Поиск:pos

Playing with a Different Sex was the debut album by seminal post-punk band Au Pairs, released in 1981.

Described retrospectively by AllMusic as ‘one of the great post-punk records’, a review by Record Mirror on its release said the band’s ‘critique of all forms of possession and sexual stereotyping assumes a devastating power’. Themes include sexual politics and the torture of women imprisoned in Northern Ireland during The Troubles of the 1970s, as well as a stunning cover of David Bowie’s ‘Repetition’ about domestic violence. It peaked at No. 33 in the UK, and features the single ‘It's Obvious’, which reached No. 37 on the US Club Play Singles chart. Playing with a Different Sex is available as a numbered limited edition of 750 copies on turquoise coloured vinyl and contains an insert.

“One of the most compelling and complex releases of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s post-Black Ark canon, Mercy is the fruit of a long and complex working process that has yielded exceptional results. Spearheaded by the maverick artist and musical outlier Peter Harris with Fritz Catlin, the drumming co-founder of industrial funk dub act, 23 Skidoo, Mercy’s experimental sonic occupies its own space.” David Katz (People Funny Boy: The Genius of Lee “Scratch” Perry).

Dash the Henge are excited to announce the vinyl release of Mercy an innovative record featuring the legendary Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and the work of Peter Harris and Fritz Catlin. It will be preceded by vibrant visual representations of key tracks ‘Reggae Poison’, ’Row Fisherman/Whale Song’ and ‘This is Hell’ created by Peter Harris and Llyr Williams. “I always saw Lee as a performance artist rather than a musician in the traditional sense, so this conceptual backing feels like a more accurate setting for his stream of conscious performance art,” Peter Harris explained. “There is an attention to Lee’s history here too, something that elevates the musical collage with the echoes informed by albums like Super Ape where earlier tracks were recorded over again. In ‘Big Fish,’ the lyrics pay homage to Bob Marley’s ‘Small Axe’ and the tune references Perry’s version of ‘Sugar Sugar,’ which he recorded with the Silvertones. Although the structure might seem chaotic, the songs were crafted over a long period of time and the approach was the same as making a painting, where foundations are worked on then painted over and over until it is full wrested.” Nathan Saoudi (founder Dash The Henge/Fat White Family) boils it down. “It’s kind of quintessential outsider music - I can’t explain what they are doing, but they have a why, and that’s enough. That’s why I needed to get involved.”

45 Pounds is a record of thrilling cacophony: whirring drums meet the sound of instruments which have been twisted and bent into new shapes, all of which are paired with the arresting growls of Zack Borzone. Across the record the four-piece re-imagine what is possible within the confines of a band set up, creating music that perfectly encapsulates the information overload of our times.

The band have become known for their stellar live performances and now with 45 Pounds they have set that electrifying feeling to record. With 45 Pounds YHWH Nailgun have created a statement that is short to cut through the modern day post-algorithmic sludge. Stay tuned for more news.

Mute US is excited to announce the release of Dance Therapy, the sophomore album from worldwide signing Nora Schjelderup, aka Ora the Molecule. The album will be available on black vinyl and digital formats on March 21st. Dance Therapy follows a transformative period for Schjelderup, whose DJ career took off postpandemic. She has shared the stage with fellow Norwegian legends like Todd Terje and Lindstrøm, and opened for Røyksopp, earning her the title of Norway’s queen of disco. Inspired by her DJ sets, ‘70s sci-fi sounds and Italo-disco, Dance Therapy is a retro-futuristic fever dream which Schjelderup crafted in a remote cabin in the woods while navigating a series of severe losses. “I had a lot of pain,” she reflects. “This was my own way of dealing with it. A way to get energy back in the body.”
For Fans Of: Robyn, Neil Frances, Fever Ray, Todd Terje, Raffaella Carrà, Goldfrapp, Daft Punk

Zur Feier des 50. Jubiläums von Venus and Mars wurde diese spezielle Vinyl-Edition mit halber Geschwindigkeit
geschnitten, wobei Miles Showell in den legendären Abbey Road Studios die Original-Masterbänder von
1975 in hoher Auflösung übertrug. Das Album ist eine sorgfältige Reproduktion der Originalpressung in
Großbritannien, mit Nachbildungen des originalen runden Aufklebers „Venus and Mars are alright tonight“
und des Lesezeichenaufklebers „comparative sizes of sun and planets“ und wird mit zwei Postern mit Fotografien von Aubrey Powell und Sylvia de Swaan geliefert. Das ikonische Album-Artwork von Hipgnosis
wurde sorgfältig nachgebildet und in einer Klapphülle präsentiert.

Tim Collins kommt aus New York und spielt meisterhaft Vibraphon. Die Washington Post betitelt ihn als „feurigen Musiker“. Mulo Francel erhielt mehrfach den ECHO und den German Jazz Award. Das Magazin Kulturnews schrieb ihm den „sinnlichsten Saxophon-Ton Europas“ zu. Zusammen treffen sie sich in kammermusikalischem Duo-Spiel auf höchstem Niveau: Geswingter Jazz, romantische Balladen und abenteuerliche Improvisationen über Eigenkompositionen, welche auch Elemente aus Neo-Klassik und Minimal Music verarbeiten.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Venus and Mars, this special vinyl edition was cut at half speed using a high-resolution transfer of the original master tapes from 1975 by Miles Showell at the legendary Abbey Road Studios. The album is presented as a meticulous reproduction of the original UK pressing, with recreations of the original “Venus and Mars are alright tonight” circular sticker and “comparative sizes of sun and planets” bookmark sticker, and comes with two posters with photography by Aubrey Powell and Sylvia de Swaan. The iconic album artwork by Hipgnosis has been meticulously recreated and presented in a gatefold sleeve.

We are thrilled to announce the vinyl reissue of "You Scare Me To Death" by the legendary Marc Bolan, a unique collection that captures the raw talent and charismatic essence of one of rock’s most iconic figures. Originally released posthumously, this album features early demos and unreleased tracks, giving fans an intimate glimpse into Bolan's creative process before he achieved stardom with T. Rex. Known for his magnetic stage presence and distinctive voice, Bolan was a pioneer of glam rock, blending rock, folk, and pop elements in a way that defined an era. On "You Scare Me To Death," Bolan’s lyrical depth and soulful guitar work shine, supported by skilled musicians who bring his vision to life with rich textures and captivating rhythms. This vinyl edition offers an opportunity for collectors and new listeners alike to experience these rare recordings with enhanced clarity and warmth.

We are thrilled to announce the vinyl reissue of "You Scare Me To Death" by the legendary Marc Bolan, a unique collection that captures the raw talent and charismatic essence of one of rock’s most iconic figures. Originally released posthumously, this album features early demos and unreleased tracks, giving fans an intimate glimpse into Bolan's creative process before he achieved stardom with T. Rex. Known for his magnetic stage presence and distinctive voice, Bolan was a pioneer of glam rock, blending rock, folk, and pop elements in a way that defined an era. On "You Scare Me To Death," Bolan’s lyrical depth and soulful guitar work shine, supported by skilled musicians who bring his vision to life with rich textures and captivating rhythms. This vinyl edition offers an opportunity for collectors and new listeners alike to experience these rare recordings with enhanced clarity and warmth.

Es ist das Jahr 2012. No Future war gestern, Phon heißt jetzt dB und sogar das Internet hat sich halbwegs
durchgesetzt. Nun auch noch „auch“. Hast du nichts Besseres zu tun als die die ärzte zu hör’n?
Das Ende ist noch nicht vorbei. Die Beste Band der Welt ist jetzt eine Demokratie, ein Triumvirat
des guten Willens, eine GbR der Gerechtigkeit und sie haben viel zu viel Zeit, um sich nicht um den Rock
zu kümmern. Und natürlich um alle Phasen der engeren Beziehung zwischen Männern & Frauen & allen
anderen. Vom mehr oder weniger schüchternen Balzverhalten beim mehr oder weniger hoffnungsbeladenen ersten Fernblickkontakt bis zum passiv-aggressiven Psychoterror der Post-Partnerschaft. Philosophisch
wird’s obendrein.
„zeiDverschwÄndung“ fragt nach dem Sinn unseres Daseins und ob wir nicht einfach mal irgendwas anderes machen sollten, als Fan von BelaFarinRod zu sein. „Tamagotchi“ stellt den schwierigen ethischen
Problemen im beginnenden Zeitalter der Künstlichen Intelligenz eine wahre Hymne an Emotion entgegen.
„Waldspaziergang mit Folgen“ liefert einen ganz neuen Denkansatz der Theosophie. „M&F“ hingegen
wollen in aller Regel einfach nur in allen Konstellationen poppen.
die ärzte: Jetzt mit der absoluten Leere, ordentlich HeyHey!, einem Gott im Regal und der entscheidenden
Frage: Ist das noch Punkrock?

Ka§par & Sheri Vari! Vault! Death Posture! Muzikalist! All these incredibly talented artists are on the latest release of In The Dark Again!
They deliver four tracks full of gloomy beauty and bitter sweet delight. Let yourself be enchanted by this very special record.
Better be quick as this release is limited to 100 vinyl copies only.

Barro Music Label sigue apostando por el techno más duro y oscuro y por eso, su lógico paso siguiente era publicar un EP de NX1. Necesitaríamos mucho espacio para describir todo lo que significa NX1, pero dejémoslo en que es el proyecto de los barceloneses Surit y Samot con el que llevan varios años reventando amplificadores y haciéndonos bailar hasta la extenuación. Con este AKA han publicado en sellos tan top como Bite, Semantica, Planete Rouge y Earwiggle, además de en Nexe Records, su propia casa (discográfica). Ahora podemos escuchar sus últimos temas en Barro, en un disco que reúne cuatro temas y una remezcla de Nöle. No será la última vez que los veamos juntos, ya que han unido fuerzas para crear un nuevo sello llamado Kätte que ya ha publicado su primera referencia.

En BR1 nos traen un contundente temazo de techno industrial post-apocalíptico dominado por un bombo atronador en el que destacamos el gran diseño de sonido. Los dos siguientes temas están más enfocados a la pista y son una gran muestra del lado más duro y oscuro de NX1. BR2 es una composición hipnótica con sonidos industriales y afilados con un bombo con una pegada tremenda y un bajo que se te queda marcado en la piel. Y aunque parezca imposible, el EP continúa con un tema incluso más duro: BR3. NX1 alcanzan una intensidad increíble en esta composición, marcada por unos sintetizadores saturados, un sonido duro y agresivo y un sample que te ordena obedecer. Para el siguiente tema, bajan los BPMs y se centran en crear una atmósfera industrial, que nos inspira imágenes de carreteras desiertas y ciudades abandonadas. Por su parte Nöle, pilla BR2 y le da protagonismo a los samples vocales mientras juega con el ritmo, creando otro irresistible rompepistas.


Support from: Dave Clarke, Phase Fatale, The Hacker, Lokier, NX1, Unhuman, Alienata, Reka, and many more.


Texto: El Garaje de Frank

An imperial phase Actress commits a lushly amorphous installation piece made for the Berliner Festspiele to vinyl, rendering a post-industrial symphony full of iridescent shifts in gyring, OOBE-like spatial coordinates landing somewhere between nutopian ambient, kankyō ongaku and sawn-off bass science.

‘Grey Interiors’ was made in collaboration with Actual Objects and is an absorbing animation and navigation of those post-human ideals that have prompted Darren J. Cunningham to his best work across the preceding two decades. In its hypnagogic symphony of the elements, he short-circuits distinctions of classical music’s metric freedoms and the hyperspatial sensuality of concrète/electro-acoustic and ambient musics with an artistic license that has come to distinguish his work in the contemporary field, and arguably identified him as this generation’s most vital electronic abstractionist.

The first half of the album is bewitchingly airless, materialised in a twinkling vacuum. Naturalistic environmental recordings and a half-heard piano swirl around nauseous airlock whooshes and eerie bass drones. It's all pulverised to a powdery, shimmering residue; if Actress's music is defined by its character and texture - that sweet spot between the bedroom and the soundsystem - then this one advances the narrative without losing its backbone. And like a lot of his best work, it comes into its own on the back of zonked eyelids, conjuring a play of shifting geometric patterns within its imaginary physics and nuanced narration of ephemeral melodic phrasing and vaporous textures.

At about the halfway point, that dissociated piano finds its groove, coalescing into a jerky drum machine rhythm popping like bubbles in the stifling atmosphere. We can draw some intersecting lines here thru electronic music lore - traces of vintage AE, Push Button Objects, UR - but Actress always leaves an indelible fingerprint on anything he touches. Even when he's rubbing against the gallery-industrial complex, he manages to fill a stagnant space with electricity and wit; look at the title itself: is it a reference to the "landscape beyond man" as the installation's press release might have us believe, or the institutions themselves?

At the border of genres, OGIVES is an ambitious musical project, initiated and led by composer and musician Pavel Tchikov. This large ensemble leads us onto a path to a sacred universe, to a cathedral of sounds, whose foundations are rock and classical music. Born in Liège (Belgium), OGIVES offers a resolutely intense personal and poetic work, dominated by layers of melodious, polyphonic, shouted or lyrical voices. This first album from OGIVES, 'La mémoire des orages' (The Memory of Storms), is build and orchestrated around poems written by two members of the group. These texts revolve around the themes of the perception of time and the perspective of death. We find here all the group's influences, ranging from post-rock, prog' to contemporary music, baroque and medieval music, through electronic music and noise, all exploited to forge a homogeneous and singular material. From the first choral notes to the last sharp riff, it is a dense and melancholic epic, carried by inhabited and versatile musicians. The album was mixed by Steve Albini.

It’s a decidedly busy time at INVINC HQ at the moment with the 10-year anniversary looming in May.
The six months preceding this date are peppered with a flurry of releases every couple of months, which started with the Mondo Ritmo EP that came in October, the Gamma Knife LP in December and now this brand new album by Sordid Sound System, which lands early March before a rather promising sounding 2xLP compilation lands in May to mark the occasion. 


It’s been a good few years since something by Sordid Sound System aka Stuart Evans has been released on the label and it’s a welcome return. In our opinion it's some of Evans’ best work and so it’s a pleasure to have him back on board the good ship Inc. 


Remarkably, this music is even harder to pigeon-hole than usual...even for Stu, who’s known for his raw, analogue, live takes that veer between dub and post-kraut this is definitely quite "different": part surf acid, part dub, part psych-exotica, part motorik...and that's just the A-side. The B-side leans more towards ambience but of the oddball experimental soundtrack variety...a thoroughly enjoyable ride.
Enjoy the trip.

Its sound veers away from raw black metal intensity, opting for expansive, dreamy
atmospheres. Damian Anton Ojeda's signature approach tempers the harshness of
black metal's usual bleakness with a delicate sense of beauty and melancholy. The
album builds around shimmering guitars and lush soundscapes, creating a sense of
longing rather than the frostbitten aggression typically associated with the genre.
A key characteristic of "I Want to Be There" is how the screamed vocals--reminiscent
of depressive black metal--are mixed to blend seamlessly with the instrumental layers.
This intentional obscuring of vocals, pushed toward the back, transforms the vocals
into another textural element rather than a dominant force. This aesthetic decision
diffuses the emotional weight usually carried by extreme metal vocals, steering the
listener away from despair and toward introspection.
The balance between black metal's darker elements and post-rock's ethereal qualities
gives this record its emotional depth. The opening and closing tracks, "In the Distant
Travels" and the title track, lean more heavily on black metal structures but never fully
embrace the genre's typical harshness. Instead, the fuzzy guitars and crashing
cymbals are imbued with hope and uplifting energy. The post-rock influence becomes
more pronounced in tracks like "I Want to Be With You," which forgoes black metal
vocals entirely in favor of a choral atmosphere, evoking a serene and heavenly quality.
Ojeda also demonstrates his talent for creating immersive soundscapes, drawing
comparisons to *Sigur Ros*. Both artists employ sweeping melodies that evoke
feelings of transcendence. Still, where *Sigur Ros* tends to embrace more overtly
uplifting and sentimental tones, Sadness anchors these grand moments in
melancholy, avoiding overindulgence. The album is a delicate dance between light and
shadow, making the listening experience emotionally rich and layered.
While it may not have the raw emotional punch of *Deafheaven* or the nostalgic
charm of *Alcest*, *I Want to Be There* stands as a polished and thoughtfully
composed entry into the post-blackgaze genre. Ojeda's ability to fuse the weightless
hypnosis of black metal with the airy beauty of post- rock results in a sound that is
both familiar and new. Sadness offers a captivating and often beautiful exploration of
blackgaze, making the album a worthwhile listen for fans of atmospheric and
introspective metal.

Capturing phantom drones behind dusty beats and haunted twangs, Ellis Swan and James Schimpl return for their third album as Dead Bandit. Locked into a musical language unique to their collaboration, the duo once again put us out to pasture across broad sonic plains, drums flapping like loose fence panels in the prairie breeze and bass rumbling like distant thunder. True to their previous two records, Swan and Schimpl keep the strung out guitars at the front of what they do, whether playing a naked, desolate strum or running six strings through disruptive effects processing until they're barely recognisable.
But while there are details of disturbance when listening to Dead Bandit's self-titled record up close, the wider impression is a smoother, more direct affair that toys with post-rock complexity and matches it with the emotional weight of melodic simplicity, gentle grooves and conscious arrangements. 'Weeds' offsets its languid fuzz guitar with shimmering sustained notes before settling into a patient, heavy-hearted composition charged with heartbreak leads pealing out in the middle distance.
By comparison, 'Glass' has a smoky, half-hidden backroom quality. Its brushed whisper of a beat, lingering guitar drones and subtle sub bass come on like a dub wise flip of a sad-eyed country ballad. The mood maintains on 'Half Smoked Cigarette', which captures the grey sky sullenness of post-punk and reframes it in the seductive isolation of rural America. While there's a thickness to the sound on these most direct of tracks on the album, there's also fragility inherent to the sound world Dead Bandit have been shaping out over these past few years.
'Buttercup' swaps sadness for sinister undercurrents, once more drawing on fulsome low end to fill out the sparse threads of instrumentation up top. 'Pink' finds a steady momentum for its own brand of brooding mystery, the sharp end of the beat bringing focus to the many-layered approaches to the guitar which roundly define the Dead Bandit sound. There's an even clearer direction mapped out in the vintage drum machine pulse of 'Koyo', all the better to carry swirling effects treatments and moody melodic figures. Even in these ominous climes there's space for plaintive, endearing hooks which land as the most direct phrases in Dead Bandit's musical lexicon to date.
The fundamental sound across this album holds true, but Dead Bandit are never bound to a singular practice. 'Lucien's Bitters' strikes up a pronounced drum machine beat which comes on like 90s downtempo, and it feels like a natural vessel for the heavy, shoegaze tinted lament of the guitars. At every turn, Swan and Schimpl prove their affinity for all kinds of approaches, and yet the end product is a deeply cohesive, immediate listen that shows just how clear their creative vision really is.

Die beliebte Compilation "The Very Best Of Talk Talk" wird in einer überarbeiteten und Karriere übergreifenden Fassung neu aufgelegt. Im Vergleich zur ursprünglichen Veröffentlichung von 1997 bietet die Neuausgabe die größten Hits der Band in chronologischer Reihenfolge. Zudem enthält sie eine überarbeitete Aufnahme vom letzten Album der Band, Laughing Stock.

Die Wiederveröffentlichung erscheint am 14. März als 2LP im schwarzen Klappcover sowie auf CD.
Gegründet 1981 von Mark Hollis, Lee Harris und Paul Webb, erlangte Talk Talk mit ihren ersten beiden Alben The Party's Over und It’s My Life weltweiten Ruhm. Songs wie "Talk Talk", "Today", "It’s My Life" und "Such a Shame" wurden zu zeitlosen Klassikern und erreichten die Top 40 der britischen Charts. Mit The Colour of Spring (1986) wagte die Band erste Schritte in Richtung experimenteller Klänge, die schließlich in ihrem gefeierten Meisterwerk Spirit of Eden gipfelten. Ihr letztes Studioalbum, Laughing Stock, erschien 1991 und markierte einen weiteren Wendepunkt hin zum Post-Rock.
Talk Talk wird oft als Pionier des Post-Rock angesehen. Ihr Einfluss erstreckt sich auf Künstler wie Kate Bush, Tears for Fears und Radiohead. Zudem haben viele Musiker die Werke der Band neu interpretiert, darunter No Doubt, die mit ihrer Version von "It’s My Life" einen internationalen Hit landeten.

compiled by tsunaki kadowaki
artwork by yoshirotten
mastering by kuniyuki takahashi

Tsunaki Kadowaki, a staff member at Kyoto’s record store Meditations, the supervisor of "New Age Music Disc Guide", and the founder of Sad Disco, curates the fourth installment of "Midnight in Tokyo" themed around Ambient Kayō.

The Midnight in Tokyo series by Studio Mule focuses on Japanese music, serving as a soundtrack for Tokyo nights—whether for home listening, club play, or as a driving BGM, transcending location and space. After a six-year hiatus, the fourth volume takes "Ambient Kayō" as its new perspective, compiling genre-defying tracks released between 1977 and 1999 to explore the intersection of Japanese ambient and pop music.

For this long-awaited fourth installment, selections were made regardless of record label status (major or independent), era, format (vinyl or CD), original release price, or prior reissues. Instead, the focus was on music that deeply moves the listener, is open-minded and evocative, brims with inspiration and spiritual insight, and embodies the "utagokoro" (singing heart) of Japanese artists.

Opening the compilation is "Umi e Kinasai" by Yōsui Inoue, a legendary Japanese singer-songwriter whose works have recently gained renewed interest as hidden gems of Walearic and ambient pop

Composed and arranged by Katsu Hoshi—who is also known for his arrangements on Inoue’s masterpiece Ice World—the track features renowned players such as Masayoshi Takanaka, Hiroki Inui, and Shigeru Inoue. The song embodies a yearning for Balearic horizons, tinged with youthful vibrancy and sentimentality.

Next, "Oritatamu Umi", compiled from Keiko Nosaka, a 20-string koto player, and George Murasaki, a pioneer of Okinawan rock, is an instrumental track from their album "Niraikanai Requiem 1945". As the title suggests, it carries themes of requiem and remembrance, conveying poetic lyricism even without words. Blending Ryukyuan/Okinawan harmonies and indigenous elements, it unfolds as an intimate and nostalgic piece of progressive rock.

Also featured is "Natsu no Kowareru Koro" by Higurashi, a folk-rock band led by Seiichi Takeda, formerly a guitarist of The Remainders of The Clover, the predecessor of RC Succession. Like the opening track "Umi e Kinasai", this song was also produced by Katsu Hoshi. It stands as a folk/new music piece that takes a step into an "otherworldly" realm, recommended for fans of Twin Cosmos and Masumi Hara.

From the enigmatic Blue, the only work left by the mysterious composer S.R. Kinoshita, comes "Mangrove", a hidden treasure of Japan's ambient/new age scene from the CD era. With an oriental and enigmatic atmosphere, the track evokes a mystical world of deep, uncharted jungles, unfolding as an otherworldly New Age Kayō.

"Yaponesia Sakura", selected from Rehabilual’s sole album New Child, is a masterpiece of Japanese new age music. Produced by Swami Dhyan Akamo, a disciple of Indian meditation teacher Osho and a renowned balafon player, the track features Michio Ogawa (Chakra) and Atsuo Fujimoto (Colored Music). Their collective artistry creates an exquisite spiritual ambient pop sound.

"Asa no Hitoshizuku", the opening folk song from Sachiko Kanenobu’s album Sachiko, is also included. Known for her legendary folk album Misora, produced by Haruomi Hosono, Kanenobu’s fourth album after resuming her career was inspired by her experiences living in San Francisco and revolves around the theme of "love." This track carries the same intimate poetic world as Misora, imbued with a pure, crystalline innocence.

From the synth-pop band E.S. Island, known for the Haruomi Hosono-produced *Teku Teku Mami", comes "Yume Fūrin ", selected from their long-lost new age classic Nanpū from Hachijo. Created while the band’s core duo was living in Hachijō Island, the album aimed to sonically capture "the high and happy vibrations of everyday island life." This track offers a dynamic, tribal-infused New Age Kayō experience.

Dubbed "the world's first Min’yō House Mix" "Esashi Oiwake (Maeuta) " comes from Kanazawa Akiko HOUSE MIX Ⅰ, a collaboration between Japanese house music pioneer Soichi Terada and Akiko Kanazawa, a renowned min’yō singer. Through the prism of club music, Hokkaido's Esashi Oiwake, one of Japan’s most iconic folk songs, is transformed into a futuristic ambient pop piece with intricate sound design.

The compilation also includes "Sweet Ong Choh", a track from Voice From Asia, a group active between 1989 and 1992 featuring vocal artist Shizuru Ohtaka. Taken from their imaginative minimal work Voice From Asia, released under Aoyama Spiral’s music label Newsic, the song presents a tranquil, tribal-minimal soundscape enriched by ethnic instruments.

Hailed by Haruomi Hosono as having “a shaman residing in her voice,” singer-songwriter Nami Hōdatsu also appears in the selection. Known for her collaborations with Henry Kawahara, her debut album featured "Asa-Hikari-Ame-Yume", a track that now stands as a precursor to modern vocaloid/synthesized vocal music—a hidden gem of post-choir aesthetics that deserves rediscovery.

Likewise, "Tennessee Waltz", from Naomi Akimoto’s album One Night Stand, supported by members of Mariah, serves as another early prototype of vocaloid/synthesized vocal music. The track weaves fragmented vocal samples, pastoral yet sweetly minimal synth sounds, and mechanical beats into a strikingly unconventional piece in the history of Japanese music.

Closing the compilation is "Heaven Electric", a track from Nav Katze’s album Gentle & Elegance, which featured remixes by Autechre, Seefeel, and Sun Electric. Merging elements of IDM, ambient techno, and chillout, the song embodies an optimism reminiscent of space music while seamlessly blending a mystical Japanese aesthetic—an ambient pop masterpiece.

---

The album presents 12 exquisite pop tracks infused with an ambient feeling, resonating deeply with the evolving landscape of the mid-2020s—a time of post-hyperpop and Y2K revival.

Tsunaki Kadowaki (Compiler)

Born in 1993 in Yonago, Tottori, Tsunaki Kadowaki is a staff member and buyer at Kyoto’s Meditations record store. He is the editor of New Age Music Disc Guide (DU BOOKS) and a contributor to Music Magazine, Record Collectors' Magazine, ele-king, and more. Kadowaki has written liner notes for multiple Japanese releases (Brian Eno, Masahiro Sugaya etc.) and runs the Sad Disco music label under Disk Union. He also curates Spotify’s official New Age Music playlist and performed as a DJ at YCAM’s Audio Base Camp #3 in 2024.