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吉野大作&プロスティチュートDaisuck & Prostitute - 死ぬまで踊りつづけて Dance Till You Die (LP)
吉野大作&プロスティチュートDaisuck & Prostitute - 死ぬまで踊りつづけて Dance Till You Die (LP)SPITTLE MADE IN JAPAN
¥4,263

Dance Till You Die is more than just a track title—it’s a loud and clear order, a warning, and a timeless statement from one of the most uncompromising Japanese post-punk outfits of the early 1980s. Emerging from Japan’s underground scene, Daisuck & Prostitute forged a raw yet magnetic sound that blended the abrasive edges of No Wave with an almost ritualistic sense of groove. Dance Till You Die stands as a rare testament to their uncompromising vision: esoteric and challenging, yet undeniably contagious on the dance floor. This newly unearthed gem brings sharp, jagged rhythms, dissonant textures, and a feverish punk urgency together in a way that feels both deeply of its time and eerily timeless. For No Wave obsessives, post-punk devotees, and seekers of obscure underground treasures, Dance Till You Die reaffirms the visceral spirit of a band that refused to compromise or cater to convention. With its intensity undiminished decades later, Dance Till You Die resonates as both an invitation and a provocation: keep moving until the last beat, keep resisting, and keep challenging the boundaries of sound. This release celebrates the survival of radical creativity and provides a crucial document of Japan’s contribution to the explosive worldwide post-punk movement.

toru yamanaka & teiji furuhashi / Dumb Type Theater 睡眠の計画 - Plan For Sleep (LP+DL)
toru yamanaka & teiji furuhashi / Dumb Type Theater 睡眠の計画 - Plan For Sleep (LP+DL)conatala
¥3,800

DUMB TYPE is a multimedia performance art group based in Kyoto that was formed in 1984 and continues to be active at the forefront of the art scene. We are excited to announce the simultaneous release of two cassette book works produced by musician Toru Yamanaka and the late Teiji Furuhashi, a central figure of the group, for works from the early DUMB TYPE Theatre era: "Every Dog Has His Day (recorded in 1985)" and "Plan For Sleep (recorded in 1986)," now available for the first time on vinyl.

Since the founding of DUMB TYPE, Yamanaka has primarily been responsible for music production, while the late Furuhashi played a crucial role in translating Yamanaka’s compositions into stage direction. Their collaboration began with previous groups ORG and R-STILL, and was influenced by the NEW WAVE and progressive rock trends they were pursuing at the time, as well as by artists like Laurie Anderson, Meredith Monk, and Robert Wilson, who fused minimal music and avant-garde performance. Moreover, their bold incorporation of cutting-edge sampling and house music during that era laid the foundation for DUMB TYPE's sound, marking an important intersection in the history of minimalism, ambient music and performance art in Japan.

In the performance of this work, "Plan for Sleep" (1986), created simultaneously with “Every Dog Has His Day” (1985), Yamanaka took on the role of sound operation. The performance begins with a minimal piece where the tones of the electronic organ and striking phrases from the piano and saxophone race forward in syncopation. Following this, various sound fragments drift over a deafening industrial beat reminiscent of machine noises. There are also pieces that transform the typing sounds of a typewriter into rhythm, showcasing a range of experiments inspired by the then-novel sampling technology, beautifully intertwining with the physicality of the performance.

Additionally, influenced significantly by film music, Yamanaka incorporates a rich tapestry of colors through melancholic melodies that evoke various scenes, from secular jazz to other influences. This work constructs a uniquely original and sophisticated worldview that stands out even when surveying the canon of avant-garde performance art from around the globe in the postmodern era.

SAB - Crystallization (LP)SAB - Crystallization (LP)
SAB - Crystallization (LP)Em Records
¥3,850

A beautiful album re-emerges from realms of mystery! The long- awaited vinyl reissue of a Japanese neoclassical/experimental/new age/electronic music classic, originally released in 1978. ”Crystallization” is a work of unwavering perfection, whose sparkle has become even more brilliant over time, in the midst of the new age music revival that has emerged in recent years and the rediscovery of Japanese environmental music so-called Kankyō-ongaku. This was SAB's first and only solo album, recorded at his home and a studio in Osaka by a 19-year-old musical prodigy who, after the album's release, left Japan for the U.S. to follow the teachings of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and has never been heard from again. Two other musicians provide instrumental contributions, but the majority of the album was recorded and produced by SAB himself with multiple recordings & overdubs of various instruments, captured and crystallized on magnetic tape. The arrangements and instrumentation on this album show the influence of Brian Eno and the Obscure label of the time, but SAB's weave of electronics, field recordings and conventional instrumentation simultaneously avoids those influences and sits outside any direct electronic music lineage; it has achieved the status of a new classic for audiences in the 2020s. This reissue of the second release on the legendary Osaka label Vanity Records, run by the eccentric producer Yuzuru Agi, is a 24bit/48kHz A/D transfer from the original 1978 master tapes, high-quality cutting. Comes with Japanese/English liner notes, a lot of rare photos.

H Music De-Perception (Henry Kawahara) - Minami​-​kaze α Wave (7")H Music De-Perception (Henry Kawahara) - Minami​-​kaze α Wave (7")
H Music De-Perception (Henry Kawahara) - Minami​-​kaze α Wave (7")Em Records
¥1,650

"Minami-kaze α Wave (Southerly wind alpha wave)“ is a very rare ‘vocal piece’ that Henry Kawahara has produced, and released under the name HMD (H Music Deperception) in 1993. The song is a vocal version of the cyber-occult exotic instrumental piece "Nanpu“ included in the compilation “Cybernetic Defiance and Orgasm: The Essential Henry Kawahara” [EM1197TCD/DLP]. This track is a rare example that proves he had also a genius for producing ‘pops’ in the general sense of the word, and which seems to have challenged head-on the pop songs produced by Haruomi Hosono or Tetsuya Komuro in the 80s-90s. 

The Henry Kawahara project on EM Records was developed only with the enthusiasm of proving Kawahara's existence if he is to be erased as nothing in the current art context, and we have confirmed that there are a lot of supporters all over the world for our opinion when we released "Cybernetic Defiance and Orgasm" (several articles and interviews have been given). This single is a 'prescription' for the sequel, tentatively titled "Cybernetic Defiance and Orgasm 2: Other Sides of Henry Kawahara," which is currently in the process of being prepared. This 7” is a limited one-off release, not included in the compilation.

Eddie Marcon - Home Before Dark c/w Home Before Dark  (Recomposed by TORSO) (7")Eddie Marcon - Home Before Dark c/w Home Before Dark  (Recomposed by TORSO) (7")
Eddie Marcon - Home Before Dark c/w Home Before Dark (Recomposed by TORSO) (7")Em Records
¥2,420
In conjunction with the 2025 re-pressing of the Nora Guthrie "Emily's Illness/Home Before Dark” 7-inch single, we have here, in the same format, a lovely cover of the latter tune, performed by Eddie Marcon, a band based in Himeji, Japan. The band’s vocalist Eddie Corman and musician/producer Shintaro Sakamoto wrote the Japanese lyrics for this gorgeous version, recorded in 2024 and originally unintended for public release; however, this slice of sweetness, delivered by the full band comprising guitar, keyboards, bass, percussion and wistful winds is now available to the lucky listener. The flipside, recorded in 2025, is an intriguingly ghostly recomposed version for cello and flute by TORSO, a Tokyo instrumental duo, who used the basic tracks from the Eddie Marcon version of “Home Before Dark" as a ‘guide’ before finally deleting the basic tracks.
Takao - Stealth [2026 repress/original artwork] (LP)Takao - Stealth [2026 repress/original artwork] (LP)
Takao - Stealth [2026 repress/original artwork] (LP)Em Records
¥3,850

Takao‘s new album is a rare attempt to recreate a previously released album. He has re-recorded his debut album "Stealth" and presents it here as a completely new work. This is a 50-minute full-length album with two new tracks, "Moon" and "Seven Sands". This new "Stealth" is subtitled 'Gold Edition'. 

=From the 2018 album commentary= 
“Stealth” is the aptly-titled debut album from Tokyo-based composer/producer Takao. Gliding in under the radar with thirteen slyly sweet and subtle miniatures, these pieces are refreshing light-explosions of gentle harmony and modestly grand melodies. Fans of New Age and tonal minimalism will enjoy this music, but its brevity reveals a pop-influenced aesthetic as well, and the level of care and detail in the arrangements and recording evinces a nuanced, surprisingly mature sensibility. There’s a blossoming brightness and elegant simplicity that even calls to mind gentle ghosts of Satie and Debussy.

aus isoda - Interwoven (LP)aus isoda - Interwoven (LP)
aus isoda - Interwoven (LP)We Release Whatever The Fuck We Want
¥6,327

From the visionary collaboration of Japanese New Age master Ken-ichiro Isoda and electronic music magician aus (Yasuhiko Fukuzono). Minimalism distilled, ambient environmental music that soothes the mind and kindles the spirit.

Drawing on Isoda’s deep legacy (notably his legendary work on Oscilation Circuit – Série Réflexion 1 from mythical label Sound Process) and fused with aus’ spellbinding melodies, Interwoven is ethereal healing sound: lingering piano, soft cinematic synths, field recordings that feel like whispered memories, while flutes and saxophone pass by, bringing a subtle breath of wind and the warmth of human touch.

This is music for those who cherish the delicate beauty of life — and for fans of Satoshi Ashikawa, Midori Takada, Satsuki Shibano, Hiroshi Yoshimura, Takashi Kokubo, Brian Eno… lovers of nature, reflection, and daydreams.

Interwoven is a collaboration that bridges their generation and the physical distance between them.

Tokyo based producer aus works with synthesizers and electronic processing, while ISODA, living on Hachijo Island, writes scores for wind instruments, harp, and other acoustic instruments.

The project began with aus’ sketches like images of water, the sea, and islands, but gradually shifted into an exchange of sound without explanation. That trace of anonymity created a kind of freedom that neither had in their own work.

ISODA is known not only as a leading figure in Japanese ambient music, but also for his work as a music producer & composer for contemporary music, and game music creator. aus brings a distinctly current sensibility shaped by his background in electronic music.

Akiko Kanazawa - 秋田大黒舞 / 秋田音頭 (7")
Akiko Kanazawa - 秋田大黒舞 / 秋田音頭 (7")ビクターエンタテインメント株式会社
¥2,420

Kanazawa Akiko, a leading singer in the folk music world celebrating her 50th anniversary, finally releases her killer tune fusing folk and reggae.

This track (“Akita Ondo ~ Akita Daikoku Mai” medley) was featured on the hugely successful album “HOUSE MIX 1” (released in 1991), produced by Soichi Terada, founder of FAR EAST RECORDINGS, a pioneer of Japanese dance music currently experiencing renewed appreciation overseas.

At the time of release, a non-commercial 7-inch record was created for promotional purposes based on an idea by Soichi Terada, who arranged the album. Now, a 7-inch single featuring the original arrangement by Soichi Terada is officially set for release, just like the original.

ジャックス Jacks - ジャックスの世界 Vacant World [EMIレッド・ヴァイナル] (LP)ジャックス Jacks - ジャックスの世界 Vacant World [EMIレッド・ヴァイナル] (LP)
ジャックス Jacks - ジャックスの世界 Vacant World [EMIレッド・ヴァイナル] (LP)ユニバーサルミュージック
¥4,950

A peerless debut album by Jacks, born in the dawn of Japanese rock, reissued as a colored vinyl modeled after the original red pressing released by Toshiba Musical Industries on September 10, 1968.

Ohkami No Jikan 狼の時間 - Black Tape II (LP)Ohkami No Jikan 狼の時間 - Black Tape II (LP)
Ohkami No Jikan 狼の時間 - Black Tape II (LP)Black Editions
¥5,998

Black Tape II is only the second widely available release by Ohkami No Jikan (The Time of the Wolf), one of the more esoteric groups of the 1990’s Tokyo underground. Recorded in 1992, it illuminates a largely undocumented facet of Nanjo Asahito’s psychedelic cosmology, distinct form his better known work with High Rise, Musica Transonic and Toho Sara. Aside from a handful of limited, handmade cassettes and CD-Rs on his La Musica label, there’s only been one Ohkami No Jikan album, Mort Nuit, that made it beyond the collector inner circle. One of Nanjo’s longest-running, most mysterious outfits, Ohkami No Jikan’s conceptualisation – as a psych outfit “that explores ‘stasis’ and ‘motion’, both actively and philosophically” – hints at the intensity of the music here. There’s a pellucid beauty to much of Black Tape II, with the simplest, most erotically charged chord changes descending from the heavens, Nanjo moaning consumptively as the songs slip by in an acid daze. The 1992 line-up here, with Asai Fumiyo on bass and Nagao Kouji on drums, was one of many variations of Ohkami No Jikan; simultaneously languorous and heavy, at times pushed into the red with sharp feedback arcs, the group feels cosmically aligned with Nanjo’s purity of vision. “Unreleased recordings from the the ‘92 Black Tape (cf. 068). Cool acid heavy psychedelic sound takes that weren’t used on the original release. Early studio demos.” - from the original La Musica cassette release Available for the first time on LP or any physical form aside from a small run of hand assembled cassettes on the Japanese La Musica label in mid ‘90s (LA-077). Housed in a custom die-cut, "Uni-Pak" style gatefold with metallic ink, spot finishes and matching La Musica inner sleeve. La Musica Records was a label founded by Asahito Nanjo in Tokyo during the 1990's. It released nearly 200 cassettes and cd-r's, all handmade in micro-editions sold at shows. The catalog featured artists and recordings largely of obscure, often completely unknown origin, sanctioned and "grey-area" documentation of the Tokyo psychedelic underground. Black Tape II is part of Black Edition's work to bring La Musica's unique and confoundingly beautiful catalog to light.

KiMiMi - ИМА (イマ) (CD)
KiMiMi - ИМА (イマ) (CD)conatala
¥2,500

‘ИМА (Ima)’ is a work by KiMiMi, the solo project of a musician Shin-ya Ohno, which captures the layers of time and the presence of people inhabiting ‘Arimasuton Building’—a self-built structure created over 20 years by architect Keisuke Oka, located in Mita, Tokyo, and reconstructs them into music. A multi-instrumentalist who masterfully handles a diverse range of instruments, with the gaida (an ancestor of the bagpipes) – which he studied in Bulgaria – at the core of his sound, KiMiMi has previously brought traces of daily life and folk melodies recorded during his travels back to the scale of home recording, weaving fantastical folk soundscapes through cassette tape works and stage music. Alongside his musical activities, he has participated in the construction work for ‘Arimasuton Building’, recording the sounds of hammers and steel beams echoing on site, lunchtime chatter, the melodies of instruments played by others, and the sound of cars passing by. From the end of 2022, a zine titled ‘Monthly Arimasuton Building Urimasu’, based on this construction project, was launched. KiMiMi incorporates these recordings into the musical works he contributes to each issue, layering sounds from live instruments—including the gaida, accordion, guitar, flute, ukulele, piano, foot-pump organ, melodica and xylophone—alongside a few synthesiser tones, to shape a soundscape imbued with the humidity and breath of the site. KiMiMi’s creative process is characterised not by planned construction, but by an attitude of entrusting the work to chance, intuition and the passage of time. Fragmented recordings are layered, set aside for a time, and then unearthed again. Through this repetition, the music naturally takes shape. This resonates perfectly with the process of ‘Arimasuton Building’, which was built up improvisationally, layer by layer, without any pre-prepared blueprints. ‘ИМА (Ima)’ marks the current stage of KiMiMi’s sonic journey and represents an attempt to gracefully transcend the boundaries between architecture and music, documentation and creation, and the individual and the community. The clamour of the city, the tranquillity of manual labour, laughter, and every sound resonating at the Arimasuton Building site blend with KiMiMi’s music, reflecting the very passage of time in which people live.

Yasuhito Ohno - Music in DNA (CD)Yasuhito Ohno - Music in DNA (CD)
Yasuhito Ohno - Music in DNA (CD)Em Records
¥2,970

"When you notice the cheerful mystery playing with the synths, the edges of this small world start to look slightly distorted. In any era, someone is always creating mysterious music on their own." (7FO) Music in DNA is an album recorded in the early 1980s in New York City and self-released in 1984 in Japan by Yasuhito Ohno, a young Japanese man breaking free from the constraints of his homeland. The album is a naive burst of outsider DIY enthusiasm, inspired by the multiple avant-garde movements of the era, in music, painting and performance, as well as the native energy of 80s NYC. Ohno channeled his youthful “edge” and zeal into open-minded lo-fi musical explorations using a mere two machines: the then-new technological glories of a four-track cassette recorder and that polyphonic synthesizer masterpiece, the Roland Juno-60; on several pieces he vocalizes. These seven tracks have a zestful, innocent, anything-goes charm, free from preciousness and self-consciousness: a raw and youthful human spirit at play in a new world. Ohno was also inspired by the humanistic promise of the general technological developments of the day, including DNA research, personal computing, and early computer graphics, an example of which can be found on the cover. Ohno later returned to Japan, becoming a renowned composer/producer. In an era of jaded cynicism, Music in DNA is a welcome taste of big-hearted innocence, a revival of a raw self. Available on CD/LP/Digital, with E/J liner notes by the artist.

Yasuhito Ohno - Music in DNA (LP)Yasuhito Ohno - Music in DNA (LP)
Yasuhito Ohno - Music in DNA (LP)Em Records
¥3,850

"When you notice the cheerful mystery playing with the synths, the edges of this small world start to look slightly distorted. In any era, someone is always creating mysterious music on their own." (7FO) Music in DNA is an album recorded in the early 1980s in New York City and self-released in 1984 in Japan by Yasuhito Ohno, a young Japanese man breaking free from the constraints of his homeland. The album is a naive burst of outsider DIY enthusiasm, inspired by the multiple avant-garde movements of the era, in music, painting and performance, as well as the native energy of 80s NYC. Ohno channeled his youthful “edge” and zeal into open-minded lo-fi musical explorations using a mere two machines: the then-new technological glories of a four-track cassette recorder and that polyphonic synthesizer masterpiece, the Roland Juno-60; on several pieces he vocalizes. These seven tracks have a zestful, innocent, anything-goes charm, free from preciousness and self-consciousness: a raw and youthful human spirit at play in a new world. Ohno was also inspired by the humanistic promise of the general technological developments of the day, including DNA research, personal computing, and early computer graphics, an example of which can be found on the cover. Ohno later returned to Japan, becoming a renowned composer/producer. In an era of jaded cynicism, Music in DNA is a welcome taste of big-hearted innocence, a revival of a raw self. Available on CD/LP/Digital, with E/J liner notes by the artist.

前田順康/飛騨音響派 - 音脈響脈 (CS+DL)前田順康/飛騨音響派 - 音脈響脈 (CS+DL)
前田順康/飛騨音響派 - 音脈響脈 (CS+DL)0on
¥2,000

This is a collaborative work by Kodo’s Masayasu Maeda and Hida Onkyo Ha, featuring selected extracts from a four-hour improv session in Hida Takayama, up in Japan’s northern Alps. It captures waves of electronics, voices, taiko (Japanese drums), gongs, and other instruments as the sounds enter, entwine, and meld in the mountain air. The title ‘On-myaku Kyo-myaku’ evokes sounds (on) and echoes (kyo) that undulate like a pulse (myaku). Layering upon one another, over and over, conjuring reverberations, rhythms, ambient sound, noise, and moments that are tribal, spacey, and intoxicating. Lean into the sways and flutters of fleeting, pulsating, resonant sound.

Merzbow - Gareki No Niwa (CD)
Merzbow - Gareki No Niwa (CD)iDEAL Recordings
¥3,960

One of the first artists iDEAL wanted to work with was Japanese noise legend Masami Akita (b. 1956) aka Merzbow and we consider his 7” for us as the first release on the label. His work is of course very well documented since his start in 1979 and we have been obsessed by his noise since we first came across it in the late 80s through that double LP on RRR. Merzbow is unique and has always kept his own corner in the experimental music world. ”GAREKI NO NIWA” is harsh, psychedelic and rewarding. It’s great listening and to us an essential Merzbow album!

Masako Ohta, Matthias Lindermayr - Nozomi (LP+Booklet)Masako Ohta, Matthias Lindermayr - Nozomi (LP+Booklet)
Masako Ohta, Matthias Lindermayr - Nozomi (LP+Booklet)Squama Recordings
¥5,531


06:55    Hatsuhinode
02:39    Agora
03:57    Ostinato
04:59    Hibari
06:55    Maya
04:40    Shizuku
04:07    Niwa
08:04    Tio
Pianist Masako Ohta and trumpet player Matthias Lindermayr are back on Squama with 'Nozomi', the follow-up to their 2022 debut 'MMMMH'. The Japanese title, which translates to ‘hope’, felt fitting, as the album was conceived during a time of personal loss for Ohta, during and after which music proved itself as a beacon of hope. The music on Nozomi unfolds gently, with Lindermayr’s airy tone and lyrical playing being wrapped in Ohta’s chordal backing that moves from tender to tense and back over the course of the album. While most tunes were written by Lindermayr, the only exception being an interpretation of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s ‘Hibari’, the arrangements are largely improvised, letting the duo’s intuition guide the course and build the form. Solemn slowness has become a signature trait of the Munich-based duo and it makes listening to their new record a healing retreat from the frantic chatter of the present.

キングス・ロアー King's Roar / オリジナル Original (LP)
キングス・ロアー King's Roar / オリジナル Original (LP)TEICHIKU RECORD / TUFF BEATS
¥5,500

At long last, this legendary gem returns! A coveted treasure among Japanese jazz collectors, the album showcases bassist Hideto Kanai directing a 17‑member big band in a powerful and forward‑thinking exploration of orchestral jazz.

Les Rallizes Dénudés (裸のラリーズ) - 拾得 Jittoku ’76 (2LP)Les Rallizes Dénudés (裸のラリーズ) - 拾得 Jittoku ’76 (2LP)
Les Rallizes Dénudés (裸のラリーズ) - 拾得 Jittoku ’76 (2LP)The Last One Musique / Tuff Beats
¥6,930

Side A
1. 夢は今日も / Dream Again Today
2. 造花の原野_1976 / Wilderness of False Flowers_1976
3. 白い目覚め / White Awakening
4. Guitar Solo 1(ボーナス・トラック *Vinyl Only)

Side B
1. カーニバル / Carnival
2. 氷の炎 / Flame of Ice

Side C
1. Guitar Solo 2(ボーナス・トラック *Vinyl Only)
2, 夜、暗殺者の夜 / The Night, Assassin’s Night
3. お前の眼に夜を見た / Saw the Night in Your Eyes

Side D
1. イビスキュスの花 或いは満ち足りた死 / Hibiscus Flower otherwise Dying Satisfied
2.  Enter the Mirror

Merzbow & Akio Jeimus -  Any Other Utterance (LP)
Merzbow & Akio Jeimus - Any Other Utterance (LP)Honey Farm
¥3,206

All music by Merzbow & Akio Jeimus

Recorded at Munemihouse & Avant Chop Studios 2025

Mixed by Masami Akita at Munemihouse

"Fusia's Joule 1" and "Fusia's Joule 2" recorded live by Ki Moon Song at Polaris, Tokyo March 2, 2025

Mastered by Cedrik Fermont at Syrphe

Photo by Akio Jeimus

Inner poster artwork by MA AI generated

Design & Layout by Parker Thiessen

Since adopting the Merzbow moniker in 1979, Masami Akita has collaborated widely with artists across noise, free jazz, and experimental music. 2025 saw him recording with Akio Jeimus, a Chicago-born, Japan-based drummer who has worked with Toshimaru Nakamura, Akira Sakata, Tetuzi Akiyama, and Otomo Yoshihide, and currently performs as a member of the Osaka group goat (jp). Jeimus approaches the drum kit with restless, intuitive physicality, marked by a fondness for chance interplay and extended techniques. Consisting of studio sessions as well as recordings taken from a live performance in March 2025 in Tokyo, Any Other Utterance captures noise and drum set locked in motion, where patterns continuously form, self-destruct, and collide.

Opening with the studio track “Florescent Silhouettes,” the record bursts out of the gate with a flurry of cascading drums as Masami’s electronics roar and churn. Midway through, the noise condenses into a stuttering, squirming pulse as cymbals and snare drum volley in response. By the end of the track, the electronics pierce through the percussion, a high-pitched squall stretching into a sustained howl.

The B-side, comprised of “Fusia's Joule 1” and “Fusia's Joule 2” (perhaps named after the color of the dynamic lighting at the venue that night), captures the duo in raw, unrestrained form on stage — a storm of noise introducing itself immediately and refusing to relent. But the storm suddenly cuts out six minutes in, leaving only Jeimus’ clattering percussion, unrelenting in its own way. He moves between percussive bursts and crashes of cymbals and bells, scraping and smearing the kit to draw out blurred textures. Masami soon returns with sharp, surprising stabs of sampled piano. Interlaced with blasts of distortion, the piano punctures the air of the 70-person venue in downtown Tokyo, as the performance mutates into a kind of twisted free-jazz duo.

Across both halves, Any Other Utterance documents a shifting relationship between the drum set and noise: two forces chasing, interrupting, and reshaping each other in real time. What’s left isn’t resolution, but the sense of motion itself.

- Jake S.

横田進 Susumu Yokota - Unreleased Works 94' - 97' (2LP)
横田進 Susumu Yokota - Unreleased Works 94' - 97' (2LP)Transmigration
¥6,697

Lovers of Susumu Yokota’s mid-‘90s ‘Acid Mt. Fuji’ era will be licking their lips for this previously unheard ruck of slow-to-quicksilver acid and psychedelic techno trips par excellence, on David Fogarty’s retronaut label Transmigration.Salvaged from a set of DATs given the label by Ray Castle, who received them from the Japanese acid maestro circa 1994’s ‘AcidMt. Fuji’ and ‘Zen’ as Ebi, these eight gems have evidently lost none of their lustre over the last 30 years. They plug heads directly into a classic phase of acid, techno, and ambient experimentation whose durable results prevail to resonate contemporary ‘floors, and should be filed up there with sterling examples from Plastikman to Ø, AFX and Tin Man.For our ¥ the most choice cuts are the opening, slow storms of acid harnessing his Roland boxes to dreamiest traction, as with the 9 min meld of shoreside sounds, whining sine waves and chime trees that precipitate the creamiest slow acid in ‘Dust’, and again with the sexiest writhe in ‘Wave’, both acutely recalling Vladimir Ivkovic’s sets of decelerated Goa trance or the type of throwbacks conjured by Full Circle. But that’s not to discount the rest, which also impresses at higher velocities ready for full club flight. His ‘Obsession’ and ‘Thirteen’ surely hark to peak Analogue Bubblebath, and the clinically clean and spacious floatation device ‘Dove’ is a sure prototype for Tin Man decades down the line. Farther up the BPMs ‘No Way Back’ rides jabbing 303 and singing hi-hats at 135BPM, and ‘Fortune’ keeps the ticker up with urgent groove and chattering choral motif bound to get the yoghurt weavers going at 5am.

Soichi Terada - Apes In The Net (Video Game Color Edition LP)Soichi Terada - Apes In The Net (Video Game Color Edition LP)
Soichi Terada - Apes In The Net (Video Game Color Edition LP)Far East Recording
¥3,634
Outside of the international house underground, where his early ‘90s works for the Far East Recording label he co-founded with Shinichiro Yokota are rightly celebrated as bona-fide classics, Soichi Terada is best-known for his work composing music for video games. Yet until now, few of his productions for video games have been released outside of Japan, especially on vinyl. Apes In The Net, a six-track EP featuring music composed for the popular PlayStation 1 series Ape Escape, sets the record straight. It not only showcases Terada’s quality as a composer and producer, but also his versatility. Like much of Terada’s work on the Ape Escape series, the tracks featured don’t explore deep, New York and New Jersey influenced house sounds, but rather his lesser-celebrated love of jungle and drum & bass – a sound he fully explored on 1996 album Sumo Jungle. “The producer of the Ape Escape games heard that and got in touch,” Soichi remembers. “They asked me to make the soundtrack, and then work on the music for the sequels after that. I used to love making music with AKAI hardware samplers, synthesisers, and computers, so I played and recorded the tracks using almost the same methods as I did when I made house music. Using breakbeats and audio samples with a sampler was the most useful way to make the soundtracks.” The six tracks on show, which were originally recorded in the ‘90s but reconstructed and remastered for Japan-only CD and digital releases over a decade ago, mix elements of Terada’s familiar deep house style – think warming chords and pads, memorable melodies, and emotive musical motifs – with blistering D&B breakbeats, 16-bit synth sounds, electronic bleeps and undeniably weighty basslines. They’ve stood the test of time and arguably sound just as fresh now as they did at the turn of the millennium.
中村誠一 - ウルフのテーマ (LP)
中村誠一 - ウルフのテーマ (LP)テイチクエンタテインメント
¥5,720

During his time with the Yosuke Yamashita Trio, he poured his heart and soul into every single note. In the early 1970s, he wove flashes of inspiration and impulse into his melodies, blowing with powerful intensity. And now, on this album, Seiichi Nakamura undergoes yet another transformation. As he himself says, “It’s the feeling of sharing a space together and soaring freely like a bird. That’s the ideal,” the overlapping sounds and pauses richly expand the space, through which Nakamura’s saxophone dashes with exuberance. The expansive and exhilarating “Wolf’s Theme,” inspired by author Kazumasa Hirai’s “Wolf Guy” series, “Harappa,” where a nostalgic melody shines against a laid-back groove; “Body & Soul” and “I Can’t Get Started,” which weave together standards with care and elegance; and “Viva Giappone,” with its delightful sense of dynamism and openness—here, Nakamura’s ideal is magnificently realized. Featuring Toshiyuki Daitoku, Aki Takase, and Ryojiro Furusawa.

Yuki Nakagawa - Yuhazu (CD)Yuki Nakagawa - Yuhazu (CD)
Yuki Nakagawa - Yuhazu (CD)YUHAZU
¥2,500

CD + text book featuring cellist Yuki Nakagawa, who has participated in the Duo project “KAKUHAN” with Koshiro Hino (goat, YPY) and the album “The Butterfly Drinks The Tears Of The Tortoise” by the Australian unit “CS+Kreme”, featuring his cello and acoustic performance with a bow (a.k.a. Bach bow) that he made himself.

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