http://www.yoshiakimanabe.com/

Fuck yes.
the pillows taking a break is going to be good for us/this will make up for Predators being boring.

Oooooh... interesting.

[b][size=150]rutile[/size][/b] [ˈruːtaɪl]
[i]n.[/i]

A black, yellowish, or reddish-brown mineral, found in igneous rocks, metamorphosed limestones, and quartz veins. It is a source of titanium. Composition: titanium dioxide. Formula: TiO2. Crystal structure: tetragonal

[via French from German Rutil, from Latin rutilus red, glowing]

If this is anything like Time Machine/"Beautiful Struggle," count me the fuck out.

No, it'll be way more glowing.

Manabe is so weird.

I find it interesting that the HMV page says:

[i]All Songs Written, Arranged, Recorded & Mixed by Yoshiaki Manabe
All Instruments played by Yoshiaki Manabe[/i]

I'm expecting a shit ton of synths.

I guess Nine Miles was like that.

[quote="GoldenRhino"]If this is anything like Time Machine/"Beautiful Struggle," count me the fuck out.[/quote]
Agreed.

"Guitar solo album"... This would make me think it's gonna be an album of instrumentals, but I see that both "Beautiful Struggle（Originally Version）" and "Beautiful Struggle (Originally Version　Karaoke)" are on the album. "Karaoke"? So, the "originally version" has vocals? Or does it mean karaoke as in "missing the lead guitar"...? I'm interested to hear more information. Should be interesting, but I'm hoping for some vocals in there. This kind (Beautiful Struggle, Time Machine, etc.) of instrumental music isn't my thing.

[quote="Mafu"]I see that both "Beautiful Struggle（Originally Version）" and "Beautiful Struggle (Originally Version　Karaoke)" are on the album[/quote]

Thanks for reminding me, I haven't listened to that song for a while.

And it's a fucking good song. Haters gon' hate, etc.

Looks... interesting.

I like Manabe as a guitarist in a band. But Manabe's solo-guitar effort made it blindingly obvious that he needs a real band with him working as a team to produce something interesting. If the pillows are a lovely dessert, Beautiful Struggle is Manabe saying "INSTEAD OF THIS DESSERT, LET'S JUST PUT A SHIT TON OF RASPBERRY SAUCE ON A PLATE AND CALL IT DESSERT!" It's *too* Manabe - at least, this era of Manabe. It's him at his most trite, obvious.

The distortion is uninteresting, there's indulgent vibrato on too many notes.[b] Manabe is a great guitarist, but he's not a great solo-instrumentalist.[/b] When people who specialize in solo guitar instrumentals actually write music, they keep changing melodies, they transform their basic lines over the course of their song, or they may dazzle you with their technique. Manabe is doing none of these things. He wrote a few simple, uninspiring lead lines (that could accompany a new-Pillows era 5:00-6:00 long ballad), threw in a snooze-worthy solo, and called it a day. Oh, then there's the cheesy production with the sfx and synth and chimes.

The song *screams* "Background filler music for an infomercial" (albeit if the chord progression were a little less ballady). Basically, he holds all of the tools for schlocky boring guitar rock and that's what was produced. If we added Sawao's vocals to this, we'd have the next skippable filler pillows track on a new album.

I fear that "Rutile" is going to be a collection of over-produced "Karaoke-versions" for hypothetical new sub-mediocre pillows tracks.

I was excited when I read the pillows' tweet about this. I'm not sure what to expect, but I did like Beautiful Struggle. I'm hoping for something better though. I know it's been divulged already that it's an instrumental album, but I wish it was a legit solo album with him singing and everything.Would have been cool to see him take us in a whole new direction. We know he can do studio heavy synthy reggae and jam over traditional backing tracks. I wish he would sit down with an acoustic and write a great song or something. Plenty can be done with one guy playing all the instruments, see for example, Elliott Smith.

For me, one of the big tells is that it doesn't pass the "If this were under another artist's name, would I still listen to it?" test.

If "Good Dreams" were done by some random band I'd never heard of before, call them The NoNames, I'd still enjoy the fuck out of it. I have a hunch, that if I sent "Beautiful Struggle" to some of my IM friends and said "yo you gotta check out this instrumental track by this band The NoNames" I'd get a lot more apathy and perhaps derision.

Not to say that you don't actually like what you say you like. But yeah kind of that.