MUSIC

On November 11th the widely-loved electronic maestro Gigi Masin returns with ‘Vahinè' – a mini album of beautiful and distinct music that is unmistakably his, sounding better than ever. Masin always pours his heart into composing, but here it takes on a potent new level of heavy emotion – as it’s a tribute to his late wife, who sadly passed away last year. “There is a Tahitian dance called ‘Aparima’. It consists of graceful, sinuous and fascinating movements, which tell you stories and legends about love or tradition. The ‘Vahinè' are now dancing, the Tahitian females, with smiles and gestures that could be symbolic or descriptive but are always gentle, harmonious, charming. I was watching this documentary, it was almost 4 in the morning, but I couldn't sleep; I was in front of the television for hours, my wife had passed away the day before, and I was watching hands and arms swaying. I told myself that maybe it’s so, at the end of the road it’s possible to realize dreams, and I’m sure that she is finally able to dance like never before, and is able to move without any impediment, with no suffering, free to make all the movements that she couldn't make for so long, turning to me with a smile and a wink. So, in the clouds, you will discover and see an extraordinary 'Vahinè', because she will move and dance and smile until the end of time.” Gigi Masin A future-retro dreamscape where stripes of early evening sun pour through partially closed venetian blinds; kalimba, piano and steel pans meet on the incredibly evocative ‘Marilene (Somewhere in Texas)’. The Balearic/Italo house heart of ‘Barumini’ throbs throughout a celestial epiphany, whilst ‘Shadye’ is a sun blinded ambient mirage where angelic voices and electric guitar intertwine, before more heavenly music ensues on the trance-like ‘Malvina’. A heart-wrenchingly beautiful evocation of transitioning to the other side, ‘Valerie Crossing’ is Gigi’s compelling and inspirational take on death, with a vivid evocation of something spiritual, existential and metaphysical. His exemplary approach shows decease not as a cause for despair, but a philosophical and poetic exploration of where souls go, when they leave their earthly bodies. Masin closes with ‘Vahinè' – a twitchy, levitational piece of sublime deep techno, which transmits high strength vibrations of powerful emotions. On both this track, and the album of the same name, there’ s no pseudo intellectual ambient posturing with cod academic angles tagged on; This is music of real substance, coming from a real place. It’s saturated with feelings, but turns mourning into affecting art, and even a beacon of hope. Helmed by the deftly talented Alessia Avallone, Language Of Sound is new record label which marks ‘Vahine’ as its maiden voyage. Language Of Sound is also a management company founded in 2017, with singular talents Ron Trent, Lyra Pramuk, Huerco S, Carmen Villain, Gigi Masin, Paquita Gordon and Soundwalk Collective on their impeccable roster. Dedicated to facilitating ideal conditions for artists to flourish, where appropriate Avallone also collaborates creatively, including the video for Gigi Masin’s ‘Marilene (somewhere in Texas)’ which she produced and directed.

For Balmat’s fourth release, we turn our attention close to home: to the Mallorca-born, Barcelona-based artist Nueen, aka Nacho Pezzati.

Nueen has been developing his highly personal style of blissfully Balearic ambient over the past few years, with releases on labels like Quiet Time Tapes and Good Morning Tapes. On Diagrams of Thought, he explores new depths in his sound. His atmospheres remain bucolic, but there’s a disturbance at work, a hint of uncertainty swirling beneath seemingly placid pads.

While Diagrams of Thought retains the ambient (or at least ambient-adjacent) focus of all Balmat’s releases so far, the album also marks new frontiers for the label; the album’s first half is graceful and largely beatless, but the mood grows murkier with the foggy drones of “Dome” and the intimations of liquid drum ’n’ bass on “Maxima”; “Veta,” meanwhile, might just represent the most forceful rhythm to appear on a Balmat release yet. 

Despite the album’s considerable range of moods, tones, and textures, it’s all tied together by a singular preoccupation, says Nueen: 

“Lately, I’ve become conscious of my fascination for the notion of the break, on a conceptual and musical level. What’s temporary and what’s permanent. Thinking and making out of what isn’t there, yet is. Some people would call it silence, but it could also be a skip of the needle, an ellipsis. Something very basic—or Basic Channelesque. A set of sounds and silences, structuring just a hint of rhythm. Sounds that become silences, and silences that become sounds. 

The other day, I was saying to someone that for me, the sound of electric current running through the power lines above the train tracks is the most ambient sound there is. That infinity in which you never quite grasp all the harmonics and reverberations. It’s a form of time detained or expanded. Recently, I’ve been rereading Morton Feldman—you can tell, right? Vertical time, the silence that sounds. A sort of sacredness. My mind is blown every time I walk into a church, for whatever that’s worth.” 

When not overseeing A&R and label operations for Isle Of Jura, label boss Kevin Griffiths makes time for music creation in his garden studio in Moana, a sleepy suburb of Adelaide in South Australia. It’s an idyllic location surrounded by palm trees and tropical birdlife and an inspiring spot to fire up the machines, typically with the studio door wide open to soak up the soundtrack provided by mother nature. The resulting tracks, recorded in the midst of the pandemic with no gig distractions, were all heavily influenced by this backdrop of tropical birdsong and wind blowing through the palms, field recordings of which made it into most of the tracks. The album traverses Deep House, Nu-disco, Balearica and Ambient along with some Leftfield samples and a heavy dose Dub throughout. The LP is Pressed on heavyweight 180 Gram Vinyl with sleeve design by IOJ resident designer Bradley Pinkerton.

Kita --------! It's like presenting a new style and outlook on music through a "book-off" music dig that is unique to Japan. also got a score of "8.4" and BEST NEW MUSIC, but 10 points are necessary for historical significance ... The last sanctuary released on CD in Japan in the 90's Heisei. It's no exaggeration to say that the overwhelming piece "Heisei No Oto", which is a compilation of unknown left-field pop music, has ignited various revival since the 10's and is a prestigious name in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Appeared from the label ! Including Jun Sato and Love, Peace & Trance, which were also published in "New Age Music Disc Guide", Haruomi Hosono produced Yosui Inoue's Japanese realic "Pi Po Pa", and Toshifumi Hinata produced Xácara, Sakurai. Keisuke's statement Deep House "Harai", Yoshihiko Yokokawa (P-Model, 4-D, etc.) and Kazuko Hashimoto's new-age, ambient, and experimental sounds, as well as An ambitious compilation album that includes the abstract texture peculiar to 90's J-POP, which has not been revival yet like POiSON GiRL FRiEND and Tomoko Kino, which were mentioned before. It seems to be the freshest lineup among the editing boards released from the neighborhood that has promoted the obscure analog recurrence boom since the 10s. The music was selected by Norio Sato of and Eiji Taniguchi of , both the managers of a well-known niche store in Osaka. Supporting is a heart-warming gem called ! And the perfect liner notes by Chee Shimizu. It's a monument! MUST !!!!!!!!!!!

Limited 200 copies, Black Vinyl. On behalf of re:discovery records, it is with great excitement that we announce the release of 'Ambient7 - Excepts from 1995-2000' compilation. Ambient7 was a threesome out of Japan that included Chica Asamoto, Masayuki Momo and Shuichi Ikebuchi. Chica Asamoto, an accomplished saxophone player while Masayuki Momo and Shuichi Ikebuchi both talented synthesizer players and producers in their own right. Together, they released 3 full albums during a 6 year span from 1995-2000. Ambient7's sound was a blend of chill out styles including ambient, techno, balearic house and everything in-between. A unique and heartfelt far east version of chill out techno music . 'Escape' is a soft ambient techno track with a touch of dub that is sure to sit along the greats of genre and the time. Surrounding 'Escape', are two short but worthy examples of the Ambient7 sound. First, is the unique tribal attention getter that is 'Prologue' then ending with the beautiful balearic saxophone serenade that is 'Epilogue'. Flip the record and you 'Deep Sea' that comes in just under 11 minutes. A very unique track that we will just encourage you to take the trip and describe it how you would like. Lastly, is the balaeric ambient house lullaby that is 'Orange Sunshine'. Some who have heard this track call it a reason to buy the record alone for not even hearing the other tracks on this EP. A standout and a perfect set opener or closer, this is sure to be the re:discovery track for the summer for 2022. Genre: Techno, ambient, balearic, chill out, dub

The second release on Tonight’s Dream Records is delivered by Baltimore-based ambient and new-school Kosmische guitar musician PJ Dorsey, better known as Tarotplane. The Ektachrome Dawn follows on from the stunning Horizontology (12th Isle) and Light Self All Others (Impatience). He describes the album as a collage of work collated since 2017. Drawing in on inspirations from guitar-oriented psych and modern ambient music, using elements he values and revere in older 70’s head records and mixes it with modern techniques and influences. The tracks fuse traditional rock music, ethereal ambient textures and downtempo electronica, blended together seamlessly to create an engaging and unique listen throughout. The album has been mastered by prolific producer and mastering engineer Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll Studio who has worked on album for artists such as Inhmost, Juliana Barwick, Grouper, Steve Hauschildt, Loscil, Telefon Tel Aviv and Tycho amongst hundreds of others.

Daucile Moon, which follows Unknown Mobile's releases on No Bad Days, Normals Welcome and Young Adults, started four years ago in Vancouver when Levi Bruce was recovering from a broken toe and collecting MIDI files he found in an old Geocities archive. It was finished earlier this year in Montreal with help from Mike Silver, AKA CFCF, who added plaintive guitar to complete the album's placid and stargazing style of ambient and downtempo music. The album takes its name from an old, obscure Canadian jazz song that Bruce describes as "pretty but also with a serious amount of melancholy," which could also describe his new record. In the vein of Pacific Rhythm label-mate Khotin's standout New Tab album, Daucile Moon comprises drowsy beats and spaced-out loops, referencing the pinnacle of early '90s chillout and ambient while infusing it with the dazed sound of Canadian electronic music in the 2010s. Bruce's process in making Daucile Moon was long but leisurely. He took the melodies from those MIDI files and moved them over to his analogue outboard setup and then back to his computer, creating a digital-analog hybrid that sounds as pleasantly worn as a dog-eared novel. Live instrumentation, like Silver's classical acoustic guitar stylings on "A Windless March Ouest," mingles with occasional dance music references like the subtle acid squelch of "Ravers Sojourn" or the hazy breakbeat of "Oenology." The album was inspired by various happy memories, from sharing wine with friends ("Oenology") to a dog that Bruce met ("Simone Can't Swim"). The result is a patient and personal record that highlights the best qualities of Bruce's previous work as Unknown Mobile, with his distinct style of melody and soundscaping set free from kick drums and the dance floor. It's telling that Bruce originally sent the record, at first called Melancholic Songs For Dogs, to his parents and two grandmas—this is beautiful, relaxing music whose appeal is universal. Thanks for listening!

" The Three Lives return with Across & Beyond, a 5 track EP taking their digi-dub explorations to unexpected dimensions. "

Rainbow Disco Club and Rush Hour, a long-standing friendship that transcends continents! House, disco, new wave, Caribbean, rare groove, leftfield.. Antal compiles the second release on "Beyond Space And Time", loaded with personal choice cuts. Internationally recognised and much-loved festival from Japan, Rainbow Disco Club’s offshoot project "Beyond Space And Time" record label presents their sophomore release! Following the work by DJ Nobu, their second compilation has been compiled by none other than Antal. Also known as the festival's headliner and the man behind Amsterdam record shop/label Rush Hour, all 8 tracks are selected by Antal in a 2 x 12-inch format. From newcomers to '80s Japanese cult music, rare grooves to danceable house music, and rare Caribbean soul, this compilation is a portrait of music enthusiast Antal Heitlager’s enormous collection and 30-year DJ career, a work of art that can be enjoyed by all music fans! An afro electronics track recommended by South African collector DJ Okapi, who co-produced the masterpiece compilation "Pantsula!: Rise Of Electronic Dance Music In South Africa: 1988-90" released in 2017, which brought Kwaito back onto the map. A-1 Improvisation Organic Deep House track by New Zealand’s newcomer. A-2 A rare breezin' boogie by Larry Heard’s alias Trio Zero from 1989. Highly sought after by all collectors as a cult Balearic track. Previously unreleased version. B-1 From the 2015 album by L.A. funk maker DAM-FUNK on the prestigious Stones Throw label. LO-FI beats and synthetic breakdowns that are reminiscent of early Rush Hour works and ‘90s house. B-2 The debut single of Japanese idol unit, Shohjo-Tai. Haruomi Hosono also produced some of their tracks later on in their career. Japanese new wave disco from 1984. C-1 The soundtrack from the Japanese manga "Touring Express". RDC fans will recognize this track from the final hours of the festival. A nostalgic oriental disco from 1985. C-2 80s Silky Mellow Soul by Connecticut jazz vocalist Dianne Mower who also contributed to the re-press of the prestigious Numero Group. D-1 The original version is a masterpiece from 1983 by Zouk singer Jocelyn Mocka of French Guadeloupe. This edit still very much emphasizes an emotional mid-tempo Caribbean soul, nicely reconstructed by Rush Hour's Bonnefooi. D-2 A total of 8 tracks from all types of genres and generations, a true masterpiece and representation of Rainbow Disco Club’s vision “Beyond Space And Time”. Bringing you the love from Amsterdam to the world!

In 1990 Ronald Lee Trent Jr. was the teenage creator of Altered States – a raw, futuristic techno-not-techno anthem, which in retrospect was something of a stylistic anomaly for the young artist. Across subsequent years, with time spent in Chicago, New York and Detroit, came the development of his signature sound, and renown as a world class purveyor of deep, soul infused house/garage. This story has already been told, and on casual inspection, the well-worn platitude ‘house music legend’ is an old shoe that still fits. However, in fact, he’s actually so much more, and has been for quite a while. A genuine musician, songwriter, and ‘producer’ in the proper, old-school sense, the artist today has more in common with Quincy Jones than he does your average journeyman DJ track-hack. 

To those in the know, these broader skills haven’t gone unnoticed, which is why on the highly collaborative, career-topping new LP ‘What Do The Stars Say To You’, it took little persuasion to recruit serious star power. Brazilian royalty Ivan Conti and Alex Malheriros from Azymuth, violin maestro Jean Luc Ponty, ambient hero Gigi Masin, hype band Khruangbin and more performed, whilst NY cornerstone François K provided mastering duties. At various points Ron himself played drums, percussion, keys, synths, piano, guitar and electronics.

Harking back to the 70s and 80s boom in adventurous, luxurious albums, WDTSSTY is a love letter to the longplayer, where rich musicality and a liquid smooth, silky flow make seemingly odd genre bedfellows acquiesce harmoniously. Each song its own high-fidelity odyssey, Trent incorporated a broad range of live instruments and electronics into a sophisticated, euphonic whole. Described by him as being “designed for harmonising with spirit, urban life and nature”, this is aural soul food, gently easing you into balmy nights, where everything is alright. 

Originally wanting to be an architect, Trent’s views his approach to collaboration and music in general as having the same principles. A firm believer in the nourishing qualities of sound, he sees direct parallels between the two disciplines, being as the purpose of good architecture is to improve quality of life. “With WARM, through sound design, I built frameworks for the musicians, who furnished and occupied these structures beautifully, which was a big compliment for me”, he comments. 

The conditions required for a good collab are more than simply structural though, as Trent expounds, “I’m a huge fan of everyone on the record, especially Jean Luc and Azymuth, who’re part of my DNA. Each track was made with that guest in mind – for example, when I started writing ‘Sphere’, I immediately thought ‘this IS Ponty’. I played the keys in his style, and did a guide violin solo using a synth, which he then re-did, amazingly. ‘Cool Water’ is based around Azymuth themes, so when I sent it to Ivan, he could immediately see himself in the piece; He got what I was going for straight away. For ‘Melt Into You’ I hit up Alex on Instagram, sent him the track, he liked it, and within 24 hours he’d sent back six different bass passes!” 

“Conversely, Admira began with a sketch sent by Gigi and became something combining Jon Hassell-esque chords and the feel of ‘Aquamarine’ by Carlos Santana, which links back to Masin’s recurrent nautical theme”, he adds. 

With community, history and the need for racial equality never far from Ron’s mind, ‘Flos Potentia’ translates from Spanish as flower power, but rather than promoting some hippy idyll, instead it refers to plants which drove the slave trade: tobacco, sugar and cotton. Joined by Khruangbin, together they propel Dinosaur L, Hi-Tension and afrobeat into an ethereal, clear-skyed stratosphere. 

Aside from these esteemed guests, other key influences cited by Trent include ‘Gigolos Get Lonely Too’ by Prince, ‘Beyond’ by Herb Alpert, David Mancuso, Jan Hammer, Tangerine Dream, The Cars, Trevor Horn, Alan Parsons Project and pre-Kraftwerk incarnation Organization. A multitude of others are audible too, including George Bension, Vangelis, Loose Ends, Maze, Flora Purim, Weather Report, Atmosphere, Grace Jones, James Mason and Brass Construction 

Rogue romantic Maltese producer Salvatore Munzone describes his debut in terms both scenic and star-crossed: “Love songs and heartaches conceived under the year-round Mediterranean sun, to be heard in a beach parking lot, sitting in the car watching the movement of the sea while the music pumps from JBL speakers.” Good, You’re Here, It’s Time collects 10 tracks of mood system house, proto-techno, and refracted poetics recorded and mixed in fits and starts across the past three years, accruing complexities and contradictions along the way. Lean rhythms trace sunset coasts of club bass, seagull synths, and twilit pads, laced with vocal samples of rapture, doubt, and the need to dance. Munzone cites UK revisionists from Actress to Swayzak to Burial as oblique touchstones but his own sound inhabits a woozy world all its own, attuned to asymmetries, subcurrents, and the sand in the hourglass slipping softly past: “All good things come to an end.”

The first full-length vinyl collection by Tokyo-based producer Zefan Sramek aka Precipitation crystallizes his evolving synthesis of new age ambience, tape hiss, and house music into a riveting suite of motion and mirage: Glass Horizon. Conceived and recorded between two formative trips to Sado Island in the spring and late summer of 2020, the album feels both insular and infinite, threading paths through wet grass, along isolated coasts. Field recordings of tidepools, birds, and cicadas crossfade into fluid mandalas of bass, keys, and drum machinery, while synths glide and glisten, rising like heat off sand. Sramek speaks of themes of escape and estrangement, solace and desolation, visions of azure waters lapping empty shores. Weeks spent sleeping in a hammock attuned him to the extrasensory; melodies and memories materialized from the foliage, suffused with ocean air and placeless melancholy. All seven tracks swoop and swirl with patience and precision, grid-mapped golden dawns and gradient sunsets mixed live and captured on cassette. This is dance music as portal and pilgrimage, spiral environments for a refracted age.

Keeping his carbon footprint at a minimum, Santilli sails from Sydney to Hamburg via ten textured vignettes delicately drawn with guitar, bass and organic percussion. Relaxing, reflective and endlessly beautiful, ‘Tidal’ explores elemental inspiration through a humanistic gaze. Whether you know Max Santilli through Ken Oath duo Angophora, previous releases ‘Surface’ and ‘In Circles’, or this is your first time making his acquaintance, you’ll agree he’s right at home on the Growing Bin. The multi-instrumentalist crafts exquisite acoustic music in tune with the finer moments of Windham Hill and ECM; a perfect fusion of talent, balance and the emotion shared by each release on the Hamburg label. As befits its inspiration ‘Tidal’ is an organic affair, related through bright acoustic guitar, hazy chimes and hand played percussion. Where the Australian draws you in with hypnotic repetition, the subtlety, warmth and tonal variation serve as a welcome reminder we’re living off grid. Though expert fretwork often takes centre stage, especially on the delicate B1 ‘Warm You Give’, it’s the blend of kalimba, woodblock, hand drums and shaker which truly transport the listener through open waters; a rhythmic breeze carrying us through the maritime drones and bowed squall. At times the salt air is spiced with cardamom and cloves (‘Sea’) or lemongrass and galangal (‘Valleys’), as we skirt the Indian Ocean or the Java Sea. ‘Lapse’ provides subtle hints of fourth world jazz as mallets take the lead, leaving the guitar to provide its own shimmering texture. Clear your mind, clear your schedule and make some time for ‘Tidal’, an opportunity to breathe in time with the planet.

Well it's been more than 365 days and nights since we released a record on our small and independent record label based in Vancouver, BC. For better or worse we have always operated at a pace that feels natural to us. The same could be said for Mood Hut recording artist Jack J who has not released any music in over seven years. Do you remember his last record? It was called Thirstin' and it came out in the summer of 2015, hot on the heels of Something (On My Mind) which came out the year before. So naturally after this very long silence we are proud and excited to be able to finally share Opening the Door, the first full length LP by Jack J. Self-recorded slowly but surely between 2015 and 2019 between Mood Hut and C'est Life Studios, and featuring some crucial saxophone work by Linda Fox, this LP confirms Jack J to be a masterful mood maker as well as an incisive songwriter. Over the course of the album an undeniably blue haze settles over inward-peering ambient jazz, On-U-inspired digital-dub and quiet storm soft rock leaving a distinct sense of sadness amongst all the tangerine funk. Check it out!

Great JPN New Wave /Walearic! This is the first LP reissue of the '88 album by Yukako Hayase, who made a name for herself with her ennui whisper voice, including a cover by Yuko Ando and her influence on Kahimi Karie.

French photographer, musician, and lifeguard Romeo Poirier is also known for his cult favorite "Plage Arrière," a meditative deep sea ambient cassette released on Kit Records. A long-awaited repress of this popular work, originally released in 2020! Is this truly a miraculous fusion of Andrew Pekler and Biosphere? Mastered at Schwebung by Stephan Mathieu. If you like Jelinek or Boards Of Canada, you will love this. Limited edition clear vinyl.

With this album, even the passing summer will make a comeback in the blink of an eye. The latest title from popular US disco producer Sorcerer arrives on Growing Bin. It's full of balearic house, modern boogie, downtempo, and new age vibes. It seems as if the West Coast's exhilarating breeze is blowing away the gloomy air. Superb!!

"Ambient Music For A Young Girl", a very good new title, has arrived. This is a masterpiece of ambient music that exudes warm nostalgia and a profound sense of tranquility towards the approaching footsteps of autumn. The latest solo album by Cass., one of Germany's most important new age/ambient artists, is now available from Growing Bin. Beautiful. With the music of the foreground, it is a fascinating experience to rescue oneself from ego. After a year of isolation in the current situation, this album is for many people who are going through introspection. Please listen slowly and deeply.

Finally! The long awaited reissue of a very rare album that was originally released in 1985 on For Life! One of the last treasures of Japanese music, highly recommended for lovers of Japanese New Age, Japanese New Wave and Avant New Wave. This is an analog reissue of the only work left by MU-PROJECT, a fantastic unit formed by synthesizer player Ryoichi Kuniyoshi, known for his participation in the works of Riri, Yoshikazu Sasaki, and Motoharu Sano, and engineer Kiyoshi Toba! The original was priced at nearly 30,000 yen and has been long overdue for a reissue. Shuichi Murakami (Ponta), Hideki Matsutake, Kiyohiko Semba (Haniwa-chan), Keishi Urata (Aragon, The Seatbelts), and many others participated in this exotic oriental/ Balearic new age album. I recommend this album to a wide range of listeners who are looking for something out of the ordinary, not only Mariah and YMO, but also to those who like Digital Trip and the Synthesizer Fantasy series!

Selva Discos fulfills its duty of giving a new life to Fernando Falcão's long lost LPs with the reissue of his album Barracas Barrocas, originally released through Egberto Gismonti's cult record label Carmo in 1987. Somehow, an original copy of this album is even more elusive than its predecessor Memória das Águas and it is a pity that such a stunning piece of music was kept apart from listeners worldwide for so long.

The follow-up to Memória das Águas was recorded in São Paulo after Fernando Falcão returned from his exile in France in 1984. In order to conceive Barracas Barrocas, the musician had the help of illustrious friends, such as singer-songwriter Alceu Valença and singer Tetê Espíndola, alongside brothers Myriam and Daniel Taubkin. At the time, Falcão was still using the sound sculptures he created for Memória das Águas, as he is credited in the liner notes for playing a "water orchestra" and his berimbau variant called balauê.

Barracas Barrocas is an album that works as a more condensed and coherent artistic statement of Falcão's œuvre. Lush strings, swelling brass, glowing production, and humming atmospheres fill the record, adding a beautiful yet subtly linked counterpoint to his previously explosive debut. It is very cinematic, sounding like the soundtrack of a play that only existed in the musician's mind.

For this release, not only the sound was remastered but the artwork of Barracas Barrocas was completely and faithfully restored. Also, the reissue comes with unprecedented liner notes featuring rare photos of the musician and his sound sculptures plus an article that tells the story of Fernando Falcão after returning to Brazil fol

Japanese Balearic Masterpiece ('93) is re-pressed on Clear Blue Vinyl! HIROSHI II HIROSHI" is a unit of Hiroshi Fujiwara and Hiroshi Kawanabe (Tokyo No.1 SOUL SET). This is their chill-out~Balearic classic (EP), which was distributed as a picture disc with a vinyl jacket at the time, and is now a popular and expensive item on the second-hand market. The EP features "H2O," the first track that takes you to a fictional resort with its gentle guitar strumming, and "Beauty & Beast + Bagle (Dub)," an exquisite summer resort dubwise track with melting sounds and the melancholy of the sun in the west. The album also includes six evergreen songs that pioneered the Café Del Mar craze that later spread throughout Japan. The artwork is a faithful reproduction of the CD-era design by Hiroshi Nagai.

Mindgames follows Strangelove Music's previous issue of Sjunne Ferger's early singles and soundtrack work on Childrens Mind (SL 106LP, 2021). Occupying its own hinterland within Scandinavia's early '80s electronic/progressive movements, Mindgames navigates a lifetime of musical and personal exploration by Sjunne Ferger. Child jazz drummer prodigy, arts venue operator, music teacher and Aikido practitioner, a bewildering array of personal and creative influences are distilled into the Örebro native's only long player. Written around a new wave context, his own jazz fusion roots and at times with an unintentionally Balearic outcome, Sjunne goes some way to conjuring up a singular sounding album of the time. Narratives of love and loss, calls to self-empowerment and mindfulness, the new age zeal throughout follows Sjunne's own awakening. Its music caught in meditative reflection one moment before propelling into ecstatic revelation the next, with Sjunne's collective Exit providing electric backing throughout. Propelled by the drummer's beat, it's hard not to be caught up with Sjunne's personal vision of a "Polymood Music" LP painstakingly transferred and fully remastered from the original tapes, with new liner notes and photography.

Mark Barrott and Pete Gooding present the fourth volume in their series of stellar collections, showcasing the sunset sounds spun at Ibiza`s Hostal La Torre. Sets, sequences, of music designed to celebrate the passing of another day and welcome the pleasures of night, as the Sun makes way for Sister Moon. On this occasion, the ceremony starts with a gift from the Golden Girls - a side project of Phil Hartnoll, of Orbital fame. In its original form Kinetic was a prime piece of pumping early `90s trance, here, however, it`s been remixed by David Morley into something far more in line with Belgian rave label R&S` ambient off-shoot, Apollo. Practically beatless, but boasting a big, undulating, bottom-end, it now resembles something from Tangerine Dream`s back catalogue. A slightly kosmische, serene wall of sonically shining sound. The room-shaking riffs are reduced to echoes, while pitter-pattering percussion races. When the familiar hook finally surfaces, it`s accompanied by spirit-stirring, symphonic strings - inducing fierce flashbacks to quality highs, and newly expanded minds and horizons. Man, I can remember the wonder, before it all went pear-shaped. Next up are NO ZU, a sadly seemingly defunct 8-membered musical monster from Melbourne, Australia, who were absolutely amazing live. Banging out a percussive concoction that they called Heat Beat, their funk was / is most definitely post-punk - channelling `80s no wave New York, the Mudd Club, and in particular the band, Liquid Liquid. Slapping basses, car horns, electronic keys, buttons, cowbells, and anything else that came to hand and seemed to fit, while lifting beats and piano parts from Chicago house. The party-starting call and response repartee of Ui Yia UIa finds them shouting out their star signs of criss-crossing compatibility over a muscular slo-mo stomp. Daphne Camf Rest In Peace. Bassekou Kouyate is a Malian maestro on the 6-stringed ngoni. A goat-skin covered “hunters harp”, that via slave traders evolved into the North American banjo. With his group, named after this traditional griot instrument, and Zoumana Tereta on lead vocals, he delivers a dizzying display of dexterity on Bala. Generating a super mellow, spiritual groove, his playing countered by equal virtuosity on balafon and bolon. The voices switching between the sweet and the raw, and the song showering you in savannah sunshine, no matter where you happen to be hanging. American trio, Rare Silk, share their jazz vocal take on Stanley Turrentine`s Storm, where wildlife whistles and chirrups surround soft Synclavier sighs. Slick, smooth, imagine Manhattan Transfer meets Wally Badarou. A marimba doing the mambo, the reeds winding like wafts of smoke carried on warm Caribbean winds. The rhythm that of a gently lapping tide. The Synergetic Voice Orchestra was a one-off, one-time only outfit led by keyboardist / composer, Yumiko Morioka. A follow-up to her highly respected solo piano work, Resonance, the album, MIOS, was a far more ambitious affair, that brought together a collective of 6 musicians and 3 vocalists. The results moving away from new age and modern classical toward pop. The track, Zebra, is a Jon Hassell-esque fusion heat haze / fog. Riding a slowly rumbling thunder-thumbed bass-line. A snake-charming woodwind cutting through the synthetic shimmer, weaving its seductive spell. Family Doggo first appeared as the b-side of Paul Woolford aka Special Request`s balls-out 2020 drum and bass single, Spectral Frequency. “Doggo” in comparison is an oasis of calm, albeit packing some serious sub-woofer worrying boom. Stripped back, speaker-rattling, electro-edged introspection, emotive and euphoric without recourse to arms-in-the-air tropes, it`s bleep`s more sensitive, more thoughtful sibling. The awakening of the morning after the night before`s rush. Margaret Wakeley`s magical Hard To Leave The Island was initially rediscovered and dusted down by the people that power the respected DJ / artist agency, Warm - who took it from Margaret`s 1976 LP, Better Days, and pressed it on a limited 45. A slice of superior soft / yacht rock, it`s a cool cocktail-hour summer holiday serenade. A sophisticated arrangement of brass, jazzy keys, and acoustic strum, topped off by a smart sax solo. Equatorial Sunrise was / is one of the standouts contained on Pauline Anna Strom`s sadly posthumous album, Angel Tears In Sunlight. Describing herself as a Trans Millennium Consort, the San Francisco-based synth pioneer attempted to blur, blend, past, present, and future, with her novel new age music. The song in question sees wind-chimes, marimba, and talking drum conversing in counterpoint - conjuring the Cafe del Mar classic, Richard Wahnfried`s Grandmas Clockwork. Its calming, time-melting timbres creating a comforting analog bubblebath. Aching with synthesized ethereal emissions, while pinpoints of sound echo into infinity, like signals from distant stars. The Vendetta Suite is the pseudonym of Gary Irwin, the former in-house engineer at David Holmes` Belfast-based Exploding Inevitable Studio - a hive of musical activity where Timmy Stewart was also a frequent visitor. The 3 amigos mentioned were all stalwarts of the city`s early `90s house and techno scene. Some 30 years later Timmy remixed Gary`s track, Warehouse Rock, into a highly strung - think Malcolm McLaren`s Deep In Vogue - soundclash of reggae and rave. A four-to-the-floor mediation subjected to devastating washes of delay, where bionic bass, Mikey Dread samples and dub sound-effects are softened by bucolic birdsong. Mark Barrott’s Travelling Music (La Torre Reprise) - an exclusive version of the titular track from his recent E.P. - is all tumbling tones - playful sequences and programmed patterns “blowing” busily, like colourful streamers caught on a tropical breeze. Like the compilation`s opening number, its another ambient, beatless, trance-dancer - suffused with sustained swells and chords that feel like sunrise itself. Composer / pianist Lola Perrin`s Cloud Sky Fade is an unadorned, unadulterated - save a little reverb - rippling river of cascading classical keys. Her piano rolling, reaching crescendos like crashing surf. Licensed from Lola’s 2006 CD, Fragile Light, its worthy of comparison with Keith Jarrett`s ECM output, and Wim Mertens` beloved The Belly Of An Architect score. If you look on Wikipedia, you’ll see that Suzanne Ciani has the affectionate moniker of “Diva of the Diode” - reflecting her huge importance in the history of electronic music. While studying at Berkley University in the `70s Suzanne became firm friends with Don Buchla, and subsequently spearheaded the use of his then ground-breaking modular synthesizer. Moving to New York, where she camped out on Philip Glass` studio floor, Suzanne set up her own company employing Don`s marvelous machine to produce advertising jingles. The success of this business eventually led to Suzanne becoming Hollywood’s first female soundtrack composer. In the `80s, Suzanne then started releasing new age records, one of which, 1986`s The Velocity Of Love, was a favourite of DJ Phil Mison, who made it a Cafe del Mar sunset staple. The beautiful Eighth Wave surely should have been the blissed-out musical backdrop to some `80s art house love scene - summoning as it does silhouettes of cinematic protagonists passionately disrobing though a Vaseline-smeared lens. Their hot clinches politely cutting to close-ups of isolated, moonlit beaches, and untamable, tempestuous tides. JIM is Jim Baron, Crazy P`s Ron Basejam, but in folky, singer / songwriter mode. Coming on like Crosby, Stills & Nash, he covers the Ian Astbury / Billy Duffy penned Phoenix in an ultra-laidback fashion. Turning the gothic rock into a Laurel Canyon-esque lullaby. Singing of love in terms of fire, and flames of desire, backed by acrobatic acoustic picking and sweeping orchestral strings. You could be forgiven for thinking that Antipodean audio auteur, Geoffrey O`Connor, is some forgotten `80s idol - so authentic is his soothing, swooning, romantic synth pop. Her Name On Every Tongue, however, dates from 2014, and can be located on Geoff`s sophomore solo long-player, Fan Fiction. The track`s vocoder harmonies proving perfect for a sing along on a top-down, Californian coastal drive. These righteous solar-worshiping rituals draw to a close with John Foxx & Robin Guthrie`s exceptional Estrellita - a highlight from the pairs 2009 album, Mirrorball - where the former Ultravox! and Cocteau Twins founders collaborate on a sublime shot of shoegaze. Generating a glacial glide of layer upon layer of treated guitar. Grounded by womb-like bass vibrations, while Foxx`s choirboy croon soars. Lending the song a prayer / hymn-like air. It`s as close as rock comes to something sacred. Dr. Rob (Ban Ban Ton Ton)

Killer JPN New Age/Walearic! Shigeru Suzuki's alias works are back on LP!

This LP reissue is the most new age of Shigeru Suzuki's works from 1987, which debuted as a guitarist for Happiendo, produced many songs, and supported the Showa music history and new music scene.

The conceptual content, which advocates resort ambient with a graceful touch, has recently been reevaluated in the context of "Japanese Rarealic" ("Japanese mono" + "Balearic"). It is a well-known masterpiece that is popular both domestically and internationally. The music is provided by Tetsuji Hayashi, Mari Iijima, Kazuo Zaitsu, Hajime Mizoguchi, Meiko Nakahara, and Asami Kado.