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I have a belief: whenever history fails you, find some poetry. I say this because, unfortunately for us, there is little oral or written background that I can find on Leila White’s Endless Dream. And I consider this a bit of a shame, since this is one of those Japanese pop albums that I consider…
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Isn’t pop music such a fickle beast? It seems, one moment anyone could hold the world’s glimmer…only to be shuttled off when the next “objet d’affection” takes their place. It’s its built-in double-edge cut that gives pop music its ever-evolving staying power, fueled by its voracious appetite for whatever’s fresh to burn through. Sometimes, it’s…
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With spring just around the corner for most of us, undoubtedly, my mind turned toward emotions conjured by such in-between periods. There’s something about the transition from the cold/steely blues, beiges, and gray gradients of a winter season into the pastels of spring that can’t help but put anyone in a warmer, sunnier disposition. And…
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First off: a huge tip of my hat to fellow F/S blog reader, Victor Hsu Jui-Ting, for cluing me to today’s album a good while ago. If you know me, you know that video games, anime, and manga are some of the artforms I’m the least versed about and a lot of quality anything is…
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No joke, I too sometimes feel puzzled as you might be with what gets shared on this blog. On a regular day, I’d skirt around sharing something like Thomas Diethelm and Santino Famulari’s Diethelm/Famulari. It could be because there’s little to no information about the musicians…a major reason I hold back, often. It could also…
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With Valentine’s Day upon us, I thought I’d share an album that’s one of those perfect mood makers. I’ve often said this: “I love love songs.” Most of my most treasured albums, songs, and mixes hover around that whole idea, “What is love?” And in today’s case, in Yoshiro Nakamura’s Literário it’s when does our…
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I have to admit: one of my deep regrets from my recent trip to Japan was missing out on visiting the storefront of today’s guest, Yohei Kunitomo. It was somewhere in Tokyo’s Shimokitazawa neighborhood that I lost track of time and lost my opportunity to visit Pianola Records – to really get a feel of…
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Often, if possible, I make an effort to read original liner notes to any of the albums I share. I do so because, usually, it gives me an idea (or alludes to a certain sentiment) of what the original artist was trying to convey with their work. However, more often than not, other writers (much…
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For any who’ve had first-hand experience with Japan, something that must have struck you as it did me is just how much background music plays a role in “filling a room” so to speak. Whether you’re at your local kombini, shuffling through a train station, or trying to sample a fragrance, some sort of instrumental…
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Few artists have done quite as much to advance the idea of a “nuevo canción” quite like Argentina’s Silvia Iriondo. Yet, perhaps, her most impressive work, 1990’s Silvia Iriondo remains quite a mystery. In it you hear Silvia – with help from Argentina’s experimental fusion and jazz scene – give voice to the little-admired music…
ambient art pop art rock balearic brazilian electro-acoustic england environmental music experimental fourth world Funk fusion japan jazz minimalist mpb neo-folk neoclassical new age walearic