A pioneering keyboardist of crossover music in Japan, Jun Fukamachi recorded and released this hidden masterpiece of the early Japanese fusion era in 1975 as part of Toshiba EMI’s audiophile-oriented high-fidelity analog “Pro Use Series”.
Now, it returns on clear red vinyl.
Backed by a powerhouse rhythm section consisting of drummer Shuichi “Ponta” Murakami and bassist Ray Ohara, Fukamachi showcases a rich palette of analog synthesizer sounds, while Kenji Ohmura delivers breathtakingly intense and fluid guitar solos.
The centerpiece of the album is the approximately 14-minute jazz-funk epic “Bamboo Bongo”, a standout track that perfectly captures the virtuosity and adventurous spirit of this landmark recording.
Two years after Introducing, this 1977 release—the second installment in Toshiba EMI’s acclaimed “Pro Use Series”—returns on clear green vinyl.
Joining the returning rhythm section of Shuichi “Ponta” Murakami (drums) and Ray Ohara (bass), percussionist Nobu Saito and others further strengthen the album’s rhythmic foundation. Highlights include the classic “Left Handed Woman”, where Jun Fukamachi explores new possibilities for the analog synthesizer while engaging in electrifying solo exchanges with the song’s composer, Kenji Ohmura, as well as “Take It Easy Mr King Kong”, which makes inventive use of a talk box.
More accessible, more thrilling, and even more refined than its predecessor, this album stands as a superb showcase of Fukamachi’s evolving musical vision.
The latest game in the stylish Katamari Damacy series in which you roll your katamari and collect items to become large enough to form a star for the cosmos, Once Upon A KATAMARI, is getting its own vinyl record release called Katamari Once Again! A total of 23 wondrous songs have been personally selected by the game"s sound composer, Yuu Miyake. The album features BGM stage music in addition to songs performed by an all-star lineup of various artists such as Saya Asakura, Amane Uyama, KAF, Clémentine, Kocchi no Kento, Masashi Sada, San Francisco Boys Chorus, Katamari Damacy feat. suis from Yorushika, Daoko, chelmico, Kenji Niinuma, Saki Hanami, Shigeru Matsuzaki, and Yakushimaru Etsuko. Once Upon A KATAMARI immerses you in the colorful worlds and eras of time and history. Product shown is a luxurious gatefold sleeve housing two records inside. The cover was designed by Kazuki Takakura with supervision from Yuu Miyake, the game"s sound composer. When you think of Katamari Damacy, you think of the colorfully chaotic artwork that comes hand in hand alongside it, and this packaging offers a high-quality, must-have item for a fan"s collection.
One of Japan’s most world-renowned female keyboardists, Himiko Kikuchi released "Flying Beagle" in 1987, and this classic album now returns on vinyl. Having collaborated with artists such as Takuro Yoshida and Junko Ohashi, and performed as a member of prestigious bands like Nobuo Hara’s Sharps & Flats and Minoya Central Station, Kikuchi — along with guitarist Masatsugu Matsumoto — became a key figure in Japan’s live fusion scene. From the 1980s onward, she consistently released solo albums, including several recorded overseas, establishing herself as a legend in the crossover and fusion genres.
Featuring Kikuchi (piano, keyboards, synthesizer, organ), Matsumoto (guitar), Akira Okazawa (bass), Naoki Watanabe (bass), Katsuo Okamoto (drums), Yasushi Ichihara (drums), Yuichi Tokashiki (drums), Keiichi Ishibashi (bass), Yoshikazu Kishi (trumpet), Kenji Yoshida (trumpet, flugelhorn), Michio Kaguwada (trombone), Jake H. Concepcion (alto saxophone, flute), Hirofumi Kinjo (tenor saxophone, flute), Masamichi Takano (baritone saxophone), and Yoshinori Nomimi (percussion), the album assembles top-tier musicians — including members from Spectrum, AB’S, Yuji Ohno’s You & The Explosion Band, and Toshiyuki Miyama’s Inner Galaxy Orchestra.
A masterpiece of Japanese fusion, reissued as a 180g heavyweight, limited-edition analog pressing. Originally released on October 21, 1987.
Liepāja’s Elektrons is a contemporary electronic music compilation on vinyl, bringing together artists connected to the Baltic city of Liepāja. The LP features eleven original tracks that reflect the diversity and vitality of the local electronic scene — from deep techno and liquid funk to experimental ambient, IDM, and broken beats. Across the record’s two sides, Liepāja’s Elektrons brings together a diverse constellation of producers shaping the city’s electronic identity. The A-side features Cliché, Nejauši, Kristaps Puķītis, DJ KEDA feat. Ieva Dreimane-Sidare, BAZIITS, and NiklāvZ feat. Kenji, moving fluidly from intricate IDM textures and atmospheric experimentation to liquid funk rhythms and high-energy drum’n’bass. The B-side continues the journey with Ksenia Kamikaza, Eque, OMIROS, ALTER V and Existal, exploring deep and peak-time techno, minimal house and progressive sonic structures.
Celebrating three decades of cutting-edge electronic music, iconic Canadian Melleefresh’s Play Records marks its 30th anniversary with a premium collector’s edition vinyl release. Founded in 1996, Play Records was the launchpad for much of deadmau5’s early catalogue as he rose to global stardom. This special anniversary edition dives deep into the Play Records archives, showcasing previously unreleased gems, exclusive tracks, and rare remixes and covers spanning the label’s storied history. The release comes as a 2×LP transparent yellow vinyl, housed in an iconic artwork sleeve with photography marking the label’s rich legacy.
Regular Offcial Authorised Vinyl Version, Original Soundtrack, 350g Sleeve, Black Inner, Sticker, 12 140g Vinyl - The first ever OFFICIAL vinyl release of the soundtrack for Mamoru Oshii's legendary science fiction anime film GHOST IN THE SHELL (1995). - LP cut from the original master reels at Emil Berliner Studios, official Ghost in the Shell artwork
We Release Whatever The Fuck We Want Records is thrilled and honored to announce the first ever official vinyl pressing of the soundtrack for Mamoru Oshii's critically acclaimed and all around legendary science fiction anime film GHOST IN THE SHELL (1995), adapted from Masamune Shirow's groundbreaking manga series of the same name. Cut from the original master reels at Emil Berliner Studios (formerly the in-house recording department of renowned classical record label Deutsche Grammophon), the album comes as a LP accompanied by a bonus one-sided 7 housed in official Ghost in the Shell artwork sleeve with silver gilt printing and a Japanese obi, and contains extensive 24-page liner notes. The haunting score is composed by Kenji Kawai, one of Japan's most celebrated soundtrack composers, alongside Joe Hisaishi and Ryichi Sakamoto, whose work includes Hideo Nakata's Ring (1998) and Ring 2 (1999), Death Note (2006), Hong Kong films Seven Swords by Tsui Hark (2005) and Ip Man by Wilson Yip (2008), and countless others. Kawai's compositions see ancient harmonies and percussions uncannily mesh with synthesized sounds of the modern world to convey a sumptuous balance between folklore tradition and futuristic outlook. For its iconic main theme 'Making of Cyborg", Kawai had a choir chant a wedding song in ancient Japanese following Bulgarian folk harmonies, setting the standard for a time
In den letzten paar Jahren haben wir alle den Sinn für die Zeit verloren, aber es muss so um 2023 herum gewesen sein, dass Robert Rotifer, Journalist, Singer-Songwriter und zeitweiser Gitarrist/Bassist bei allen möglichen Bands, von Louis Philippe & The Night Mail über Swansea Sound, Penrose Web, Papernut Cambridge, André Heller, Keiron Phelan bis hin zu Fay Hallam's Band, seinen Freund Kenji, Ex-Sänger der deutschen Sunshine-Pop-Sensation Friedrich Sunglight, fragte, warum er eigentlich in keinen Bands mehr singt. Das war der Auslöser einer Zusammenarbeit, aus der zuerst langsam, dann immer schneller, eine üppige LP gewachsen ist, auf der neben Robert & Kenji noch der elegante post-Glam Veteran John Howard, das große junge Wiener Talent Leo Schlager alias The Zew, die lebende She-Punk-Legende Helen McCookerybook und der beliebteste singende Drummer der britischen Indie-Szene Ian Button zu hören sind. Die ursprüngliche Idee war, dass Robert Songs für Kenjis glockenklare, wendige Stimme schreiben sollte, was stilistisch automatisch eine melodiöse Baroque Pop-Richtung suggerierte. Als nächstes entwickelte sich ein textliches Thema, vom Opener "Considering", einem Lied an einen Freund, der seinen Weg verloren hat, über Songs der Ermutigung ("Things to do in Winter", "Stay With Us", "The More That I Think About What We Should Do") zu Songs über den feindseligen Zustand der Welt ("The Words", "Listen to the News", "Sense of Time"). Was für Rotifer als eine Reihe von Heim-Demos an Gitarre und Tasten in ungewohnten Tonarten (für Kenjis Stimme) begann, wuchs bald zu größeren Arrangements heran, angereichert durch Ian Buttons Drums, seine Stimme, weitere Instrumente und sein Ohr für einen guten Mix. Kenji und Rotifer hörten noch mehr am Horizont und beschlossen, dass dieses Material noch mehr verschiedene stimmliche Schattierungen gebrauchen konnte. Während Robert seine über den Kontinent verstreuten Freund:innen John (Südspanien), Helen (London) und Leo (Wien) für Vocal-Takes gewinnen konnte, die Ian in den Mix einfließen ließ, schrieb Roberts Tochter Emma gerade eine Seminararbeit an der Uni darüber, wie in der Independent-Musik-Szene Arbeit organisiert ist. Sie kam zu dem Ergebnis, dass das Musiker:innen-Netzwerk, in dem ihr Vater sich herumtreibt, einer Theorie der gegenseitigen Unterstützung gleicht, die man "Radical Friendship" nennt. Also widmete Rotifer dieser Idee noch einen Song, den er diesmal selber sang (nebst dem Schluss-Song "Is This Real Enough?"). Am Ende ergab es sich, dass alle Beteiligten auf jeweils einem Track die Haupt- oder Nebenstimme und auf allen anderen Songs unterstützende Harmonien singen. Auf diese Weise wurde das Album per se zu einer Verkörperung von Radical Friendship, nicht in der Theorie, sondern in der Praxis. Radical Friendship Theory is keine Band. Es ist ein liebevoll arrangierter Reigen von Songs in vielen verschiedenen Stilen, von Baroque Pop zu Psychedelia, Power Pop, Country Rock bis zu Bücherwurm-Indie, interpretiert von einem Kreis von Freund:innen, der sich immer erweitern und wandeln kann. Rotifer, der während der Fertigstellung des Albums von Canterbury nach Berlin gezogen ist, wird diese Songs in verschiedenen Städten mit verschiedenen Musiker:innen spielen, von Wien über London bis Glasgow, Hamburg, wahrscheinlich Berlin und Paris, wo immer seine radical friends zuhause sind. Indessen bringt das britische Label Spinout Nuggets die Studio-Version des Stoff in seiner Original-Besetzung heraus - eine Zelebrierung menschlicher, kreativer Freundschaft als lebensrettende Alternative zu einer Welt der digitalen Pseudokommunikation und künstlich geschürter Konflikte.
Atsuko Niina's debut album released by Teichiku in 1983. All songs are covers of Western songs, with 9 songs having Japanese lyrics and only the fifth song having
English lyrics. In recent years, its reputation among city pop and Japanese jazz fans has skyrocketed, and it is now at a premium on the used market!
The album features Japanese lyrics for such bossa nova classics as "One Note Samba" "Ipanema no Musume" "Wave" and "Oishii Mizu" as well as American popular
tunes like “MR.Bojangles” “Asu ni Kakeru Hashi”. covers of such American favorites as "Xasas Xasas Xasas" and "Besame Mucho".
Sound production was done by Jun Irie, who was active as a member of Logic System, and arrangements were shared with Hirotaka Izumi, who was also a member
of The Square at the time. The Square and guitarist Kenji Kitajima participated in the backing.
The entire album has a high quality city pop and fusion sound, with the overwhelming highlight being the high-speed samba arrangement of "Man or Boy (Ipanema no Musume).
The most overwhelming track is "Man or Boy (Ipanema no Musume)" with a high-speed samba arrangement. It is a Japanese rare groove track that can be used in
today's club jazz scene as it is!
You can enjoy her ever-changing vocals on the innovative and typical fusion sound of the time.
Liner notes: Kenji Kitajima, Hirotaka Izumi
(original liner notes of the time are reprinted)
Original release: 1983 Teichiku GM-140
Original label: TEICHIKU ENTERTAINMENT, INC.
After establishing himself as one of Europe's most distinctive voices in instrumental hip-hop, Mr. Käfer is ready to tell a different story. His third solo album, A Past Sense, arriving via Melting Pot Music on 11th November, shows a bold creative evolution from his signature lo-fi aesthetic into lush, collaborative territory that spans continents and genres.
His sixth project for Melting Pot Music marks a creative leap from the mood-driven, jazz-tinged instrumentals that built his reputation on releases like Lost Reflections (2019), Orientation (2020), and Now/Again I and II (2021, 2023). Now he's orchestrating a 14-track journey that weaves together hip-hop, soul, jazz, and North African rhythms through collaborations with carefully selected artists including Novine (GER), J-Tek (US), Kenji (US) and Cloudhead (AT).
Thematically, the album explores how memory reshapes identity, questioning the gap between who we were and who we've become. The visual side comes courtesy of acclaimed photographer and art director Robert Winter, capturing this nostalgic-yet-progressive spirit. A Past Sense will also be released on LP.
With A Past Sense, Mr. Käfer steps out from behind the boards and into the spotlight—trading lo-fi playlist comfort and algorithm-driven streams for something deeper. A past sense, maybe. But definitely a future sound.
Infotext DE
Europas instrumentaler Hip-Hop bekommt einen neuen Sound. Mit seinem dritten Soloalbum „A Past Sense“ verabschiedet sich Mr. Käfer von seiner lo-fi-geprägten Vergangenheit und erschafft ein Werk, das über Genres und Kontinente hinausgeht.
Wo frühere Veröffentlichungen wie „Orientation“ (2020) und die „Now/Again“-Serie (2021/2023) durch intime, jazzgetränkte Instrumentals bestachen, öffnet sich „A Past Sense" neuen Horizonten. Auf 14 Tracks verschmelzen Hip-Hop-Fundamentals mit Soul-Harmonien, Jazz-Improvisationen und nordafrikanischen Rhythmus-Patterns.
Die Kollaborationen mit Novine (Deutschland), J-Tek und Kenji (beide USA) sowie Cloudhead (Österreich) sind dabei keine Gastauftritte, sondern organische Begegnungen, die Mr. Käfers Musik in unerwartete Richtungen lenken. Er bricht bewusst aus der Blase algorithmusgetriebener Lo-Fi-Playlists aus und setzt auf echte musikalische wie menschliche Verbindungen.
Thematisch kreist „A Past Sense" um die Macht der Erinnerung und die Frage, wie Vergangenheit unsere Gegenwart formt. Diese konzeptionelle Tiefe spiegelt sich auch in der visuellen Umsetzung wider: Fotograf und Art Director Robert Winter entwickelte eine Bildsprache, die Nostalgie und Zukunftsvision in perfekter Balance hält.
Mit „A Past Sense" positioniert sich Mr. Käfer neu im internationalen Beat-Kosmos. Das Album erscheint am 11. November über Melting Pot Music – digital und auf Vinyl.
A psychedelic spiritual trip led by multiple vocals and synthesizers
A musical picture scroll of ecstasy depicting a world of harmony on a celestial scale
Violinist, composer and arranger Hiroki Tamaki was inspired by the lectures of Indian religious philosopher Bakwan Shree Rajneesh to create a magnificent musical picture scroll.
Tamaki's own vocals are layered on top of each other, and the music is mysterious and harmonious, woven together by synthesizers by Fumitaka Anzai (TPO, Urusei Yatsura music director).
Includes the progressive rock approach of "Poem of Mahamudra" and "Meditation," as well as "River" and "Beautiful Song," which were selected for "Nippon Acid Folk 1970-1980"
(Time Capsule) and are being re-evaluated as hidden gems of acid folk.
Demonstrating the poignant power of experience + human connection + innate musicality + operating in the present moment, Jeff Mills' Spiral Deluxe collective unveil their second album - The Love Pretender. Driven by the free expression and creativity of improvised performance, Spiral Deluxe is an electronic jazz fusion project comprised electronic music visionary Jeff, along with legendary keyboardist Gerald Mitchell (Underground Resistance/ Los Hermanos), Japanese rocker Yumiko Ohno (Buffalo Daughter/Cornelius) on Moog synthesizer and the Japanese bassist, adopted New Yorker, Kenji "Jino" Hino - son of Terumasa Hino, the world famous jazz trumpeter. Together, the four key players formed a band centred around completely improvised journeys through sound.
During their unrestrained performances, what Jeff describes as sonic "conversations" arose between the musicians, as they each contributed to full-length live shows, and studio sessions. Within the boundless parameters of freeform spontaneity, they developed an unspoken understanding of one another, finding balance and poise within the unplanned performances. The resulting recordings have been used for three releases so far: Two EPs, Kobe Session (2016) and Tathata (2017), and their debut album Voodoo Magic in 2018. With The Love Pretender, we're presented with another stunning collection of "tracks" extracted from one long improv session.
With each musician proficient in their specialism and, of course, an all-out music lover, the communication between the group members became almost telepathic. Very little preparation was needed, and their performances flowed naturally and organically. This can be heard, and felt, throughout The Love Pretender. Tracks like 'The Soloist' evolve effortlessly, each new shift subtly influenced by one of the musicians nudging the conversation into a different phase, and the rest responding accordingly, or vice versa. It's music that embodies the true nature of mindfulness and letting go of fear. In their unstructured, liberated cocoon the artists thrive and create musical moments that have, fortunately, been captured for us all to immerse ourselves in. Jazzy notes fill the air, combined with electronic bass, synthesised beats, sparkling keys and an all-round warm and welcoming atmosphere, with the slight edge you can only get from improvised performance.
Sylvain Luc's posthumous appearance on the album is of significance too. The French guitarist died in March 2024 at the age of 59. His natural flair adds another dimension to the album, bringing a touch of that laid back 1980s American California Coast feeling to tracks such as 'Society's Man'. These contributions to the LP, recorded separately, add character - a final sprinkling of humanity to complement the aliveness and presence of this body of work. Three other musicians also added their creative energy to the project. They were; TOKU, a Japanese jazz musician who specialises in wind instruments, especially the cornet, trumpet and flugel horn. And there's Masa Shimizu, who also has wide-ranging with the guitar, as well as being a producer.
Themes on the album include the optimism one can have by simply trusting the process and trusting that everything will work out in the end. By playing together in the way they do, Spiral Deluxe place their trust in the mystery of what will happen next. Getting comfortable with not knowing is key to a sense of peace with regard to the future and this energy is vital to their collective musical output. By embracing the notion of the unknown, you become an eternal optimist, living in the moment, rather than projecting into the future. This cultivates excitement, an antidote to anxiety.
Meanwhile, the title alludes to the shifts and changes that have occurred in today's society, whereby it's possible to achieve success through pretending. The superficiality, and falsehood, that can often be presented via social media, can lead to questions about what's real and what's not. From AI to the fake personas that populate the dominant platforms, The Love Pretender speaks to a process that is symbolic of the time we're living in. Behaviour that has become acceptable in today's world, which may not have been as welcomed a few decades ago. But this is part of the cycle of life...
Jeff's intention with this music is to present it in high-fidelity, to be listened to over and over and over again. In post-recording he worked for hours to ensure the audio quality was as high as it could be. The goal is to create music that people can live with their entire lives, from his solo work to these masterful improvisations. Music that comes to life, music that has a voice we can replicate with our own vocals. Expressive, unstructured, and alive...
With The Love Pretender Jeff Mills continues his mission to experiment with music outside the bounds of what is typically expected. It's freeing, enlivening, vibrant and uniquely human. As ever, Jeff's visionary outlook and bold approach to musical performance and recording has produced a body of work that epitomises his often revolutionary capabilities. There's no pretending here, just pure unadulterated sonic transmissions from a wonderfully daring, inspiring and optimistic ensemble...
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At the start of the 60s, a new wave of gospel-influenced jazz started to emerge, with hits such as Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers' "Moanin'" and Cannonball Adderley's "Work Song" epitomizing this evolution in the genre. The terms "soul jazz" and "funky jazz" were coined as a way to describe this new sound that was making an impact in the US and also on the other sides of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
In 1964, Ray Charles made his first visit to Japan. Then, in 1968, Martha & The Vandellas and Stevie Wonder set foot in the country, followed by Sam & Dave in 1969, Ike & Tina Turner in 1970, and B.B. King in 1971. The TV show "Soul Train" also began airing in Japan in the early 1970s. A watershed moment happened in 1973 when Sammy Davis Jr. was cast in a TV commercial for Suntory whisky — and the influence of the US Black entertainment world had really landed, with soul, jazz, and funk artists becoming household names.
Nippon Columbia played a pivotal role during this turning point. The company had contracts with Buddah Records and Blue Thumb Records, releasing notable works by artists such as Gladys Knight & The Pips, Curtis Mayfield, The Crusaders, and The Pointer Sisters. At the same time, the label was also releasing several Japanese soul, jazz, and funk projects under the lead of music director Jiro Inagaki. Inagaki, a saxophonist who began his professional career in the early 1950s, honed his skills at U.S. military camps, where he shared his love of music with the Black servicemen. In the 1960s, he played with drummer Hideo Shiraki's band, which was widely considered to be Japan's representative group of the funky jazz movement. Later, Inagaki went on to pursue more cutting-edge sounds with his Soul Media project, including being a pioneering figure in the "jazz rock" genre. By working closely with Inagaki and his various musical projects, Nippon Columbia really placed the company at the center of an exciting and important period in Japanese music.
In 1965, Nippon Columbia opened a recording studio in Tokyo's Akasaka neighborhood. Akasaka was also home to the first ever discotheque in Japan, the legendary MUGEN, which ran from 1968 to 1987 and where many acts performed, including Con Funk Shun, the Bar-Kays, Ike & Tina Turner, B.B. King, Sam & Dave, Three Degrees, and Edwin Starr, as well as many local Japanese singers and musicians. This melting pot of creativity in the area led to the recording of many singles and albums by Japanese artists that were infused with the sounds of soul and funk. Most of these recordings were not available outside of Japan and remain rare and unknown musical gems. The selection you are holding in your hands is an explosive collection of 10 essential tracks released by the legendary Nippon Columbia label between 1969 and 1977, capturing the raw, unapparelled energy that was flowing through the air of the Akasaka streets at this electrifying time. Enjoy!
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180GWALP07 - Manufactured and distributed by 180g.
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Mutant, in partnership with Studio Ponoc, are proud to present the soundtrack to their latest animated film The Imaginary, now streaming on Netflix worldwide.
From the studio that brought you Mary and The Witch’s Flower (2017) and Modest Heroes (2019) comes a new sweeping and epic animated feature film based on the novel by A.F. Harrold. Studio Ponoc’s The Imaginary tells the story of Rudger, the made-up and invisible friend of young Amanda, through his eyes as he traverses the magical liminal spaces that Imaginaries inhabit, the dangers they face, and their adventures.
The original score is full of genre swings and poignant beauty. Bouncing from imaginary Yeti attacks, to Venetian Banquets, and Submarine battles, all while deftly navigating joy, and grief and everything in between - Kenji Tamai & agehasprings take us all on a journey that helps us find our imaginations again.
The anthemic closing track of the film, "Nothing's Impossible", written and performed by A Great Big World featuring Rachel Platten. We are proud to present it for the first time in any physical form.
This limited edition release features original artwork by Tom Whalen (continuing his Studio Ponoc series from Mary and the Witch's Flower), and pressed on 2x 140 gram "Zin-Zan Eyes" color vinyl
2024 Repress
For Frenzy's third release, and the first solo release, the Uruguay-based William Arist is introducing us to his world of 'tribal techno'. Hailing from the city of Montevideo, this Southern-American-born artist already is a talent to watch overseas. Through their like-minded vision of electronic music, William bonded strongly with our Amsterdam-based Frenzy crew over the last couple of years. This warm connection evolved into Frenzy 03 - showcasing pure dance floor eclecticism that only William can deliver, including two remixes by no other than VIL and rising star Kenji Hina aka Alarico.
The A side instantly kicks off at full good vibe-throttle with two productions that reminisce about those iconic Love Parade moments during the very first days of rave culture. Balancing on the edge of house and techno, 'Chaka Chaka' loops the listener into a straight sense of movement. With rhythmic drums and uplifting vocals, 'Days' feels like stepping into an after hour dance-floor at the beach while the morning sun rises through the exotic vegetation. On the B side, William leans towards a more hypnotic sound. With a great tempo and a dark yet subtle mood, 'Tero' sets the tone for those murky clubbing moments where the boundaries dissolve and bodies merge. Slowly climbing out of the deep, 'Gultural' stays on the same energy level while adding dubby hints and a taste of freshness.
To top it off, the release is provided with two remixes that leave no room for interpretation. Portuguese producer VIL turned 'Chaka Chaka' into a true peak-hour beast while Italian multi-talent Alarico shows his versatile skill set with a speedy house remix of 'Gultural' under his Kenji Hina alias.
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The second LP by Tokyo ambient conceptualists UNKNOWN ME began as a commission for historic Japanese cosmetic conglomerate Shiseido, conjuring audio approximations of seasons and scents, but soon flowered into its own refracted and rarefied environment: Bitokagaku. Translated as “beauty and science,” the album is the foursome’s first composed solely with software, reflecting the collection’s utopian, laboratorial muse.
From levitational electronica (“A Rainbow in Meditative Air”) and vaporous downtempo (“Dancing Leaves”) to planetarium reverie (“Kitsune No Yomeiri”) and AI IDM (“Retreat Beats”), the music moves like weather patterns in a bio-dome: dazzling, microcosmic, and delicately calibrated. Percolating synths crossfade with field recordings from Shiseido’s research division; the sound of streams and distant birds blur into a processed haze; clinical voices read lists of precious stones. It’s a vision of new age as soft robotics, of serenity streamlined by sentient systems.
UM’s team of engineers (Yakenohara, P-RUFF, H. Takahashi, and Osawa Yudai) cite an eclectic swath of inspirations behind Bitokagaku – molecules, stars, Kenji Miyazawa, Akira Kurosawa, even “the sparkle of rainbows” – but their guiding artistic principle is as ancient as it is eternal: “beauty.”
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Rain/Water is the fourth album by Tokyo's Kariu Kenji. Following 2021's Sekai, also on Bruit Direct Disques, rain/water is a gorgeous haze of song, a modern driftwork that's creatively rich, and full of fleeting sensation. These twelve lush pop songs point in multiple directions, outwards to bossa nova, modern R&B and soul, ambient bliss-outs, city pop confections, and electronica. But rain/water also has a sly experimentalism at its core, the kind of experimentation that doesn't need to call attention to itself, but that exists 'between the cracks' of the songs - in small, curious gestures of arrangement, in a sudden twist in melody, or an unexpected detour in a song's narrative. In this way, they share something of the stylistic free range in other great recent avant-pop moments - think, perhaps, of the music of Maher Shalal Hash Baz; Stereolab's more late-night, hermetic moments, or High Llamas' recent Hey Panda.
Recording technology was completely revolutionized in the 80s by the multitrack recorder, with the popularity of 24-channel SSL consoles sweeping the world. Japanese pop music created during this wave of digital improvement is now recognized worldwide as ""City Pop."" Techno Pop was another offshoot born of the same revolution. Precise, computer-controlled beats produced by groups like Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) introduced a different type of sound to the masses. By now, these works have been brought into the international limelight and continue to be a major influence on today's music.
At the center of Tokyo’s Techno Pop scene was ALFA/YEN Records. The label left behind an impressive body of work, but much of it wasn't made widely available... until now! This new, definitive compilation focuses on the music archives of the YEN Records catalog, available for the first time exclusively at Light in the Attic. This is a true celebration of Japan's Techno Pop scene of the 80s, reissued with the intent that future generations, internationally, will be able to discover, enjoy, and appreciate ALFA/YEN and its significant contributions to the sonic landscape of the 80s and beyond.
WRWTFWW Records is happy to announce the first-ever physical release of Louisiana-based composer and producer Jammin’ Sam Miller’s full HD re-creation/restoration of the beloved Super Metroid video game soundtrack. The limited biovinyl double LP is packed with 27 tracks and features an exclusive artwork by French illustrator Pierre Thyss, as well as an obi strip.
Composed by Kenji Yamamoto and Minako Hamano, the soundtrack for 1994 SNES exploration / action-adventure / sci-fi / alien video game Super Metroid has always been a fan-favorite. A true masterclass in music storytelling, it beautifully evokes the epic and eerie adventure of the game’s protagonist Samus Aran with superb use of atmospheric sounds, space-operatic arrangements, rumbling bass, oppressive techno-futurist moods, tribal drums, and airy synth themes, admirably balancing the ominous feel of a dark menace and contemplative, even soothing, ambient soundscapes.
Jammin' Sam Miller assiduously recreated the soundtrack note by note, by finding the original equipment used to create it, translating the MIDI into a modern studio context, adding in keyboard samples, and re-mixing and re-mastering the whole score. He explains: "This was made possible by locating the original instrument samples from workstation keyboards and drum machines before they were put into the game and rebuilding the soundtrack from the ground up, applying some modern mixing techniques along the way to lift the veil of 16bit compression and create an updated listening experience."
Super Metroid is pressed on biovinyl, a sustainable alternative to traditional vinyl. Biovinyl replaces petroleum in S-PVC by recycling used cooking oil or industrial waste gases, resulting in 100% CO2 savings in bio-based S-PVC production. Furthermore, it is 100% recyclable and reusable, embracing the circular economy ideology.
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Japan has produced some exceptionally talented jazz drummers and among them is Tatsuya Nakamura, who joins the BBE Music J Jazz Masterclass Series with his album ‘Locus’ from 1984, a session covering several bases, from heavy percussive samba to meditative avant-ambient. This is the album’s first ever reissue, although a track from ‘Locus’, ‘¼ Samba’, was included on J Jazz vol. 3. Nakamura began his drumming career as a teenager, inspired after seeing the documentary film “Jazz on A Summer’s Day” and listening to his idols Art Blakey and Miles Davis. By his early twenties, Nakamura was working with such luminaries as free jazz guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi, pianist Masaru Imada and band leader & composer Mitsuaki Kanno. In the mid-70s, like several other Japanese jazz players, Nakamura decided to make the move to New York where he studied drumming with Roy Haynes, and performed with members of the AACM and players from the loft and free jazz scenes including Richard Davis, George Adams, John Hicks, and Pharaoh Sanders. Returning to Japan, Nakamura continued playing as leader of his Japanese band The Jazz Fellows and in 1979, he went into the studio as leader for the classic “Where Is The Quarter” session featuring Masaru Imada, Hideto Kanai and Kenji Mori. This session includes the original percussion heavy version of ‘¼ Samba’ and was followed by a period back in NYC during which he recorded the funky/free session ‘Rip Off’ in 1980. 1984 saw Nakamura working as leader of a heavy-duty fusion septet and in February of that year he led them in a performance at Audio Technica Hall. The album ‘Locus’ on Sea Horse Records is the label’s one and only release. On ‘Locus’, Nakamura is joined by a stellar line-up. On trumpet is Shinobu Fujimoto and he’s joined by seasoned bass player Hideto Kanai (1931 -2011) who began playing in the mid-1950s, appearing on King Recs All-Star Jazz Series before going on to be a regular fixture on the legendary Three Blind Mice (TBM) label, backing many of its leading artists. He even released his own album on TBM, ‘Ode to Birds’ in 1975. On guitar is Kazumasa Akiyama. Born in Tokyo in 1955, he taught himself guitar at 10 years old and was influenced initially by The Beatles and Ray Charles, and later Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Chicago Blues, and jazz. When he was a student, he got a chance to appear on Sadao Watanabe's radio program ‘My Dear Life’, which led him to join the Isao Suzuki Group and Mikio Masuda Group. Akiyama released his first leader album ‘Dig My Style’ in 1978 and is still an active musician. On keys is the incredible Jun Fukamachi (1946-2010). Born in Harajuku, Tokyo, Fukamachi started playing the piano at the age of three, showing an extraordinary talent, recognised as a child prodigy. He became a professional musician while still in school and released his first album ‘Portrait of a Young Man’ on Polydor in 1971.
Japanese street music icon, Yasushi Ide released new album featuring Don Letts, Josh Milan, Jeff Mills, DJ Krush and more.
"This is a sound track for rude, underground adults! Amazing mixture of reggae, dub, funk, jazz, rock, afro, house. Masterpiece that goes beyond genres of music created by great producer, Yasushi Ide who has relentless motivation and global network of talents." - Shuya Okino (Kyoto Jazz Massive / Kyoto Jazz Sextet)
"Great album! It is amazing to finish such a big project involved many collaborators at this high quality only in a year and 4 months. The magic of Cosmic Suite is there are variety of styles, and it makes you feel deep and spiritual at one point, but at the same time you can feel relaxed. Also, I have to say that the sound quality is great. It sounds very clear and it can only be done with top level recording and mixing professionals." - Ken Ishii
Yasushi Ide is the Japanese street icon. In the 90's he was called "the Guru of Shibuya-kei" which was the movement of Shibuya style of eclectic pop by the artists such as Cornelius, Pizzcato Five, or Original Love who is once again recognized in City Pop revival of recent years. (Yasushi Ide was a manager of Original Love, and also Kenji Ozawa)
Through his works, he has been creating the global network of musicians such as Josh Milan of the Blaze, house music icon, Don Letts, the pioneer of connecting punk rock with reggae, and Jeff Mills, Detroit techno legend, and released a great amount of hi-quality music on his label, Grand Gallery.
The Cosmic Suite project started in 2020, during the pandemic. It started as a project to reconstruct the parts of music Jeff Mills created for Chieko Kinbara, a violinist which Mills produced. However, it turned out to be 36min of spaced themed original track = Cosmic Suite.
(There are few phrases of Jeff Mills music left in the final version) This masterpiece created a buzz in the music scene in Japan and overseas, and became Yasushi Ide's new beginning.
In June, 2022, Ide released "Cosmic Suite 2". Originally, Cosmic Suite was an instrumental. "Cosmic Suite" is the reconstruction of "Cosmic Suite 2" with the element of vocals. In this project, Don Letts, Josh Milan, DJ Krush are featured as guest musicians. Moreover, drums of Tony Allen, the legendary Afrobeat drummer, and Style Scott, a drummer known for his works in early days of ON-U label, and Gota Yashiki, a Japanese drummer known for his works with Soul II Soul are featured in this album. Also, Japanese brightest talents such as Kan Takagi of Major Force, Kaoru Inoue aka Chari Chari, Tomoyuki Tanaka aka Fantastic Plastic Machine and Calm are featured as artists and engineers. This is the true dream team of the Japanese underground music scene.
The artwork is done by Josue Thomas, the founder of popular fashion brand, Gallery Dept. He is also featured as poetry reading artist in track 1 of "Cosmic Suite 2." Ide and him collaborates in various projects under the concept of "Universal Music Connection."
Yasushi Ide's also well received as a dub artist. (beside his wide range of musical styles)
His dub cover of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine (Space Dub Mix)" is selected for "Late Night Tales mixed by Don Letts" in 2021.
Highlight of "Cosmic 2" is the unique dub sound in tracks such as "Lava" feat. UA, the Japanese singer often described as "Japanese Bjork", and "Sumimasen Suite" feat. Rebel Dread (= Don Letts).
Tokyo is the melting pot of street music from all around the World such as Dub, Jazz, House, Hip Hop, Afrobeat, Punk rock, Techno,,, You can see the influence of all spectrums of rebel music in this album. This unique avant-garde music can only be created by Yasushi Ide, who has been heavily involved in this truly unique music scene for a long time.
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Brilliantly unclassifiable ambient midi-jazz salvo from Brazil’s Gabriel Guerra aka Guerrinha - member of PAN/Future Times' Lifted ensemble and lynchpin of the Rio De Janeiro underground. Very highly recommended noir sleaze x fantasy lounge music somewhere on the spectrum between Gigi Masin, Spencer Clark, 0PN, Flanger and Koji Kondo’s iconic video game soundtracks.
Deployed as the third release on the expertly curated confuso editions, ‘Cidade Grande’ sees Guerra unfurl an immersive and deeply enveloping variant of lounge jazz noir intersecting Japanese city pop, classic video game soundtracks and future-primitive kosmische signatures in a way that defies easy categorisation. Guerrinha colours outside the lines in swirling, exquisitely trippy designs that are as easy on the ears are they are hard to fully fathom over a single sitting.
Mirroring a strain of jazz music’s evolution from sophisticate lounge soundtrack to more psychedelic lustre when musicians found acid and Brazilian styles in the ‘60s, Guerrinha slants the paradigm thru the prism of late ‘80s midi with a c.21st suss that coolly echoes hauntological takes from Spencer Clark & James Ferraro to Leyland Kirby, and Eli Keszler’s electro-acoustic jazz proprioceptions, as much as emotive Kenji Kawai soundtracks. There's a complete lack of cynicism in his approach, and dense, hypnotic tracks like 'Venda Casada Village' and the moving 'Kafta Hoje' sound so completely straight-faced it's impossible not to respect the flex.
It’s a hugely trippy listen, at once calming and eerily evocative, with a wipe-clean palette of deft midi orchestrations that conjure flashbacks to soundtracks for everything from Twin Peaks to Sharky & George or Patlabor, but with more opalescent depth, dancing around motifs in holographic designs that mark the uncanny valley of perception.
WRWTFWW Records is absolutely honored to announce the release of Kenji Kawai’s complete soundtrack to Mamoru Oshii's 1993 superb political thriller science-fiction mecha anime PATLABOR 2: The Movie, available on vinyl for the first time ever and housed in a beautiful heavy gatefold sleeve with obi, as well as on digipack CD. Both versions come with liner notes by the great Masaaki Hara.
A true soundtrack maestro, Kenji Kawai is behind the legendary soundscapes of cult animes and movies such as Ghost in the Shell, Avalon, Ring, Ip Man, and Seven Swords among numerous others. PATLABOR 2: The Movie (Original Soundtrack) is one of his most experimental offerings, an outstanding palette of emotion-filled ambient atmospherics and percussion mastery breathing beautifully through Kawai’s minimalism meets modern classical approach. His symphony of moods paints a delicate picture of urban isolation, a central theme in the movie, but doesn’t hide hints of hope for a joyful future.
PATLABOR 2: The Movie (Original Soundtrack) is an ideal companion to Kenji Kawai’s Ghost in the Shell soundtrack, already available on WRWTFWW Records.
Following the »Minna Miteru« compilation, released in 2020, Morr Music announces a sequel, dedicated to Japanese indie music, overflowing with surprises and welcome discoveries. Like its predecessor, »Minna Miteru 2« is compiled by Saya of Tenniscoats, with the support of Markus Acher (The Notwist). It’s also another part of the Minna Miteru universe, alongside retrospective albums by The Andersens (»There Is A Sound«, 2020) and yumbo (»The Fruit Of Errata«, 2021). Taken together, these albums suggest a scene in rude health, sharing a unique vibration.
If its predecessor circled around Tenniscoats and their close friends, the second volume, though featuring a collaboration between Tenniscoats and Deerhoof as oneone, reaches far further afield, drawing from music old and new, far and wide. Consistent across »Minna Miteru 2« is a sense of wonder and a cheerful unpredictability: you never quite know what you’ll hear next. There are some gorgeous indie pop songs here, like Yuko Kono’s »Ginger« or HOSE’s »Baseball«, but there are other sounds too, like Kariu Kenji’s blue-hued electro-pop, or the wheezing pipe-organ ambient of FUJI||||||||||TA: »Minna Miteru 2« hints at new kinds of beauty.
Some of the more widely known names here contribute typically gorgeous melodies – Kama Aina’s »Wedding Song«, from 2005’s »Hawaii Hawaii« CD, is a reflective tune that combines a country-ish lilt with hints of slack-key guitar. Shugo Tokumaru’s »5 A.M.« is a delirious psychedelic pop mantra, drawn from his excellent 2005 album, »L.S.T.«. Many of the revelations, though, come from artists and groups relatively unknown outside Japan. The lovely, disorienting glitch-folk of Wasurerogusa features Aki Tsuyuko, perhaps best known for her albums on Thrill Jockey and Jim O’Rourke’s Moikai label, collaborating with psych-folk legends Eddie Marcon.
There’s also the delightful synth-pop of Jonathan Conditioner; the electronic dreamscape of Chaplin, whose opening »Out Cont« runs along several parallel paths at once; the twinkling, acoustic jangle at the heart of mmm’s luscious »Blue«; and a curious collection of miniatures, from acts like tenshinkun, Daisuke Tanabe and NNMIE, that embrace a childlike curiosity, essaying a kind of toytown pop-tronica.
The twenty-six songs on »Minna Miteru 2« repeatedly catch you unawares, upending your expectations and signaling both the breadth and depth of the Japanese indie underground. It’s a compilation of play and pleasure, but also of bold experiment smuggled into the everyday through pop music’s welcoming moods, magically creating a new world for the listener, spun out of the air and woven in between your ears.
• Sony Music Masterworks and Milan Records announce the vinyl release of “My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission” with music by composer and arranger YUKI HAYASHI. The film adaptions are based on the original Comic Series “My Hero Academia”, which sold over 50 million copies worldwide.
• Based on Kōhei Horikoshi’s most successful manga series, ‘My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission’ is an action-adventure film directed by Kenji Nagasaki. When a sinister organization threatens to wipe out all superhuman powers, the fate of the world is on the line. But before they can succeed in putting their evil plans into action, the Pro-heroes around the world assemble to come up with a counter plan to stop the worst from happening.
• The soundtrack of the critically acclaimed, hugely popular film adaptation is now being released as a stunning double coloured vinyl with a double gatefold.
• My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission is the third movie, following the success of My Hero Academia: Two Heroes and My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising (75M streams to date), and marking a major shift in the series' story - putting Deku in a precarious position of being painted as a villain.
• Besides the movie adaptations, the comic was adapted into an anime series. The 5th season of the series is currently on air. You can watch it on Funimation and Crunchyroll in the UK and you can find “My Hero Academia Season 1” on Netflix.
About the composer Yuki Hayashi:
• Yuki Hayashi was born in Kyoto, Japan in 1980. Being an active member in a men's rhythmic gymnastics team in his early years spawned his interest in BGM while selecting songs to complement performances. This led him to begin teaching himself music composition while at university, despite not having a background in music itself. After graduating, Yuki acquired the basics of track making under house techno DJ and sound-maker Hideo Kobayashi and started producing his first range of music accompaniments for dance sports. His experience as a rhythmic gymnast has enabled Yuki to intuitively incorporate an eclectic range of music and produce a unique sound, empowering scenes from TV drama, animation and film.
Famed free jazz concert registration of an early New Direction for the Art performance. Recorded in 1971. Old-style Gatefold LP, with rare photographs & extensive liner notes by Alan Cummings.
The performance by Takayanagi Masayuki New Direction for the Art at the Gen’yasai festival on August 14, 1971 was an intense, bruising collision between the radical, anti-establishment politics of the period in Japan and the febrile avant-garde music that had begun to emerge a few years before. The ferocious performance that you can hear here was received with outright hostility by the audience, who responded first with catcalls and later with showers of debris that were hurled at the performers. Takayanagi though described the group’s performance to jazz magazine Swing Journal as a success, “an authentic and realistic depiction of the situation”.
In 1962, Takayanagi, bassist Kanai Hideto and painter Kageyama Isamu went on to form an AACM-style musicians’ collective called the New Century Music Research Institute. Every Friday, members gathered at Gin-Paris, a chanson bar in the fashionable Ginza district of Tokyo, to push the outer limits of jazz creativity.
But the pivotal moment for his music was the creation a new trio version of his New Directions group in August 1969, with the free bassist Yoshizawa Motoharu and a young drummer Toyozumi (Sabu) Yoshisaburō. Experiments eventually led to the creation of two basic frameworks for improvisation that Takayagi referred to as Mass Projection and Gradually Projection.
“La Grima” (tears), the piece that was played at the Gen’yasai festival, is a mass projection and listening to it, you can get a clear sense of what Takayanagi was aiming at. Mass projection involves a dense, speedy and chaotic colouring in of space that destroys the listener’s perception of time, and thus of musical development.
The ferocity of the performance of “La Grima” at the Gen’yasai Festival in Sanrizuka on August 14, 1971 was consciously grounded by Takayanagi in a particular historical moment, ripe with conflict and violence. A month after the festival, on September 16, three policemen would die during struggles at the site. This was the context that the three-day Gen’yasai Festival existed within. The line-up reflected the radical politics of the movement, with leading free jazz musicians like Takayanagi, Abe Kaoru, and Takagi Mototeru appearing alongside radical ur-punkers Zuno Keisatsu, heavy electric blues bands like Blues Creation, and Haino Keiji’s scream-jazz unit Lost Aaraaff.
New Direction for the Arts trio topped the bill on the opening day, playing an aggressive, uncompromising “mass projection” set of polyphonic improvisation. Alongside drummer Hiroshi Yamazaki and saxophonist Kenji Mori, Takayanagi soloed hard and continuously for forty minutes. This was performance as precisely calibrated metaphor: three musicians responding to the demands of the moment with instinctive force and fury, untethered by rules, leaderless yet not rudderless (the direction part of the group’s name was no accident). The piece was entitled La Grima – tears - and the fusion between the palpable anger of the performance and hopeless sadness of its title were also perfectly apt for the situation. This was a fight that the state was always going to win. Yet, by all accounts, the band’s set went down like a fart at a funeral. The band were showered with catcalls and debris throughout, and by chants of “go home” when the music finally came to an end.
However, looking back at the event in the year-end issue of Japan’s leading jazz magazine, Swing Journal, Takayanagi was surprisingly upbeat: New Directions brought a solid political consciousness to our performance and succeeded in an authentic and realistic depiction of the situation. But journalism revealed its superficiality in its inability to penetrate the core of the music. I don’t know much about anyone else, but we at least left behind a competent record.
It’s a fascinating statement in many ways. Perhaps on one-hand it can be read as stubborn, solipsistic and self-justifying, yet in conjunction with his statement in 1971 there are points that guide us towards an understanding of just what Takayanagi intended with his performance at the festival. As Kitazato Yoshiyuki has argued, it becomes an almost religious act, directed at the earth deities of the land. A union of anger, sorrow and malevolence that can be placed nowhere effective, all it can do is find expression and channeling. The forcible land seizures at Narita, the eviction of farmers from land that had been in families for generations, the destruction of communities: none of this can be prevented, not least by an artistic action. All that can be done is an attempt to mark the land itself, to soak it with the combined force of emotions and the volume of the performances, to bury something there that cannot be drowned out, even by the coming roar of jet engines.
WRWTFWW Records is absolutely honored to announce the release of Kenji Kawai’s complete soundtrack to Mamoru Oshii's 1993 superb political thriller science-fiction mecha anime PATLABOR 2: The Movie, available on vinyl for the first time ever and housed in a beautiful heavy gatefold sleeve with obi, as well as on digipack CD. Both versions come with liner notes by the great Masaaki Hara.
A true soundtrack maestro, Kenji Kawai is behind the legendary soundscapes of cult animes and movies such as Ghost in the Shell, Avalon, Ring, Ip Man, and Seven Swords among numerous others. PATLABOR 2: The Movie (Original Soundtrack) is one of his most experimental offerings, an outstanding palette of emotion-filled ambient atmospherics and percussion mastery breathing beautifully through Kawai’s minimalism meets modern classical approach. His symphony of moods paints a delicate picture of urban isolation, a central theme in the movie, but doesn’t hide hints of hope for a joyful future.
PATLABOR 2: The Movie (Original Soundtrack) is an ideal companion to Kenji Kawai’s Ghost in the Shell soundtrack, already available on WRWTFWW Records.
out of Stock
Last delivered 4 years ago available to reorder, subject to availability
WRWTFWW Records is absolutely honored to announce the release of Kenji Kawai’s complete soundtrack to Mamoru Oshii's 1993 superb political thriller science-fiction mecha anime PATLABOR 2: The Movie, available on vinyl for the first time ever and housed in a beautiful heavy gatefold sleeve with obi, as well as on digipack CD. Both versions come with liner notes by the great Masaaki Hara.
A true soundtrack maestro, Kenji Kawai is behind the legendary soundscapes of cult animes and movies such as Ghost in the Shell, Avalon, Ring, Ip Man, and Seven Swords among numerous others. PATLABOR 2: The Movie (Original Soundtrack) is one of his most experimental offerings, an outstanding palette of emotion-filled ambient atmospherics and percussion mastery breathing beautifully through Kawai’s minimalism meets modern classical approach. His symphony of moods paints a delicate picture of urban isolation, a central theme in the movie, but doesn’t hide hints of hope for a joyful future.
PATLABOR 2: The Movie (Original Soundtrack) is an ideal companion to Kenji Kawai’s Ghost in the Shell soundtrack, already available on WRWTFWW Records.
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Last delivered 4 years ago available to reorder, subject to availability
SectorSept’s ‘954’ is a boldly original record, one which announces the arrival of a singular musical mind. Its creator states that he crafted this EP by trying to make tracks that were ‘a representation of how I believe music would sound in some distant land in the future’. On ‘954’ this vision takes flight in the form of eight multifaceted, genre-defying electronic productions.
To unpack this record one must first understand the myriad influences which feed into SectorSept’s style. The producer grew up between the UK and Florida - indeed, the record’s title references the area code he had while in the USA. His formative years were spent soaking in the dancehall sounds he heard around him in his Jamaican household as well as techno, jazz, Miami bass and the city’s ‘Love 94 Smooth Jazz’ radio station.
All of this and more can be heard in the fabric of ‘954’. The drum programming alone reveals SectorSept to be someone with extremely wide-ranging musical tastes. Cuts such as ‘Get Ready For The Programme’ and ‘Be There’ are powered by deft beats that have Miami bass, Jersey Club, juke and more in their make-up. Drexciya-adjacent machine-funk creeps into the mix in ‘954’s mid-section, ‘Golden Third Eye’ touches on trap, and closing duo ‘Tropic Universe’ and ‘Prize’ bring dancehall dembows to the fore.
The productions of ‘954’ are simultaneously driving and chilled, coasting nicely yet still plumbed with enough bite to do damage on the dancefloor. It’s a feeling which is heightened by SectorSept’s gorgeous textural work. Several of the tracks here soften up collages of vocal clips with wistful, dreamy synths - see the way that club-caller snippets orbit Boards Of Canada-esque keys on ‘Get Ready For The Programme’ or how closing cut ‘Prize’ works both the classic Warp/Planet Mu sound and the pitched-down stylings of DJ Screw. It’s a rich and fully-formed artistic aesthetic, something which is all the more impressive when you consider that ‘954’ is SectorSept’s first official release.
That said, while the overall flavour of ‘954’ is SectorSept’s and SectorSept’s alone, one also finds links to Gobstopper’s previous output here. Those dancehall influences on ‘Tropic Universe’ and ‘Prize’ line the record up with Gobstopper drops like Otik’s ‘Thousand Year Stare’ while the emotive, soulful synth work that has long been a Gobstopper calling card is also in evidence here. Perhaps the thing about ‘954’ which makes it feel most at home on Mr. Mitch’s label is SectorSept’s imaginative futurism. SectorSept is a keen scholar of anime composers Kenji Kawai and Joe Hisaishi, and as such it is no surprise that there is a slightly fantastical quality to ‘954’. This is most boldly expressed on ‘Intuition Segment’, a magic-realist vignette which looks to Oneohtrix Point Never.
Blending ethereal textures with hybrid electronic grooves, SectorSept’s ‘954’ EP uses the sounds, influences and cultural experiences that have shaped its creator in order to build a vibrant vision of the future.
Wewantsounds is delighted to continue its Akiko Yano reissue program with the reissue of her superb double album recorded with YMO at a time when she was part of the group’s touring line up between 1979 and 1980. The album is pure Akiko Yano featuring her superb singing and piano playing, enhanced by touches of YMO’s synth-pop sound (check her cult version of YMO’s classic, “Tong-Poo”). It is the first time the album is released outside of Japan and the deluxe 2-LP set features the original artwork with gatefold sleeve and 4-page insert.
When "Gohan Ga Dekitayo" came out in 1980, Akiko Yano had been touring with Yellow Magic Orchestra for more than a year. She'd play keyboards alongside the three founding members, Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi, plus guitarist Kenji Omura and Synth wizard programmer Hideki Matsutake (as part of the 1980 North American tour, she'd also feature in the group's cult TV appearance on Soul Train for a memorable rendition of "Tighten Up") and they are all present on "Gohan Ga Dekitayo."
The double LP, whose title could be translated by "Dinner is ready," was co-produced with Ryuichi Sakamoto and recorded at two legendary studios: Tokyo's Alfa Studio "A" and Los Angeles' Sound City. It was Akiko's first shift towards a fuller synth sound following four studio albums mixing Pop and Jazz Funk, including her landmark debut from 1976, "Japanese Girl". A shift that would continue with the release of "Tadaima" in 1981, also featuring the YMO musicians.
?The fourteen tracks featured on "Gohan Ga Dekitayo" find Akiko in top form mixing her singer-songwriter's sensitivity with the electro-pop sound of YMO. It's interesting to note though that it is very much an Akiko Yano album even if the group is present on the album (interestingly they do also play analog instruments on the album). Akiko is clearly the one in charge with a string of beautiful compositions and the rendition of one of the group's classics, "Tong Poo" which she reinvents as a slower, less metronomic-paced song adding her own lyrics.
?Other highlights on the album include "Dogs Awaiting..." an hypnotic composition featuring fascinating electro arrangements or "Coloured Water" sung in English by Akiko accompanying herself on Fender Rhodes with subtle percussion by Tatsuo Hayashi and electronics by Ryuichi Sakamoto.
There are many more great moments on this superb album which announces the further experiments of "Tadaima". "Gohan Ga Dekitayo" is an album that urgently needs to be (re)discovered by her growing international fanbase and Wewantsounds is happy to reissue it worldwide for its 40th anniversary.
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Last delivered 6 years ago available to reorder, subject to availability
Belgian musician Dijf Sanders pens and produces soundtracks for distant, far-flung places that brood with exotica, psychedelia, jazz and electronica. His new album 'JAVA', is a psychedelic and modern search for the sounds of the homonymous Indonesian island. Armed with a set of field recorders, Dijf traveled to every urban and rural corner of Indonesia in the spring of this year. As a contemporary incarnation of ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, he collected an impressive repertory of recordings, commissioned by the Europalia Arts Festival and KAAP Creative Compass. 'Kacapi', 'Kendang', 'Angklung', 'Calung' or 'Gamelan' are not the names of indigenous tropical diseases by the way, but those of local instruments that Dijf encountered on his adventurous musical quest. For two weeks the American expert ethnographer Palmer Keen stood by Dijf through his total immersion into the island's colourful culture and rich, ceremonial traditions. On his return to Belgium, Dijf headed straight back into the studio with the gathered material and invited some of his musical soulmates to put the icing on the cake. It is no coincidence that the three guests - Nathan Daems, Filip Vandebril and Simon Segers - are all part of Black Flower, a band that famously flirts with Oriental sounds. From hours and hours of field recordings, Dijf distilled ten psychedelic pieces which ride on waves of ecstasy and trance, and bridge the gap between two worlds. Tribal rhythms and warm melodies are fused to a seamless and beautiful musical work in utopia. The Brugge-born, Gentbrugge-based musician is one of those great Flemish talents. In the past, he earned his stripes with Teddiedrum and The Violent Husbands and has produced bands like Kenji Minogue and Blackie & The Oohoos. He has also released music under his own name including the critically acclaimed album 'Moonlit Planetarium'. Welcome to Dijf Sanders' wonderful journey into future exotica.
4 pumped up jams for djs to take control - don't hold back, just let go and feel the n·r·gee. Early support by Eduardo De La Calle, Jennifer Cardini, Andrew Claristidge, Gilb'r, Daniel Kyo, Photonz, Angel Molina... Points of interests - Only for the headstrong tripping on strictly undeground massive hits. - For fans of techno, warehouse, (old school) breaks and bleeps. - Pure reel-2-real analog recording and extra loud mastering by F.Stader at MMM. - Features 6 eternal loops and bonus samples for extended dj pleasure. - 121th release from renowned Swiss Mental Groove Records est. 1989 (Dj Rush, Eduardo De La Calle, Sun Araw, Miss Kittin, Luciano, Brodinski, Donato Dozzy,...), also home of Musique Pour La Danse (Olivier Abbeloos, Frankie Bones, Orlando Voorn, Nate Krafft, Dirk De Saever, Todd Sines...) and We Release Whatever The Fuck We Want (Midori Takada, Michel Legrand, Kenji Kawai, John Carpenter...).
After sending out these tracks last summer and getting great reactions from DJs and dancers alike, Hell Yeah is pleased to finally officially release virtuoso musician Verdo's Little Blue EP, complete with a remix from Lauer. Fully remastered for vinyl, the likes of Lexx, Chris Coco, Soft Rocks, Leo Mas and many more have all be playing these tunes with great results.
The talented Verdo runs the famous Gratis Club in Senigallia on the Italian east coast. It is a place he calls home, and that has really allowed him to hone and sharpen his DJ skills so that now he is a slick, unpredictable and singular DJ with many tricks up his sleeve. Bjorn Torske, DJ Fettburger, Prins Thomas, Kenji Takimi, Glenn Underground and more have all played there in the last decade and Verdo himself is a skilled pianist who has played for Zero7 singer Mozez in the past. He has worked with Hell Yeah before now, as well as releasing on Danny Was A Drag King, and here serves up his biggest bit of dance floor dynamite to date, including his previously digital only cut 'Big Fish' (mixed by DJ Rocca).
Opener 'Little Blue' is a perfectly sunny track with hip swinging claps, bobbling bass and boat party vibes that soothe your soul. Rich with instrumentals and golden synth lines, it's a perfect beat that gets followed up by the retro disco pump of 'Sazerac', another tropical cut with loose drums and rubbery bass to get you up on your toes.
The massive 'Big Fish' then hits hard with its tin pot percussion and wild synths all making you flail your arms like you just don't care. Jumbled jungle vibes and big chords all swell your heart as your feet skip about down low.
Closing out the package is Phillip Lauer (Tuff City Kids), one of the most in demand stars of the day, and his version is a direct house jam with percolating and rugged synths and slapping hits, all demanding you ditch your cocktail and get up and groove.
"all good stuff here! OG for early / mornings and Lauer for peak. really nice release! " Piers - Soft Rocks
"Big fan of Verdo! great tunes here as expected. Sezarac fav at first listen." - Dream Chimney
"Little blue is super nice!!" - Phil South (Golf Channel)
"Yes, some great stuff here. Sezerac and the Lauer mix are really great, perfect sunshine session material." - Chris Coco
"I love Big Fish's keyboards! strong!!! Arigato!!!" - Chida
"Little Blue and Big Fish are fun for sure, def will play em on a rooftop sooooon" - Jacques Renault
"Yeah, feeling Little Blue, heavy rotation this Summer! " - Jason Boardman (Aficionado)
"Little Blue, i like." - Lexx
"This is tremendous. Driving peak time track that you can imagine Joe Claussell really working the dancefloor with." - Andrew Pirie
Inspiriert von der Musik der Pianisten Comlon Nancarrow und Gyorgy Ligeti präsentiert Squarepusher fünf neue Kompositionen, eingespielt von den drei Robotern Z-Machines. Die drei Roboter, darunter ein Gitarrist mit 78 Fingern und ein Drummer mit 22 Armen, sind eine Entwicklung junger japanischer Roboteringenieure unter der musikalischen Leitung von Kenjiro Matsuo. Die CD ist ein Japan-Import im Klappcover mit Obi-Einleger und japanischen Liner Notes.
"To make music using instrument-playing robots fascinates me. People have often assumed that for music to be emotionally powerful it has to come directly from a human hand, whereas i disagree with that, and enjoy proving these people wrong. This project is an excellent way of exploring that area more." - Squarepusher
