So, what are we talking about here? A challenging review task, for a start. Why? Because ‘Stories’ is the first vibraphone solo album by Berlin-based Japanese artist Masayoshi Fujita, best known under his alter ego el fog, and for his internationally acclaimed collaboration Bird, Lake, Objects with Jan Jelinek.
I have to confess I’m unfamiliar with both Masayoshi Fujita and el fog, and while I’ve nothing against the vibraphone I am, at best, indifferent toward it. That said, while I’m a fan of guitars, I’m not big on guitar solos, and find that most instruments need something else with them in order to really achieve optimal impact.
In this sense, ‘Stories’ is a surprising album. It’s tranquil and mellow, the gentle chiming tones resonate in the air to create an atmosphere in which tension dissipates and the listener is transported to a calm, peaceful place without thinking ‘this could use some drums and some washes of synth... and maybe some guitar and vocals’. Similarly, I never once thought ‘some strings are what’s missing here’, although that could be because subtle strings augment the arrangement of ‘Story of Forest’ to good effect.
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The rest of the album sees Fujita find myriad ways of utilising the vibraphone to create an array of different sounds and sensations. The narrative might not readily present itself in these particular stories, but here, it’s all in the telling.
Masayoshi Fujita Online
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