Japanese

Patience Soup presents the entirety of a live performance from the trio of Oren Ambarchi, Jim O’Rourke, and Japanese underground legend Phew that took place at the Kitakyushu Performing Arts Center on November 4th, 2015.

Known to many listeners outside Japan primarily for her early collaborations with members of Can, Phew has been undergoing something of a creative renaissance in the last few years, prolifically recording and releasing a body of work that strips away the band arrangements present on most of her past releases to focus solely on her raw DIY electronics and possessed vocal stylings. Forming a perfect companion to 2017’s well-received Voice Hardcore, a series of pieces composed of only her processed voice that saw Phew push her work into the most abstract terrain yet, Patience Soup finds the trio inhabiting an uneasy landscape of moans, howls, and smeared electronic sonorities.

Presented in atmosphere-enhancing room fidelity, the set begins in crunching textural abstraction and Phew’s vocal asides, set against a backdrop of Ambarchi’s shimmering Leslie-cabinet guitar tones and O’Rourke’s synthetic slivers. A testament to the risk-taking prowess of these three master improvisers, the performance moves organically from ecstatic crescendos powered by Phew’s processed wails to moments of near-silence in which a translucent veil of lingering electronic tones is gently punctuated by O’Rourke’s chiming piano chords. Constantly shifting, both harmonically and dynamically, Patience Soup is suffused throughout with a haunted energy and shows these three established figures continuing to venture out into uncharted territory. 

Light in the Attic’s Pacific Breeze series has supplied the world’s growing legions of Japanese music fans with an expertly curated selection of the most sought-after City Pop recordings—the mesmerizing and nebulous genre of Japanese bubble-era music of the ‘70s-’80s that encompasses AOR, R&B, jazz fusion, funk, boogie and disco. These familiar sounds are spun through the unique lens of optimistic, cosmopolitan fantasy colored by Japan’s affluence at the time. Much of the music has previously been nearly impossible to acquire outside of Japan and continues to captivate listeners with its unique blend of groove-laden escapism, even birthing wholly new genres such as Vaporwave. Pacific Breeze 3: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1975-1987 marks the latest chapter in the famed series and features holy grails plus under-the-radar rarities. The collection bursts at the seams to reveal some of the greatest Japanese tracks ever laid to tape, pushing towards the edge of City Pop to reveal glimmers of the next waves of styles to spring forth from the country’s creative minds. The appearance of Pizzicato Five hint at the emergence of Shibuya-kei while the influence of hip hop and electro as an emerging global trend are also evident here through the prevalence of heavier programmed drum beats on tracks such as “Heartbeat” by Miho Fujiwara. This volume of Pacific Breeze, like its predecessors, is a female-forward offering with many tracks being voiced by women who would become household names in Japan as actresses and pop idols. Their songs here subvert the norm and brim with an innovative spirit that shatters gender roles in favor of sonic transcendence. Techno-pop classics from Susan, Miharu Koshi and Chiemi Manabe sit alongside sublime funk from Atsuko Nina and Naomi Akimoto while Teresa Noda slides into the mix with a sultry reggae jam. The genre span is stretched wider with hypnotic jazz fusion by Parachute and Hiroyuki Namba, a synthesizer fantasy from Osamu Shoji, and magnetic pop by Makoto Matsushita and Chu Kosaka. Although not front and center, the visionary members of Yellow Magic Orchestra are still very present on Pacific Breeze 3, with Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Yukihiro Takahashi taking up producer and musician roles on many of these tracks. Pacific Breeze 3 serves up a captivating musical journey that adds an essential chapter to the iconic compilation series.

Constructive are proud to announce the release of the original soundtrack for the British film 'Surge' by Tujiko Noriko and Paul Davies. Directed by Aneil Karia and starring Ben Whishaw, the film is set in London over twenty-four hours and is a stripped back thriller about Joseph. A man who goes on a bold and reckless journey of self-liberation.The album consists of sixteen tracks and presents the soundtrack in a non-conventional form. Sound design and composition are presented side by side as equal components in the score. The album consists of sixteen tracks and presents the soundtrack in a non-conventional form. Sound design and composition are presented side by side as equal components in the score. The album starts with Davies’ piece ‘TV Dinner’ where shifting plates of aqueous white noise finally give way to a hint of tonality. Tujiko on ‘Broken Glass’ develops the tonality further adding bells, sliding tones and slithers of brass. This alternating of sound design and composition and the blurring of its source material continues throughout the album. Except for the three tracks where they both collaborate on the writing, as on the delicate ‘Empty Rooms’. The music conveys polar extremes at the same time. Ethereal and urban, delicate yet powerful, juxtaposing the internal landscapes of the film's protagonist against the environmental sounds of a city. Highlights include the unconventional beauty of ‘Children’, the deconstructed jazz of ‘And then to Home’ by Tujiko and the powerful Deathprod-like tectonic plates of sound by Davies on ‘In Street after First Robbery’. An album of music and sound that works alone away from the film and rewards with repeated attention and deep listening.

Izum1, a promising 19(18?) year old trackmaker based in Hiroshima, Japan, who runs a net label "Nekomata Records," has just released his latest cassette album "There is Substance in 2-D." It is a very excellent collection of 12 pop&cute, avant-garde lolicore tracks from this next generation CDR! The album features 12 tracks of pop, cute, and avant-garde lolicore by the next generation of CDRs.

Atoris is the live electronic trio of H.Takahashi, Kohei Oyamada and Yudai Osawa from Tokyo. The group began as the duo of Takahashi (owner of Kankyō Records) and graphic designer Osawa who knew each other from their experimental ambient quartet UNKNOWN ME. Soon after, their mutual friend Oyamada was added to round out the trio and record their self-titled debut, released in 2020 on JJ Funhouse in Belgium. For their sophomore followup, “Sea & Forest”, the group focused their bubbling, organic sound on imaginary ocean vistas and woodland creatures to inform their abstract landscapes - subtly drifting between sunrise on the plateau and dusk in the marsh. The two sidelongs contain understated rhythmic elements of dance awash in otherworldly electronic shimmer. They consistently evolve in a minimalistic way; with ideas and fragments ever-changing across their twenty minutes resulting in a unique ambient dynamism that’s both melodically beautiful and reliably captivating.

“Surf synth acid dancehall rock!!” is how Jackson Bailey aka Tapes/Rezette describes the A-side of this new release from Osaka’s 7FO. This 7-inch single, marking 7FO’s return to EM Records, is an homage to both the vinyl single format itself and also to the legendary producer Joe Meek. “Healing Sword” is the first time 7FO has created a track expressly as a single. On the flip side, “Snake (Live)” is a dubby lo-fi mono travelogue. The ‘onsen’ (hot spring) artwork is by artist/performer Keisuke Yamao and friends.

The Gerogerigegege, the Japanese avant-blues music that has been attracting noise music lovers all over the world, is now available on long-awaited vinyl from The Trilogy Tapes, a limited edition cassette released last year by the popular fashion brand CAV EMPT.

This summer, I read Kenji Miyazawa's children's story (illustrated by Takeshi Motai), "Gauche the Cellist" (1934, illustrated by Takeshi Motai, 1956). Just a few days before I made this recording, I was on stage. As a result, I had to be in the same state of mind as Gauche at the beginning of the story. It was not a good feeling, but I knew it was not a coincidence that this book was in my possession, so I read it again and again, looked at Mr. Motai's picture of the raccoon boy again and again, and headed for the park before dawn. The only instrument I used was a Hapidrum, and the sticks were mallets that looked just like the ones the raccoon boy was holding...Juntaro Yamanouchi

Tokyo based producer and City-2 St. Giga label owner DJ Trystero arrives on Incienso with his debut LP “Castillo”. Over nine tracks Trystero explores uniquely spontaneous modes of rhythm and sound - turning ambient, breakbeat, electro, techno and house into blurred sonics that expand on their own time.

The most long-awaited LP release of Totsuzen Danball's 1991 masterpiece 'Yokushi Onryoku'

Totsuzen Danball, a unique rock band from Fukaya, released their 1991 masterpiece 'Yokushi Onryoku' which was sold for a considerable amount of money in the used vinyl market until it was reissued in 2008, and remains one of the greatest albums in Japanese rock history. The unique and extremely sharp sound built around rhythm machines and guitars, and the rebellious poems and songs by the late Eiichi Tsutaki are tremendously exciting. This is punk! This is rock!

noise matrix unleashes material from the same sessions as noisembryo and counterpart 'hole' and selected recordings from the time period. 
 originally released as a bonus disc on the definitive ’noisembryo' 2xcd edition noise matrix absolutely can’t be missed for fans of this period of noise deity merzbow. When people ask where to start with merzbow or the entire 90’s noise movement in japan - this is an answer! 
 masami akita’s surrealism of the past stands prominently relevant to this day combining the expansive textures of electronics, effects, aluminum soaked winds of the tokyo metropolis and metals. presented in deluxe wide spine metallic reflective ‘mother of pearl’ jacket. digital download code included.

COMPUMA has released his long-awaited first solo album "A View" on his own label <SOMETHING ABOUT>.

This is an full-length album based on the music for the play "View" commissioned in fall of 2021 by the theater group "Blue Egonak" based in Kitakyushu. The album contains 9 original songs and 2 dub mixes, totaling 11 songs, newly reworked with co-producer hacchi (Urban Volcano Sounds / Deavid Soul).

In addition to his inexhaustible DJ and music selection activities, COMPUMA has released a number of collaborations and remixes, including a 2007 album
as Smurphies' Fearless Bunch [Smurph-Otokogumi] (reissued on vinyl in 2021) and its predecessor Asteroid Desert Songs [ADS], as well as duo works with Ken Takehisa (KIRIHITO)). COMPUMA has also released a number of collaborations and remixes, but this is his first album as a solo artist. Recently, his DJ trio "Akuma no Numa" with Dr. Nishimura and Awano, has been getting a lot of attention, and their performances have been introduced on radio shows overseas.

The sound, including electronic sounds, field recordings, and the space between them, evokes a variety of landscapes, and that quietly stimulates your imagination. It is a work that will have a unique presence in the next wave of the new age ambient/environmental music revival that has been emerging in the global ambient/IDM scene.

One of the two dub mixes included on the album, "Vision(Flowmotion in Dub)" is a re-work of "Flowmotion(IN DUB)" which will be included in  "Midnight is Comin'", a compilation curated by ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U scheduled for release in May on the Singapore label Midnight Shift. The other dub mix is a version of "View 2", done by Naoyuki Uchida who is known for his work on LITTLE TEMPO, Oki Dub Ainu Band and more recently GEZAN's "KLUE".

Album is mastered by Soichiro Nakamura of Peace Music, who has worked with Shintaro Sakamoto, OGRE YOU ASSHOLE, and countless artists. Artwork is by Tomoo Gokita, a world-renowned painter who is also known in Japan for his jacket art for META FIVE and TOWA TEI. Design is by Satoshi Suzuki. Gokita and Suzuki, both of whom have worked on COMPUMA's previous products.
(text by Yusuke Kawamura)

LIL MOFO

Includes Download Code for the live recording and a new remix "View 2 Electro" (remix of "View2" from the
album "A View").

Compuma : Electronics, Synthesizer
Naoyuki Uchida:Dub Mix
Kiyotaka Sumiyoshi:Movie

"A View" release party held at WWW Shibuya on Sept.30 2022 has been reproduced on video. Video footage
was added to the live recording from the show.

Mastered by Naoyuki Uchida ( except “View 2 Electro” by hacchi )
Produced by Compuma for Something About Productions 2023
Design : Satoshi Suzuki

A cult work that has been talked about for years by some music lovers in Japan is now officially available for the first time! ethereal, mysterious sound.

A performance of the single-note percussion instrument "quire chime" by 12 users of "Yamato Kogen Taiyo no Ie", a support facility for people with disabilities in Yamazoe-mura, Nara Prefecture. The fresh and transparent tones, played one by one and at random, eventually formed a series of beautiful music. I wonder if there has ever been such pure and unadulterated music. This work is the ultimate improvised ambient that penetrates deep into the listener's subconscious.
Chee Shimizu

The artist made a strong debut with the "Coastlines EP" released in the summer of 2018, followed by the "Coastlines EP2" in January 2019 and their first album "Coastlines" in the summer of the same year. Released on the prestigious Be With Records label in the UK, they quickly gained attention in the worldwide chillout Balearic scene and elsewhere, and will release their latest full-length album "Coastlines2" now.

Coastlines' latest album, "Coastlines 2," is finally released, and while maintaining the same concept as the first album, it spins a more precise and beautifully polished magic hour.

A cult work that has been talked about for years by some music lovers in Japan is now officially available for the first time! ethereal, mysterious sound.

A performance of the single-note percussion instrument "quire chime" by 12 users of "Yamato Kogen Taiyo no Ie", a support facility for people with disabilities in Yamazoe-mura, Nara Prefecture. The fresh and transparent tones, played one by one and at random, eventually formed a series of beautiful music. I wonder if there has ever been such pure and unadulterated music. This work is the ultimate improvised ambient that penetrates deep into the listener's subconscious.
Chee Shimizu

Venus Penguin," the 33rd album of 2022, features legendary French guitarist Noël Akchoté, Brazilian Antonio Loureiro and Frederico Heliodoro, who are considered the new Minas generation, and American guitarist Adam Ratner, who is creating a new musical culture with Louis Cole and Sam Gendell.

Mount Analogue," the 35th album by guitarist Shin Sasakubo from Chichibu.

The 3rd album "Mujo" (meaning "transience" in Japanese) by the Japanese sound artist Kazuya Matsumoto.

The album was made from 2014 to 2022. It is an album of improvisation and recording simultaneously, using non-instrument objects along with the sounds that occur from a frosted lake and drifting ice, and recordings made by affecting the environment itself.

This album is comprised of 2 discs. Disc 1 features performing and interaction with sounds that occurs above the ice. Disc 2 features performing and interaction with sounds that occurs below the ice using hydrophones.

It is an album opposed to his first album "Mizu No Katachi (Shape of Water)" confronting the harsh and ever changing environment and he recalls those recording days as "transience", also expressing his feeling towards the never ending explorations.

The recording captures the dynamic and delicate sounds of the ice and nature as well as his soul put into the 9 years. Includes 32 pages full color booklet with photography of the ice and nature taken by Matsumoto at the time of the recordings.

5AM is a band, and a group effort by long time adulthood friends 5ive, Andry and Moko. 5ive is known for his ongoing contribution for music-duo Cos/Mes and other various projects, Andry is a multidisciplinary designer and Moko works as DJ and producer under her project Powder. After a long period of hanging out and sharing music to each, the band 5AM was naturally found in 2019, and soon made a small debut. 5AM plays about time, sings about observation and thinks about texture, atmosphere, and listening-space and random other stuff. Caring of subtle things for the big picture. Pre Zz is the first album by 5AM, recorded through 2020 and 2021, packaged day to day remixed feelings about that time, but not necessary just about that time. The album captures the moment of changes — Pre something — as like before a sleep after a long stay up Zz.

tarting in 2019 with ‘Life In A Shell’, the then new and upcoming Japanese producer yolabmi lay the foundation for a triptych of releases on Vaknar in the span of 3 years, all of which formed an ongoing sonic interrogation with his own past, while also consequentially reflecting on his growth as an composer and individual. The final stage of this album triptych, ‘For Wind Poetry’, once again underpins the natural world of yolabmi’s past with the technocratic eccentricity of his present self, yet rather than letting his matured proficiency over his modular synthesizer reign throughout the span of the album, yolabmi chooses to end this chapter via an introspective sonic long-form of redemptive stimulation.

First official reissue, remastered from master tapes. VINYL ONLY, NO DIGITAL. Recorded in 1981, Dance by Earthling is a cornerstone seminal album of Nippon new wave and synth-pop. The group called their first album DANCE to express the fullest flowers of rhythmic movement, attending to both physical and spiritual needs. Earthling consisted of the couple: lead vocalist/guitarist John, bass guitarist Yoko Fujiwara, plus keyboard/sythesizer player Jin Haijama. The group was formed in Tokyo in 1979 when John and Yoko, who had been fashion and textile designers, felt the desire to give the music they'd written a more permanent environment. The sound of Earthling reinforces the subtle and sensitive connections which link modern music to dance to, with hints of synth-pop, top notch new wave and heavy punkish vocals. Fun fact: "You go on Natural" became a well-known banger in the late 80s in La Ruta Destroy in Valencia, championed by local djs back then. Please note that the artwork was produced at a local Madrid-based printing house to maintain the same aesthetics as the original copies, maintaining the die-cut with the iconic six holes, displaying the blue color from the inner sleeve.

A super special environment with over 40 seconds of reverberation. Amazing electro-acoustic dam music recorded in a huge concrete space inside the dam.

One day in 2022, Carl Stone, an American computer music pioneer, and Ken Ikeda, a musician and artist who emits primitive and original electronic sounds, visited "Uchinokura Dam" deep in the mountains in Shibata, Niigata. This album is a record of musical experiments secretly performed inside the dam to explore new possibilities of electronic music. The dam has a hollow structure, and the internal space is about 40m in both height and depth, and itself is a huge resonance device. The electronic sounds emitted by Carl and Ken fill the space with infinite reverberations. All sorts of sounds such as dripping water, footsteps, conversations, and noises are added as performers, creating a philharmonic orchestra of electrons and reverberations that are created and elaborated while confronting the constant reverberating sounds. 

Since 2008, "438Hz As It Is, As You Are" is "only" the third solo release from Tomoyoshi Date. The last one dates from 2011. Less is more. In parallel, from 2013 to 2021, he has recorded some releases in collaborations with Toshimaru Nakamura, Ken Ikeda, Stijn Hüwels, Asuna and Federico Durand. "This record was recorded on Diapason's upright piano made in the 1950s at the house of his maternal grandmother's sister (*). The piano has moved and tuned many times, and now it has arrived at my living room. It was a pre-mass production piano with a thick board and good sound, but I couldn't tune it without replacing the screws and the weakened base. After consulting with the tuner, I decided to tune the whole tune to the sound of the strings wound around the loosest and most inseparable screws. "As it is" * Mikiko Yamada: A performer who formed a Japanese music group of contemporary Japanese music in 1964 and made Biwa the first five-line score. She also had a samisen, so I called her "Aunt Pen Pen". Her husband was a shakuhachi player, so she was "Uncle Boo Boo". When I tuned in the summer, I tried to tune at 442kHz, but I changed the tune in the winter to 438kHz. From now on, the pitch of this piano will decrease year by year as the material ages. I will play the decaying piano and continue to record music that can only be done at that time. When you drop a needle on a record, a sound is produced on the spot, and the sound constantly changes depending on the air, temperature, and humidity around the needle. The sound also affects all of the listener's life, affecting the frequency of the person's body and mind. The effect of the sound once generated will last forever. This work was created with the intention of having the listener adjust the pitch at the desired speed according to the mood and frequency of the listener at that time. With a little faster 45 turns, you can listen to this dilapidated piano at 440kHz or 442kHz. You can slow it down, or adjust the number of rotations as you like, whether it is 33 rotations early or late. I really like the stretched sound of the recorded piano. When you want to relax, use slow music to adjust the pitch of the space around you, the creatures, and your own body and mind. "As You Are" Tomoyoshi Date

Limited edition of 200 copies.* Ferns proudly presents a new release on the label, K.Mizutani's "Inferior's Betrayal". Reissue of the self-produced K7 in 1994 on Kiyoshi Mizutani's Ulcer House label. Mizutani was a member of Merzbow in the '80s and has done solo work since 1989. He has recordings on Ulcer House, ZSF Produkt, Shirocoal Recordings, NEdS, Sounds For Consciousness Rape, Pure, Artware, Kaon, e(r)ostrate, Povertech Industries, and Flenix Records.