Prologue: Kyoto that lives in the sound room
Text: mmr｜Theme: Rei Harakami’s music and the atmosphere and aesthetics of the city of Kyoto
When I listen to Rei Harakami’s music, the first thing I feel is tranquility.''
It's not just an ambient silence, it's like a breath floating in thema’’ between sounds.
His sound certainly breathes the ``aesthetics of space’’ that the city of Kyoto has.
The lingering sound of a temple bell, the dampness of a summer shower, the clear flow of Shirakawa in winter. Even though they were not directly sampled, Rei Harakami’s sound somehow conveys the very atmosphere of Kyoto.
Chapter 1: The arrival of Rei Harakami - Turning the “silence of the city” into sound
Rei Harakami is a Kyoto-born track maker who suddenly appeared in the late 1990s amid the rise of Shibuya-kei and IDM.
He presented a private room'' andintrospective’’ electronic sound that was different from the glittering Tokyo atmosphere.
His representative early work, Red Curb'' (1999), is a work that harmonizes the roundness of analog synth with minimal rhythm.
**Electronic music for listening alone on the tatami floor** rather than the excitement of a club.
Therein lies theunderstated humor’’ and ``gentle loneliness’’ typical of Kyoto people.
His songs are not flashy, but the more you listen to them, the more your world expands. The experience is similar to sitting in the garden of a temple and listening to the sound of the wind.
Chapter 2: Kyoto context - machiya, seasons, light and shadow
Kyoto is a city where history, nature, and the rhythm of life are intertwined in multiple layers. Rei Harakami grew up within this cultural structure of “superposition.”
The wind blows through the eaves of old townhouses, and the light of lanterns reflects on the river. In his music, these ``layers of landscape’’ are reconstructed as sound.
“Scenery becomes a melody. Rhythm reflects the flow of time.”
As Harakami said, his music was not just techno, but an attempt to express the “time of Kyoto” through sound.
Chapter 3: Analysis of the work world
“red curb” (1999)
It features a warm beat and soft tone. Although it is an electronic sound, it has organic breathing. It’s like laughing quietly to yourself in a corner of the city.
“opa q” (2001)
Acoustic beauty that is more transparent and has a floating feel. Particles of sound are scattered like light, and the relationship between ``sound = light’’ becomes clear. There is a clearness like the morning mist of Kyoto.
“lust” (2005)
An album depicting “human emotions” using electronic sounds. Deep within the beat, loneliness and warmth coexist. During this period, Harakami’s collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto further strengthened Harakami’s “Japanese sound.”
“unrest” (2011)
A work published in his later years. There’s something ephemeral about it, and it gives you the feeling of the serenity of accepting the end. It’s like autumn in Kyoto, and it’s a sadness that makes you laugh while staring at the falling leaves.
Chapter 4: Harakami and friends - UA, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Kazumi Nikaido
The collaboration with UA “Milk Tea” and Ryuichi Sakamoto, A new element of “human voice” has been added to Rei Harakami’s music.
Ryuichi Sakamoto is said to have described him as “the quietest revolutionary.”
He was a rare person who melted the boundaries between electronic and acoustic sounds and achieved both gentleness'' andstructural beauty’’.
Harakami’s interaction with Kazumi Nikaido also shows her dedication to “everyday music.” His sound was not esoteric experimental music, but the very rhythm of life.
Chapter 5: From local to global - Genealogy of Kyoto electronic sounds
Rei Harakami’s existence had a great influence on later Japanese local electronica. Following in his footsteps, artists such as aus, agraph, Ametsub, and no.9 emerged from the Kyoto/Kansai area.
The sounds all have in common, depicting the relationship between the city and nature. The “sound of Kyoto’s silence” created by Harakami occupies a unique position in the global context.
Chapter 6: Loss and Inheritance - Those who inherit the echoes of Harakami
His sudden passing in 2011 left the music world with a deep sense of loss. But since then, many artists have inherited his sound.
Deep within the works of tofubeats, serp, and other young artists who reconstruct environmental sounds, You can see the shadow of Rei Harakami’s “breathing electronic sound”.
His influence on the music scene continues to spread far beyond Kyoto.
Final chapter: Assimilation of sound and landscape - Aesthetics of “Kyoto electronica”
Rei Harakami’s music embodied the harmony between landscape and humans, nature and technology.
There is a quiet sense of happiness that is neither convenient'' norexciting.’’
The sound he left behind is as soft as the sunset in Kyoto, and will never fade. If you listen closely, you can still hear that sound floating somewhere in town.
There is sound in the silence.Kyoto is in the sound.
Rei Harakami Chronology
Diagram: Correspondence diagram between sounds and scenery
Rei Harakami – [lust]
“Rei Harakami – [lust]” is Rei Harakami’s fourth original album released in 2005.
Tracklist
1.Long Time
2.Joy
3. Lust
4. Grief & Loss
5. Owari No Kisetsu
6. Come Here Go There
7. After Joy
8. Last Night
9. Approach
10.First Period
Youtube
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Rei Harakami – [lust]
“Rei Harakami – [lust]” is Rei Harakami’s fourth original album released in 2005.
