Volume 49 of the Made to Measure series of albums is Ensemble 0’s Jojoni. Made to Measure is an imprint of Crammed Records, that set out to collate some of the most interesting instrumental music of its era. Some thirty-five volumes of music that sounded like they could have been “made to measure” as a soundtrack for film, theatre, dance or video,  were released between the years of 1983 and 1995. In recent years Crammed have revived the series, of which this is the latest entry.

Ensemble 0 are a band from France, with a fluid lineup that changes according to the selections being performed. Formed in 2004 by friends Stéphane Garin, Joël Mérah & Sylvain Chauveau who wrote a series of instrumental acoustic pieces that they dreamed of performing in Japan. In order to ensure they could perform this in Japan without any extra expense, every instrument used had to fit into a suitcase that fits with-in airline regulations. They spent two years writing and recording the album, 2013s Soñando, which was successful enough that the group would tour across Europe and the Far East, including Japan and Taiwan. Over the next four years, they worked on writing and recording a follow-up to that album, which was to become the album featured here, Jojoni.
Named after a Japanese word that means gradually or slowly, Jojoni is partly named because of the slow pace of the compositional work, and partly because of their attitude to time, which they view as a precious commodity. The creative process is something to take care with, they’re meticulous in their construction of the music and are more concerned with longer-term results than short-term objectives. 

Divided into seven parts, Jojoni sees the band expand on their previous acoustic sound with the addition of a drum machine that helps to give the album a fairly unique sound. Part One features extensively some percussive instrumentation that drives the piece hypnotically throughout its 7-minute run time. Part Two picks up where that left off, albeit with a slightly altered rhythm. Part Seven (yes track seven follows two and precedes three for some reason) holds onto that same cheery, laid-back percussive vibe. You are very aware that whilst each track is very similar to the previous one, it never feels boring or overly repetitive. Part Three eschews the percussion of the previous three tracks in favour of a purely acoustic guitar-led sound. Slightly more introspective, it’s a nice, slight shift in sound.  Part Four fits somewhere between the first three tracks and Part Three, it's still largely acoustic guitar-led, like Part Three but has some of the percussive elements featured in the earlier tracks. Part Five is a pretty piece that features lots of really interesting guitar harmonics. The album closer, The concluding epic, Part Six features a train-like rhythm that drives the album to its ultimate conclusion. 

Overall, Jojoni is a beautiful, ambient, largely acoustic, masterpiece that proves that you can create a full-length album that rarely deviates from a set sound without it becoming dull or overdone. I find it a piece that you can get lost in and would probably find myself listening to it on a long train journey. A thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing experience.