Aurora (Susumu Hirasawa album)

Aurora
Studio album by Susumu Hirasawa
Released	February 25, 1994 (1994-2-25)
Recorded	1993
Studio	Various Eggs Shep Studio, Oshino, Minamitsuru, Yamanashi Key-Stone Studio, Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo Wireself Studio, Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo Onkio Haus (mast.), Ginza, Chūō, Tokyo
Genre	Ambient electronica new-age orchestral progressive
Length	60:11
Label	Polydor K.K.
Producer	Susumu Hirasawa Yūichi Kenjo (co.) Hitoshi Maeda (exec.)
Susumu Hirasawa chronology
Virtual Rabbit (1991) Aurora (1994) Sim City (1995)

Aurora is Susumu Hirasawa's fourth solo album.

Overview

His first main solo album in three years following a period where focus was directed on the Defrosted P-Model, Aurora, which Hirasawa has said can be considered a second solo debut, ^[1] is a turning point in his career. Unlike the previous solo albums, Aurora doesn't feature guest musicians, with almost all instrumentation handled by MIDI-compatible devices. ^[2] The music was composed with the Amiga The Blue Ribbon SoundWorks programs Bars & Pipes Professional, which he started using for "more natural orchestration", ^[3] and SuperJAM!, ^[4] whose "Bartok" style he modified by inputting data from his own songs, irreversibly turning its patterns and variations into "Hirasawa" style ones. ^[5]

Aurora was created to appeal to the instinctual side of the listener as opposed to the logical, in likeness to tales and myths, ^[6] emphasizing vocals and melody. The songs were written so that the album would lack any inherent story or concept, inviting the listener to create their own reading. ^[3] However, as he wrote the lyrics out, seven of the album's ten songs ended up having to do with "you" (キミ, kimi), which accidentally created undertones of a story about two people. Hirasawa wanted to avoid that if at all possible, but felt that was just the way the language worked and left it as is. ^[3] Many words representing natural phenomena were included in an attempt to resolve complaints about the lyrics being opaque. Hirasawa chose words that were easy to understand and had a large impact, the word Aurora came from this decision as well. ^[3]

The album's booklet is adorned with Buddhist imagery. Advertisements for Aurora used the phrase "The Greatest Music of All" (至高の音楽, Shikou no Ongaku). ^[7]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Susumu Hirasawa

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Stone Garden" (石の庭Ishi no Niwa)	6:02
2.	"Love Song"	7:02
3.	"Aurora" (オーロラŌrora)	4:17
4.	"Song of the Force" (力の唄Chikara no Uta)	5:28
5.	"Take the Wheel" (舵をとれKaji wo Tore)	4:32
6.	"Snow Blind" (スノーブラインドSunōburaindo)	6:40
7.	"The Double of Wind" (風の分身Kaze no Bunshin)	4:51
8.	"In the Square" (広場でHiroba de)	4:34
9.	"Island Door (Paranesian Circle)" (トビラ島 (パラネシアン・サークル)Tobira Shima (Paraneshian Sākuru))	13:29
10.	"Ringing Bell" (呼んでるベルYonderu Beru)	2:57

• The official translations of the titles of the songs are stylized in all uppercase letters.
• "Snow Blind" contains a sample of "Oh Mama!" by P-Model, from the album One Pattern .

Personnel

• Susumu Hirasawa - vocals, electric guitar (Talbo), acoustic guitar (Yairi), synthesizers (E-mu Proteus/2, Korg MS-20, Korg M1R, Roland JD-800), sampler (Akai S1100), drum machine (Roland R-8 with DANCE card), Amiga (2500), sequencer (Bars&Pipes Professional), programming, production ^[2]

technical

• Masanori Chinzei - recording, mixing
• Motohiro Yamada (Eggs Shep Studio), Harumi Ōta (MIX), Tsutomu Okada (MIX) - assistant engineering
• Masao Nakazato (Onkio Haus) - mastering

visuals

• Kiyoshi Inagaki (d.d.t.) - art direction, design
• Hideki Namai - photography
• Akemi Tsujitani - styling
• Kazunori Yoshida - hair & make-up

operations

• Roppei Iwagami (Pre-Octave) - publishing
• I₃ Promotion
  • Yūichi Kenjo - co-production
  • Masami Fujii - publicity coordination
  • Koosuke Mogi - artist management
  • Takeshi Fujita - personal management
• Polydor K.K.
  • Osamu Takeuchi - direction
  • Tomohide Ishikawa - A&R chief
  • Hitoshi Maeda - executive production

Thanks

• Gallery LS for Mandala (スーナムギャムフォ), Fernandes

Release history

Date	Label(s)	Format	Catalog	Notes
February 25, 1994 (1994-2-25)	Polydor K.K.	CD	POCH-1328
July 1, 2005 (2005-7-1)	Universal Music Japan, Universal Sigma	Digital Download	none
February 29, 2012 (2012-2-29)	Chaos Union, Teslakite	CD	CHTE-0057	Remastered by Masanori Chinzei. Disc 4 of the HALDYN DOME box set.
November 5, 2014 (2014-11-5)	Universal Music Japan	SHM-CD	UPCY-6930	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. [8]

• "Love Song", "Aurora", "Song of the Force" and "Snow Blind" are included in the NEW SONGS FROM AURORA promotional sampler.
• "Love Song", "Aurora" and "In the Square" are included on the Archetype | 1989-1995 Polydor years of Hirasawa compilation.
• "Island Door (Paranesian Circle)" is included in the vinyl release of the Ruiner Original Soundtrack.

References

1. Hirasawa, Susumu (2012). "Disc 01－07". Haldyn Dome (PDF file included on Data Disc) (in Japanese). Chaos Union, TESLAKITE. p. 37. CHTE-0057.
2. アーティスト研究 平沢進[Artist Study － Susumu Hirasawa]. Sound & Recording Magazine (in Japanese). Vol. 4. Rittor Music. April 1994. ISSN   1344-6398.
3. Takahasi, Kasiko (2010) [1999]. 改訂DIGITAL復刻版 音楽産業廃棄物[Music Industrial Wastes Rev.2.4] (PDF) (in Japanese). Vol. Hirasawa Side — 卓上のウロボロス [Desktop Ouroboros] (3rd ed.). Fascination. p. 21.
4. "平沢進 - "舵をとれ" / Hirasawa Susumu - "Take the Wheel"". 音の帯〜Phonon Belt.
5. "Interview 平沢進". Keyboard Magazine (in Japanese). Vol. 10. Rittor Music. October 1998. ISSN   1344-6371.
6. Inoue, Takako (March 1994). 目を閉じて犬になり、雲になり・・・・・・ [Close Your Eyes, Then You Become a Dog, or Cloud......]. Rockin' on Japan (in Japanese). Vol. 82. Rockin' on Inc. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
7. "Ad for the release of Aurora". Hirasawa Lyrics.
8. Takeuchi, Osamu. "wilsonic works 41". wilsonic journal. Retrieved 15 November 2014.

External links

• AURORA at MusicBrainz (list of releases)
• AURORA at iTunes Japan
• AURORA at amazon.co.jp