Casino Versus Japan
Although Erik Kowalski (the man behind Casino Versus Japan), started recording music using samples and real instruments, it's his constant interest in new music while working in a Milwaukee music store and writing for fanzines that slowly saw him adhering to the blossoming IDM scene. Similarly to the scottish duo of Boards Of Canada, Casino Versus Japan's sound is also based in a hazy, nostalgically inclined brand of ambient music, filled with distorted beats, dreamy melodies and creepy samples. The fact that these two artists have evolved at approximately the same time makes me wonder how much of an influence BoC might have had on Kowalski's work (if any). Even the amount of tracks per album, song titles and the use of small fillers throughout these albums increases the sameness between the two. The only major difference I can hear from Casino Versus Japan is the childlike nature of his work. Not unlike fellow Carpark label mate Marumari, these trippy ambient numbers often feel like we are traveling back in time to the days of Saturday morning cartoons, rainbow suspenders with short corduroy pants, oversized school backpacks and Beatles' hair-dos on kids. It's always quite gentle and playful, eliminating all the creepy, esoteric occultism of BoC in favor of a more relaxed psychedelic experience.
Having worked many years myself in a casino, I've always hated the artist name and it took me a while to actually give Kowalski's music a try. But after reading many rave reviews and how often the artist compared to personal favorites Boards Of Canada, I finally caved in shortly after the release of Whole Numbers Play The Basics. I've been hooked ever since, hunting down all the other albums which at one point in time, I owned in my collection. These of course disappeared when I sold almost everything I owned to move to Sweden back in 2003. It's only after finding one album used for under ten bucks that I decided to start hunting again. Hopefully I won't have too much trouble finding these at a reasonable price to complete my collection. Unfortunately, Kowalski's work as Casino Versus Japan seems to be on hiatus as nothing has been heard of him since 2004.
Whole Numbers Play The BasicsLabel: Carpark Records Release: 2002 Format: CD Cat. no: CRPK CD 18 |
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