Curveland CD

"Curveland" is the third solo album from Japanese musician Aus. Yasuhiko Fukuzono is only 23 years of age, and already he has put his name to a quite substantial body of work, developing his production talents from glacial electronic experimentation to pure vocal pop. There is something delicately cinematic about "Curveland", and not in the way you might think - there's none of the menace of Angelo Badalamenti or the forced grandeur of John Williams here, rather we are treated to the soundtrack to a simple film about love, say "Brief Encounter" or fittingly, "Lost In Translation". Unlike his contemporaries in the Japanese scene, he seems to fit in perfectly with Moteer's pastoral and unashamedly British vision - long green grass, knitted sweaters and hot cups of tea. This bright-eyed homespun sentiment is exactly what makes "Curveland" so hard to forget.