato (Onkio Haus) – mastering
visuals
  • Kiyoshi Inagaki (d.d.t.) – art direction, design
  • Hideki Namai – photography
  • Akemi Tsujitani – styling
  • Kazunori Yoshida – hair & make-up
operations
  • Roppei Iwagami (Pre-Octave) – publishing
  • I3 Promotion
    • Yūichi Kenjo – co-production
    • Masami Fujii – publicity coordination
    • Koosuke Mogi – artist management
    • Takeshi Fujita – personal management
  • Polydor K.K.
Thanks
  • Gallery LS for Mandala (スーナムギャムフォ), Fernandes

Release history[edit]

Date Label(s) Format Catalog Notes
February 25, 1994 (1994-02-25) Polydor K.K. CD POCH-1328
July 1, 2005 (2005-07-01) Universal Music Japan, Universal Sigma Digital Download none
February 29, 2012 (2012-02-29) Chaos Union, Teslakite CD CHTE-0057 Remastered by Masanori Chinzei. Disc 4 of the HALDYN DOME box set.
November 5, 2014 (2014-11-05) Universal Music Japan SHM-CD UPCY-6930 Part of Universal’s “Project Archetype” (supervised by Osamu Takeuchi & Kasiko Takahasi). Remastered by Kenji Yoshino (supervised by Chinzei) with both original liner notes and new ones.[8]
  • “Love Song”, “Aurora”, “Song of the Force” and “Snow Blind” are included in the NEW SONGS FROM AURORA promotional sampler.
  • “Love Song”, “Aurora” and “In the Square” are included on the Archetype | 1989-1995 Polydor years of Hirasawa compilation.
  • “Island Door (Paranesian Circle)” is included in the vinyl release of the Ruiner Original Soundtrack.

References[edit]

External links[edit]


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