Ai Aso - The Faintest Hint (2024 Vinyl Reissue)

Limited edition LP reissue of this cult minimalist pop album by japanese singer
songwriter Ai Aso, originally released in 2020 on Ideologic Organ. Ai Aso’s immaculately crafted form of minimalist pop music skirts the
edges of tensity with the manner and with the skill of a tight rope walker, calmly balancing repeatedly at every step, with a combination
of surety and the risk of a slip, a fall, and an unknown uncoiling of events. Aso’s capacity to capture, or inspire, the tension and attention
from within the listener and observer are quite pronounced. At Aso’s concert the performance constantly teeters near the brink, a
sharpened awareness in the hall emerges from all observing, with the will of that most delicate balance. On “The Faintest Hint” she
brings a meta level to the proceedings, the dream of a singer in a bright sunlit room in the centre of the density of the society, simply
and precisely searching for single ideas, single tones, a sense of sensuality and even a dream of a grandeur (rock dream) emerge. A
stillness prevails, even a sharp set of instances of dreaming, melancholia, nostalgia… or even saudade. The album was recorded,
mixed & mastered by Soichiro Nakamura at Peace Music between 2018-2020. Atsuo and I joined these sessions as producers, and
moreso as catalysts, yet also became the skeleton of a band on the album (with the tender touch). The legendary Japanese rock band
Boris accompany Aso on two pieces. A faintest hint of sharpness and la tendresse féroce quickly erodes into a fine brief cloud of the
purest crystalline dust. Stephen O’Malley, Stockholm June 2020. Tracklist: 01. Itsumo 02. Scene 03. Gone 04. I’ll Do It My Way 05. The
Bright Room 06. Floating Rhythms 07. Move 08. Sight 09. 0805