album of the month

Criola (クリオラ): Winter Songbook (1992)

2018/12/21

I have a confession to make: I didn’t quite “get” Criola’s Winter Songbook, for a long time. Looking back, though, this season, I’ve been blessed with many things in life and one of them has been running this blog. Never have I been so inspired, influenced, and devoted to maintain this running conversation with people…
Lyu Hongjun (劉宏軍): 大地の詩 (Songs Of The Earth) (1988)

2018/12/14

There’s a palpable meditation hovering around Lyu Hong-Jun’s masterwork 大地の詩, otherwise known as “Songs Of The Earth” or “Earth Songs”. Recorded for pioneering Japanese prefab home maker Misawa Home, landing place of equally pioneering musical works by Hiroshi Yoshimura and Yutaka Hirose, this album was supposed to provide another soundtrack to the unique, holistic experience they were selling. It’s…
Ryokyu Endo: Song Of Pure Land (1994)

2018/11/16

So very lovely. Forgive me if some of you are expecting something more experimental, electronic, or whatever else now. Me, I just want something like this. What is this? It’s the beginning of Ryokyu Endo’s sublime form of Japanese New Age music. In 1994, Ryokyu Endo’s Song Of Pure Land, or The Song Of Pure…
R. Carlos Nakai with Wind Travelin’ Band, Shonosuke Ohkura, Oki Kano: Island Of Bows (1994)

2018/11/08

Streams of understanding, via spiritual land bridges, or how a Navajo-Ute found a musical connection with Japanese sonorities/tradition. Somehow, I feel a sense of myself in this music. The first time I heard of Island Of Bows by R. Carlos Nakai (with the Wind Travelin’ Band, Shonosuke Ohkura, and Oki Kano) I was struck by…
Ric Kaestner: Music For Massage II (1987)

2018/10/23

Trying to revisit something I wrote about and remember quite vividly, at the time I wrote it, presents two opportunities: the first is to reassess why and how I got into that piece of music. The second opportunity presented by revisiting the past, is whether time has added a fresher perspective since then. When Sifted…
Milky Way: Quarter Diary (1989)

2018/10/19

Oh, the joys and pains of promoting private press records. First of all, a huge debt of gratitude is extended to one Discogs record collector (mvns) who kindly shared with me this beyond interesting release by Japanese band (or solo act, hard to tell, at times), Milky Way Band. Released in 1989, through infinitely small…
Tôsha Suihô: 四季の笛 (Die Vier Jahreszeiten In Kyoto) (1983)

2018/10/12

Certain albums linger in your mind for certain reasons. Tôsha Suihô’s 四季の笛 (Die Vier Jahreszeiten In Kyoto) or Four Seasons In Kyoto is one that I can never forget. The premise for its creation was simple: master flautist Tôsha Suihô travels to various sites in Kyoto and records himself performing within the environment he’s in. What happens, though, is…
Marica: Jellyfish 海月 (1987)

2018/09/21

When Yasuaki Shimizu’s Mariah split up their story appeared to end there. Marica’s Jellyfish 海月 proves that Mariah was just a small part of the bigger slice of Japanese Pop music these same members created, that still merits rediscovery. Produced by ex-Mariah members Masanori Sasaji, Jimmy Murakawa, and Morio Watanabe, Jellyfish 海月 finds vocal jazz…
Franco Battiato: L’Ombrello E La Macchina Da Cucire (1995)

2018/09/11

How many second acts can one artist get? Franco Battiato might already be in his 10th or more. At the time of this release, 1995, Franco was a 50 year old man — keep that in mind. Unworried by what was out there, unhurried to prove anything, Franco Battiato (once again) came out of nowhere…
The Voice & Rhythm: Ohh!!! (1985)

2018/08/31

Leave it to me to create a post that’s not “evergreen” for a record that positively radiates with fun. Imagine Parliament set their mothership to Japan, and along the way picked up Gang Of Four, then decided that they really like techno-kayo music. Well, The Voice & Rhythm, led by the late, great vocalist and…