Fishmans - Walking In The Rhythm (Album Review)

 

Fishmans - Walking In The Rhythm 

(1997)

My copy: 2007 Fishmans Rock Festival box set press by Universal Music and Polydor.

This single collects remixes of its titular track that appeared on the 1997 Fishmans album Uchu Nippon Setagaya. To keep things interesting, I’ll rate these remixes from worst to best rather than outright describing them.

4. Hang-Glider Mix: Three of the remixes featured on this record focus on simplicity and repetition - with the original song already being heavy on repetition. The “Hang-Glider Mix”, however, does meditation in a mostly boring way, starting out with quiet synth pads and a keyboard melody that only evolves once over the course of the ten-minute track. The stripped back percussion is nice, but the dramatic bass and sampled string drones are just too uninteresting to warrant genuine intrigue. 

3. Shinjuku-Version 2 Mix: Stretching even longer than the original song, the Shinkjuku mix is interesting for its use of environmental sounds and samples. Things get strange as muted drum loops repeat over sampled woodwinds, almost channeling a prototypical example of electro-swing, but the mellow atmosphere helps the music feel grounded. The issue with this mix is simply that it feels confused, returning to field recordings before picking up again with zombie chanting and a maximalist beat. 

2. Reprise Mix: An ultra-minimalist take, it works quite well though it lasts for far too long. This mix uses only piano, guitar and vocals to create a much more haunting version, and is compelling mostly for Shinji Sato’s amazing vocals. 

1.  Prototype Mix: It shouldn’t be a surprise that the best remix is the one that feels the closest to the actual completed song. This version is less than half the length of the original song, but feels fresher for it. The bass ends up a bit squished here, but makes up for it with dreamier chords and rustic instrumentation that breathes personality into the arrangement. The prototype mix is more ghostly and spiritual, going into a lo-fi breakdown before closing with glitches and pops. Overall, the prototype remix is worth a spin here and there, while the rest feel more like bonus ideas that lack tighter structures.