japan
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When we last left now Dr. Mitsuru Sawamura, it was 1989 and he had released a wonderful unclassifiable bit of Japanese New Age Jazz on Wacoal’s Newsic label (home of Yoshio Ojima, Motohiko Hamase, and Yoshiaki Ochi). Now, I want us to go back a few years, when he debuted as a solo artist, as…
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As winter gives way to springtime, I thought it would be nice to revisit our Japanese post-New Age friends at Everything Play. This time around we’ll travel to their self-titled third release on Mr. Hosono’s Panam label with solo mastermind Sohichiro (or Souichiro, depending on the release) Suzuki being joined by newfound musical partner (ex-Flipper’s…
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One hasn’t lived until they’ve experienced the force of nature that is Takio Ito’s voice. If you’ve encountered the soul stirring vocal stylings of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Cesária Évora, Jacques Brel, and James Brown, you’ve come close to experiencing the sheer power of Japan’s own “folk” icon. Takio Ito’s TAKIO-ソーラン節 is an undisputed classic…
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And now for some early magic from notable J-Pop producer and songwriter Keiichi Tomita aka Tomita Lab. Complete Samples by KEDGE, for all intents and purposes, is the work of one mind: Keiichi’s. A superbly fun and surprisingly complex work, it reminds me of some of the best stuff from Japan’s earlier City Pop and…
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I’m at a loss what to classify the late, great Hideki Mitsumori’s 彩 Colours as. It’s obviously heavily indebted to world music and to all sorts of ethno-music flavors but it’s completely digital with no acoustic instrument in sight. Much like Apsaras, the previous band he led, keyboardist Hideki Mitsumori trades in Japanese New Age…
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Totem proves there’s more than one genius behind the Shimizu family tree. Rightfully, it gives you a peek into the deeply brilliant leftfield ideas of Mieko Shimizu, joining brother Yasuaki Shimizu as another unique branch from that musical lineage. Finding herself in the UK, in 1988, Mieko signed with Chris Cutler’s (of Henry Cow), of…
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Let’s do things recursively. Mekong Zoo’s Minimal Dance is exactly as its written — dance music with minimal gestures. Minimal Dance is the unlikely collaboration between two quietly pioneering Japanese female musicians and another intriguing one from England. A hybrid mix of world music, jazz, ambient, neoclassical, and burgeoning techno, it’s piece together all these…
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Oh, that healing feeling. Heaven knows I’ve been needing it more than usual, lately. Thankfully, I’ve had just the prescription for when life gives you some sour as hell lemons: Keita’s Healing Feeling. All is right in the world, for just 60 minutes, when I fire up the old laptop and hear Keita pitter-pattering about.…
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Faceless and nameless, but not without their charms. Library by Exotics is a fantastically twisted album that orbits between the worlds of power pop and electronic mutant funk. You’d think such a one-off would come out of nowhere, but there were seeds of who the Exotics were (and what they aimed to do) elsewhere.
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How do we get beyond the “fourth world” ideas thought of by early progenitors of it, like Eno and Jon Hassell? We begin by seeing it, hearing it, through the eyes/ears of those who felt a need to connect to other traditions as it could form part of their own. The classic idea was to…
ambient art pop art rock balearic brazilian electro-acoustic england environmental music experimental folk-rock fourth world Funk fusion japan jazz minimalist neo-folk neoclassical new age walearic