Long Season (studio album) by フィッシュマンズ [Fishmans]

What a beautiful experience of an album is this, I almost feel that my bond with nature grows stronger while listening to this piece of art. The only thing holding it back from being a 10 for me is this part in the middle when something keeps falling into water for a bit too long.

Hard album to judge. While I love that enchanting piano loop, when that's pretty much the whole album it does get a bit boring and overused. Part 3 is terrible filler, and Part 4 is nice. The other three tracks are more or less the same song. Which I like. But when I listen to an album I expect a little more variety. If the Rolling Stones released an album that was just Gimme Shelter 9 times all slightly different would that be the best album ever?

great album, but am i the only one who thought someone was taking a shit in the middle of this album?

From joyofdivision 09/16/2023 20:42

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From AAL2014 10/10/2021 14:01

This thing is pretty darn masterful. Amazing feel, inventive textures, and largely gripping the whole way through.

Long Season drips with color and emotion with a structure that ensures a massive pay off for the listener. Get caught up in this beautiful whirlwind as soon as you can.

A beautifully crafted piece of just pure brilliance. It is 35 minutes of bliss and it is difficult to get to the end of the album and not feel like you have been transported to a completely different variation of reality. Long Season is a must listen for anyone with even a slight interest in music.

From VictorVale 05/17/2021 14:34

Incrível viagem eletrônica

From seb7 02/06/2021 22:27

Beautiful

From teague 06/18/2020 23:10

Where can I find another album like this? Nowhere? Cool.

From DriftingOrpheus 06/03/2020 19:13

Fishmans' penultimate album, Long Season, is tricky to recapitulate. The music itself seems beyond the realm of tangibility, reminiscent of a soothing summer daydream, effortlessly invoking the ethereal. Despite not being a Japanese speaker, Shinji Sato's tender coos resonate through the sheer emotion that they delicately channel. Sato's vocals function as an extension of the instrumentation rather than a separate entity, consolidating into a 35 minute cloudburst of dream pop and psychedelia. The record in earnest consists of five parts, all weaving together to manifest the full anatomy of Long Season.

As Long Season (Part 1) surfaces, a spacey, smoky atmosphere comes into focus, bubbling with an alien strut. The track evolves into a cascading keyboard loop which is majestically serene while carrying an ever-present promise of combustibility. This is when Sato's first declarations are audible, "At dusk we drove, calling the wind and calling you, we ran from one end of Tokyo to the other, halfway dreaming." The track shimmers during its climax as Honzi's violin and accordion join the fray with exuberant grace. The track seamlessly drifts into Long Season (Part 2) as the keyboard loop is adorned with percussive twinkles and Sato's own protuberant guitar solo. As Kin-ichi Motegi's drums cushion the final moments of Long Season (Part 2), (Part 3) introduces itself with a decidedly ambient complexion. Commencing with a damp, distant quality, (Part 3) is notably restrained when compared to the previous two movements. The track blossoms with Motegi's second drum flourish, a solo that lasts the length of the track serving as a distinct bridge between both boundaries of the record. (Part 4) comes into view with relaxed, remote guitar strikes. Whistling is interwoven throughout the DNA of (Part 4) betwixt a duplicated vocal melody and a swirling, ominous backing whirl. (Part 5) is a different shade of (Part 1), reintroducing the hypnotic keyboard riff with heightened immediacy and scope. The track builds to Sato's own haunting falsetto, broadcasting a billowing a sense of catharsis and rebirth amidst the sonic revisitation. (Part 5) is as majestic as the LP gets and is among the most gorgeous movements in recent memory.

Long Season (Part 5) sounds suspiciously like a swan song in many distinct manners. It recounts the past and treats a movement only 25 minutes removed to be one of complete nostalgia. Sato's own vocals at the finale are so undeniably vulnerable that one would be inclined to think of it more in terms of a finale for him rather than the LP, like a final championing of life and its wonders. The backing vocals stand to up the ante as intrinsic collateral for such a moment. Eerily enough, this movement would be the final piece of music Sato would play live. Long Season in its entirety would be played in Fishmans' final performance which was featured on the beloved live album, 98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare. Sato died suddenly of a heart attack three months after the band's final gig. These days, the outfit has reached an entirely new audience far from their native Japan. Long Season has been instrumental in moving the needle and has been retrospectively lauded as a masterpiece, one that graces the ears of new listeners each and every day. It's a testament to the band and the music they were producing. The record outdistanced its own release and becomes more inviting with age. Aligned with the recurring nature of its content like a persistent dream, Long Season is a crisp Spring day that will never end and more importantly, will never wither at the hand of a cruel Winter.

"What is the song are you humming,
What things can you remember,
We are half in a dream."

-Long Season (Part 1)

Standout Tracks:

1. Long Season (Part 5)
2. Long Season (Part 1)
3. Long Season (Part 4)

94.7