Hiroshi Yoshimura

𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙔𝙤𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙖’𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙠𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙮ō 𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙠𝙪 𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚 ‘𝙂𝙍𝙀𝙀𝙉’, ‘𝙎𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙’ 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚, 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙨𝙮𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨, 𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙢𝙗𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮, ‘𝙎𝘼𝙒 𝙄𝙄’-𝙨𝙩𝙮𝙡𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙙𝙨. 𝙎𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘.

‘Surround’ was originally released in early 1986 and recorded as a commission from Misawa Homes, a housing developer who wanted a fitting soundtrack for their newly-built housing units. Listening in this context it’s easy to hear how the delicate sounds might hang on the empty walls or provide warmth to uncarpeted floors; Yoshimura’s light touch adds an uncluttered sense of whimsy to a dry space, complementing its reflections with twinkling synthetic bells and pattering rhythmic clusters. In his original liner notes, the composer noted that he imagined the music as “the vibration of footsteps. the hum of an air conditioner, or the clanging of the spoon inside a coffee cup,” and we can hear the intention clearly. His sounds don’t jerk or jolt, they caress and remind us of the day’s quieter, more serene sequences. He suggests that a final element to the listening experience might be “the addition of city noise from outside the window,” but doesn’t attempt to shoehorn these sounds in himself with field recordings. The album is modular in this way; our own private environmental soundtrack is the missing piece, and it renders differently different wherever or whenever we might play it.