Nujabes: World Laments the Loss
Seba Jun, or 'Nujabes,' as he was more popularly known in this backward world, was born exactly 40 years ago today, birthed by Tokyo-- taken, 2/26/10, by Tokyo--
Rewinding 7 years, Samurai Champloo introduced my ears to a dear friend, thanks in great part to his scoring approximately 1/3 of its soundtrack, spread across 4 albums: Samurai Champloo Music Record: Departure, Samurai Champloo Music Record: Impression, Samurai Champloo Music Record: Masta & Samurai Champloo Music Record: Playlist, to which he only had involvement with the former two.
Passing through aforesaid gateway led to listening to all of his discography proper, compilations and a number of B-sides and unreleased material. Modal Soul-- no words. That is to say, there are, yet I'm of the opinion that they'd fall short on a post not dedicated to it, and-- I'd like to have this published before 2/8.
Evocative, heartfelt and melodious summarize his body of work, by and large, I'd say. In stark contrast to the music, the man himself was, upon first glance, neither wide-reaching nor remarkable, though it was this very humility, in spite of his talents, that helped him transcend regional borders -- music is universal; he let it speak for itself.
Here's to your 40th, mate.
R.I.P.
Comments
Today was also J Dilla's birthday. Both of them died in the same month as well, albeit a few years apart.
I never watched Samurai Champloo, but I heard Vagrancy from its OST on Youtube and it was honestly pretty amazing. If that one track is any indication, Nujabes was quite the talented artist. I've listened to some of his other songs as well today after hearing about this elsewhere and I love the unique atmospheric tone in his music.
Also, that was a quality write up lessAFM.
Oh, yeah. Notwithstanding cursory knowledge of J Dilla as a solo record producer, I'd have fit in a birthday shout-out for him along w/, had I recalled. Good call.
Very talented gent, I'd say. His acclaim isn't lost on me, so I'll make a mental note to experience how well a stylus jibes with a donut.
'Vagrancy' was actually produced by two talented Tokyoites, KZA & DJ Kent, the outfit collectively known as Force of Nature. Their and Nujabes' styles are distinct from the other: (characteristically) percussive, tribal and sparse and keyboard/wind/string-laden, soulful and luxurious, respectively.
Alternately, 'Where is my season pass, you pricks?' is to Force of Nature as, 'What is a season pass? What is an extra $5?' is to Nujabes.
In any case, I highly recommend Nujabes, in particular: Modal Soul, Hydeout Productions 2nd Collection and Metaphorical Music. I recommend Force of Nature, too, even though I'm nowhere as 'up on' their catalogue as Seba's.
Lastly, appreciated, broham.