Atbest, Noriko’s fifth album mixes pop and more experimental electronicsin a way that is sometimes interesting, mixing standard pop beats andinstruments with more unusual sounds. Unfortunately this form ofsongcraft is far from new and much of the time Noriko misses the markcompletely.
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Blurred in my Mirror starts off very promisingly with“Niagara Hospital;” the electronic beat pushes the song as Noriko’sspoken vocals go in and out synch with the song. It works very well asNoriko’s childlike words jar with the more serious music. “Tabletfor Memory,” with its lazy rhythm and acoustic guitar sounds quite likePortishead, which, although entertaining it isn't something towrite home about. After these first two songs the album loses its steam very quickly.
Most of the other songs seem to gonowhere, all blurring into each other. It’s not that they are bad but they’re not that interesting, failing to hold myattention. Additionally, Noriko’s singing starts to grate on me after awhile. At times her voice is unorthodox and beautiful but there weremoments when I found her singing a little uncomfortable.
Blurred in my Mirrorworks best at the times when the songshave some structure, the moreexperimental tracks lacked the life of the more traditional songs onthe album. They were full of too many ingredients: too many loopsoverpowering the mix. Perhaps this could have worked much better withsomeone elseat the mixing desk. The downfall seems to be too many choices and notenough clarity: noises might sound great when practicing or playingaround but in the end don't actuallysuit any of the songs remarkably well. The strongest cuts were the onesthat used a morelimited palette of sounds which allowed more room in the mix toactually enjoy the music. Blurred in my Mirror could have been a good album were it not for the dud tracks and poor production work. As it stands it is a lacklustre and average album.
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