Altsounds - Anata Wa Sukkari Tsukarete - Sweetness and Light [EP]

"Sweetness and Light" is an experimental EP from Anata Wa Sukkari Tsukarete (Japanese for “You are completely tired”); a multi-national trio comprised of artists Gnomefoam, Bunny, and _. From the opening moments of the first track; 'Forsake', you just know it is going to challenge your ears. A synthetic voice (a la Stephen Hawking) and cricket sounds greet you before the song is taken over by heavily echoing noises and arrhythmic percussion. 'Forsake' never gets easier, remaining mostly noise and atmosphere.

The second track 'Cataract' is a bit more musical, with keyboards and vocals picking out a meandering melody while scratching percussion and buzzing guitar to keep things from getting too grounded. "Sweetness and Light" is like this throughout. Anata Wa Sukkari Tsukarete are uninterested in traditional music forms, beyond how they can use and distort them to serve entirely new purposes. They compose pretty melodies to use as backdrops to atonal sounds and use traditional instruments mainly to twist their voices in surprising ways. The effect can be haunting and even beautiful, but don’t expect to put this disc on with a roomful of friends and have everyone enjoy it - unless you and your friends are under the influence of some heavy psychedelics!

The first movement of the third track, 'Bearskins' features recited poetry and some demented keyboard work, until it gives way to a more traditional "New Age" sounding synthesized song. It still shifts rapidly between musical sounds and effects until the third movement, which is a dreamier and even more melodic – beautiful, actually – than the rest of the song. This 8 ½ minute song is my favorite on "Sweetness and Light".

The fourth and title track track; 'Sweetness and Light' is mostly solemn piano and distorted vocals. The melody is pretty and the vocals are overcome by effects as the song progresses, adding color and depth to the track. The lyrics that I could understand were dark, but it was still a pleasant and pretty song.

The closing track; 'My Drive' uses an out-of-tune piano to start us out on a jarring, atonal note. Whispered, distorted vocals are sometimes accompanied by and sometimes obscured by synthesized effects. It definitely sets a mood, but the track is slow and not much happens, making it probably my least favorite on the EP.

It took a couple times through "Sweetness and Light" before I began to get it more. I have said before that the #1 thing I ask of musicians when listening to their music is don’t bore me. There were a few times on "Sweetness and Light" that Anata Wa Sukkari Tsukarete lost me, but even then I was never bored. I did enjoy most of "Sweetness and Light" and if you find yourself bored with the traditional music forms of Rock, Pop, and even Jazz, this disc will expose you to some new ideas that might even make their way back into mainstream music.