Tender Blues

Yoshio Machida plays the steel pan, but those expecting to hear a Japanese-influenced answer to the steel band music of the Caribbean are in for a soothing surprise. His music is described by his record company as ‘meditative ambient blues,’ and the first two words are certainly appropriate. This is a solo instrumental set that is so gentle and laidback that it is best heard in complete silence, possibly in the dark. It may at first sound dangerously like the drifting, tinkling background noise you might hear in some over-expensive Oriental-themed boutique. But Machida is far more interesting than that. He studied art, music and film in Tokyo, went on to play at jazz and avant-garde music festivals, and became interested in music from around the world. His improvisational style is influenced by music from India, Mali, Zimbabwe and by Javanese gamelan, and he performs on a metal slit drum made from a part of a small gas tank, from which he creates some remarkable sounds. The six solo instrumental tracks start with a gentle, meandering piece in which a melody line emerges over a gently repeated riff, before he introduces high, ringing overtone effects. Subtle and soporific.