The Retail Sectors: Stargazer in the Daytime
October Man

Prolific composer Kentaro Togawa (aka The Retail Sectors) again resourcefully spins remarkable variations on his simple guitar-bass-drums approach on this three-inch EP for David Newlyn's October Man imprint. The nineteen-minute release is available in a criminally small run of thirty-five copies so fans of Togawa's style—interlocking waltz-based patterns of lyrical guitar melodies and tight bass-and-drum patterns that segue effortlessly between gentle quietude and volcanic climaxes—better act fast.

Stargazer in the Daytime differs from previous The Retail Sectors releases in that it inserts a non-Togawa composition, “Kaze No Doukei,” written by Nobuo Uematsu and remixed by Togawa, in between two originals. Here and elsewhere, guitars and bass weave in graceful counterpoint. In the opening “Thirsty Seafarer,” guitars leave port quietly and then slowly build in intensity until the storm hits and the skies open halfway through yet, despite the tumultuous turn the journey takes, the piece never loses its lyrical quality. “Stargazer in the Daytime” similarly alternates between densely layered lattices of melodic guitar patterns and crushing episodes of axe-charged intensity.

May 2008