The Imperial Court Ensemble 
Gagaku - Ancient Japanese Court and Dance Music

★★★

Gagaku is an ancient Japanese classical form of music which has interested me for some time, but I haven't taken the time to listen to a full performance of it. I think I initially heard about it from an interview with John Zorn on some music that inspired him. After listening to this, it's pretty understandable. The unorthodox instrumentation, and sense of rhythm and melody are unlike any Western music of the time. I could also see where some people maybe like Tony Conrad or Terry Riley got some inspiration from. The thing about this release in particular though is that it's very limited. All the pieces are somewhat similar with little variance, it's especially hard to distinguish when one track has gone to the next. I do think there's better releases out there, just have to look for them



Favorite Song: Entenraku, Nokorigaku Sanben (Hyojo)

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