Recitation
| — n | |
| 1. | the act of reciting from memory, or a formal reading of verse before an audience. |
"Patterns connect the red-starry skies.
The shadow of an evening calm surfaces while I close my eyes.
The warmth came along and I trusted its voice.
Pile up my thoughts on exploited scenery.
The eyes sense the warmth of regrets.
Respected ambiguous words harbored.
The sealed look has vanished.
Smell of the beginning of night.
You once were a vision, but you have recovered over the days.
And learned the whereabouts of an inverted future.
A gaze passes into oblivion.
Lines of people block my sight ahead.
Proof of the days of consolation.
Words of admonition in many ways.
Seven voices I carry, descending.
I tip my shoe up but the contradicting guidance still does not change.
Light and darkness.
Sunlight and the sound of the night.
Dark sky and the surface of water.
They all passed us by and are ahead of us.
A drop of rain announces the beginning."
- "Guidance" | Envy
A good friend of mine and I were recently discussing how particular songs of melodies or just certain music can somehow trigger a memory deep inside of your mind for reasons you aren't aware of. It's something rare but certain albums or songs give me this sense of utter nostalgia to a point where it nearly makes me feel sick with a sense of longing for no apparent reason.
Certain melodies bring me back to certain visions of dreams or thoughts I had when I was very young. One of them being a small house on a small hill. The grass is almost too green. The house is yellow and cute. The yard overlooks the ocean and the sky is blue and perfect. I had a dream I lived in this house and I have no idea why. I hadn't thought of this dream for years. Why would I? What would being this memory back to me?
One day Isis' Wavering Radiant dripped onto the internet. Listening properly and ever so intently, I got to "20 Minutes/40 Years". It wasn't until about 30 seconds in when all three guitars enter the song when suddenly I was hit full force with the feeling of standing on that very hill overlooking the house with the blue ocean back-set and the huge sky over-top of me. I cannot even begin to explain why this happened but it felt amazing and depressing all at the same time.
Besides this, I sometimes get this vision of a landscape I thought up in my head when I was about 4 years old of a beautiful orange-ish, pinkish sunset sky overt-op a vast horizon of ice, with literally nothing else to be seen. I randomly get this vision while listening to various Jakob songs. Again, I have no idea why and at times the music literally takes me there and breaks my heart.
When I first acquired Recitation, I loved it. Envy are one of my favorite bands of all time and I was very excited to be listening to their new record, especially after they released one of my favorite records of all time, Insomniac Doze. You may remember my enormous 'review' about it when I first got it months before everyone else. I was basically just posting premature thoughts on it after a 3rd or so listen. People thanked me and got pissed at me simultaneously. Sorry about that.
It wasn't until a few months later after I was viciously listening to my yet to be number 1 album of the year (TEE HEE) that I returned to Recitation one night just as I was ready to lay down to go to sleep.
Instantly the melodies from "Guidance" sounded more beautiful than I ever remembered. Sure, the melodies on this entire record are some of Envy's best, and most precious, but for some reason, instantly this particular melody affected me more than it ever has.
Then "Last Hours of Eternity" came on, and again, I was blown away but how out of nowhere, the progressions and layers of instrumentation and brilliantly crafted melodies was breaking my tired heart and body.
Next came "Rain Clouds Running In a Holy Night", one of my already favorite songs on the CD. I don't know why this happened but especially the intro, middle section of three gorgeous guitars intertwining the main notes, and the outro made me nearly weep due to the memory they conjured up.
Maybe my first memory I've ever had of my mother was her and I sitting on our living room couch together in upstate New York. Our couch was against the living room window and we sat on it backwards with our knees in the cushions and our arms leaning over the top of the couch gazing out the window. We were looking at the clouds. They were all kinds of different shapes and sizes. I don't remember how long we did this for. It may have just been for a minute, or maybe 5. But I barely think of this memory and it's one I should try to remember more often.
For whatever strange reason, the melodies in "Rain Clouds..." brought me back to that exact moment and I couldn't deal with the sinking feeling of nostalgia I suddenly felt in my heart and stomach. There are tons of songs and bands that give me a sense of nostalgia, just because their music in general gives you that sort of vibe, but it's different when particular melodies literally bring you BACK to specific times or thoughts in your life so vividly that you FEEL it in your stomach. The outro of this song brings me there full force. I can barely even.
After those first three songs, I don't get that feeling too much more, which may be a good thing. I don't think I could handle a full record of songs that make me feel like that.
Beyond that, Recitation is an incredible record full of diverse yet gorgeous music that's consistent throughout its long duration. I'm not sure if Fukagawa has a concept at all for this CD but I get this sense that a lot of these songs, especially the intro and outro, "Guidance" and "Your Hand" are random memories he's had spoken out by female. There is more spoken word on this Envy CD than any before and I think all those moments are connected in some way.
If you want a more analyzed write up about this CD, go back and just find my random blabbering about it when I was just heard it. There's no sense in my explaining how great this band is or how great this CD is. If you know who Envy are, you know they cannot do wrong at this point. This CD is no exception.
"We have repeatedly felt the grief of separation.
Profound fingertips were supposed to have arrived.
The beat of the rain is quick. I recite sorrow into it.
The immortal temperature dwells in blessing hands.
A moment's profile is falling asleep with a dim field of vision.
Felt a faint heart beat, and heard your whisper.
I carry my dragging feet as I turn to go.
The shaking voice has long been forgotten.
Discovered that we have lost the end of a precious feast.
Gentle breath wrapped in Spring.
A sunbeam loop streams through leaves of trees in Summer.
Fallen leaves sway and connect with each other in Autumn.
The morning calm repeats farewells in Winter.
The change of the seasons reminds me of words I never knew.
The steps are even, as they go on. A sign of an end."
- "Your Hand" | Envy
Pile up my thoughts on exploited scenery.
The eyes sense the warmth of regrets.
Respected ambiguous words harbored.
The sealed look has vanished.
Smell of the beginning of night.
You once were a vision, but you have recovered over the days.
And learned the whereabouts of an inverted future.
A gaze passes into oblivion.
Lines of people block my sight ahead.
Proof of the days of consolation.
Words of admonition in many ways.
Seven voices I carry, descending.
I tip my shoe up but the contradicting guidance still does not change.
Light and darkness.
Sunlight and the sound of the night.
Dark sky and the surface of water.
They all passed us by and are ahead of us.
A drop of rain announces the beginning."
- "Guidance" | Envy
A good friend of mine and I were recently discussing how particular songs of melodies or just certain music can somehow trigger a memory deep inside of your mind for reasons you aren't aware of. It's something rare but certain albums or songs give me this sense of utter nostalgia to a point where it nearly makes me feel sick with a sense of longing for no apparent reason.
Certain melodies bring me back to certain visions of dreams or thoughts I had when I was very young. One of them being a small house on a small hill. The grass is almost too green. The house is yellow and cute. The yard overlooks the ocean and the sky is blue and perfect. I had a dream I lived in this house and I have no idea why. I hadn't thought of this dream for years. Why would I? What would being this memory back to me?
One day Isis' Wavering Radiant dripped onto the internet. Listening properly and ever so intently, I got to "20 Minutes/40 Years". It wasn't until about 30 seconds in when all three guitars enter the song when suddenly I was hit full force with the feeling of standing on that very hill overlooking the house with the blue ocean back-set and the huge sky over-top of me. I cannot even begin to explain why this happened but it felt amazing and depressing all at the same time.
Besides this, I sometimes get this vision of a landscape I thought up in my head when I was about 4 years old of a beautiful orange-ish, pinkish sunset sky overt-op a vast horizon of ice, with literally nothing else to be seen. I randomly get this vision while listening to various Jakob songs. Again, I have no idea why and at times the music literally takes me there and breaks my heart.
When I first acquired Recitation, I loved it. Envy are one of my favorite bands of all time and I was very excited to be listening to their new record, especially after they released one of my favorite records of all time, Insomniac Doze. You may remember my enormous 'review' about it when I first got it months before everyone else. I was basically just posting premature thoughts on it after a 3rd or so listen. People thanked me and got pissed at me simultaneously. Sorry about that.
It wasn't until a few months later after I was viciously listening to my yet to be number 1 album of the year (TEE HEE) that I returned to Recitation one night just as I was ready to lay down to go to sleep.
Instantly the melodies from "Guidance" sounded more beautiful than I ever remembered. Sure, the melodies on this entire record are some of Envy's best, and most precious, but for some reason, instantly this particular melody affected me more than it ever has.
Then "Last Hours of Eternity" came on, and again, I was blown away but how out of nowhere, the progressions and layers of instrumentation and brilliantly crafted melodies was breaking my tired heart and body.
Next came "Rain Clouds Running In a Holy Night", one of my already favorite songs on the CD. I don't know why this happened but especially the intro, middle section of three gorgeous guitars intertwining the main notes, and the outro made me nearly weep due to the memory they conjured up.
Maybe my first memory I've ever had of my mother was her and I sitting on our living room couch together in upstate New York. Our couch was against the living room window and we sat on it backwards with our knees in the cushions and our arms leaning over the top of the couch gazing out the window. We were looking at the clouds. They were all kinds of different shapes and sizes. I don't remember how long we did this for. It may have just been for a minute, or maybe 5. But I barely think of this memory and it's one I should try to remember more often.
For whatever strange reason, the melodies in "Rain Clouds..." brought me back to that exact moment and I couldn't deal with the sinking feeling of nostalgia I suddenly felt in my heart and stomach. There are tons of songs and bands that give me a sense of nostalgia, just because their music in general gives you that sort of vibe, but it's different when particular melodies literally bring you BACK to specific times or thoughts in your life so vividly that you FEEL it in your stomach. The outro of this song brings me there full force. I can barely even.
After those first three songs, I don't get that feeling too much more, which may be a good thing. I don't think I could handle a full record of songs that make me feel like that.
Beyond that, Recitation is an incredible record full of diverse yet gorgeous music that's consistent throughout its long duration. I'm not sure if Fukagawa has a concept at all for this CD but I get this sense that a lot of these songs, especially the intro and outro, "Guidance" and "Your Hand" are random memories he's had spoken out by female. There is more spoken word on this Envy CD than any before and I think all those moments are connected in some way.
If you want a more analyzed write up about this CD, go back and just find my random blabbering about it when I was just heard it. There's no sense in my explaining how great this band is or how great this CD is. If you know who Envy are, you know they cannot do wrong at this point. This CD is no exception.
"We have repeatedly felt the grief of separation.
Profound fingertips were supposed to have arrived.
The beat of the rain is quick. I recite sorrow into it.
The immortal temperature dwells in blessing hands.
A moment's profile is falling asleep with a dim field of vision.
Felt a faint heart beat, and heard your whisper.
I carry my dragging feet as I turn to go.
The shaking voice has long been forgotten.
Discovered that we have lost the end of a precious feast.
Gentle breath wrapped in Spring.
A sunbeam loop streams through leaves of trees in Summer.
Fallen leaves sway and connect with each other in Autumn.
The morning calm repeats farewells in Winter.
The change of the seasons reminds me of words I never knew.
The steps are even, as they go on. A sign of an end."
- "Your Hand" | Envy
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