''Another Game'' is the fifth studio album by

P-Model P-Model (also typeset as P-MODEL and P. Model) was a Japanese electronic rock band started in 1979 by members of the defunct progressive rock band Mandrake. The band has experienced many lineup revisions over the years but frontman Susumu Hiras ...

Background

In March 1983, Yasumi Tanaka, P-Model's original keyboardist, left the group and the music industry entirely due to a severe case of

writer's block Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Mike Rose found that this creative stall is not a result of commitment problems or th ...

. His departure left the band in a state of crisis, as leader

Susumu Hirasawa is a Japanese musician and composer. In the fifth year of elementary school, Hirasawa took up the electric guitar, inspired by the surf and instrumental rock bands he heard on the radio and on TV, later joining his junior high school's band. ...

was for the first time the only major creative force since the group's days as

Mandrake A mandrake is the root of a plant, historically derived either from plants of the genus '' Mandragora'' found in the Mediterranean region, or from other species, such as ''Bryonia alba'', the English mandrake, which have similar properties. The ...

Composition

With Hirasawa assuming full creative control of the band, ''Another Game'' songs reflected the signature mood that would be prevalent throughout his career. The album carries over the sensory experimentation of '' Perspective'' and their 1983 self-released album ''Fu Kyoka Kyoku Shū.'' Hirasawa uses atypical song structures, as well as those to affect the listener through

biofeedback Biofeedback is the process of gaining greater awareness of many physiology, physiological functions of one's own body by using Electronics, electronic or other instruments, and with a goal of being able to Manipulation (psychology), manipulate t ...

and

alpha waves Alpha waves, or the alpha rhythm, are neural oscillations in the frequency range of 8–12 Hz likely originating from the synchronous and coherent (in phase or constructive) electrical activity of thalamic pacemaker cells in humans. Historica ...

. Guitar and atmospheric synths are emphasized as opposed to the loud bass and drums of ''Perspective''. The album also pays homage to

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

, whom Hirasawa drew deep inspiration from for his music. Hirasawa described the concept underpinning the album thus:

Release

The album was originally scheduled to be released on 25 October 1983. However, the band's label Japan Record postponed it three times. A situation that deeply aggravated Hirasawa, to the point of going public:

Track listing

"Harm Harmonizer" contains a sample of "Two on a Floor" by P-Model, from the album ''Fu Kyoka Kyoku Shū''. The titles of the songs are officially rendered out in all caps, except for the sub-titles of the first and last songs. "Fu-Ru-He-He-He" has had its title rendered in

hiragana is a Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''. It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' literally means "flowing" or "simple" kana ("simple" originally as contrast ...

and translated as "FuLu He He He" on various sources. On vinyl issues, "Awakening Sleep〜α click" leads into a

locked groove The overwhelming majority of records manufactured have been of certain sizes (7, 10, or 12 inches), playback speeds (33, 45, or 78 RPM), and appearance (round black discs). However, since the commercial adoption of the gramophone record (ca ...

, so that the track would have an "endless" effect.

Personnel

;P-Model -

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

Arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

s *

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

, Heavenizer *Sadatoshi Tainaka -

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, Real Drum programming *Tatsuya Kikuchi - Bass,

Backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

*Shunichi Miura -

Keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, Backing vocals ;Guest musicians & production *Toshinobu Kyozima - Voice on "Another Game step1" *Manami Takada - Backing vocals on "Mouth to Mouth" *Eiichi Tsutaki (courtesy of Floor Records) -

Xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in the ...

and

Slit drum A slit drum or slit gong is a hollow percussion instrument. In spite of the name, it is not a true drum but an idiophone, usually carved or constructed from bamboo or wood into a box with one or more slits in the top. Most slit drums have one slit ...

on "Floor" *Yasushi Konishi -

Engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

*Toshiyuki Asakuno - Assistant Engineering ;Staff *Shōzō Shiba - Direction *Yūichi Hirasawa (credited as "Yū1 Hirasawa") -

Art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

*Yōko Matsubara & Jaish (GIN-BAN) -

Photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

*Model House - Productive Management *Thanks to: Akiro "Kamio" Arishima, Ako ( Zelda), Takashi Kokubo ( Tsutomu Yamashita & Muse), TS STUDIO, Susumu Shigaki, Taro Yamamoto, Yuichi Yamaguchi

Release history

*"Atom-Siberia" ("Malformed Area" version) is included on the ''Impossibles! 80's JAPANESE PUNK & NEW WAVE'' various artists compilation.

References

;Notes ;Citations ;Bibliography * .

External links

ANOTHER GAME
a
NO ROOM - The official site of Susumu Hirasawa (P-MODEL)
*

a

{{DEFAULTSORT:ANOTHER GAME 1984 albums P-Model albums Japanese-language albums