japan
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Trying to find a nexus point for anything can seem like a fool’s errand at times. Usually, the lines of history get blurry and the waters of memory get murkier. However, in the case of Hidetaro Honjoh’s 散華 (Sange), there are two planes that meet. Here his roots in traditional folk music clearly spring something…
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Spell-binding. I hate to use that term but what else can you use to describe Nachiko Tateoka’s 1980 debut, 1st – 薬屋の娘 (or The Daughter of a Pharmacist)? An engrossing, hypnotic, melange of vanguard Japanese pop music treating you to ideas gleaned from spiritual jazz, homegrown folk, psychedelia, and next-gen avant prog, seemed the unlikeliest…
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It’s not often (if ever) that I get to reveal my own music to you, the reader. Not for nothing, as I related to Austin from Incidental Music who tapped me to contribute to his Tone Poem mix series, I rarely/if ever felt the excuse or pretense to slot myself along the great work of…
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Don’t ask me why but I have something to literally share with you. For some reason I’ve been carrying around Aki Fukakusa’s Silk Strings Enchanting everywhere I go lately. In this weird time in my life, in between moving to a new place and getting rid of the old baggage, I packed up all my…
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Due to unforeseen circumstances — aka moving all my record collection to a new locale/home — once again I have to go into the well of knowledge, you the readers, have passed on to me to pass on something else back. Today’s post comes courtesy of a great find by sometime guest, Francis Heaney, who…
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Interior music. It seems that this is it, everyone. We’ve spoken before about Hiroshi Yoshimura’s Soundscape 1: Surround, our introduction to Misawa Home’s foundational environmental music series for Japanese prefabricated houses. You’ve probably heard elsewhere Yutaka Hirose’s entry into the series, a collection of peaceful electroacoustic minimalist pastorales aptly dubbed Soundscape 2: Nova. Then, somewhere,…
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If it’s comfort week for me, it’s more music comfort for y’all. And it doesn’t get any more comfortable than Yasuko Agawa’s (aka Miss A) Dancing Lovers’ Nite. On the surface, far from being the jazzy/soulful Japanese pop music she’s much more known for, somewhere, lay something hidden: a fascinating, heart-pumping stab at taking her…
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I’ve gotta admit. Few albums stump me to describe. Of the few that do, AQ! Ishii’s and Hiroko Taniyama’s 楠劇場 オリジナル・アルバム (Kusunoki Gekijou) must be up there in my personal canon. Much like Mariah’s うたかたの日々/ Utakata No Hibi, Aragon’s self-titled debut, and Godley & Creme’s Consequences, to name a few close brethren, so too does…
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In light of everything that is currently happening at the time of this writing, I’d hate to add any dark energy into the world. For times like these, perhaps it’s a good occasion to revisit another work of the trailblazing Hiroki Okano. On ENN, (roughly translating to “circle”), we get to appreciate some of the…
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It goes without saying that this is the silly season for me. While I would like to drop reams upon reams of knowledge on the ins and outs of Ms. Mio Takaki and her New-Tant, unfortunately, I have less time than normal to do so but I’ll do my best. As for those who appreciate…
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