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Myriad Luminescent review

Read the press release here

Star FM/St Andrews University

Really, really like this. You can hear the influence of 80s college rock like My Bloody Valentine and the Jesus and Mary Chain but she turns it into her own. I think it would be great to give our radio a bit more quality music.

Sin Radio

This is very different. It definitely has a 90's feel to it. Dreamy and haunting. A very cool tune. I really like it, its unique!

Komakino (Italy)

Mayumi Ashizawa is a dreamy shoegazing girl, multi-instrumentalist, several years into the art of swiriling, glittering guitars. Her songs fragile jewels of echoing sounds and delicate voices with an adorable Japanese accent. Her bandmates are Fenders...(as the credits specify). This three pieces EP features the different faces of this: the title-song, an opus merging Cocteau Twins / Isobella sonority with a sweet, perfect melancholic chorus, is a beautiful trip to an ideal point between chaotic noise control and delicacy; - Careless, with a strong pop bass line and drifting drumming, signals the way for the radio-friendly attack, - and Snowflake Beach, where the rotary panning feedback embraces her breathy gentle vocals, recalls memories of early Mahogany. I wonder what may happen with a full length album, and more -. When I listen to these tracks, it makes me want to play music.

Sheffield University

Nice sound, slightly 80's but not in a bandwagon jumping way. Reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine but more accessible.
7/10.

The Beatsurrender

I'm sure like me you like to see the underdog doing well and you like a rags to riches story as well?
Ok so the transition isn't complete yet but thanks to the power of the internet and more precisely eBay Mayumi makes a return to the music scene. Mayumi is a multi instrumentalist who apparantly was a college radio regular back in the late 90's. She had all but given up on a recording career, when she noticed that her CDs were fetching bids on eBay.
Touched by the fact that people were still interested in her music, she set about recrding a brand new single. Myriad Luminescent is based very definetly around the shoegazing bands sound of the late 80's and early 90's (no mean achievement for one person on her own!)
Think Lush and My Bloddy Valentine meeting in a soundclash of swirling guitars and dreamy vocals and you won't be far away. The title song on this three tracker is the strongest, just edging out Careless (Shields My Eyes). Can't say I was particularly bowled over by Snowflake Beach (Cosmic Version) but two out of three ain't bad if you ask me.

Drowned in Sound

"It shimmers endlessly like a flawed gem...it gives me goose bumps!"
Not my words, but the words of Mayumi herself, which is one of only two review snippets given on the accompanying press release. Which is worrying at first, but when the track plays you realise that its hard to sum up the track in so few words.
For those who have heard Asobi Seksu then just imagine a lo-fi 'Sooner' played through a ton of reverb. However thats not to say that 'Myriad Luminescent' is in debt to anyone except for its creator, the multi-instrumentalist Mayumi. The two following tracks, 'Careless' and 'Snowflake Beach' , follow the same pattern. 'Loveless' era My Bloody Valentine instrumentation, barely audible mumbled female vocals and energetic drum beats.
With the ever-increasing speed of music bandwagons trek into past genres and eras and the ever-increasing number of quality bands in the spectrum 2006 is surely the year that Shoegaze stands up and is taken seriously again. And while Mayumi is an unlikely figurehead for any type of revolution of movement she could soon find herself on the end of a thrust into popularity.
*Ed's note: Mayumi does not use reverb

UCA Radio

An interesting and distinctive sound which stands out from the crowd. All 3 tracks have an onverall similarity, despite their differences. This single is occupying its own niche in our studio.

Last Kiss 3 (Italy) *Translated by Paolo Miceli

One more piece of work that will hardly have the chance to be heard in our Country.
Mayumi Ashizawa is an all spice Japanese babe, because she writes and plays instruments in each Song. In this case, the songs are three: Myriad Luminiscent, Careless and Snowflake Beach where our dear Mayumi takes the best of sonorous/audio influences from the 4AD world, mainly Cocteau Twins. Beautiful sounds, 80's like atmosphere, and magic acts of some kind of sounds that come back like magic. This is good - this is oxygen.

Side Line(Belgium)

Posted on 21 Nov, 2006
Mayumi Ashizawa is actually the name of that Japanese female artist who has decided to record a CD on her own. The record label is English and the music is also mostly influenced by the English wave movement. Mayumi plays all the instruments on this record and also sings. The sound reminding of stuff from the 4AD label with its wall of ethereal guitars and plaintive vocals (which are probably not the best part). There is still a lot of work to be done before being fully effective but the ideas and the musical orientations are interesting.

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