Go Hirano / The Habit
<a href="https://gohirano.bandcamp.com/album/the-habit">The Habit Go Hirano</a> 30年以上にわたる活動の中で、ピアニスト・平野剛は日本のエクストリームなアンダーグラウンド・シーンにおいて、静かに人々を惹きつける音の世界を紡いできた異彩を放つ存在です。1990年代に頭角を現し、伝説的レコード店モダーンミュージックが運営していたPSF Recordsからの3枚のアルバムや自主リリース盤などを残しています。 その作品に共通するのは、技術的な完成度を追求するというよりも、その場に立ち上がる即興性と詩性を大切にしたものです。日常のささやかな瞬間に、儚い美しさを差し込むような音楽といえます。 『The Habit』は、2020年10月5日にPianola Recordsのアップライト・ピアノを使用して行われた公開録音を軸に、1980年代後半からカセットMTRに録りためられていた、シンセサイザーを用いた素描のような小品群を織り交ぜて構成されています。 ピアノ、ピアニカ、ウィンドチャイム、パーカッションといった最小限の楽器編成と控えめな音色によって、繊細な旋律が静かに、そしてゆっくりと紡がれていく。広がりのあるピアノの響きは、周囲の音と穏やかに交わりながら漂う。楽器の音だけを提示するのではなく、その場の空気や日常に潜む些細な気配までも丁寧に取り込み、「不完全さ」を生きた表現へと昇華している。 自然体から立ち上がる衝動をすくい上げる飾らない表現と、独自の感覚で環境を取り込む姿勢は、平野剛の変わらぬ美学です。『The Habit』には、長い年月と音に満ちた日々の重なりから育まれた、親密で旋律的な響きが静かに息づいている。 Over a career spanning more than 30 years, Pianist Go Hirano has remained a singular presence within Japan's extreme underground scene, quietly weaving a sonic world that continues to captivate listeners. Emerging in the 1990s, he released three albums on PSF Records―run by the legendary record shop Modern Music―as well as several self-released works. What unites these recordings is not a pursuit of technical perfection, but rather an emphasis on improvisation and poetic sensibility as they arise in the moment. His music might be described as something that gently casts a fleeting beauty over the most ordinary of everyday moments. The Habit is centred around a public recording made on 5 October 2020, using an upright piano at Pianola Records, interwoven with sketch-like miniature pieces created on synthesiser and recorded onto cassette recorder during the late 1980s. With a minimal instrumentation―piano, melodica, wind chimes, and percussion―and a restrained palette of tones, delicate melodies are spun quietly and unhurriedly. The expansive resonance of the piano drifts gently, blending with the surrounding sounds. Rather than presenting only the sound of instruments, Hirano carefully incorporates the atmosphere of the space and the subtle traces embedded in everyday life, transforming "imperfection" into a living form of expression. His unadorned approach―capturing impulses that emerge naturally―and his unique sensitivity to the surrounding environment remain central to his enduring aesthetic. In The Habit, an intimate and melodic resonance, nurtured through long years and days steeped in sound, quietly breathes. Within it lingers a soft warmth and a modest, understated beauty. （リリースインフォメーションより） ▼Track List Side A 1. Echoes In The Sky 2. Dawning 3. The Habit 4. Sleep Valley Side B 1. Ripplemark 2. 水の惑星 [Waterland] 3. Gray Forest 4. Berry 5. It will be filled with birds singing someday Go Hirano - Piano, Pianica, Windchime, Percussion, Electronics, and Effects Tracks A1, A2, A4, B1, B4 recorded live in October 2020 at Pianola Records, Tokyo Piano Tuning and voicing by Emi Hatakeyama Recorded by Makoto Oshiro The remaining tracks were recorded in the late 1980's-2019 and remixed in 2019 All Songs written by Go Hirano Mastered by Makoto Oshiro Lacquers cut by Rashad Becker, Clunk Studio, Berlin Artwork by Yukiko Ikeda Front cover: "The Habit" 2020, Etching, 50cm x 45cm Inner sleeve: "Beyond" 2023, Watercolor, 12cm x 12cm Design by Rob Carmichael, SEEN Produced by Peter Kolovos, Conatala & Rie Hirano Format：LP Label：conatala (JP) / Black Editions (US)
