We Release Whatever The Fuck We Want Records (charming name, better known by its acronym WRWTFWW) has released a rather unique album. It pairs Japanese ambient/environmental legend Takashi Kokubo (Ion Series) and Italian & Swiss trombonist Andrea Esperti (Esperti Project) working under the name of Music For A Cosmic Garden. From Continue Reading
Japan
mama!milk – Concert at Art Gummi Kanazawa, 2022
mama!milk are a project out of Japan who mix the experimental music vibe of Pauline Oliveros and tango. Weird mix, but beautiful in its own way.
Akira Sakata (坂田明) – a.k.a. Tombo (赤とんぼ)
Akira Sakata may be best known internationally for collaborations with guitarist and composer Jim O’Rourke and bassist Bill Laswell, but in Japan and among jazz aficionados, he’s also known as one of Japan’s best purveyors of spiritual jazz. This album is his latest, and it’s imbued with deepness and humor Continue Reading
Various Artists – Pacific Breeze 2: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1972-1986
From Light In The Attic Records, this is perfect Sunday listening: “With Pacific Breeze 2: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1972-1986 we dig deeper into those sounds of bubble-era Japan. From the proto-City Pop funk of Bread & Butter and Eiichi Ohtaki to the crate-digger favorites Eri Ohno and Continue Reading
Chihei Hatakeyama – The Ancient Forest V
I can’t say I’ve ever had the pleasure of introducing Chihei Hatakeyama to my readers before, but he is a master of elegant sound design. These three compositions are based on his travel to Amami Oshima, north of Okinawa.
Ayako Shinozaki – Music Now For Harp
Great news, yet again, has been provided to us by our dear friends at Wewantsounds! From their Bandcamp site: “Wewantsounds is delighted to announce the first international reissue of Ayako Shinozaki’s hard to find LP “Music Now For Harp” released in 1974 by Nippon Columbia. The LP was released on Continue Reading
Akiko Yano – Iroha Ni Konpeitou – LP Deluxe Edition with 4p insert and OBI strip
The ever-fantastic Wewantsounds is giving the gold-star treatment to Akiko Yano, wife of the recently departed Ryuichi Sakamoto and fine musician in her own right, collaborating with Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi, David Sylvian, Mick Karn, Charlie Haden, Bill Frisell, Thomas Dolby, and a host of others. From the label’s Bandcamp Continue Reading
Rural District – Mint Blind Violet
Rural Track are a band out of Japan who do heavy shoegaze rock, so those of you who miss My Bloody Valentine’s peak moments would do well to check this track out.
PoiL Ueda – PoiL Ueda
This is a heavy, near-monstrous release involving Japanese singer and bassis Junko Ueda and the French avant-prog group PoiL. From their Bandcamp site: “PoiL Ueda is the result of a collaboration between Junko Ueda, a vocalist and satsuma-biwa player from Japan, and PoiL, a French rock/contemporary music band. The creation Continue Reading
Yukihiro Takahashi – Drip Dry Eyes (R.I.P.)
The eyes in this house aren’t very dry at the moment. We lost yet another legend today. This time, it was the shocking, though not unexpected, passing of drummer and composer Yuki Takahashi, who made his fame as drummer and singer of the Yellow Magic Orchestra. He first gained fame Continue Reading