365 ELECTRONIC MUSIC ALBUMS IN 365 DAYS

Day 50: Fantastic Plastic Machine — Beautiful

Genres: House / Shibuya-Kei

Year: 2001

Country: Japan

(This is a personal opinion; I have no formal knowledge of music theory, but I deeply love electronic music. Please keep that in mind while reading.)

I saved my favorite electronic album of all time for Day 50 of this journey.

An album that can be described with just one word:

Beautiful.

Nothing more.

Nothing less.

And it comes from one of the most creative minds Japanese electronic music has ever produced.

Tomoyuki Tanaka played a crucial role in the evolution of the Shibuya-kei movement. While bands like Flipper's Guitar and Pizzicato Five, alongside the visionary Yasuharu Konishi, shaped its sophisticated pop identity, Tanaka helped push the genre into a far more electronic direction.

After collaborating throughout the 1990s, he launched his solo project Fantastic Plastic Machine. His debut introduced an unmistakable style, but it was Beautiful, released in 2001, that truly defined the sound many now associate with the early Neo Shibuya-kei movement.

The record introduces itself with I Am Beautiful, before flowing naturally into Beautiful Days, one of the warmest and most uplifting electronic songs I've ever heard.

Brass arrangements, piano, House grooves, sampled textures and an overwhelming sense of nostalgia combine into a song that gently reminds you never to lose the child you once were.

Paragon perfectly showcases Tanaka's talent for blending Brazilian rhythms, TR-909 drum programming, bossa nova influences and elegant orchestral arrangements into something unmistakably his own.

Later, Love Is Psychedelic explores the intersection of House, Easy Listening and cinematic orchestration that often reminds me of Piero Piccioni's work.

On A Chair slows things down before the album delivers one of its most touching moments: Whistle Song, a stunning reinterpretation of Frankie Knuckles' classic that feels like a heartfelt tribute to the Godfather of House.

Then comes One Minute Love, leading into my favorite song.

Not just from this album.

Perhaps from my entire life.

Todos Os Desejos.

Everything that makes Fantastic Plastic Machine extraordinary comes together here: Brazilian influences, sophisticated House production, Shibuya-kei elegance and an emotional warmth that's almost impossible to describe.

The album continues with the optimistic I'm Still A Simple Man, a song that instantly brings me back to one of my favorite summers in Ontario, before Hirth Martinez returns in God Save The Mona Lisa, following the beautiful Down Tempo atmosphere of Black Dada.

Finally, Beautiful Days returns in a quieter reprise, carried by Rhodes piano, strings and delicate wind arrangements.

The album ends exactly as it began.

Beautifully.

PERSONAL CONCLUSIONS:

I've wanted to write about this record since the beginning of this project.

I first discovered Fantastic Plastic Machine when I was around eleven or twelve years old after finding one of his compilation CDs in a family member's music collection.

One listen became another.

And another.

More than a decade later...

I'm still just as captivated.

Tomoyuki Tanaka remains active today as a DJ, producer and soundtrack composer, recently contributing to projects like Ice Cream Fever and the anime Sanda. Even though his sound has evolved beyond classic Shibuya-kei, it's inspiring to see such a creative artist continue making music.

If one day I manage to become a House producer myself...

I can only hope to be half as good as Tomoyuki Tanaka.

Until then...

Allow me to recommend the album that has accompanied me throughout most of my life.

Maybe, by the time it ends...

You'll remember some of your own beautiful days too.

DAY 50 — BEAUTIFUL

Looking back when I was a child and dreamed...

[ LISTEN TO THE ALBUM ]