Those who love to explore the romantic and rhythmic possibilities of the acoustic guitar will love this Japanese performer's fascinating approach to fingerstyling, which can pull off rich tapestries of melody and rhythm (as on the explosive and celebratory opening track, "Splash") just as easily as he touches the more subtle reaches of the heart on the gently emotional "Wind Song." The album is comprised of that exact balance of playfulness and softly lit romance throughout, the best tracks being the exuberant, perfectly titled "Happy Island" and the plucky "Changing Skies." Oshio also takes a classical detour in the middle, performing a lovely arrangement of Pachelbel's Canon in D ("Canon") and a very low-key, rhythmically oriented arrangement of Bolero.
Dramatic will be a great find for fans of Michael Hedges, Don Ross, and Leo Kottke.
If you like hearing the wood as you hear the strings, Oshio's music is just the ticket.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SplashKotaro Oshio | Kotaro Oshio | Play | 03:44 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 2 | Happy IslandKotaro Oshio | Kotaro Oshio | Play | 04:12 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 3 | BoleroKotaro Oshio, Maurice Ravel | Kotaro Oshio | Play | 04:57 | 11 MB | 24 MB |
| 4 | ChaserKotaro Oshio | Kotaro Oshio | Play | 03:57 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 5 | PrologueKotaro Oshio | Kotaro Oshio | Play | 02:37 | 5 MB | 10 MB |
| 6 | Again...Kotaro Oshio | Kotaro Oshio | Play | 04:21 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 7 | 太陽のダンス (Taiyou no Dance) | Kotaro Oshio | Play | 03:56 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 8 | 風の詩 (Kaze no Toki) | Kotaro Oshio | Play | 04:01 | 9 MB | 20 MB |
| 9 | カノン (Kanon) | Kotaro Oshio | Play | 04:05 | 9 MB | 22 MB |
| 10 | そらはキマグレ (Sora wa Kimagure) | Kotaro Oshio | Play | 03:03 | 6 MB | 17 MB |
| 11 | 約束 (Yakusoku) | Kotaro Oshio | Play | 05:18 | 12 MB | 27 MB |
| 44 mins | 101 MB | |||||
| 44 mins | 247 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kazumi Harasawa | Executive Producer |
| 2 | Tohru Kotetsu | Mastering |
| 3 | Akihiko Kurazono | Engineer |
| 4 | Takeshi Maeda | Art Direction, Design |
| 5 | Hitoshi Namekata | Executive Producer |
| 6 | Kotaro Oshio | Composer, Primary Artist, Producer |
| 7 | Johann Pachelbel | Composer |
| 8 | Maurice Ravel | Composer |
| 9 | Hiromi Sagara | Stylist |
| 10 | Takao Tamura | A&R Assistance |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |