The Ghost in Science

The Ghost in Science
Studio album by Susumu Hirasawa
Released May 25, 1990
Recorded
Genre
Length 44:22
Label Polydor K.K.
Producer Akiro "Kamio" Arishima
Susumu Hirasawa & Yūichi Kenjo (Executive Co-Producers)
Susumu Hirasawa chronology

Water in Time and Space
(1989)		 The Ghost in Science
(1990)		 Virtual Rabbit
(1991)
Singles from The Ghost in Science
  1. "World Turbine"
    Released: May 25, 1990

The Ghost In Science (サイエンスの幽霊 Saiensu no Yūrei) is Susumu Hirasawa's second album. It is the second part of a trilogy, with Water in Time and Space being the first part and Virtual Rabbit being the third.

Overview

A month after the release of Water in Time and Space, Octave, the management office that Hirasawa had created 10 years earlier to self-manage his band P-MODEL, was dissolved. Hirasawa then signed with I3 Promotion (アイスリー・プロモーション AiSuri Puromōshon), which had also signed with Jun Togawa and Kazutoki Umezu, who appear in this album; Hirasawa would later retribute their appearances by appearing in their albums. From then until Hirasawa's departure from the company, every single release of his would have an I3 Promotion employee as "executive producer" (most of the time it was Yūichi Kenjo (見城裕一)), who was often present during recording sessions (Hirasawa would occasionally rope in his producer when a song needed a large choral backing). The recording sessions were filmed, and an advertisement (intercutting various clips of the recording session) aired on TV.

The Ghost in Science goes in the same style as its previous and following albums (mix and experimentation of various different music styles), although it has a more whimsical feel than the others. The album is marked by a futuristic thematic, and glimpses seemingly contradictory concepts; Hirasawa accompanied the overall concept by making the album with a more electronic sound than the others of the trilogy, he also reduced the guest participation which, while having more guest personnel on the album, they are mostly present in large ensembles and have reduced roles. Most of the album's songs are in the fast-paced, rapid-fire style similar to the style of P-MODEL. Through this, Hirasawa painted an image of himself as a mad scientist.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Susumu Hirasawa, except "Fish Song" with music by Hirasawa & Akiro "Kamio" Arishima and string arrangement by Hirasawa & Kayo "Kokubo" Matsumoto. 

No. Title Length
1. "World Turbine (世界タービン Sekai Tābin)"   4:03
2. "Rocket (ロケット Roketto)"   3:31
3. "Fish Song (フィッシュ・ソング Fisshu Songu)"   6:06
4. "Cowboy and Indian (カウボーイとインディアン Kaubōi to Indian)"   2:50
5. "QUIT"   6:50
6. "Amor Buffer (アモール・バッファー Amōru Baffā)" (instrumental) 1:29
7. "Dreaming Machine (夢みる機械 Yume Miru Kikai)"   3:24
8. "Techno Girl (テクノの娘 Tekuno no Musume)"   3:47
9. "FGG"   2:22

Track information

World Turbine

The only single from this album and the first Susumu Hirasawa solo single; the song opens with the chanting of the Old Korean phrase "Ring the jing once and play Daechwita" (Hangul: 명금일하대취타; hanja: 鳴金一下大吹打; RR: Myeonggeum Il-ha Daechwita; MR: Myŏnggŭm Ir-ha Taech'wit'a (Japanese: ミョングミラデツィタ Hepburn: Myongumira Detsita)), used in its original context to mark the beginning of a procession.[1] The chant first appeared on Fukō Project's "Fukō Sono Ni" (unreleased at the time, later on How about FUKO?), a correspondence experiment with 4-D's Kenji Konishi, who owns the source recording of the phrase and included it in the Fukō track. A Promotional Video was shot for the song, it features a mix of surreal imagery and 3D models made on an Amiga, Hirasawa appears through the video by chroma key, dressed with the costume used on the album's cover, while doing an action or holding an object, such as a light bulb (which at times is lit and at times it isn't), a fish (held as if it was a telephone) and a model car (Hirasawa used to collect model cars when younger because he liked their paint[2]), the Computer Graphics used in the music video were included in the PHOTON-2 video under the title "Wireframes & 2Dimensional effects".

Rocket

A song with Andean stylings, it features choral backing, with people who were present in the recording session. Jun Togawa's vocals were recorded alone, while the other backing vocalists recorded together.

Fish Song

A re-recording of the P-MODEL song of the same name from the SCUBA album/cassette book. This was one of the P-MODEL songs that Hirasawa would play in his solo shows in 1989. Its one of the longer, slower tracks in the otherwise fast-paced album, having a calm, grandiose feel (also in contrast to the original, frenzied recording). The version on this album has a fuller arrangement: A new section performed entirely on string instruments opens the song, the original's synth-strings melody lines are performed here with string instruments, except for the lead riff, here played with a synth-flute sound. The original drum machine pattern is reproduced with live drums, and Hirasawa's vocals are double-tracked in the pre-chorus.

Cowboy and Indian

Follows the tradition of Hirasawa including Western-styled compositions on his first album trilogy; following Coyote on Water in Time and Space and followed by Hawk In My Heart, Don't Take The Moon Away [Planet Eagle] on Virtual Rabbit.

QUIT

A slow-paced track, punctuated by a conversation between an Old Man (actor Mamoru Kikuchi, who was "Dr. Ochanomizu" in Astro Boy) and a Dreaming Machine (The Amiga program "Say"). Ends with the intro of Haldyn Hotel from Hirasawa's Water in Time and Space album, Hirasawa would later do a similar technique with the song Parade from his Byakkoya - White Tiger Field and Paprika albums, using the song MONSTER A GO GO from the unreleased P-MODEL album MONSTER. The Old Man and the Dreaming Machine reappear on the song Please Push "UNDO" Key on the Virtual Rabbit album. Its one of the longer, slower tracks in the otherwise fast-paced album. It has generally been used in Hirasawa's shows (when it is played) as the last song before the encore(s).

Amor Buffer

An instrumental sound collage, similar to the percussion on the Water in Time and Space album and Immortal Man from the Virtual Rabbit album. The song is based around guitar and percussion sounds with occasional whistling and coughing.

Dreaming Machine

The lyrics of the song mention Topaz, the default Workbench font, at an unusual font size of 18, when the standard for Topaz is 8.

Techno Girl

An orchestral number backed by an electronic beat, similar to the songs of Technique of Relief. The disorganized arrangement of the song displeased the members of the string section that performed on it, who found it difficult to perform. Hirasawa ended up laughing at the situation, but later apologized after some members reportedly cried.

FGG

A short, slow-paced, soothing composition.

Personnel

Release history

Date Label(s) Format Catalog Notes
May 25, 1990 Polydor K.K. CD POCH-1009
July 1, 2005 Universal Music Japan, Universal Sigma Digital Download none
February 29, 2012 Chaos Union, Teslakite CD CHTE-0055 Remastered by Masanori Chinzei. Disc 2 of the HALDYN DOME box set.
September 24, 2014 Universal Music Japan SHM-CD UPCY-6910 Part of Universal's "Project Archetype" (supervised by Osamu Takeuchi & Kasiko Takahasi). Remastered by Kenji Yoshino (supervised by Chinzei) with both original liner notes and new ones.[9]

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ "リボルテックQGアリス、北斗無双発売記念 夏休みtwitterキャンペーン！". HOBBY STOCK. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  3. ↑ Hirasawa, Susumu. "「夢見る機械」スケッチ 1". The Aggregated Past KANGENSHUGI 8760 HOURS. Chaos Union.
  4. ↑ Hirasawa, Susumu. "「夢見る機械」スケッチ 2". The Aggregated Past KANGENSHUGI 8760 HOURS. Chaos Union.
  5. ↑ Hirasawa, Susumu. "「夢見る機械」スケッチ 3". The Aggregated Past KANGENSHUGI 8760 HOURS. Chaos Union.
  6. ↑ Hirasawa, Susumu. "「夢見る機械」スケッチ 4". The Aggregated Past KANGENSHUGI 8760 HOURS. Chaos Union.
  7. ↑ Hirasawa, Susumu. "「夢見る機械」スケッチ 5". The Aggregated Past KANGENSHUGI 8760 HOURS. Chaos Union.
  8. ↑ Hirasawa confesses about what he calls "transgressive tuning" of his acoustic guitar Susumu Hirasawa on Twitter. 20 January 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  9. ↑ Takeuchi, Osamu. "wilsonic works 41". wilsonic journal. Retrieved 15 November 2014.

External links