Sometime during the latter half of the 1990s,
Flowchart managed to leave behind their
Stereolab fixation and move on to simply sounding Japanese. Tenjira, which is made up of four absolutely gigantic tracks, is mainly composed of bleeping electronics and oscillating sound patterns, all sounding as pleasant as one can imagine; the obvious reference point would be the Japanese band Sugarplant's Happy/Trance Mellow. The difference is that while a group like Sugarplant use the atmospheric drones to underlie more composed and vocal-oriented songs,
Flowchart are content to let them drone on endlessly; Tenjira's title track stretches to 11 minutes, with the beats entering somewhere around the five-minute mark. The atmospheres are undeniably wonderful, but the record as a whole is sure to prove challenging to all but the most devoted listeners of ambient music. ~ Nitsuh Abebe