OE – Seisei Ruten (Suchness 4)

Sounds of the calm and magnificent zen landscapes

Tatsuya will release “Seisei Ruten (Suchness 4),” a new sequel to his “Kankyo-Ongaku” (ambient music) series under the name of OE. “Suchness” albums will take you to a “zen garden of sound,” floating into the time and space consisting of “ma (a silence and void)” and sequences of panoramic sounds. This release, “Seisei Ruten,” collects calm and transitional music pieces with “magnificent nature and landscape” atmospheres.

It also includes a new version of “Garden Fountains,” a music piece which was used in the film “Kodama featuring GRAND SEIKO.”

Contents

1 OE “Seisei Ruten (Suchness 4)” Tracklist
2 Album Info & Credit
3 Backstory
4 Downloads & Streaming Services
- 4.1 Worldwide
- 4.2 Japan

OE “Seisei Ruten (Suchness 4)” Tracklist

1. Snowmelt
2. Where There Is Light
3. Seisei Ruten
4. The Rain Will Stop
5. Water Lilies
6. The Bells Are Tolling
7. Garden Fountains

Album Info & Credit

Artist Name: OE
Album Title: “Seisei Ruten (Suchness 4)”
Release Date: March 1st (Fri), 2024
Format: Digital (No physical release)
Cat No: MEOE-1026
UPC Code: 198026921871
Label: Model Electronic Records
All tracks composed and produced by Tatsuya Oe (NexTone/JASRAC)
Art Direction: Passion Yoko

Backstory

With an illustrious career spanning two decades, Tatsuya Oe, the acclaimed recording artist and electronic music producer, has carved a niche for himself with his truly unique and diverse musical style. As a self-taught composer, Oe has released a plethora of signature tracks under the monikers Captain Funk, OE, and Dark Model, each showcasing his bold and distinctive musical style.

The project we feature here, ‘Suchness,’ delves into ‘Kankyo-Ongaku’ (ambient music) compositions. This project is a testament to Oe’s deep-rooted connection with his cultural heritage, inspired by the Japanese view of nature and Zen philosophy, and his unique approach to music.

After moving from Japan to the US in 2013, Oe has had more opportunities to discover the peculiarity and depth of Japanese traditional culture and philosophy. Also, he has become keener on the differences between what the Western people imagine and create as Japanesque and what real Japanese do. For example, many ambient and new age songs, which are performed with traditional Japanese instruments and scales, are considered ‘Zen music.’

But Oe feels uncomfortable about calling them so because he doesn’t find what he has believed Zen in those kinds of music. He believes that the term ‘Zen music’ has been misappropriated and diluted in the Western context, and he prefers to use other terms to describe his music that more accurately reflect his cultural and philosophical influences.

Central to Oe’s music is the concept of ‘ma,’ which refers to a ‘powerful silence.’ As introduced by Toru Takemitsu, a celebrated Japanese composer, ‘powerful silence’ is a temporal silence and spatial void that is not empty but a presence. Oe employs ‘ma’ to create tension and resolution and convey his music’s transient nature (a sense of ‘mujo’). In Oe’s music, ‘ma’ is not just a pause or a break, but a powerful tool that he uses to create a sense of anticipation and release, enhancing the emotional impact of his compositions.

The way we use “ma” in music is similar to how Japanese traditional gardens and buildings are built. Oe chose the word “Suchness,” which is also a Buddhist term translated from Tathātā (which can mean either “One who has thus come” or “One who has thus gone”), to imply “placing notes and silences as they come to his mind.”

This release should be a refreshing experience for those who might have enjoyed Oe’s melody-and-beat-centric compositions under the names Dark Model and Captain Funk.