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The one thing that no one wants to get into regardless of what part of the entertainment industry they work in is becoming type cast or known for only doing one thing. A prime example of this of course would be Robert Englund, known to most as none other than Freddy Krueger, and poor Bobby just can’t escape that role. It happens in the world of music as well though, although it seems to be more of a thing for the often-fickle music “fans’ in the United States that let MTV pick their latest music listening habits. Japan however seems to be a much more diversified and accepting location for the most part, so when you have musicians that can go from writing music for a hit anime series to maybe doing a bit of J-Pop and then switching over to doing jazz or something that’s more or less New Age, no one bats an eye. It’s just accepted. That’s the case here with Norihiro Tsuru and Yuriko Nakamura, two names that for most are known only in the world of anime while those outside of that selective genre have no clue who they are, and probably aren’t even willing to give them a fair chance. While Norihiro Tsuru’s only real claim to fame in the United States is probably having working on the soundtrack for the OVA The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Yuriko is a bit more obscure. Known in Japan for her skills as a pianist, there are very few indeed stateside that would connect the name with the Saiyuki anime series. And while you might think that this is yet another anime soundtrack, and there are many of them that are very good, that simply isn’t what this CD is all about. Gemini is one of three CD’s that the duo recorded together back in 1998, Geneon has opted to license these discs for release in the United States, breaking away from the normal music that they have been releasing, which most of us know would just happen to be anime soundtrack. It’s true that they have also dabbled in game soundtrack as well as J-Pop, but much like anime, for the unenlightened, it’s a very selective crowd that flocks to it. Don’t look for any bouncing Japanese songs on this CD or any music that sounds like it’s very dated, even though the original series that it might have come from was only done a couple of years ago. Gemini instead is a very lush, gentle, and emotionally appealing acoustic album that borders more or being something that could be considered more or less “progressive” New Age. The CD begins with an almost European flavor with the first two tracks, “Fjordland Train” and “Children of the Midnight Sun.” While the first track has a very Celtic feeling about it, the second has a bit of a French vibe. The songs are catchy, and harmless enough, but there’s more than that at work. “Finlandia” is a very moving peace that in some ways is somewhat similar of some of the works of Kitaro. This is probably one of the best showcases on the CD of what Norihiro and Yuriko are capable of together. “Roht” however would be another track much like this, and it’s one that beckons to the soul and is quite moving. One of the best tracks here in my opinion though is “Lagnada,” another track that shows how well this duo can work together and has a feeling that combines Celtic music with an underlying drum beat that is gives it Native American type approach. Really though, most of the tracks on the disc are quite good, and instead of being the usual 20 or so tracks that you will find on an anime OST, these songs are very lengthy much of the time, in fat there is only one track that clocks in at under three minutes, and instead of having a repetitive nature, the songs have a fantastic build and a great accompaniment of other instrumentation such as acoustic guitar, harp, occasional keyboards, and just about anything else that you could want. The best part however is even though you are dealing with musicians known for their skills with the piano and the violin; the production value isn’t such as to where either of the instruments overpowers anything. There is a perfect harmony with everything that is included in the recording. For those that were looking at this simply as another collection of songs by anime composers, that’s completely inaccurate. In fact, simply doing some research will reveal that in fact, doing anime soundtracks are only a mere fraction of what these two artists have done, and much of their work actually is in working with other artists and producing music that is meant to be gentle and relaxing. This CD is one of those, and it’s one of those discs that you can put in the CD player and simply forget about the chaos of the outside world. For those that are a bit more open minded, this really is a disc that you should grab, you might just find yourself pleasantly surprised. -mike-
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