Eiko Ishibashi - I'm Armed (2012)

This very musically ripe album was released as an instrumental solo piano album immediately after the album “imitation of life” which as created as a band sound. This album was a very natural flow for Eiko who started her solo music career by scoring a soundtrack for a movie.

The sound that changes like a color creates every moment beautiful in this album, reminding people of Satie or Ravel or artists from the ECM label that Eiko loves very much. This album portraits her essence of Jazz and Classical music as well as her unique pop sense that stands out even with just a simple solo piano sound. This album includes the song ‘homecoming’ which is popular for its shining beauty that creates a colorful world, as well as the song ‘rooms of orchid’ which was inspired by the novel written by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa. This album was of course recorded and mixed by Jim O’Rourke, capturing the very naive but spacious soundscape that he creates.

The artwork by photographer Seiji Shibuya and designer Yutaka Kimura (Central67) definitely creates a deep and beautiful relationship between the music and visuals. This album has become a soundtrack album that will be loved for a long time just like movies that become the culture of that era and are loved eternally.