Long time Trapezoid favorite Makunouchi Bento is back. In one of their final acts of 2014, the Romanian duo of Felix Petrescu and Valentin Toma released a three song EP called “Lighthouse Stories” which is wonderful in many ways.
Before listening, do yourself a favor and read their description of the music. As with all things Makunouchi Bento, it’s absurd, funny, touching and mysterious all rolled into one. According to MB, the lighthouse that inspired these songs is not something built with traditional materials “but old smoking pipes…donated kindly by the sailors of Seven Seas.” What is real and what is imagined? We’ll never know and that’s part of the fun. But as much as I enjoy a good story, the music is even better.
Opening track “Mariner’s Staircase Swing” calls your attention with a loud whistle and gets right to a lot of the strange(good strange) electronic sounds I expected. Then, about a minute in, what sounds like a bass-guitar-drums jazz combo jumps in. Has Makunouchi Bento gone acoustic? Felix assures me it’s “just us two as usual and everything is carefully and heartfully programmed. No live instruments. We can’t afford that…”
“Telegrams for the Little Sea Winds” is up next and brings on the funky “drummer.” This one really swings with an infectious rhythm and guitar line. The song is further punched up with horn samples interjected about half way through the track. Just try not to bob your head while listening to this one; it’s simply fantastic. Closer “From Mortise to Tenon” meanders a bit more than the other tunes; it’s a bit more of a cinematic collage, but still retains some of the jazz elements from the other songs.
Overall, a great addition to the Makunouchi Bento discography; this lighthouse shines brightly.
So what of the small world mentioned in my title to this piece? Well, a few days before “Lighthouse Stories” was released, Kaneel released an album called “What You Hear Is What You Deserve.” I noticed among the credits it said “Mastering: Felix Petrescu (half of Makunouchi Bento).” Kaneel (actually Guillaume Richard from Paris) told me through an email conversation “…Felix has been busy coaching me (he’s doing so for a decade) and mastering the final renders, he’s a true gentleman.”
Guillaume directed me to his own website for more information about the title of this album. Reading through the lines that appear on screen and on his Bandcamp page, what I took away I would sum up as this: He who looks for the positive and he who looks for the negative both usually find it. After a three year hiatus, Kaneel seems to have ended up at a better place, turning whatever negativity he was feeling into motivation and an answer to his critics.
This album is for people who like electronic instrumental music. These tracks generally incorporate some 80’s sounding synth keyboard layered with some nice rhythms and other electronic noises. You’ll hear many styles of electronic music from over the last 3-4 decades quoted or hinted at in these nine songs.
On the downoad page the commenters tip the track “Désescalade” as their favorite. That song has some nice double bass sound at the beginning, then a slow rhythm track and keyboard are added; more electronic effects are phased into the background and the track builds to a bit of a majestic sound as the mix thickens. Two other tracks struck me, though: “À coup de poing” has an ominous synth over a sharp, punchy rhythm track. It’s one of the more agitated in this collection. “Vous piétiner” has a slow swing beat, with the heavy sounding rhythm nicely offset by some lighter keyboard and synth play.
And one final small world note: As I was poking around Kaneel’s website I noticed he had released some earlier stuff on the Canada-based netlabel Camomille, which coincidentally was the first netlabel I reviewed several years ago on this site. I guess it’s a small world after all. [My apologies if that put’s THAT song on a loop in your head.]