"Another Day c/w Zebra" Released: May 1986 (promo) ALFA-134
One Pattern (stylized as ONE PATTERN) is a 1986 album by P-Model and the last before the band's hiatus in 1988.
Background
After the end of the supporting tour for Karkador, P-Model was left without a bassist and a keyboardist. Frontman Susumu Hirasawa recruited Teruo Nakano and Yoshikazu Takahashi to fill the roles respectively, taking P-Model's sound in a new direction.
One Pattern's style follows closely after Hirasawa's work in Karkador, with Nakano as the main creative partner. Together, they employed varied musical styles, from orchestral to classic guitar work, while producing in a way as to create a lo-fi sound.
Production
Due to the rising prominence of digital technology at the time, artificial sounds were used on the album more so than ever before. The songs were recorded with a Casio CZ-5000's built-in 8 track sequencer, as the band could not afford a standalone. For reproducing the sound for live performances they relied on intuition and using the devices they had on hand.[1]
Hirasawa implemented a MIDI guitar on some songs, sometimes purposefully playing it "the wrong way" aiming to surprise the listener, though he struggled with the unreliability of the gear and its constant sound output delay. The complex basslines were played by Nakano on either a bass or on a keyboard. Takahashi took to heavy usage of samplers and using a cassette deck to play pre-recorded choral accompaniments, as well as having a hand in engineering. Drummer Yasuhiro Araki meanwhile, had his role in the band greatly diminished, with most of the drumming on the album handled by sequencers.
One Pattern was recorded under a strenuous schedule by a P-Model in low spirits,[2] with Hirasawa having his vision heavily imposed on by various circumstances, and he has since called this his least favorite P-Model album.[3] This was reflected in the album's title, "one pattern" being a Japanese phrase for "stuck in a rut".
Track listing
All tracks are written by Susumu Hirasawa, except where noted
Released (alongside Karkador) five days before the release of P-Model.
December 21, 1994 (1994-12-21)
Alfa Music, Edge Records
ALCA-9135
Released (alongside Karkador) 20 days after the debut show of the "Revised" P-Model.
May 10, 2002 (2002-05-10) July 4, 2014 (2014-07-04)
Chaos Union, Teslakite
CHTE-0010
Remastered by Hirasawa. Part of Disc 6 of the Ashu-on [Sound Subspecies] in the solar system box set, alongside demos and bootlegs of songs originally meant for inclusion on Monster and a different arrangement of Kameari Pop (from In a Model Room) made for a "One Pattern Band" show (with Kera and former members). Re-released with new packaging by Kiyoshi Inagaki.
July 25, 2007 (2007-07-25) April 12, 2012 (2012-04-12)
Remastered, limited release (alongside Karkador). Packaged in a paper sleeve to replicate the original LP packaging. Re-pressing (without sticker to indicate packaging) sold only through Tower Records.
"Another Day" is included on the TWINS SOUND SAMPLER Vol.2～ROCK/POPS COLLECTION various artists compilation.
"OH MAMA!" is included on the TWINS SOUND SAMPLER Vol.4～TECHNO POP COLLECTION various artists compilation.
References
^Takahasi, Kasiko (30 December 2009). "フリー・ソフトウェアとしての平沢進". MODEROOM (in Japanese). Fascination, inc. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
^Takahasi, Kasiko (2010) [1999]. 改訂DIGITAL復刻版 音楽産業廃棄物 [Music Industrial Wastes Rev.2.4] (in Japanese). Vol. P-Model Side – Open Source (3rd ed.). Fascination.
