Aurora (Susumu Hirasawa album)

AURORA
Studio album by Susumu Hirasawa
Released	February 25, 1994 (1994-02-25)
Recorded	EGGS SHEP STUDIO, Oshino, Minamitsuru, Yamanashi KEY-STONE STUDIO, Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo WIRESELF STUDIO, Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo
Genre	Electronica Experimental Progressive rock Symphonic rock Ambient
Length	60:11
Label	Polydor K.K.
Producer	Susumu Hirasawa Yūichi Kenjo
Susumu Hirasawa chronology
Virtual Rabbit (1991) AURORA (1994) Sim City (1995)

AURORA is Susumu Hirasawa's fourth solo album. The album introduces a new, deeper type of sound, Hirasawa has said that it can be considered his second solo debut.

Overview

After releasing, promoting and touring Virtual Rabbit in 1991, Susumu Hirasawa focused on his work with the "Defrosted" P-MODEL lineup for 2 years. Hirasawa's solo output slowed down during this period, focusing mainly on soundtrack work, the occasional producer/guitarist guest spot for his associates, and few live performances, mostly on special events and festivals. Hirasawa performed two solo shows in 1993, the first one at the "ERROR OF INFORMATION Wait" (ERROR OF INFORMATION 待機, ERROR OF INFORMATION Taiki) show were P-MODEL underwent "kono ato revisION...", where Hirasawa performed 2 songs from this album: "Fire Drill", which would later turn out to be "SONG OF THE FORCE", and "LOVE SONG"; at the "I3DAYS'93" festival, Hirasawa performed 4 songs from this album: The aforementioned "LOVE SONG", the title track, "TAKE THE WHEEL" and "SNOW BLIND".^[1]

This album was created with Hirasawa ridding himself of the framework built through his first three solo albums and focusing on evoking a primordial landscape to the listener by simulating certain universal elements, having a greater emphasis on song over sound and no guest musicians, being more reflexive, thoughtful and subdued than previous works, although it builds up on Hirasawa's previous work on his solo career (most noticeably Virtual Rabbit) and on big body. Instead of mixing and experimenting different styles, Hirasawa uses a symphonic style with emphasis on vocals and melody; it has songs with multiple parts, and is one of Hirasawa's longest albums; unlike Hirasawa's previous albums, this one doesn't have a story, due to Hirasawa's emphasis on song over sound.

AURORA employs the production techniques developed on P-MODEL and big body. For the arrangements, Hirasawa used an array of mostly MIDI-compatible equipment, with roles divided between everything. A Proteus/2 and an Akai S1100 did strings (the Proteus/2 was also used for percussion and the S1100 for voice sampling); a Korg M1 did brass, basslines and piano parts; a Roland JD-800 did modulation; a Roland R-8 (equipped with a SN-R8-10 - "Dance" PCM ROM sound card) did rhythms with the S1100. The computer program "Bars & Pipes Professional" (running on an Amiga 2500) was used to do the "Tangerine Delay" effect (named so after Tangerine Dream) and to sequence the MIDI in real time.^[2]

The album's booklet is adorned with Buddhist imagery, advertisements used the phrase "The Greatest Music of All" (至高の音楽, Shikou no Ongaku).^[3]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Susumu Hirasawa. 

Track information

STONE GARDEN

The song's lyrics draw comparisons to St. Elmo's fire. This is the first song in the album to feature Hirasawa playing guitar, and the only one to feature electric guitar.

• A live version played on the First Act of the HIRASAWA error ENGINE - Hirasawa Three Acts in Three Hours show (with Kenji Konishi on synths) was included in the HIRASAWA error ENGINE - Hirasawa Three Acts in Three Hours～Upper video.

LOVE SONG

Hirasawa has said that the song is about children on the battlefield. The song's stanzas start with sounds emphasized by Hirasawa while singing, following a slight pattern.^[4]

• Has a Promotional Video, with CG models made on an AMIGA by Hirasawa of a staircase structure and a humanoid, similar to the one on the cover of big body (although this model does not feature a grid-like pattern on his body), doing various motions, such as walking while changing gender (this animation was later used by Hirasawa on the INTERACTIVE LIVE SHOW SIM CITY TOUR), the video also features random bits of footage (fire, nature, buildings, photographs taken during wars) and slow-motion footage of Hirasawa doing what appears to be singing while looking to the side.
• Live versions were included in the HIRASAWA error ENGINE - Hirasawa Three Acts in Three Hours～Upper, SIM CITY TOUR and Unreal Soprano - INTERACTIVE LIVE SHOW Vol.5 ~ SIREN videos.
• An arrangement of this song was as used by Hirasawa as Background Music to the SONKYO animation included on the PHOTON-3 VHS.
• A special arrangement of the song was performed on the Adios Jay INTERACTIVE LIVE SHOW.
• Remade in 2003 in the style of the BLUE LIMBO album as Love Song [Year 2003 Version]; this version was released by Hirasawa for free (as part of Songs Against the Carnage) to be used as a tool to protest the carnage being committed as the American response after the September 11, 2001 attack.^[5] Hirasawa remade this version as LOVE SONG 2003 Type-A2; this version incorporates the bagpipes section from the song EARTH from the Legendary Wind Sword BERSERK Original Soundtrack; this version was included in the nano-duplication memorials MP3 release; a version made for the Interactive Live Show 2003 LIMBO-54 was played on all shows, with the fourth and last one being released is the Interactive Live Show 2003 LIMBO-54 video.

AURORA

The sampled snare roll that opens the song was performed by P-MODEL drummer Yasuhiro Araki for the album ONE PATTERN.^[2]

• A live version played on the Second Act of the HIRASAWA error ENGINE - Hirasawa Three Acts in Three Hours show was included in the HIRASAWA error ENGINE - Hirasawa Three Acts in Three Hours～Upper video; a version played on the INTERACTIVE LIVE SHOW SIM CITY TOUR on 6 September 1995 at the Shibuya Public Hall was released on the SIM CITY TOUR video.
• Used as the ending theme to Hirasawa's Techno Experimental Workshop radio series.
• Remixed by Hirasawa in the P-MODEL style for the SOLAR RAY album as AURORA 2.
• Hirasawa remixed the song again, in the style of his Byakkoya - White Tiger Field album, for his INTERACTIVE LIVE SHOW 2006 「LIVE Byakkoya」 as AURORA 3; this version was included in the concert's video release (using the recording from the second performance of 「LIVE Byakkoya」) and the LIVE Byakkoya - White Tiger Field Memorial Package MP3 release; another live version, performed at Hirasawa's PHONON2550 tour at the LIQUIDROOM ebisu live house was included in the PHONON 2550 VISION video.
• Rejected from the voting polls of the "The Aggregated Past KANGENSHUGI 8760 HOURS" project by Hirasawa due to the AURORA 3 version of the song featuring heavy use of strings.

SONG OF THE FORCE

• A live version, performed on the PHONON2553 concert, released on the PHONON 2553 VISION video.

TAKE THE WHEEL

Hirasawa uses Italian/Neapolitan terms in the lyrics of this song ("Amore mio" and "’O sole mio"); he also references the butterfly effect and the hourai talismans.^[6]

• Live versions were included in the HIRASAWA error ENGINE - Hirasawa Three Acts in Three Hours～Lower, SIM CITY TOUR and PHONON 2555 VISION videos, where train whistle sounds were implement during the violin-led bridge.
• Used as the basis, musically, but not lyrically, of the song BERSERK -Forces- from the Legendary Wind Sword BERSERK Original Soundtrack.

SNOW BLIND

Uses vocals from the P-MODEL song OH MAMA! from the album ONE PATTERN played backwards in its beginning. The lyrics mention "a blizzard giant"; this is a reference to Blizzard, a series of AMIGA accelerator boards designed by Phase5.^[7] This song has multiple parts, heavily uses repetition and mentions Buddhist themes.

• A live version, performed in the Second Act of the HIRASAWA error ENGINE - Hirasawa Three Acts in Three Hours show was included in the HIRASAWA error ENGINE - Hirasawa Three Acts in Three Hours～Upper video.

THE DOUBLE OF WIND

Features constant repetition of the word "Abracadabra", verbs in their infinitive forms and possibly has Buddhist themes.

• A live version, performed in the Second Act of the HIRASAWA error ENGINE - Hirasawa Three Acts in Three Hours show was included in the HIRASAWA error ENGINE - Hirasawa Three Acts in Three Hours～Upper video.

IN THE SQUARE

This is the second and last song in the album to feature Hirasawa playing guitar, and the only one to feature acoustic guitar; it also has an abrupt end.

• Remixed by Hirasawa in the P-MODEL style for the SOLAR RAY album as IN THE SQUARE 2; the song's inclusion marks AURORA as the only album to have more than 1 song remixed for SOLAR RAY (although Hirasawa did release an instrumental remix of ELECTRIC LIGHT BATH from the SIREN album on his website and played various non-SOLAR RAY songs in the Hirasawa Energy Works - Solar Live LIVE SOLAR RAY concerts in their original forms).
• Part of the song was incorporated in the Kangen Shugi version of GOES ON GHOST from the Totsu-Gen-Hen-I album.

ISLAND DOOR (PARANESIAN CIRCLE)

Hirasawa's longest solo composition (his longest song overall is the Experimental piece "Deranged Door", by Mandrake, a band created by Hirasawa; although "Parallel Motives II", a remix of "Parallel Motives" by Hans-Joachim Roedelius, David Bickley and Alex Paterson, is longer than both "ISLAND DOOR" and "Deranged Door"); it's a tribute piece to/created trying to imitate the style of Tangerine Dream. It's the only song on the album that can only be bought digitally if the entire album is purchased. The song's lyrics reference the Primera and The Peach Blossom Spring.

• Played on the 39th and last broadcast of Hirasawa's Techno Experimental Workshop series in the 31st of March 1995, where it took up almost half of the programme's running time.
• A live version of the song was included in the making of tokyo paranesian video; with added Drums and Bass sections (played by Hirasawa's Live Band members Wataru Kamiryo and Toshihiko "BOB" Takahashi); unlike other songs in the video, Hirasawa plays synthesizer instead of guitar (although Takanori "TAKA" Yamaguchi, Hirasawa's Live Band keyboardist, continued to play keyboard); in this version, a verse of the song is skipped and Hirasawa made images in the projection screen with a flashlight, while space sounds were played; nature footage is played in the projection screen during the early parts of the song, other footage played on the screen during the latter parts of the song includes fire, rotating circles and a Mandala.
• Remade in a symphonic, orchestral, string-oriented style as part of "The Aggregated Past KANGENSHUGI 8760 HOURS" project, this version was released on the Hen-Gen-Ji-Zai album, where Hirasawa reduced the song's running time to 9 minutes and 40 seconds, performed it in a slower tempo and drastically altered the melody of the intermezzo, he also used an acoustic guitar with special tuning on this song (which he also used on the remake of "Dreaming Machine" from The Ghost in Science) due to it being difficult for him to play with standard tuning;^[8] this song took Hirasawa more than 3 weeks to recreate, while other songs were remade, in average, in 1 week; this version of the song had 3 sketches released by Hirasawa on the Kangen Shugi website as he worked on it; a live performance of this version by Hirasawa was included in the Tokyo I-jigen Kudou video; in this performance, Hirasawa sung the last part of the song using a microphone stand instead of his usual headset microphone, this instance was used as the release's cover.

RINGING BELL

Uses more electronic sounds than most songs in the album, it's also the only track to feature analog synth; it references the Orochi.

Personnel

• Susumu Hirasawa - Vocals, Guitar (Electric Talbo and Acoustic Yairi), Synthesizer (Korg MS-20, Korg M1, Roland JD-800, Proteus/2), Sampler (Akai S1100), Drum machine (Roland R-8 with DANCE card), Amiga (2500), Sequencer (Bars&Pipes Professional), Computer programming/Programming, Production
• Yūichi Kenjo - Production (Executive)
• Masanori Chinzei - Engineering

Release history

• "LOVE SONG", "AURORA", "SONG OF THE FORCE" and "SNOW BLIND" were included in the "NEW SONGS FROM AURORA" promotional CD.
• "LOVE SONG", "AURORA" and "IN THE SQUARE" were included on the Archetype | 1989-1995 Polydor years of Hirasawa compilation.

Interactive Live Show

AURORA TOUR 1994 INTERACTIVE LIVE The Aurora Legend (AURORA TOUR 1994 INTERACTIVE LIVE オーロラ伝説, AURORA TOUR 1994 INTERACTIVE LIVE Ōrora Densetsu) was the first Interactive Live Show played by Hirasawa; his Interactive Live Shows have stories and allow the audience to choose where the stories will go during certain "Hot Points" that occur in between songs, always tied to Hirasawa's newest main solo album. The story follows the information-warrior Hirasawa (ヒラサワ) and his journey to save the Aurora Princess (オーロラ姫, Ōrora Hime), who governed the operations of a world that transcends time, from Binary Descartes (バイナリー・デカルト, Bainarī Dekaruto), whose capturing of the Aurora Princess caused her world to fall into ruin.^[10]

Hirasawa performed all shows solo, with the exception of certain Hot Points that featured Jun Togawa playing the role of the Mother of Navajo (マザー･オブ･ナバホ, Mazā obu Nabaho) (Togawa also sang backing vocals through "video phone" on "Clear Mountain Top" and "Cowboy and Indian" and came on stage during encores for "Haldyn Hotel" and "Cowboy and Indian"); song sequences were played using customized Amiga programs, while Hirasawa sang, played guitar (two Talbos, one of them golden, and two black acoustic Yairi Guitars) & synth (a Roland JD-800), and operated the "Tubular Hertz", a device consisting of a pipe organ-like structure connected to a synthesizer keyboard (a Casio FZ-1) that could play (and hold down) notes by pulling the iron tubes. A screen separated Hirasawa from the audience, and CG animation and text was played through it; during the Hot Points, the screen would display two doors, the audience would then choose which one to open by passing around a spherical "Balloon Sensor", an inflatable balloon connected to a sampler, that would play samples when touched, the audience would then open the door by moving the balloon under one of the doors.

The songs, CG and sensor were controlled using the Amiga authoring system SCALA (in 1992, Hirasawa experimented with Amiga through the Hi-Res show, were songs and movies were controlled by one Amiga running the authoring system ShowMaker), various Amigas and 20 operators were necessary to run the show.

Unlike later concerts, this one was not officially recorded, however, photographs were taken (and later included in the "Music Industrial Wastes" book) and bootleg recordings were made, four of these photographs and samples of a recording were released on the Kangen Shugi website.^[11]

Besides playing songs from AURORA, Hirasawa also played songs from his first three solo albums (Water in Time and Space, The Ghost in Science and Virtual Rabbit) and "Frozen Beach'94", a new version of "Frozen Beach" that, while it retained the lyrics of earlier versions, it had different music, a new version of "YOHKO Mitsurugi" from Detonator Orgun 1; a different version of this arrangement, simply titled "FROZEN BEACH", was released a year later on the SCUBA RECYCLE album. Hirasawa also played two other iterations of the INTERACTIVE LIVE SHOW in 1994: TOKYO Paranesian (TOKYOパラネシアン, TOKYO Paraneshian), which featured a full backing band and was the first INTERACTIVE LIVE SHOW to have a video release, and the one show only Adios Jay (performed at the "I3 DAYS'94" festival with drummer Wataru Kamiryo), made in dedication to the then recently deceased "Father of the Amiga", Jay Miner.

References

External links

• AURORA at NO ROOM - The official site of Susumu Hirasawa (P-MODEL)
• AURORA at MusicBrainz (list of releases)
• AURORA at iTunes Japan
• AURORA at amazon.co.jp