Makoto – Human Elements

I wanna download this into my soul.
Every single note interweaves with the next so elegantly, it almost feels like a paradox that this exists - every hurried drum kick and snare overlapped by a loitering keyboard, or an audacious bongo. Never a dull moment.

EDIT: this imperfect album has grown on me steadily since it was released until these apocalyptic lockdown times, so just wanted to add a note. First: I love Makoto. He is one of my favourite drum n bass djs around, the only one that I know that will always nail the "liquid" stuff without going through the same old as some of his colleagues, and the musicality he imprints on everything is lovely. "Human Elements" is at the same time a children of the organic dnb from Bukem (there are too many similarities with Journey Inwards to ignore, and probably have something to do with branding a specific kind of drum n bass) as it is a child of the early 00s, where the Organic sound, i.e. real instruments, was valued on dance music (the DFA records era) over the more synthetic ones. There is an obvious pursue of this on the album, and the flow works really well most of the times. I still think that the coda of "Time" and "Treasure Towers" are the best pieces on it - I like Sky High but the operatic mood on Treasure Towers is out of this world but boy does it drag when it gets to "You're Divine". But I take it anyway. It has a lot of what made Adam F Colours great but also reminds you that many of these producers were searching for an organic sound when they should have focused on the colours, the coloratures, the melody. When Makoto does that, he is the best at it. Now down to the original review.
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Makoto tried really hard with his first album. He had been making soulful and catchy tunes for the good looking catalogue, and I suppose people expected similar sounds in this album, where he tries something else. "Introduction" sounds more like the mellow 4Hero than anything else, with its full strings, the spoken word and its 70's mood (though why the applause?). "Where are you going?" follows the much organic style Makoto had been developing before, and it's a sign that the album wants to be, stylistically, like Bukem's "Journey Inwards". Gospel choirs, nearly full orchestra, and everything extremely well produced, but a bit repetitive.

"Time" is the single of the album, and maybe the best drum'n bass song in the last years. Taking full advantage of Cleveland Watkiss, the song sounds escapist just from the first seconds, and, though its organic and smooth sounds made it difficult to mix, "Time" made an impact, because it's very difficult not to sing the chorus.

The rest is so-so. Jazzy experiments like "Four silver rings", "Black on blue", or the only one which doesn't sound like elevator music, "Seventy three jam", sound like pure filler. The smooth-jazz tunes, "You're divine" and "It's no mistery" are good, but are so out of place next to the other good d'n'b songs ("Sky High" and the sad "Treasure Towers") that they annoy a little. "Take my soul" ends the album with the best one can do with organic sounds and d'n'b: it is jazzy, it sounds alive, improvised, and makes you dance, another of the better Makoto works in these years. The second disc has some videos and three remixes: the one from John B sounds like John B, the other from Nookie sounds like a variation of the mood from the first disc, and the slow tempo mix of "Time" by the (excellent) Kyoto Jazz Massive crew is just nice. So... there are very good tunes in this "Human Elements" album, very good moments, but there was no need for the slower jazzy tracks: they aren't as good, they break the mood, and you don't need them to sound more expert, classier, or to justify your roots. Bear this in mind for the next time, Makoto.

I can completely agree with the thesis that Makoto was very impressive in Progression Sessions... That was the reason for obtaining 'Human Elements'. Can't say that I was impressed again... The album really seems sometimes boring... And a lack of variations is strong too. But there are several works which sound perfectly essential. I'm talking about 'Treasure Towers', 'Sky High', 'Time' (which is really genuine piece)...and my favorite - Kyoto Jazz Massive' version of Time...the best acid-jazz work I've ever heard. So this album receives four. (With a plus for the spirit of GLO...)

This is a pretty poor album IMO. It chops and changes between musical styles too much and lacks any sense of direction. It also has too many filler tracks which just seem to have been included to make the album longer and an older track (Your Divine) which anyone who's a fan of GLO would already have. I have to admit that Sky High is a great track though.

I'm definitely not feeling Makoto like I did on progression sessions... Hes doing more of a 'good looking' sound now, really jazzy... the track 'sky high' is a gem though, a bassline you could tap dance on, thats why I like makoto...

..like his tracks with his Akira.