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Protocol A

I first spotted the electronic composer/musician Kiyoshi Izumi's name in the credits of OOIOO's album Feather Float. Since then I've heard a fair bit of his varied & intriguing output on-line, but Protocol A from 2004 is the only album of his I own. As far as I know, an  EP (Effect Rainbow) on the Rephlex label has been the only music of his released outside of Japan. From the information on Discogs it seems he's still active, having released a quaduple CD under his own name in 2016; and albums under the aliases of 'aSymMedley' and 'Miraigamill' in 2011 and 2019 respectively.

I've no idea what intentions lie behind this music, but the track titles, given in a sort of cyberpunk English - 'Code Vortex', 'Strata Sensys', 'Graflicker', etc. - have perhaps influenced my perception of it as urban rather than pastoral; nocturnal rathar than sunlit; a music of experience rather than of innocence. There are some jazz-like flavours in the mix: some of the bass sounds like plucked upright bass (is it sampled? is it synthesized? again, I don't know); and some tracks feature piano or vibraphone (or simulacra of the same). Barring brief snippets of sampled voices, there are no vocals. The mood strikes me as somewhat downcast; the colours muted.

My knowledge of electronic music is limited enough, that, when I say I've never heard anything else quite like this album, it doesn't necessarily mean very much. I don't quite love it, but it never fails to intrigue & impress when I play it.



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