![Review: MI-GU - Choose The Light [Album]](http://hangout.altsounds.com/geek/gars/images/2/6/0/7/4/migu_albumart.jpg)
![Review: MI-GU - Choose The Light [Album]](http://hangout.altsounds.com/altthumb.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fhangout.altsounds.com%2Fgeek%2Fgars%2Fimages%2F2%2F6%2F0%2F7%2F4%2Fmigu_albumart.jpg&w=500&h=500&zc=1&q=70){kind=small}
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Yuko Araki and Hirotaka Shimizu are MI-GU, a Japanese duo. The songs on Choose The Light are taken from their three import albums, now remastered and packaged together as one. Yuko Araki takes charge of drums and vocals while Hirotaka Shimizu is on guitar and production duties. It would seem like a simple line-up, but there's far more to MI-GU than first meets the ear: the motivational words spoken during opener and title track 'Choose The Light' might appear hackneyed on paper, but there's something about the arrangement of drums and guitar alongside Yuko Araki's disingenuous delivery style that makes it work. 'If the power of my spirit is being tested, let me show something great,' she says, accompanied by Hirotaka Shimizu s cold guitar riff and her own drums. When she eventually proclaims 'Choose the Light,' it's triumphant.
It's not all so optimistic, however. Second track 'Lazy' is a studied encapsulation of ennui and wasted days, with heavy, slow drums and a whining synth accompanying Yuko Araki's disinterested drone. The lyrics are understandably few, highlighting Yuko Araki's talent for evoking a scene: 'Three cups, four books. Another day.'
'Pulling From Above' is a disorienting, wavy experience and 'Floating' brings the energy right back down with acoustic guitar and softly spoken worries. Yuko Araki's vocals are varied to a certain extent, but her style certainly won't appeal to everyone. Unfortunately, at the album's centre is a very abstract piece called 'Touch Wood', in which a double bass wanders around alongside soft tinkling noises, occasional guitar chords and Araki muttering 'touch wood' a lot. The spectre of overwhelming pretension is at its most fearsome here, but carry on past this point and there's much more to find in the rest of the album.
'Spider' in particular is a delight: Araki freaks out, saying, 'There's a spider in my room! What should I do?' Best of all, though, is 'From Space', the closer. It's got a gigantic feel to it, thanks to the alternating rhythms, Shimizu's riffs and the heavy reverb. In this broad context, Araki's impressionistic, sparse vocals fit in comfortably. It's also one of the few songs she sings in.
MI-GU was formed in 2003, so it's no surprise that this 'debut' of sorts is crammed with character and ideas. It's experimental, it's noisy and it will divide opinion, but at the very least it's a unique piece of work which deserves your attention, if only for its idiosyncrasies.
It's not all so optimistic, however. Second track 'Lazy' is a studied encapsulation of ennui and wasted days, with heavy, slow drums and a whining synth accompanying Yuko Araki's disinterested drone. The lyrics are understandably few, highlighting Yuko Araki's talent for evoking a scene: 'Three cups, four books. Another day.'
'Pulling From Above' is a disorienting, wavy experience and 'Floating' brings the energy right back down with acoustic guitar and softly spoken worries. Yuko Araki's vocals are varied to a certain extent, but her style certainly won't appeal to everyone. Unfortunately, at the album's centre is a very abstract piece called 'Touch Wood', in which a double bass wanders around alongside soft tinkling noises, occasional guitar chords and Araki muttering 'touch wood' a lot. The spectre of overwhelming pretension is at its most fearsome here, but carry on past this point and there's much more to find in the rest of the album.
'Spider' in particular is a delight: Araki freaks out, saying, 'There's a spider in my room! What should I do?' Best of all, though, is 'From Space', the closer. It's got a gigantic feel to it, thanks to the alternating rhythms, Shimizu's riffs and the heavy reverb. In this broad context, Araki's impressionistic, sparse vocals fit in comfortably. It's also one of the few songs she sings in.
MI-GU was formed in 2003, so it's no surprise that this 'debut' of sorts is crammed with character and ideas. It's experimental, it's noisy and it will divide opinion, but at the very least it's a unique piece of work which deserves your attention, if only for its idiosyncrasies.
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