Japanese

A dreamlike dispatch from mid-80's Japan, the first and only Hallelujahs album is an entrancing and gentle work of psychedelic pop brilliance. Friends gathered in the studio by Shinji Shibayama (Nagisa Ni Te), Hallelujahs created a music of deep feeling and wonderment with simple song craft and a guileless magic. The album was the first release by the now revered ORG Records in 1986 in a micro-edition of 300 copies. With affinities to the sounds of the Rough Trade and Flying Nun labels, the Paisley Underground and Galaxie 500, the album is an utterly unique masterpiece that remains a touchstone for generations of like spirited artists in Japan and around the world. Black Editions is proud to present this all-time classic in a deluxe vinyl edition, remastered from the original tapes and presented in a heavy tip-on jacket with textured paper, mounted high quality print, foil stamped finishes and spot colors. Also released with a special limited edition 7" featuring two previously unreleased tracks and hand stamped envelope with seven photo cards.

Black Truffle is pleased to announce For McCoy, a new work by Eiko Ishibashi dedicated to the widely loved character of Jack McCoy, portrayed by Sam Waterston in Law & Order. Following on from Hyakki Yagyō (BT064), For McCoy finds Ishibashi further exploring the unique space she has carved out in recent years, bringing together musique concrète techniques, ECM-inspired jazz, lush layers of synths and hints of pop into immersive and affecting structures crafted in her home studio, aided by a group of close collaborators. Beginning with overlapping layers of descending flute lines, the expansive ‘I Can Feel Guilty About Anything’ (whose two parts stretch out over more than thirty minutes) unfolds with a free-associative logic, embracing dreamlike transitions and unexpected cinematic cuts. As a hovering cloud of synthetic tones and multi-tracked voices fans out from the spare opening moments, Joe Talia’s skittering cymbals settle into a gently propulsive groove, soon joined by melodic fragments performed by Daisuke Fujiwara on multi-tracked saxophone. As the drums cede to field recordings and ominous synth figures, the uncommon meeting of saxophone and electroacoustic techniques call to mind the more spacious moments of Michel Redolfi and André Jaume’s Synclavier-propelled oddity Hardscore or the early work of Gilbert Artman’s Urban Sax. As the piece continues on the LP’s second side, distant dialogue rumbles beneath a surface of processed flutes, blurring into a cavernously reverberant backdrop for stark ascending lines performed by MIO.O on violin. Eventually, the piece settles into a gorgeous passage of abstracted dream pop, where Ishibashi’s multitracked vocal harmonies glide atop synth chords, errant pings and snatches of outdoor sound. Fragments of melodic material reappear throughout the spacious opening piece, finally stepping to the forefront on the closing track, ‘Ask Me How I Sleep at Night’. Here, over a shuffling groove supplied by Jim O’Rourke on double bass and Tatsuhisa Yamamoto on drums, layers of flutes, saxophones and guitars sound out melodies whose combination of twisting irregularity and soulful immediacy calls up prime Keith Jarrett, while their closely voiced harmonies suggest Kenny Wheeler or even Wayne Shorter’s Atlantis. In a classical gesture of closure, the web of melodic lines eventually leads back to the descending flute figures with which the record began. Presented in an immersive, impeccably detailed mix by Jim O’Rourke and arriving in a sleeve featuring Ishibashi’s beautiful drawings of Jack McCoy, For McCoy is an essential release for anyone following the enchanted and unique path being forged by Eiko Ishibashi.

A key document of the late 70s experimental music scene in Kansai, Japan, R.N.A. Organism’s sole LP “R.N.A.O Meets P.O.P.O”, released by legendary Osaka label Vanity Records in 1980, was a hallucinatory trip of dubby bass, churning guitars, sputtering rhythm boxes, chattering vocals and unidentifiable sound effects. But it turns out that producer Kaoru Sato (later of EP-4) and the band had initially submitted an even more tweaked out set of mixes to the label which were largely rejected for being too extreme. As luck would have it, those original mixes were archived on (recently unearthed) cassettes and are now available for the first time, 40-plus years after they were recorded, on the 2LP set “Unaffected Mixes plus."

WRWTFWW Records is deeply honored to announce the release of Chu Ishikawa & Der Eisenrost’s soundtrack for experimental action drama Tokyo Fist, released in 1995 and directed by legendary director/producer/writer Shin’ya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo: The Iron Man and its sequels, Bullet Ballet, Hiroki The Goblin, Nightmare Detective). Previously only published on CD in Japan, the cult movie soundtrack is available on vinyl for the first time ever and housed in a heavy 350gsm sleeve. The Tokyo Fist soundtrack gorgeously blends explosive industrial music, heavy percussion, martial rhythms and noise experimentations with contemplative ambient and emotion-filled synth soundscapes, perfectly encapsulating the nihilistic pain felt by the characters of the movie and the brutally visceral rebirth they go through. Ishikawa and Der Eisenrost’s compositions hit hard, sometimes truly terrorizing, sometimes heart-gripping in gloomy and bewitching ways. This is no holds barred music, a venture into the darkest yet most strangely beautiful corners of the human mind (and heart). The late great Chu Ishikawa was one of the innovators of the industrial and experimental scene in Japan and has collaborated with Shin’ya Tsukamoto on numerous movies. He also worked extensively with Takashi Miike, another visionary filmmaker from his home country. Ishikawa was the leader of groundbreaking Industrial-Metal-Percussion unit Der Eisenrost whose live performances around Japan left an indelible mark on the genre’s history. This new project by WRWTFWW Records follows previous Japanese soundtracks from the catalogue: Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor 2, Evil Dead Trap…and more to come.

Tapping the driftwood, tapping the surface of the water, everything on earth becomes his instrument.
In 1990, NEWSIC, a leading Japanese environmental music label, released a work by a rare percussionist
The work released by the rare percussionist is now on LP record for the first time.

Listening to Mr. Ochi's Natural Sonic reminds me of the days when I used to go to the studio of St. GIGA (satellite music broadcasting station), which was then located in Jingumae.
There, this album was secretly played day after day.
After more than 30 years, "Chikyu no Chikugo" was finally released to the world.
- Yoshiro Ojima (Composer / Music Producer)

Yoshiro Ochi is a percussionist who has been active in a wide variety of fields, including composing and performing music for the Issey Miyake Collection from 1984 to 1990, producing music for TV and radio, participating in live performances by GONTITI and other artists, and conducting workshops.
He has collected colorful living tones by traveling, playing drums, and tapping on natural objects he encounters. They blend gently with computer sounds and repeat pleasant resonance.
A magical massage of sound and rhythm.
Following "Motohiko Hamase - Tree Scale," one of the most popular titles on the "NEWSIC" label, this long-awaited analog record pressing is now available!

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Dripping sound...rippling into the womb and beyond. Yutaka Hirose "Nostalgia" world premiere LP release! The compilation of Japanbeat is here! Yutaka Hirose created the masterpiece ambient work "Nova," which was discovered and reevaluated from overseas. Nostalghia", a work that records the "drops" of sensitivity and sound that spring from within, free of all restrictions, has finally been released as the world's first sound source! The sound space of another dimension from the ambient/environmental music that abounds in the market blends into the everyday world in your wireless phone environment, and even expands horizontally into the space in a speaker environment? We Japanese will be the next ones to experience the sensibility of Japambient. NOVA", a piece from the environmental music series "Soundscape" planned by the Sound Design Office of the Misawa Home Research Institute in 1986, was re-evaluated overseas and released on CD in 2019 with bonus tracks by a Swiss label. Yutaka Hirose became a big topic of conversation. After the production of "NOVA", Yutaka Hirose faced with his own sound and recorded in his home studio, and released it in a limited 2-CD analog format with additional tracks different from the CD version!

From the label established by Satoshi Ashikawa, a pioneer of Japanese environmental music, Takashi Sekiguchi's film music collection linked to Hiroshi Yoshimura, Inoyamaland and others has been made into analog LP for the first time.

A world of nostalgic sounds, subtle sounds that are easy to forget.
It was nearly 40 years ago that I began searching for a tone and music that could only be found at this time, as if the instruments and tools were talking to each other through multi-track recording at home.
When I re-listen to the sound source recorded this time, I remember the time when various sounds took shape for the first time, and the bamboo from Asia of that time is revived. ― Takashi Sekiguchi

Released as a CD in 1998, "Bamboo From Asia Plus" contains the contents of Sekiguchi's own self-produced cassette tapes, as well as sound sources composed for six video works released between 1984 and 1994. Acoustic sounds that make extensive use of Asian folk instruments, mainly guitars and percussion, are clear throughout, accompanied by a variety of images, and the passion that slowly overflows. The essence of his music that transcends borders is summarized here.


In 1972, he studied under the late Masayuki Takayanagi, mastering basic music theory through jazz guitar. After that, he learned composition techniques of contemporary music and joined a progressive rock band at the same time. Around this time, he began researching ethnic music and collecting musical instruments in Southeast Asia, and learned how to perform from local musicians in Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, and other places. Around 1983, he started working on film music. In 1990, Takashi Kogo, Yu Watanabe, and Sekiguchi formed the unit Bamboo from Asia, aiming for new Asian music. In 1993 he released his first CD "Bamboo From Asia" and in 1997 his second CD "Sacral Dance". In 1998, he released his solo album "Bamboo From Asia Plus".

・Remastered for vinyl by Kuniyuki Takahashi
・Liner notes by Yuji Shibasaki
・For fans of New-age, Ambient & World music

Silent River Runs Deep · Bamboo From Asia Plus

Scientific Bulletin From The Safe Trip Institute, Amsterdam. 

Our latest communication to colleagues concerns an audio artefact – library reference code ST019 – provided by our esteemed Japanese brothers Satoshi and Makoto. They unearthed it from their own archive of musical experimentations and laboratory tests, which have been ongoing since the 1990s. They have shared it so that the process of peer reviewing can begin in earnest. 

We have undertaken thorough testing in the Safe Trip Laboratory and offer the following observations: 

Colleagues in Japan provided us with sample product of the following audio artefact – file number ST015 – believing that it may be relevant to the Safe Trip Institute’s ongoing research in this area of study. After rigorous testing and analysis, we would like to offer the following observations: 
  
• By running each of the 10 pieces of music that make up the artefact through the Past Fire Particle Analyzer, we have ascertained that every single note, chord and aural element was created using the CZ-5000, an electronic instriment built by Japan’s Casio Corporation. 

• One of our researchers discovered that if you assign a Pantone colour code to each different musical note featured on the artefact, all bar 734 of the 1,867 “spot” colours are present. By gathering these together on one screen, she discovered that most of the “musical colours” employed by Satoshi & Makoto were shades of purple, orange, red, green, yellow and pink. 

• In laboratory tests, listeners were instinctively drawn to the following percussion-free compositions: ‘Crawl Up (ST019-02)’, a combination of vibrant melodies and rumbling sub-bass; ‘Updraft (ST019-08)’, which one listener claimed helped him see through time; and ‘Kass (ST019-09)’, a musical voyage through neural pathways that should interest colleagues within the world of phrenology. 

• Test subjects also responded positively to a number of other artefacts, with one insisting that ‘Corendor (ST019-03)’ induced intense feelings of joy thanks to its use of vibrant melodies and “shuffling beats”. We draw no conclusions from this comment but think it worthy of further discussion. 

We invite colleagues the world over to analyse and test this audio further in order to increase our understanding of Mr Satoshi and Mr Makoto’s archive aural artefacts. We eagerly await your correspondence. 

We write to you with the conclusions of our investigation into the synthesized audio transmissions picked up by the deep space telescope at regular intervals since 1986. The source was traced to two brothers in Kawasaki, Japan, who identified themselves as Satoshi and Makoto. When we raided the building, they were huddled around a synthesizer manufactured by the Casio Corporation, model number CZ-5000. 

In their archives we discovered a wealth of colourful and ear-pleasing material created entirely using this music-making device in the early 1990s. We asked them to provide copies so that we could make these compositions available to the public for the first time. They handed us a compact disc that bore the handwritten code “ST006”.

WRWTFWW Records is ecstatic to announce the first ever best-of compilation of Soichi Terada’s amazing project OMODAKA. including 14 songs never released on vinyl before. The 18-track ZENTSUU: Collected Works 2001-2019 album is available on double LP in heavy 350gsm sleeve with printed inner sleeves, as well as in CD and digital formats. Initiated in 2001 while trying to create a "boat racing song", the OMODAKA project features sublime music by veteran electronic/house/jungle/video game music producer/DJ Soichi Terada and the vocals of Japanese folk min'yō & enka singer Akiko Kanazawa for a never-heard-before colorful blend of retro game 8bit/chiptune sounds and traditional Japanese music with wet electro rhythms, joyful 90s house grooves, and slick downtempo vibes. Feel-good, sexy, and fun, Terada’s project brings forth one of the most unique sounds in recent memory. The smile-inducing sonic adventure is packed with irresistible hits and a good dose of dancefloor-ready gems: a well deserved delivery of good times for 2022 and beyond! Tokyo born genius Soichi Terada has built an impressive career in different music genres. He co-founded respected label Far East Recording with Shinchiro Yokata, composed the soundtrack for cult video game series Ape Escape, released tons of amazing house music records (some included in the beautiful compilation Sounds from the Far East released by Rush Hour in 2015), and has been a celebrated world-touring DJ.

Exclusive Mesh-Key release of Sakamoto's brilliant third solo album, with completely different art from the Japanese release. Comes with full-color inserts with lyric translations, and digital download cards.

After 20+ years with psych legends Yura Yura Teikoku, Shintaro Sakamoto’s third solo album is a bonafide masterpiece of warped steel guitar, ambient disco and AOR soul.

“Like a language of Sakamoto’s own…made with a ship-in-the-bottle-like focus.” Pitchfork (7.8)

“Love If Possible is the pay-attention-moment. Not enough know. More should know.” Under The Radar

“Perfectionist pop for the extraterrestrial bachelor pad.” Spin

This is the first official vinyl reissue from Superior Viaduct of the 1975 historical masterpiece by Takehisa Kosugi (1938-2018), Japan's leading figure in sound art known for his work with Group Ongaku, The Taj Mahal Travellers, Fluxus, and others. This is the first official vinyl reissue from the prestigious Superior Viaduct label. The psychedelic and meditative musicianship with electric violins and voices drifting comfortably in the space is still unique even after 30 years. The sound quality is perfect with the reliable Superior Viaduct. For fans of La Monte Young and Yoshi Wada, this is a must have on vinyl.

For over half a century, Takehisa Kosugi was one of the most unique and enduring figures in the Japanese underground. As an art student in Tokyo in the early 1960s, he joined the Fluxus-styled performance unit Hi Re Centre and founded the improvisational ensemble Group Ongaku, but his most legendary project was The Taj-Mahal Travelers – a multicellular organism that included Kosugi, Ryo Koike, Yukio Tsuchiya, Seiji Nagai, Michihiro Kimura, Tokio Hasegawa and sound engineer Kinji Hayashi. With a penchant for long psychedelic jams (some lasting 12 hours or more) The Taj-Mahal Travelers lived up to their name. Touring in a Volkswagen van across Europe and Asia in the early '70s, they eventually reached the actual Taj Mahal in India. Upon their return to Japan, they held a concert to raise more touring funds and released their very first recordings. Their debut album, July 15, 1972, would extend the band's matter-of-fact titling: all the tracks were named precisely for the times they began and ended. With a grab bag of instrumentation (electric violin, double bass, santoor, vibraphone, harmonica, radio oscillators, sheet iron, etc.), The Taj-Mahal Travelers weave together mesmerizing waves of sonic texture. Featuring longtone concepts that Kosugi discovered while working with sound generators in New York in the mid-'60s, July 15, 1972 remains just as much a collective tone poem as psych workout. These leader-less sounds coalesce into a unified whole that feels both subconscious and sublime, as if the waveforms bypass the listener's ears and land directly inside one's synapses. This first-time vinyl reissue is limited to 750 numbered copies. Comes with poster.

*Vinyl only - No digital* WRWTFWW Records is very happy to announce the official vinyl reissue of the highly sought-after Haruomi Hosono-produced Interior self-titled debut, originally released in 1982 on legendary label Yen Records. The LP comes in a heavy 350gsm sleeve. Interior is Daisuke Hinata, Eiki Nonaka, Mitsuru Sawamura, and Tsukasa Betto. Their classic 1982 debut, produced by Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Haruomi Hosono, is one of a kind - a very rare breed of feel-good ambient music blending instrumental synth-pop, soft electronic minimalism, and cozy sound design in the most heartwarming ways. It evokes the intimate pleasures of daydreaming in a hotel lobby, holding hands in a museum, or napping by the pool. It depicts the urban landscape as a caring environment, where simplicity and repetition is mind soothing and smile inducing. Interior takes you into an alternate reality, where nostalgic modernism makes the present time feel like the fondest memories. The unique sound of Interior caught the attention of William Ackerman and Anne Robinson who re-released the album in 1985 on their famed label Windham Hill Records (with a slightly different tracklisting) and then proceeded to put out their follow-up, Design, in 1987. After that, members of the group continued their careers separately, Daisuke Hinata notably recording an overlooked but absolutely amazing solo album, Tarzanland, in 1988. A1 Technobose A2 Giant Steps A3 Flamengo A4 N.F.G. B1 Reply B2 Timeless B3 Cold Beach B4 Luft B5 Ascending B6 Park

Shomyo of Koya-san & Midori Takada YOU WHO ARE LEAVING TO NIRVANA WRWTFWW Records and MEG Museum (Geneva) are ecstatic to announce a new full length album by celebrated Japanese percussionist Midori Takada (Through The Looking Glass), in collaboration with Buddhist monks belonging to the Samgha group of the Shingon school of Koya-san, led by Reverend Syuukoh Ikawa. You Who Are Leaving To Nirvana is available on half speed mastered vinyl LP, housed in a 350gsm sleeve, with OBI, and liner notes, as well as on digipack CD. Recorded at The Premises Studio (London) and in Tokyo in 2019,You Who are Leaving to Nirvana is a majestic work combining a suite of six Buddhist liturgical chants and a musical creation by Midori Takada. The Buddhist chants come from three types of repertoires: shomyo ("Teisan", "Unga-Bai", "Sange", "Taiyo"), but also goeika ("Kannon-Daiji") and mantra ("Hannya-Singyo"). After supervising the recording of the Buddhist chants, Midori Takada added her own compositions, with subtle layers of percussion and the melodies of her beloved marimba, giving full life to the sacred texts. Reverend Syuukoh Ikawa explains: "Shomyo is a form of declamation of sacred esoteric texts, inherited over many generations. The power of words goes far beyond their mere pronunciation. I think there is something that words alone cannot really convey. If I recite prayers in a musical way, the feeling transmitted will be even stronger than if I say it normally, in everyday language. I think that the musicality of a work carries a hidden power that cannot be expressed in words alone. The setting of the music has an additional power for you and for those around you who listen to it. The words of a song are not just words set to music. They carry an additional hidden power that cannot be expressed in any other way. Listening to Midori Takada's musical performance, the words truly seem to come alive." Original recordings of the Buddhist chants are held in the International Archives of Folk Music (IAFM) at the MEG Museum in Geneva. The album sleeve features an artwork by famed Japanese sculptor Katsura Funakoshi selected by Midori Takada. You Who Are Leaving To Nirvana is released in conjunction with Midori Takada's Cutting Branches For A Temporary Shelter, also available on LP and CD on WRWTFWW Records. Buddhist Chants / Environmental / Ambient / Percussion

この人の作品の新たな入門盤といっても過言ではないでしょう。今年度最高クラスの一枚！国産ミニマル/アンビエント金字塔的傑作『鏡の向こう側』でもお馴染み、もはや説明不要、初期の久石譲プロデュース仕事でも知られるMkwaju Ensembleにも参加、近年のニューエイジ・リバイバルを通じて吉村弘や芦川聡らと並ぶ不動の人気を獲得した作曲家、打楽器奏者である高田みどり(1951-)。自身の『鏡の向こう側』を掘り起こし、世界的人気作品へと押し上げた縁深いレーベルである〈WRWTFWW Records〉より、実に23年ぶりとなる最新ソロ・アルバムをリリース。

ベルリン・ラジオ・シンフォニーのソリストとしてデビュー後、1980年代に入りアフリカやアジア各国を巡り伝統音楽の探求を開始。ガーナ、ブルキナファソ、セネガル、韓国、等の音楽家とセッションを重ね（日本では佐藤允彦や演出家である鈴木忠志とも）、音と人体との一貫性というインデグラルなコンセプトを基に、アフリカの動的な音楽性とアジアの静的なスピリットを統合し、精神性を伴った独自の音楽性を確立。

本作は、スイスの〈ジュネーブ民族学博物館〉に所蔵されている楽器を使用し、ジンバブエのショナ族の伝統的なムビラ音楽を代表する伝統的な作品である「Nhemamusasa」を演奏したライブ録音のアルバム。高田氏の作品は、『百億年の交響詩』や『Tree Of Life』といった比較的アヴァンギャルドな色彩の強い作品が目立ちますが、本作は、『鏡の向こう側』の2020年代ヴァージョンといった風情のコンテンポラリー/ミニマルの凄まじい傑作！自身のアフリカ音楽とミニマリズムへの探究心と多文化的ヴィジョンの集大成ともいうべきマスターピースに仕上がっています。こりゃ絶対持っとけ！

この人の作品の新たな入門盤といっても過言ではないでしょう。今年度最高クラスの一枚！国産ミニマル/アンビエント金字塔的傑作『鏡の向こう側』でもお馴染み、もはや説明不要、初期の久石譲プロデュース仕事でも知られるMkwaju Ensembleにも参加、近年のニューエイジ・リバイバルを通じて吉村弘や芦川聡らと並ぶ不動の人気を獲得した作曲家、打楽器奏者である高田みどり(1951-)。自身の『鏡の向こう側』を掘り起こし、世界的人気作品へと押し上げた縁深いレーベルである〈WRWTFWW Records〉より、実に23年ぶりとなる最新ソロ・アルバムをリリース。

ベルリン・ラジオ・シンフォニーのソリストとしてデビュー後、1980年代に入りアフリカやアジア各国を巡り伝統音楽の探求を開始。ガーナ、ブルキナファソ、セネガル、韓国、等の音楽家とセッションを重ね（日本では佐藤允彦や演出家である鈴木忠志とも）、音と人体との一貫性というインデグラルなコンセプトを基に、アフリカの動的な音楽性とアジアの静的なスピリットを統合し、精神性を伴った独自の音楽性を確立。

本作は、スイスの〈ジュネーブ民族学博物館〉に所蔵されている楽器を使用し、ジンバブエのショナ族の伝統的なムビラ音楽を代表する伝統的な作品である「Nhemamusasa」を演奏したライブ録音のアルバム。高田氏の作品は、『百億年の交響詩』や『Tree Of Life』といった比較的アヴァンギャルドな色彩の強い作品が目立ちますが、本作は、『鏡の向こう側』の2020年代ヴァージョンといった風情のコンテンポラリー/ミニマルの凄まじい傑作！自身のアフリカ音楽とミニマリズムへの探究心と多文化的ヴィジョンの集大成ともいうべきマスターピースに仕上がっています。こりゃ絶対持っとけ！

Works of the great Somei Satoh / Mandala Trilogy + 1 bonus track - Shomyo Buddhist chant vocalization and infinity ambient abyss transform into superb mystic and meditative harmonics.

"Mandala", "Mantra" and "Tantra" were recorded separately in 1982, 1986 and 1990. "Mandala" was included on the album Mandala/ Sumeru that was released on ALM (Kojima Recordings) and it was recorded at the NHK Studio of Electronic Music. "Mantra" was a NHK commissioned work (recorded at the same studio). "Tantra" was recorded at Victoria University of Wellington’s Lilburn Studios for electronic music and recording. Although each composition’s production comes from a different era, they all use Satoh’s own vocals as sound as well as electronics.

Includes bonus track "Mai", a composition commissioned by harpist Ayako Shinozaki recorded at the Kioi Hall in Tokyo on November 11th 2004. The piece was conducted by Tetsuji Honna and performed by the Kioi Sinfonietta Tokyo. Satoh says: "The harp is one of my favorite instruments. Also, by combining my affectionate percussion instrument, the chromatic gong and steel drum, with the harp’s most beautiful tone, I attempted to bring out a mystical sound." Although it is not an electronic music piece, this composition complements the world that Satoh expresses in Mandala Trilogy.

Deep deep deep into the abyss.

Midori Takada (1951-) is a composer and percussionist who is very popular overseas as one of the last treasures of Japanese ambient, new age, and minimal new music. WRWTFWW in Switzerland and Palto Flats in New York! After making her debut as a soloist with the Berlin Radio Symphony, she began to explore traditional music in the 1980s, traveling throughout Africa and Asia. In the 1980s, he began to travel around Africa and Asia to explore traditional music. He has had many sessions with musicians from Ghana, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Korea, etc. (in Japan, with Masahiko Sato and Tadashi Suzuki, a director), and has established his own musicality with spirituality by integrating the dynamic musicianship of Africa and the static spirit of Asia based on the integral concept of consistency between sound and the human body. He established his own musicality with spirituality. In addition to the oriental and misty ambience, there is a minimalist piece with marimba reminiscent of Steve Reich, and a shamanic and spiritual percussion piece that seems to be a mixture of Japanese drums and African percussion. Perhaps it is because he is also familiar with ambient and experimental music, but this is a masterpiece that you can listen to over and over again, with a spirit that is completely different from the New Age works that abound in the Western world.

深遠な美を醸す天上突破なコンテンポラリー・ミニマル/エレクトロニック作品！Alva Notoと坂本龍一によるコラボレーション・アルバムであり、〈Raster-Noton〉の〈V.I.R.U.S.〉シリーズ（全5枚）から2011年にCDリリースされた作品『Summvs』がリマスタリング仕様で〈NOTON〉より22年度アナログ・リイシュー。坂本教授とアルヴァ・ノトという二大巨星によるコラボ作品の第5弾。アナログ化が行われるのは今回が初となります。鎮静的にして瞑想的なミニマル・エレクトロニック傑作。

This 2-LP set and CD from EM Records chronicles the legacy of underground Japanese techno legends Cycheouts - pronounced ‘psyche outs’ in English. Originally formed in 1994, the group quickly became a centerpiece of Osaka's underground electronic scene. Led by main producer Akira Ohashi, Cycheouts melded influences from jungle, drum'n'bass, digital hardcore, and experimental noise music, all of which are explored in this compilation of tracks painstakingly selected by two true Cycheouts experts. Cycheouts' music and live performances went on to inspire a number of successful Japanese dance music acts, and can be seen as an origin point for the "nerdcore techno" movement of the early 2000s. This archive of the early work of Cycheouts provides an essential look at the birth and development of hardcore jungle in Japan, including multiple tracks featuring the full Cycheouts lineup with original vocals and multiple MCs. Most of these tracks are available on LP for the first time, and have been newly remastered for the format; the set also includes extensive liner notes in both English and Japanese.

This 2-LP set and CD from EM Records chronicles the legacy of underground Japanese techno legends Cycheouts - pronounced ‘psyche outs’ in English. Originally formed in 1994, the group quickly became a centerpiece of Osaka's underground electronic scene. Led by main producer Akira Ohashi, Cycheouts melded influences from jungle, drum'n'bass, digital hardcore, and experimental noise music, all of which are explored in this compilation of tracks painstakingly selected by two true Cycheouts experts. Cycheouts' music and live performances went on to inspire a number of successful Japanese dance music acts, and can be seen as an origin point for the "nerdcore techno" movement of the early 2000s. This archive of the early work of Cycheouts provides an essential look at the birth and development of hardcore jungle in Japan, including multiple tracks featuring the full Cycheouts lineup with original vocals and multiple MCs. Most of these tracks are available on LP for the first time, and have been newly remastered for the format; the set also includes extensive liner notes in both English and Japanese.

Subtropic Cosmos is the international debut album by Japanese artist Hitomi Moriwaki. Composed and recorded at her Fukuoka home during the worldwide pandemic between 2020-2022, the album was produced by Hideki Urawa, who has also worked with Kikagaku Moyo and other musical acts on Guruguru Brain. "Subtropic Cosmos" in particular is a wonderful work that conveys the "joy of making things" to listeners, as it is filled with various influences from her diverse activities. As suggested by the album title, most of the songs were created under the unprecedented conditions of corona--and as a result, were inspired by the consciousness of traveling through imaginary foreign lands and nature. As if adventuring through the universe inside of her own mind, Moriwaki's versatility is best experienced through her fearless fusion of hip-hop, pop and experimental music. Through a lens of psychedelic production by Hideki Urawa, this album is a truly special, one-of-a-kind space experience for listeners to enjoy and embark upon.

Minami Deutsch 3rd full studio album "Fortune Goodies" "Everyone has their own imagination about outer space, and each one us gets to daydream about what exactly floats or exists there. ‘Fortune Goodies’ is Minami Deutsch’s long-awaited 3rd studio album. While not all the songs on the record function as straightforward Krautrock this time around, they still manage to capture the spirit and heart of the genre. After relocating from Tokyo to Berlin, Miula’s musical vocabulary has greatly expanded, thus resulting in this ultimate Japanese take on cosmic music in 2022.”