Shugo Tokumaru - EXIT

Shugo Tokumaru's EXIT is a cheerfully unique release. It takes listeners on a journey with music, telling a story with sound. Far from run of the mill, it offers up something charmingly different. Like a fairy tale of tick-tocks, bells, whistles, clinks and the turning of gears, this U.S. release is a feast for the ears.

EXIT opens with the airy PARACHUTE, which breezes along at a very pleasant pace and conjures up images of the hustle and bustle of some imaginary land's busy population. It couldn't be a better way to start off this magical release. GREEN RAIN is like listening to the sounds of a festival from outside the festival gates. At first bubbly and fantastical like rain drops splashing into mud puddles and the appearance of hundreds of umbrellas as people shelter themselves from the downpour, the track slows down to a lusciously lazy pace before the music picks back up to happily skip the listener along to the end.

While the beginning of CLOCCA is a bit cacophonous, it is a joyous noise, all of the sounds lending the track a bit of a clockwork feel, the gears turning and clicking in sync to bring everything together. It's the kind of song that, though it seems to end almost as quickly as it begins, makes you want to clap your hands along with the music. The completely instrumental FUTURE UMBRELLA is a delightful break between the other tracks. It's short, sweet and sounds like floating. Listeners could simply close their eyes and imagine the ground disappearing beneath their feet as they soar ever higher.

BUTTON is a favorite and the perfect meeting place between the first half of the release and the last. The clinking of spoons stirring sugar into glasses of iced tea on a sultry summer day is the image conjured up by this deliciously eccentric track. Delicate chimes, taps and clicks abound and Shugo's sweetly sleepy vocals heighten the song’s already whimsical sounds.

Following BUTTON, SANGANICHI has a hard time measuring up. Short and soothing, it is a nice listen, but doesn’t radiate the same magic that other tracks on the release do. Shorter still is D.P.O.. A bit cartoonish, the lyrics jumble together with the fast paced music making it seem to end even faster.

The fantasticism returns with HIDAMARI, which incorporates the serene sounds of traditional Asian instruments with the decidedly fairytale qualities of Shugo Tokumaru's work. The music and vocals are dreamy and could very well accompany the gentle bend of flowers in the wind under leisurely drifting clouds, telling yet another story. LA LA RADIO also features some traditional elements. Shugo's voice blossoms out of the peaceful sounds in this airy follow up to HIDAMARI. While the distinctly Asian sounds continue throughout, they take a backseat to newly introduced sounds toward the middle, where the rhythm picks up. Becoming rather exhilarating as it nears the end, it might just leave listeners with a certain sense of euphoria.

WEDDING starts out sounding like whispered secrets, sweet and quiet and carried on a breeze. However, it soon turns into something completely different, the cheerful thrumming of strings upping the pace of the track and quickly closing out the release.

Shogu Tokumaru's EXIT is difficult to describe with words commonly used to describe music. The incorporation of many different types of sounds makes the release more like a storybook of sounds rather than just another CD. Be it the clockwork feel of CLOCCA, the rushed cartoon-like vocals of D.P.O. or the dreamily drifting HIDAMARI, the release is charming and eccentric in all the right ways. EXIT is a highly recommended listen, especially if you're looking to break away from the norm, even if only for a little while.