Today is my first post of a new series—introducing album reviews! Sometimes I find an album that is meant to be experienced from start to finish as a full artistic piece. This is often my favorite way to listen to music, so I’m here to talk about one of my favorite albums of all time, cogency by the artist COgeNdshE. Let me know what albums I should listen to next!
| Album: cogency | Artist: COgeNdshE | Released: May 2012 |
| Label: Zankyo Record | Run time: 44 minutes | Tracks: 9 songs |
Members: 藤江 香織 Fujie Kaori (vocals), 矢部 淳一郎 Yabe Junichiro (guitar), 阿部 公祐 Abe Kousuke (guitar), 嘉山 実 Kayama Mi (bass), 佐々木 隆志 Sasaki Takashi (drums)
Back in 2017, “cogency” was the first album I purchased on bandcamp which I found through COgeNdshE’s label, Zankyo Record, which also housed one of my favorite artists, chou chou merged syrups. as well as other artists that I grew to love. In fact, “cogency” quickly became one of my favorite albums I’ve ever listened to from start to finish. I also highly recommend checking out the labels of any artists you like, because that’s definitely been a great way to find treasures like what I’m about to talk about today.
The first time I listened to this album is indelible in my memory and is inextricably linked to my experience of re-listening to it every time—I was sitting in a cafe struggling to focus, when I decided to put on the album “cogency” by COgeNdshE. I wasn’t sure what I was getting into besides that they were a math-rock/post-rock band, but the first track, “Rinjyu-Funckarma remix_Co-product” was such a powerful intro song that I was immediately hooked even without any vocals introduced yet. It was instantly clear that this album was made to be listened to with headphones alone in a sort of introspective meditation with the instruments taking their time, flowing and forming into the shape of the songs overall. Ultimately, the album put me in a meditative mode that helped get me into the headspace to focus.
The second song, “錯乱” which they’ve written as “akuran” on spotify, but seems to be closer to “sakuran,” meaning “confusion” picks up the pace with rhythmically pleasing drums and guitar, until suddenly the vocalist makes an appearance. Fujie Kaori has a clear and swaying voice that melds into the instruments, taking on that rhythmic and expressive form that COgeNdshE’s music has overall. This song is also the only single that has a music video, and it’s definitely an experience to try to decipher:
“Tsuru no ongaeshi” and “mainus” unfurl a sort of anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach, and somehow that’s just the disposition I gravitate towards at times. Then the penultimate song of the album, “rinju” comes back to the main theme in the intro connecting the album together, and finally “kara” brings us to a new place, wrapping up the experience of the album into a more upbeat and rhythmic conclusion. The bass and the guitar are interspersed with synth distortions here and there to really highlight the twisting and oscillating tempos, and loss of control expressed in the album.
I don’t know much about the band, and it’s not even entirely clear if the band is officially disbanded or not even though it’s been over 10 years since their album was released. What I do know is that they gave us an awesome album where each song, including the vocals as a distinct instrument, progresses from one to another in such a way that it begs to be listened to in the way the songs were placed on the album. The album’s name, “cogency” is fitting for the logical cohesion that the album holds, and it’s one that I will listen to for years to come.
Links:
https://zankyorecord.bandcamp.com/album/cogency
This Broadcast was written by Erin; you can find them on instagram at @thekniterin.