Man, this is an incredible experience. The extensive sleeve notes that accompany this essential Time Capsule reissue describe in great detail the historical, academic background of Genioh Yamashirogumi’s Ecophony Rinne. Explaining how the collective’s founder, Tsutomu Ohashi aka Shoji Yamashiro, is not a musician, but an environmental scientist by training, and how he recruited over 100 friends and associates, from a wide range of disciplines, such as engineering, journalism, medicine and psychology, to help him realise his experimental, highly theoretical musical projects. However, those notes can’t quite convey what a total, surreal trip listening is on headphones or a decent sound system. 

Time Capsule’s Anton Spice refers to Ecophony Rinne as “unclassifiable”, and while it’s not possible to tightly pigeon-hole, I would call the album modern classical. Split into 4 movements the music maps the Buddhist cycle of birth, death and rebirth. The human voice is a major component of each composition. The unschooled chorus drawing on Georgian, Bulgarian and Balinese traditions. Moving from mantra and chants to pygmy yodelling. These were recorded with the use of a binaural “dummy head” – similar to that employed by Kankyo Ongaku pioneer Takashi Kokubo and on Psychic TV’s Force The Hand Of Chance. As a consequence, the vocals zoom, swoop, in and out, from every angle to amazing, spacial 3D effect.   

Serene, synthetic drones, Tibetan horns and traditional percussion, both Japanese and Indonesian gamelan – treated, metallic temple bells and tingsha – join the choir. Field recordings – captured in Congo’s Ituri Forest – helping to transport anyone within ear shot to a fantastic, enchanted place. Rising in volume and symphonic intensity, the suite then drops to a spooky, whispered, wordless lullaby. Travelling through veils of chiming gongs and sacred, spiritual beaten jegog bamboo. The pieces possessing a definite through the looking glass quality. 

The final “Reincarnation” section is a healing hymn, a ritual riding a river-like, rippling, rhythmic pulse. Suddenly shifting, changing to a clanging lion / dragon dance, before with a crash coming to a halt. A true audiophile adventure, with an supernatural sense of depth and separation, its ridiculously rich detail is revealed on repeated listen after listen. 

A journey toward the light, Ecophony Rinne never gets too dark. Celestial, heavenly, epic, celebratory, disorienting, strange, psychedelic, ancient yet futuristic. Cinematic, certainly. On the strength of this release, Genioh Yamashirogumi were commissioned to score the groundbreaking anime, Akira. However, that soundtrack, to a dystopian Neo-Tokyo and its feuding motorcycle gangs, is pretty pedestrian in comparison. 

Genioh Yamashirogumi’s Ecophony Rinne can be ordered directly from Time Capsule.