Gecko&Tokage Parade / Next Border (CD)

Released in 2021. With obi. Case has slight scuffs. Disc has no noticeable damage.

This is the project of composer/pianist Gecko, also known as Wataru Sato, who aims to pursue new generation sounds. An outsider instrumental jazz band that experimentally fuses traditional sounds with ambient, post-rock, shoegaze, hip-hop, world music, etc.
Released less than a year after their 4th full album Borderline (PWT81/released January 2021), the new album Next Border features rearranged versions of past representative songs released by Gecko's music label, Tokage Records. This album also includes new initiatives, such as the production of Re:UFO (released September 2021), a single package that combines live-feeling video and audio recorded in a single take with one camera during recording.
The five Re: series songs (①②⑤⑦⑨), which show increasing sophistication in technique and arrangement, demonstrate an evolution from the intense experience of successful solo live performances at venues like Motion Blue Yokohama and COTTON CLUB amidst prolific production and release activities. The lead track is the addictive number ④ clockwork, which sways to a tricky 13/4 beat and a mellow Rhodes piano loop. The album also includes unreleased songs such as the popular live cover of the Ghibli medley ⑥ Ashitaka Sekki ~ The Path of the Wind, as well as ③⑧⑩⑪, which are band rearrangements of four solo songs from the Playwright label artist's solo compilation album Playwright Library of Sounds -solo works at home- (digital release only/released May 2020). Also noteworthy are the melancholic minimalist piano, the emotionally rich guitar that acts as a catalyst for the ensemble, and the sharp groove of the rhythm section driving the flowing melodies. The clash of sharp individualities, while seemingly abrupt and violent, is played with an exquisite balance that also possesses a consistent beauty, resulting in a work that allows listeners to experience the dynamics where the contradictory elements of underground and mainstream intersect.

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