Akagi is a recent release from prolific & respected one-man US ambient project Celer. It comes in either the form of a CD, or a digital download, and features just a single seventy-nine minute slice of soothing, golden, and life-affirming ambience.
Though this is a 2016 release, the track actually originates from 2012 when it was created for a live yoga event at Yougenji temple in Northern Tokyo. The track is simple yet highly effective in it’s sonic make-up. It takes in just two tape loops of very minimal ambient keyboard drift – these each have similar time structures, but each have subtle different, overlapping chord patterns. These loops were played simultaneously, to create slightly different ambient combinations, with some manual alterations to both the volume and high/low settings of the tape reels on play-back. The whole track just slow circles though a series of lulling & rich simmers, fades & drifts.
The whole thing has a wonderfully pleasing, calming & mellow unfold to it’s slowly revolving & merging patterns. So you can either let it play out as soothing & restful background music, or concentrate more & let your mind focus in on the subtle shifts & ebbs in the flow of the track. I guess when one thinks of lengthy journeys into tape looped based ambience you think of the likes William Basinski – but this is a lot more lush & uncorrupted in it’s golden & harmonic reparations.
Truly this is a really beautiful & highly pleasing slice of long form ambience – I’ve always enjoyed this project past work, and this is another very worthy addition to the bands large discography.