You might not know it, but every mix I’ve made for this site has been the product of searching for a certain state of mind. When I reflected on what I wanted to capture for this mix, I kept coming back to just how many mixes I’ve hosted.
Ninety. Just looking at that number seems unbelievable. It was on September 13, 2016, when I shared my first mix. Back then, I did so because (to be frank) I felt disappointed by how all the mixes I sampled online lacked the connections I felt when I listened to music.
In a world where music seemed increasingly accessible, it appeared that everywhere I turned, one could get lost in a chosen stylistic silo. I thought, if I took time out to spirit something of value from me to you, I’d always have to do it with the way I listen to music. To quote a lyric by Jeff Harrington from that first mix, “to [catch] you with the ocean (in your eye).” From then on, I’ve followed that seasonal idea in mind–to catch all sorts of fleeting moments in life.
With April showers feeding May flowers, this time around, I kept going back to that feeling one experiences when caught in a springtime rain. It’s that feeling of braving a spell of rain, driving yourself into some place of shelter, and taking those first steps out to catch the first gently warm rays of sunlight.
When attempting to hold onto that state of mind through music, I kept returning to certain tracks that have this prismatic idea floating around them. I kept reminding myself of Tomoko Aran’s little-known, wistful, Walearic masterpiece, “El Dorado.” I kept going back to Terry Lin’s yearning should-have-been house masterpiece, “Hush.” I kept thinking about C.C.Girls’ mystical-sounding reimagining of their stunning New Jack track, “Like A Moon.” I kept collecting and stumbling onto all these tracks that look for a rainbow behind the storm.
I have to admit: in some perfumed Kobe garden, I felt this feeling coursing through this mix before. In some way, here’s sixty-odd minutes of me trying to recapture another state of mind, a certain “quiet storm” blowing through my life. Thanks, as always, for listening.
Perfumed Garden (香りの庭)
Tracklist:
Terry Lin – Hush
D.A.T. (岩城健太郎) – Perfumed Garden
Tomoko Aran (亜蘭知子) – El Dorado
C.C. Girls (C.C.ガールズ) – Like A Moon (Animatic New Version)
Hi-Posi (ハイポジ) – 身体と歌だけの関係
Mito Hitomi (みとともみ) – ら・ら・ら (La La La)
Takagi Kan (高木完) – 愛のテーマ Love Theme
Phoebus (フィーバス) – そよかぜ (K.I. Remix)
Sarah (浜本沙良) – Fade In…
Yuki Uchida (内田有紀) – もぉいや
Bonnie Pink (粉紅邦妮) – Lie Lie Lie (DJ Tonk Naked Pink Mix)
Yoko Oginome (荻野目洋子) – Never Cry Like A River
Reply