Synergetics/Entropy is two aesthetically complementary early Onodera albums, Synergetics (Drone Records), originally a 2007 release, and Entropy (Critical Path) 2005, remastered and bundled by Dragon’s Eye over a decade on. The former, entirely electric guitar and piano, is a minimal 2-track study in slow motion in which overtones, harmonics, and spectral melodies emerge into expansive drones. Described originally as ‘shimmering like light on water,’ it’s a contemplative experience that at once allows for release of consciousness while drawing focus to a pinpoint of the present. On debut, Entropy, the use of guitar, field recordings and electronics and his manipulation of harmonics and accent noises into simple loops and melodies can now be seen as foundational. Moments of timbral friction add a dimension that gently fractures the hypnotic illusion induced by the warm harmonic drones. Onodera’s deployment of his palette serves to heighten a sense of genuinely active living, the Now foregrounded while the exterior world’s pulse peripherally accompanies.
— Alan Lockett, Igloo Magazine
Review
Igloo Magazine
March 29, 2020