[Album] Hako No Niwa (SBPS-0006)

(All information courtesy of Chudah's Corner)
Hako no Niwa
Composed by:Yasunori Mitsuda
Publisher: Sleigh Bells
Catalog Number:SBPS-0006
Released: September 23, 2004

1) The Story Starts Here
2) Chikuridori
3) Scribblings
4) Careful Preparation
5) You Can See the Windmills from this Hill
6) Harape Colosseum
7) Gallery of Ice and Flame
8) A Flow of Scorching Heat
9) The Wind's Treasure Chest
10) Cactus
11) Trying My Ability
12) The Selfish Girl
13) The Small Hopes and Small Breaths of a Young Man
14) Tower of Sand
15) The Smug Gentleman
16) In Search of a Falling Star
17) Revolving Disk
18) Wagon Tracks
19) Forest of Illusion
20) A Lonely Heart and Inner Ambitions
21) Transparent Sadness
22) Invisible Toybox
23) The Flowers Dance
24) Awakening from Sleep
25) A Perpetual Recurrence
26) A Worthy Opponent's Trap
27) One Last Battle
28) Sealed Key
29) A Small Friendship
30) The Box Garden

Hako No Niwa was a startling departure for Yasunori Mitsuda in that it is an essentially lighthearted composition with a heavy emphasis on percussion instruments. The amount of creativity on display is startling as well; there's no hint of a Celtic sound or any sort of thematic material recycled from previous albums. One gets the feeling that Mitsuda had a ball writing this, and his enthusiasm is quite evident.

While he never quite abandons other orchestral elements, the percussion is the defining feature. Whether xylophone and marimba, as in "Scribblings," or the bongo and tambourine as in "Thoroughly Prepared," complex rhythm is Hako No Niwa's hallmark. The number of specialty percussion instrumets--dulcimer, tap shoes, hand claps, güiro--is amazing, and the way in which they and more traditional instruments are layered together is marvelously complex and immensely satisfying.

Most of the tracks are lighthearted swing-style tunes, often with quieter interludes, though a few are darker and more mysterious, most notably track 19, "Forest of Illusion," which uses echo effects, piano, and güiro to create an off-kilter soundscape that oozes mystery and strangeness.

Other standout tracks include the triple whammy of "The Story Starts Here," "Chikuridori," and "Scribblings," which combine the innovative percussion with light melodies and the occasional serious interlude, and "Invisible Toy Box," which uses a broken music box to create a whimsical yet unbalanced mood. "Toy box" is an excellent discriptor of the album as a whole; it's as if Mitsuda emptied his own toy box in orchestrating his composition, resulting in a wide variety of creative tracks. One of the best VGM pieces of 2004, and a delight for anyone looking for original orchestral VGM.

5/5

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