“Four Fragments” reviewed by Tanner Menard

About a year ago I met Ryo Nakata aka ‘ryonkt’ through Myspace and immediately fell in love with his masterful use of harmonics, melodic simplicity and sonic interference patterns. His recent release on the esteemed label smallfish is no exception. ‘Four Fragments’, the title of this shining diamond of an EP are four perfectly designed audio haiku. Unlike many of his other releases which combine drone like manipulation of overtones with minimalist folk-centric melodies, four fragments have been stripped down to pure manipulation of what I call ‘barely audible’ sonic phenomenon. These tracks, stunningly mastered by Taylor Dupree, are sure to repeat on your ipod for hours at a time.

A few months ago Ryo and I decided to start work on our own collaboration. I sent him six pianoteq works, having no clue what he would do with them or where he would take them. For months there was a silent gap between us. One day, as if a phoenix had appeared from the sky, I received an email from Ryo with the six tracks. His manipulations and additions to my pianoteq tracks contained some of the most subtle and delicate work that I had ever heard, and I truly felt humbled that this rare talent had agreed to work with me.

For whatever reason, I think there is a tendency to avoid the personal in much ambient and experiental music. In the music of ‘ryonkt’ this is not the case. Even in this instance, with an album named after its structure, four fragments, there is the sense that you KNOW who Ryo Nakata is. I can very deeply feel HIS presence in the audio. But like much Japanese art, one can only detect this if one allows oneself to drop all pretense and to merely be. So when you play this album, take a minute, allow your mind to empty and let it be filled with the myriad psycho-accoustic meanderings that are Ryo Nakata. Like the third track of this album, if you allow his music in, suddely you will be filled with a sparkling radiance.

It seems unfitting to write a long review about the work of ‘ryonkt’ because he may be the only master of short form currently working in the ambient genre. In a genre filled with hour long drones and twenty minute meandering tracks, Ryo Nakata says more in these four four minute tracks than most artists say in three days. Pick up a copy of Four Fragments from smallfish. This 3 inch crd is strictly limited to 100 copies so act quick. They are likely to remain on your play list for weeks on end.