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The rhythm ensemble "goat," formed by Osaka-based musician Koshiro Hino a.k.a. YPY, has released its third album "Joy In Fear," its first in eight years!
This is the new album by "goat," which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The album is released on Hino's own label, NAKID. Artwork is by Tomoo Gokita, recording by Fumiaki Nishikawa, and mastering by Rashad Becker. Each instrument is constantly pursuing and playing with an irregular groove involving polyrhythms, irregular time signatures, and syncopation. The gongs and flutes (flutes) give the album a new bewitching quality that makes it different from its predecessor. The seven tracks also show a unique approach to minimalism/tribalism.
“A sultry haze of shimmering ambient electronics and sparkling, effects-heavy guitar. Just what the ambient doctor ordered." - Electronic Sound
"Consumed in its entirety Late Spring is a soothing breeze, teleporting you directly to a grassy field in the sunshine – as transfixing as any record released thus far in 2021." - The Vinyl Factory
"The record sounds exactly like what you would expect with a name like Late Spring; it is a meditative, hypnotic look at the human condition and its emotional spectrum, as it attempts to grasp undefinable." - Far Out Magazine
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Japanese musician Chihei Hatakeyama is set to release his new album ‘Late Spring’ on 9th April 2021. An album of a humble nature, ‘Late Spring’ gently unfolds as a shared journeying experience through a series of rich and outstanding encounters.
An extract from the liner notes by Nick Luscombe:
"For an artist who typically works quickly, Hatakeyama considers Late Spring to be one of the more time-intensive records of his career – he started working on it in 2018, and completed it towards the end of 2020. For Late Spring, Hatakeyama re-examined his approach to musical performance, using a new amplifier and microphone set-up to playback and record his guitar and synthesisers. From the cathedral organ-like opener Breaking Dawn with its sub-aqua resonances, to the subtle drift of the closing track Twilight Sea, this record is a masterpiece of dense and beatific melodies. Drawn from evolving synthesised sounds and shimmering slow motion guitars, it combines these with occasional sonic elements that are best described as evoking computer code running through the veins of the machines like artificial blood."
Chihei Hatakeyama is a sound artist, mastering engineer, and record label founder who was born in 1978 and lives in Tokyo. He has performed for years under his given name and also as one half of the electroacoustic duo Opitope alongside Tomoyoshi Date. From his first full-length album ‘Minima Moralia’ (“Excellent” 8.1 Pitchfork) in 2006, through the subsequent 70+ albums that followed, Hatakeyama has created a mighty canon of work. His catalogue is spread across a number of highly-regarded labels, including Kranky, Room40 and his own White Paddy Mountain imprint. His release rate is unquestionably impressive, but what is even more striking is the continual high quality of each alluring album.
Whether deep modal jazz or calypso jazz, everything is swept away with grace. The quintessence of Ryojiro Furusawa at his best.
From the 1970s to the 2010s, drummer Ryojiro Furusawa was active in the Japanese music scene, not only in jazz but also in a wide range of other genres. His music, with its unparalleled individuality and overwhelming power, is uninhibited yet spirited and utterly appealing. His best-known work, "Otters," is filled to the brim with this charm. All of the songs are original compositions by Furusawa, but each song has a completely different coloring. One might be a beautiful ballad, another a dynamic funky jazz piece, another a deep modal jazz piece, and still another a warm calypso-flavored smoke.
It is not scattered, but rather, everything is clean and clear, which is very pleasing. It is dynamic, painful, and exhilarating. There are probably not many musicians and works that fit the word "pleasant" as well as this one. Ryojiro Furusawa's quintessence has been realized here.
text by Yusuke Ogawa (universounds/Deep Jazz Reality)
The year 2023 marks 30 years since Yakushima was registered as Japan's first World Natural Heritage site in 1993.
And what is the world like today, 20 years after the release of Final Drop "elements" (2003), a masterpiece produced by DJ KENSEI, GoRo the Vibratian, Kaoru Inoue, and KND, and known by many?
We modern people are constantly bombarded with so much information that we wonder if we are living our lives in a way that allows us to interact with nature, enjoy it, and refine our sensibilities.
Listening to Final Drop's latest work, "Mimyo," one is reminded of something universal and important.
Mimyo" was produced in January 2023 by DJ Kensei, one of Japan's top DJs, who creates original sound spaces through a variety of selections and sound controls, and GoRo the Vibration artist, who manipulates didgeridoo, kalimba, mouth harp, flute, hand pan, percussion, and self-made musical instruments. The project started with the reunion of artist GoRo the Vibratian after 20 years.
DJ KENSEI, GoRo the Vibratian, Kaoru Inoue, and KND, who are usually active in Japan and overseas as solo artists, DJs, musicians, and sound engineers, respectively, have been working on a project that brings together a vast amount of sound files saved during a field recording session in Yakushima in 2002. KND, an electronic musician/producer/sound engineer and member of SOFT, the most important band in the Kyoto underground scene, was approached by DJ KENSEI to compile the files, which DJ KENSEI and GoRo the Vibratian then used as the basis for the project. DJ KENSEI and GoRo the Vibratian built, produced, and mixed this new work.
Kumachan Seal: solo project of Japanese vocalist/keyboardist/songwriter Sairi Ojima, who has been playing in numerous indie bands, including Neco Nemuru, since her teens. She began her solo career in 2013, and released her first cassette in 2017. This EM Records release is her first CD/LP album, with all compositions by Ojima, who co-produced the album. Each of the eleven songs reveals beguiling layers of detailed and surprising sounds, with Ojima’s DIY sonic core embroidered by vibrant and colorful beats and guitar from EM artist Le Makeup and the quintessential ambient-pop synths and keyboards of fellow EM-er Takao. Le Makeup mixed ten of the eleven songs, with Takao mixing “China Sandwich”. The heart of Ojima’s musical identity is her clear, aqueous voice; apart from one instrumental, all the tracks here feature that mellifluous voice, but in an interesting twist, only half the songs have lyrics, with the remainder employing her wordless voice as melodic and textural elements. Although Kumachan Seal can be heard as a sort of bedroom pop filtered through ambient music and the new-age revival, listeners will note that the final two songs, “Atsumono” and “Tiny Cell”, are respectively a slightly skewed four-on-the-floor track and a lightly skanking Doo-wop-flavored confection, slightly reminiscent of the UK’s Brenda Ray.
This album, full of Ojima’s calm and cool observation of the world, is available on CD, LP and DL, and includes an English lyric sheet.
Yoshi Wada's Lament For The Rise And Fall Of The Elephantine Crocodile, originally released in 1982 on India Navigation, remains one of the most remarkable flowers to grow in the rarefied air of American minimalism – akin to Terry Riley's Reed Streams and Pauline Oliveros' Accordion & Voice, yet with a wild, liberated energy all of its own. After graduating from Kyoto University of Fine Arts with a degree in sculpture, Wada moved to New York City in 1967 and quickly fell in with the community of artists known as Fluxus. In the early '70s, he began building his own instruments and writing musical compositions, studying with La Monte Young and Hindustani singer Pandit Pran Nath. Recorded during an epic three-day session in an empty swimming pool in upstate New York, Wada's first album brings together two of the oldest drone instruments – the human voice and bagpipes – to simple and glorious effect. A visit to the Scottish Highlands spurred Wada's interest in bagpipes, which the composer integrated into these sparse, otherworldly sounds heard on Lament. "That swimming pool was quite hallucinatory," recalls Wada. “It was another world. I felt it in terms of resonance. I slept in the pool, and whenever I moved, I woke up because of the reverberations.... The piece itself is an experiment with reeds and improvisational singing within the modal structure." This first-time vinyl reissue is limited to 750 numbered copies. Comes with poster.
THE SPACE FUNK, JAZZ AND DISCO SOUND OF GENIUS JAPANESE PRODUCER YUJI OHNO. A SELECTION - THE FIRST OUTSIDE OF JAPAN - MADE IN COLLABORATION WITH NIPPON COLUMBIA AND YUJI OHNO HIMSELF. REMASTERED AUDIO AND LINER NOTES BY NICK LUSCOMBE IN CONVERSATION WITH OHNO
Wewantsounds is delighted to announce the release of "TOUCH," a selection of sought-after tracks produced by Yuji Ohno, one of the most revered producers and arrangers on the Nippon music scene. His blend of Jazz, Space Funk and Disco have long been highly sought-after by DJs around the world and we've been given unique access to the Nippon Columbia vaults and to Mr. Ohno himself to come with a versatile selection from his 70s body of work, all bearing his uniquely recognisable sound. The set includes works with singers Nanako Sato, Hatsumi Shibata and Ken Tanaka alongside tracks from his cult anime soundtracks for "Lupin III" and "Captain Future." Approved by Yuji Ohno himself, "Touch" was remastered in Tokyo by Nippon Columbia and features liner notes by Nick Luscombe in conversation with the maestro and artwork by Optigram's Manuel Sepulveda.
No digital version available
This is the long-awaited, first-ever vinyl release from the Osaka-based band goat. The five tracks are compiled from their debut album “New Games” (2013) and their second album “Rhythm & Sound” (2015). The titles of those releases provide a hint: a sense of joyful play within defined structures, and an emphasis on propulsive pulse and a prioritizing of pure percussive sound over melodic content. With guitar, bass, drums and saxophone, goat create music which is unlike most rock bands, utilizing harmonics outside standard tonality, as well as clever muting, to craft intricate, driven, forceful compositions by Koshiro Hino, aka YPY. goat is currently going through a period of new development and further exploration of intertwining patterns of rhythmic repetition; this compilation is the bedrock. Superbly recorded and mixed by Bunsho Nishikawa, mastered and cut by Rashad Becker, cover art by Tomoo Gokita, this release will be a revelation for your turntable.
TRACKS:
A1. New Games
A2. std
B1. Solid Eye
B2. Ghosts Part 1
B3. On Fire
NTsKi. Nom de musique of Japan-based vocalist/songwriter/producer; pronounced n-t-s-k-i. "Calla" is her 2nd album, a unified statement of her musical vision at this point in her development, with all-new songs melding her breathy and intimate voice, singing in Japanese and English, with organic acoustic sounds and distinctive electronic colors. NTsKi possesses a charming melodic gift as well as a distinctive production style, giving "Calla" a cohesion and subtle momentum, with relaxed tempos, interesting arrangements and intriguing melodies fusing into a focused musical statement that is refreshing, charming and forward-looking, underpinned by a sense of wistfulness, nostalgia and melancholy. As with her 2021 "Orca" release, co-released on EM Records and Orange Milk, NTsKi is joined by engineer Illicit Tsuboi and British musician/producer Dan Shutt. The songs here are lovely, concise gems, warmly glowing, gently sparkling, evocative and moving. Available on LP and DL, with a Japanese and English lyric sheet. Cover art drawing: Ellen Thomas.
Hailing from the seaside communities surrounding Enoshima, a small island located 50 km southwest of Tokyo, maya ongaku is a ragtag collective of local musicians whose brand of earthy psychedelia transcends widely beyond the roots of their inner souls. The name derives not from any kind of ancient civilization, but rather a neologism defined as the imagined view outside one’s field of vision. The band—currently a trio of Tsutomu Sonoda, Ryota Takano, and Shoei Ikeda—finds sanctuary at the Ace General Store, a beachy vintage shop and salon-like space just hidden from sight from the bustling, touristy riverside Subana Street. Between discussions on music and art, curating the vinyl section and manning the register, and chatting up with locals young and old, the members find time to jam and record their spontaneous ideas in the studio tucked away in the back. It’s in this unlikely setting where maya ongaku finds its origins, the culmination of what Sonoda describes as 自然発生 (shizen hassei), meaning spontaneous generation, or the supposed production of living organisms from nonliving matter.
Approach to Anima, the group’s debut album released on Guruguru Brain, finds maya ongaku building a foundational groove while tapping into their innermost psyche. Sonoda’s malleable guitar and vocals, Takano’s sinuous bass lines, Ikeda’s floating woodwinds, and a sprinkling of delicate percussion—all coalesce into an aural experience that’s assertive yet abstract, calm but unsettling. The slow building, sax-laden “Approach” serves as an introduction to maya ongaku’s world, while the appropriately-named “Water Dream” floats its way toward the gentle finale of “Pillow Song.” It’s a concise distillation of their many interests and influences, from Neo-Dada and Fluxus, to where contemporary art intersects with the development of modern recording technology in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
As the title suggests, Approach to Anima is not intended to be a terminus; it’s merely the beginning of an exploration. The three childhood friends that comprise maya ongaku are always looking beyond the confines of the idyllic but rapidly gentrifying enclave of their beloved Enoshima. Feeding off of the energy that still radiates from the triumphant, decade-long journey of their label bosses’ band Kikagaku Moyo, who rose to global prominence from scrappy beginnings busking on the streets of Takadanobaba, they hope to go wherever inspiration takes them, to anywhere around the globe where their music can find a home.
Ultimately, maya ongaku’s uninhibited world-building will make it possible for us to see the unseen, expand the possibilities of the naked eye—all through the unbridled vibrancy of their music.
...The three albums “Tentai”, “After” and “Tracks” are a sort of hop, skip and jump in the band's trajectory. “Tracks” can also be seen as their third great leap forward, after “Kukangendai 2” and “Palm”. The vocal part is completely gone, and each self-contained track is even more diverse, more abundantly imaginative. Some of them could even be described as "pop" or "danceable". They have clearly entered a new phase.
“Tracks” brings to the fore the undercurrent of Latin flavor (?) in their post-“After” work, and demonstrates the most varied rhythmic patterns ever. The change is undoubtedly led by the drums, but the band's mode change, from making "differences" to making "waves", also comes from the bass and guitar. I'm honestly surprised at their evolution, by how they've come to handle their groove, be it horizontal, vertical or diagonal.
I wouldn't say that it's a new sound for them, however. Tortoise, for instance, also went through similar style changes. But the progress of Kukangendai is based on different motives and mechanisms. One must be the change of musical tastes and preferences of its members. Another, more importantly, is their use of difference and repetition. The gap-making repetition has the potential to generate countless variations of sound effects, so that new music naturally arises from what they've done, not necessarily or primarily under the direct influence of other artists.
Some tracks in the new album may sound, say, somewhat Latin, and seem too foreign to Kukangendai's music thus far. But they don't mean to introduce such a sound in the album or to approach any preexisting genre. They're creating something on their own and it just happens to resemble another. And that's the same as what happened to their style in relation to minimal music, math rock, footwork and so on.
Kukangendai is a band of difference and repetition. They make (or listen to) a difference in repetition and make a new repetition in the difference; they repeat a repetition (with difference) and a difference (with repetition) to yield an unexpected sound and euphony. Difference and repetition is music. “Tracks” mirrors the vibrance, the robustness of the band at this moment in time, and it's the highest achievement possible for these peerless musicians.
― Atsushi Sasaki