Electronic / Experimental

Launched in an uncertain time, here are 12 tracks from 17 new independent Japanese artists, a physical release from a generation which has an online-release default setting. Not a scene document, not a label sampler, and not a showcase for a collective, this compilation features a selection of artists from all across Japan, selected by ex-Jesse Ruins producer CVN. These songs are snapshots of a sensibility shared by these artists: a love of contemporary electronic pop music, an awareness of melody, and an appreciation of the musical options provided by technology. Not techno or ambient, there is an emphasis on the human voice, with elements of hiphop, trap, EDM and bass music, all subsumed into multiple facets of a glowing electronic bedroom pop gem. Available on CD, vinyl and digital, with English liner notes, lyrics and artist information. These songs are seeds of hope for the coming post-pandemic parties.

+ Quality cutting / pressing
+ Foldout insert
+ English liner notes
+ Artist bio/photo/discography

Tracks:

A1. Dove “Irrational”
A2. Lil Soft Tennis “Feelin’ Love”
A3. tamanaramen “angelnumber”
A4. Karavi Roushi and Aquadab “Tokyoite - Val Kilmer (Love Her)“
A5. valknee + ANTIC “The Best SSS in Life (2020 Mix)”
A6. NTsKi “Labyrinth of Summer (KM Remix)”

B1. seaketa “you”
B2. Menace-nai “Lucky Guess”
B3. lIlI “Nightmare”
B4. CVN “withoutu feat. Itaq”
B5. SATOH “MLC”
B6. Le Makeup “Ray”

This collection, featuring seven pieces from 2011 to 2015, celebrates Noah Creshevsky's 70th year with a fittingly life-affirming and masterful verve. An award-winning composer who has studied with Nadia Boulanger and Luciano Berio, he began composing electronic music in 1971, using the power of circuitry, tape and then digital technology to create a "hyperreal" musical world in which recordings of human performers, both vocalists and instrumentalists, are juxtaposed and recombined in compositions which span eras, cultures and genres. His use of expanded musical palettes arises from an aesthetic of inclusion, guided by an open spirit and an expansive musical sense. The combination of the emotional power of human performances with the precision of computers create real-beyond-real super-performances of surprising control and virtuosity, resulting in a hypothetical and yet very real music, full of drama, humor, and tenderness. This CD, Creshevsky's second release on EM, following the 2004 "Tape Music" compilation, gives ample evidence of both his mastery of digital technology and his profound, empathetic musical instincts. His ability to use the computer to highlight the gifts of human performers is displayed on every track, including a piece which focuses on Japanese vocalist Tomomi Adachi.

+ Standard jewel case. 8P booklet.
+ Liner notes in English and Japanese by composer, critic and independent scholar George Grella, Jr.

Enter a world unknown! Birdfriend is a cassette label run by Japanese musician/composer Koshiro Hino, aka YPY, who is also a founding member of the Osaka band goat. This compilation, available on CD and double vinyl, features 18 tracks by Japanese artists, from 2013-2017, previously available only on hard-to-find cassettes on the Birdfriend label, now available to you, the curious and courageous listener, worldwide on EM Records. Rejoice and enjoy the fractured rhythms and future-now timbres, questing intelligences and D.I.Y. energy, conveyed to you through hand-made synths, custom electronics, synths and samplers. Compiled by Hino, who also provides liner notes and cover art, these Japanese artists share a love of texture, semi-skewed rhythm, simple-yet-evolving structure, and a sense of humour; yet despite these similarities, there is a great variety across this release, making for an exciting and cohesive musical experience.

+ Double 12" set
+ Gatefold sleeve
+ English liner notes
+ Artist bio/photo/discography

Tracks:

Side A:
1. Sofheso - M.N.L
2. Shimetta-inu - Bird Peck at Dead Dog
3. NEW MANUKE - Fastest Motor
4. YPY - BFMIX B-3
5. JMT Synth Pinosaku - Tansun

Side B:
1. Shimettainu - Dog is Surrounded by Birds
2. UNBE - Vector Milk
3. YPY - The Damo UFO
4. Micro Futoshi - Reforest 1
5. Inoue Shirabe - Sleep Talk

Side C:
1. Futoshi Moriyama - Time Limit
2. OPQ - ENT
3. Futoshi Moriyama - Nico Electro
4. H. Takahashi - 4
5. Micro Futoshi - Reforest 2
6. UNBE - 5 Cubic Meters

Side D:
1. Bonnounomukuro - Enter the Exit
2. Futoshi Moriyama - Piano and Sampler