Short Reviews [Maboroshi Paganz - 2011 - "Maboroshi Paganz"]

Hailing from Japan, MABOROSHI PAGANZ is a trio of Kelichi Satow on saz, acoustic guitar and vocals, Hotaka Hirata on oud and synthesizer and Chisato Yagi on darbouka, tombak and riq. The band’s self-titled debut EP is made up of six tracks, all of which are acoustic World Fusion in style, most of the time sounding highly exotic for the ‘western ear’, even though four of them, Johnny’s Wedding, The River Song, Oyster Bay and Palastinalied, blend Middle Asian folk tunes and European ones – in approximately equal proportions. The last two of these are the only tracks here that contain vocals: thankfully not many, as they’re delivered in heavily accented English. The ethnic instruments, saz, oud and the others, are all played naturally, creating a unique atmosphere full of specific Asian motifs, while the synth and acoustic guitar (on the former piece) provide European musical colorations of a symphonic character in the majority of cases. The remaining two pieces, Black Corridor and Intermede, are in many ways different, both appearing as avant-garde takes on a traditional Turkic tune. Everywhere on the EP the music is almost ever-changing, with plenty of leads that are vectored differently, some of them rapidly. Overall, this is a superb release, composition- and performance-wise alike. I would have rated it with 6 stars if it would’ve been without vocals and had exceeded at least 30 minutes in length. PS: Saz is a sort of acoustic guitar with a very specific sound and is widely spread in the lands where Turkic nationalities live, Uzbekistan included.

Vitaly Menshikov: June 15, 2012