Otomo Yoshihide – The Night Before The Death Of The Sampling Virus

I really dig the concept of this album: a gathering of sound pieces made specifically to be played in random order. And while it does work relatively well in that regard, I still feel somewhat underwhelmed with the project as a whole.

My main issue with this CD is that it mostly consists of Japanese spoken word bits (and some English ones here and there) that seem to be sampled from a variety of sources. Obviously, not everyone has a firm grasp on the language. As such, the messages Otomo were trying to send seem to be lost in translation. What’s especially strange is that it was released by an Australian label. If it came from a Japanese label, maybe this would be more understandable.

Another is the lack of variety. A lot of this album is JUST spoken word. While these segments are mostly left bare, a good chunk of it is manipulated in certain ways. Reversed, cut up, layered, sped up, and slowed down. I just wish Otomo did more here.

Where this album shines is when Otomo toys with the voices of Tenko and Yamatsuka Eye. Eye’s trademark vocals get manipulated with bloody abandon. Some of them even make for the noisiest moments of the batch. Tenko’s pieces are even more eclectic. I wish more of the album was like this.

Bottom line, while the concept of “Sampling Virus” is pretty cool and there are some highlights, I feel like Otomo was punching under his weight here. The fact that the album DOES work quite well as a shuffle-ready effort is more gravy than anything else. Gescom would achieve better results with the concept on their “Minidisc” project years later.