Album Review: Nujabes - Modal Soul

Nujabes
Modal Soul
[Hydeout Production: October, 2005]

 8.9 







Tracklist
01. Feather (Feat. Cise Starr & Akin from Cyne)
02. Ordinary Joe (Feat. Terry Callier)
03. Reflection Eternal
04. Luv (Sic) PT3 (Feat. SHING02)
05. Music Is Mine
06. Eclipse (Feat. Substantial)
07. Sign (Feat. Pase Rock)
08. Thank You (Feat. Apani B)
09. World's End Rhapsody
10. Modal Soul (Feat. Uyama Hiroto)
11. Flowers
12. Sea of Cloud
13. Light on the Land
14. Horizon

Nujabes is maybe the most affluent Hip Hop producer in Japan. His producer name comes from his real name, Jun Seba, spelled backwards and combined. Not only is he a producer, he is also the owner of multiple record stores in Japan and of the independent label Hydeout Productions. Like artists of originality, Nujabes' music style is very difficult to describe. It is much like a fusion of Japanese folk music, Jazz, and 60's Motown mixed with solid Hip Hop beats. Its flow consists heavily of piano, backgrounded by mellow horn and soulful saxophone. I fell in love with this musical style the very first time feeling it. Nothing in the music industry has the same unique sound.

Modal Soul is Nujabes' second album. This is one of the more jazzy albums which contains samples from Jazz pioneers like Miles Davis and Yusef Lateef. However, similar to his other albums, Hip Hop elements are also heavily incorporated.  For Modal Soul, Nujabes collaborated with six emcees, providing emotional lyrics to his soulful music. The most significant aspect of this album is the range of emotions embedded in each song. Nujabes is great at bringing up feelings for his listeners. His songs brings people close to nature, the moon, sky, stars and sunset. This will make sense after clicking play on the player above.

Try it now

Digital Album