One Pattern

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One Pattern
File:P-MODEL - ONE PATTERN.gif
Studio album by P-Model
Released June 25, 1986 (1986-06-25)
Recorded 1986
Studio
Various
Genre
Length 39:27
Label Alfa, Edge
Producer Akiro "Kamio" Arishima
P-Model chronology
Karkador
(1985)Karkador1985		 One Pattern
(1986)		 P-Model
(1992)P-Model1992
Singles from One Pattern
  1. "Another Day" c/w "Zebra"
    Released: May 1986 (promo) ALFA-134

One Pattern (stylized as ONE PATTERN) is a 1986 album by P-Model and the last before the band's "freezing" in 1988.

Background

After the end of the supporting tour for Karkador, P-Model was left without a bassist and a keyboardist; P-Model leader Susumu Hirasawa asked Teruo Nakano to join. In 1984, Nakano gave Hirasawa a demo tape of his work, impressed, Hirasawa got Nakano a job as a roadie, where Nakano worked as an instrument technician, equipment operator and driver.[1] Nakano performed live twice, filling in the bass spot on a Scuba Tour show that then bassist Tadahiko Yokogawa was unable to come to[2] and playing cymbal on Shun's only live show; he also did some creative collaborations, making a commercial jingle (released on a fanclub newsletter), performing on Shun 2nd and assisting in lyric writing of keyboardist Shunichi Miura's "D-SIDE". Hirasawa offered Nakano either spot,[1] Nakano chose bass. Hirasawa then offered Yoshikazu Takahashi the remaining spot. Takahashi had handed Hirasawa a demo tape of his at the end of a live show. Hirasawa liked it, and Room, the underground band that Takahashi was the bassist and keyboardist of, got an opening act spot on the Scuba Tour; the offer to join P-Model came as Takahashi was going through a change of creative direction.[3] With new members, P-Model took its sound to a new direction.

Production

At the time of the album's conception, digital technology was on the rise, which led to P-Model experimenting with and implementing significantly digital sounds in its work.[3] For the album, which heavily features synthetic sounds, the band used the Casio CZ-5000's built-in 8 track sequencer, as the band could not afford a standalone one. For live performances they relied on cueing by intuition and using the devices they had on hand, using rough techniques to reproduce the album's sound live.[4]

P-Model already had done digital work with keyboard before; their role expanding with this album as, besides Takahashi, Hirasawa and Nakano also played keyboards, with Casio's CZ-1 and CZ-5000 models featuring prominently. Hirasawa implemented the Ibanez X-ING IMG-2010 MIDI guitar on some songs, sometimes purposefully playing it "the wrong way" to make percussive bursts; aiming to surprise the listener with these parts, Hirasawa struggled with them, as the unreliability of the gear and constant sound output delay undermined his intent, most reactions after live shows were of amusement.[5] The basslines, which are complex, were played by Nakano on either a Talbo Bass, having a sound uniform with the electric guitar parts, or on a Casio CZ-101 keyboard, with a wider range and faster note-hitting speed (its parts where made on the recording through sequencing). Takahashi, besides playing keyboards, took to heavy usage of samplers, also using a cassette deck to play pre-recorded choral accompaniments and having a hand in engineering (Takahashi had done the audio engineering for Room's releases and would later experiment with electronic devices, building instruments for Nakano). This expanded role in both stage and studio lead him to be credited for "Systems". Araki, meanwhile, had his role in the band greatly diminished, with most of the drumming on the album handled by sequencers.

One Pattern was recorded under a strenuous schedule by a P-Model in low spirits,[6] with Hirasawa having his vision heavily interfered by various circumstances (specifically mentioning Alfa and the visual staff), and he has since called this his least favorite P-Model album.[7] Hirasawa has said that the album's title was given in desperation, and indicates how the band felt during its creation ("one pattern" is a wasei-eigo term meaning "stuck in a rut"). As the sessions drew to a close and they acquired more free time than they had for most of the recording period, producer Akiro "Kamio" Arishima, in an attempt to lift the group's mood, had them shovel the snow off the road near Lake Yamanaka for Akina Nakamori, an attractive idol from that era, who would record after they were done.[6]

One Pattern's style follows in part that of Hirasawa's work in Karkador, with Nakano as the main creative partner. Together, Hirasawa and Nakano explored varied musical styles, some of it orchestral in nature, with some classic guitar work. The overall sound of the album is dry, with the digital elements recorded in a lo-fi style, foreshadowing what was planned for the unmade Monster album and Hirasawa's first solo period, starting with Water in Time and Space (three songs from this album were played by Hirasawa in his 1989-90 shows).

Artwork

One Pattern is the last P-Model album to have Susumu Hirasawa's older brother Yūichi as art director (he would later do graphics work for video releases and return as art director for Susumu's solo p-0 Gazio Mix CD in 2013). The album features photographs themed around wiring imagery, with the cover featuring a photo of Susumu shooting strings from his fingers at a tree. In the photographs, Susumu appears wearing a large psychedelic blue & green shirt, which he used on 1986 live shows and on the "Another Day" promotional video. Magazine ads for the album featured a photo of Susumu holding the bundle of strings to his forehead. One Pattern is the first P-Model album to have been originally been released on CD, one month after the LP release, and the last to be released in Vinyl. The design of the CD release was slightly different from the LP one, with a photograph of strings touching a surface full of beads and the Visual Staff credits from the back of the sleeve omitted, and a black & white photo on the liner notes of Susumu shooting strings being absent.[8]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Susumu Hirasawa, except where noted. 

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "OH MAMA!"     3:56
2. "LICORICE LEAF"   Teruo Nakano 4:04
3. "Astro Notes"     3:31
4. "Möbius band" (メビウスの帯 Mebiusu no obi) Nakano 2:13
5. "Drums"     5:53
6. "Zebra"     4:23
7. "Oyasumi Dog" (おやすみDOG)   3:13
8. "Another Day"     3:08
9. "Harmonium" (ハーモニウム Hāmoniumu)   5:28
10. "Sunpaleets" (サンパリーツ Sanparītsu) Nakano 3:39

Personnel

P-Model - Arrangements
Guest musicians & production
  • Kayo "Kokubo" Matsumoto - "MAMA" Vocal on "OH MAMA!"
  • Suginami Junior Chorus (credited as "Suginami Jido Gassho-Dan") - "Sunpaleets" Voice
  • Akiro "Kamio" Arishima (AC Unit) - Keyboards on "Another Day", Production
  • Akitsugu Doi (Alfa Records) - Mixing, Engineering
  • Katsunori Takashima (Alfa Records) and Nobuo Namie (Freedom Studio) - Assistant Engineering
  • Mitsuharu Kobayashi (CBS-Sony) - Mastering Engineer
Staff

Release history

Date Label(s) Format Catalog Notes
June 25, 1986 (1986-06-25) Alfa Records, Edge Records LP ELR-28004
July 25, 1986 (1986-07-25) CD 32XA-79 First native CD release of a P-Model album.
February 21, 1992 (1992-02-21) ALCA-259 Released (alongside Karkador) five days before the release of P-Model.
December 21, 1994 (1994-12-21) Alfa Music, Edge Records ALCA-9135 Released (alongside Karkador) 20 days after the debut show of the "Revised" P-Model.
May 10, 2002 (2002-05-10)
July 4, 2014 (2014-07-04)		 Chaos Union, Teslakite CHTE-0010 Remastered by Hirasawa. Part of Disc 6 of the Ashu-on [Sound Subspecies] in the solar system box set, alongside demos and bootlegs of songs originally meant for inclusion on Monster and a different arrangement of Kameari Pop (from In a Model Room) made for a "One Pattern Band" show (with Kera and former members). Re-released with new packaging by Kiyoshi Inagaki.
July 25, 2007 (2007-07-25)
April 12, 2012 (2012-04-12)		 Sony Music Direct, GT Music MHCL-1137 Remastered, limited release (alongside Karkador). Packaged in a paper sleeve to replicate the original LP packaging. Re-pressing (without sticker to indicate packaging) sold only through Tower Records.
  • "Another Day" is included on the TWINS SOUND SAMPLER Vol.2～ROCK/POPS COLLECTION various artists compilation.
  • "OH MAMA!" is included on the TWINS SOUND SAMPLER Vol.4～TECHNO POP COLLECTION various artists compilation.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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