Hi, everyone. Ohthony Boy tano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of this new Hakushi Hasegawa record, Mah​ō​gakkō.

This is the latest full-length LP from Japanese progressive pop experimentalist, Hakushi Hasegawa, who has been turning heads on the underground international music scene for several years now. But this is their first major release that has been getting a proper album rollout and release stateside via Flying Lotus's Brain Feeder Records, which has been having a pretty busy 2024 between new records from Louis Cole as well as Hiatus Kaiyote, and now this.

Putting this record out there, in my opinion, opens up a lot of interesting and exciting possibilities. Because for years at this point, Hasegawa has been finetuning this specialized, chaotic, glitchy brand of boundary-pushing pop that really has to be heard to be believed. Without any hyperbole, a lot of the material on this new album here is absolutely insane and will leave you feeling like you are doing complex math problems just by actively listening to it. And actively listening to it is just about all that you can do. It is so loud, it is so rhythmic, it is so busy, it is so confrontational that you can't really put it on in the background. It forces your attention onto it.

It does this not only through catchy melodies and sometimes some very sweet, surprising jazzy chord progressions. But also this record has a rhythmic intensity to it, a relentlessness to it that would put some grindcore and cybergrind bands to shame.

I mean, the beats and chords on the opening track alone will likely have your brain completely fried within just the few minutes that it lasts. And then from there, the album actually continues for another 30 or so. And the intensity of this album is so funny because it's not just this generally harsh listen or anything like that. A lot of the melodies on this LP are actually quite quaint, cute even, especially with the way Hakushi has treated their vocals on this record. In comparison with other releases, the singing has never sounded quite this kawaii. Yeah, on that front, I would say Hakushi is really nailing it this time.

Now, this record isn't all about thrash and bash and speed. There are some low-key moments peppered throughout the tracklist, too. And while I do think they are necessary for or the journey of this album, there are some that pale in comparison to others.

And what I mean by that is there's not really a lot about them compositionally or melodically that sticks with me. And I have to question, am I enjoying these pieces because they're actually good or because they're merely providing me a bit of an oasis from the onslaught of the other tracks?

Still, when it comes to the more beautiful and serene and subtle moments on this record, there are some standout and gorgeous cuts for sure, mostly "Forbidden Thing". The way the maximal repetitions that are embraced throughout this album play out on the piano runs throughout that track, just amazing.

There's also the mostly acoustic number "Boy's Texture", which is a major standout too, for sure. Not only in a lot of ways does this track sound and feel like a beautiful warm spring day. But it's also a very dynamic cut on the record because it saves all of that rhythmic and distorted chaos for the very final moments of the song for an incredible visceral payoff.

I will say one other thing about this record that feels like a bit of a step down for Hasegawa is that I feel like the clarity between each piece of instrumentation, the mix, generally, it's not quite where it was on older records, especially Air Ni Ni, where I think the keys and the rhythms and the vocals, by comparison, were just a lot more readable.

Maybe this is completely 110% intentional, but I feel like Mah​ō​gakkō is just a lot more claustrophic claustrophobic, which, again, does lend this project a certain level of intensity, but it's not always the better for it, especially since there are some cuts that, even at the short lengths that they last, are quite unreadable and just give me ear fatigue.

I think this claustrophobic sound also kneecaps the beauty of a few of the more harmonious moments on the record, namely the closer, which in a way has an operatic presentation to it between the big rhythms, the pianos, as well as the pitched and digitized vocal harmonies throughout the track. But again, the lack of space and breathing room between each respective layer on the song, I think, keeps it from being as beautiful and as grand as what it may be shooting for in concept.

So while I do think there are some issues with the sound and a very intense compositional style of this record, I will say the vast majority of it is an exhilarating and gorgeous thrill. Undeniably creative, too, especially with the genre combinations that you see crossing over on the song, "Gone", with a rapper, Kid Frasino.

There's also "Mouth Flash", which sounds like if you were trying to speedrun a PlayStation 2 beach-level racing game. Meanwhile, "The Blossom and the Thunder" is also a major highlight in the tracklist, too

Even with those highlights in mind, I guess what I want to say is that oftentimes, I guess I find myself more in awe of this record than enjoyment per se.

Yeah, I guess this album is that those two things are not necessarily the same thing. Because, I mean, don't get me wrong, there are a lot of spots on this LP where I'm just blown away that someone would have these ideas and also the fortitude and the focus to execute them. But just because this record and its many tracks are very impressive in terms of their layering, their speed, their attention to detail, it doesn't necessarily mean I'm digesting or really liking just how overtly really disorienting a lot of these tracks are.

Really, the ones that work best for me are the tracks that are the most gorgeous on the record and the ones that find some balance in terms of dynamics and variation across their run time, which granted is most of the record, but with it being as short as it is, just a handful of subpar moments are enough to throw it off at least a little bit.

Which is why I'm feeling a light to decent seven on this one.

Anthony Fantano. Hakushi Hasegawa. Forever.