Listening to ¡°Departed,¡± the opening track from Hakushi Hasegawa¡¯s new album ¡°Mahogakko¡± (¡°Magic School¡±), is like riding one of those elevators that moves so fast it makes your ears pop. In the space of just over two minutes, it assails you with sugar-rush rhythms, ecstatic chipmunk vocals, big-band fanfares and a sudden detour into autotune balladry ¡ª all executed at a breathless 232 beats per minute.
¡°That¡¯s the fastest tempo where I could count (the BPM) myself,¡± the 25-year-old says, speaking at a record label office in Tokyo¡¯s Nakameguro neighborhood. ¡°It¡¯s like a physical experiment.¡±
There¡¯s a similar kind of science at play throughout ¡°Mahogakko.¡± Released on Brainfeeder, the label run by Steven Ellison (better known as Flying Lotus), it¡¯s an album that pushes the limits of comprehensibility. Radiant melodies suddenly melt down into pitch-bent goo; luscious textures are paired with frenzied beats.
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