walearic
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It’s not often I revisit works from artists I’ve already written about, but when I do, it’s because these other works shed light on a new dimension of their creativity. In today’s case, few artists reveal as many fantastic—and drastic—sides as Naoko Kawai through her work as The Gentle Wind.
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With fall fully in season, I think now is a great time to turn over a few leaves I’ve neglected. Lately, my mind has been gravitating toward the music of Japanese singer Kuniko Fukushima and her 1983 leftfield turn, 夢幻 (Mugen).
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Sometimes, you just have to go where the breeze takes you. That’s something that’s become clear to me lately. This summer, I decided to scale back the time I’ve devoted to the blog and simply go outside and enjoy life (with music). So, when it was time for my LYL Radio show, I thought: why…
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When I think of “relaxation music,” I envision music with a Brazilian touch. It’s that kind of music that carries a certain breeze, a sense of yearning, and bittersweetness that evokes the transition between the heat of summer and the coolness of fall. In considering Japan, as we often do, my thoughts turn to Jun…
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I hate the old saying, “they don’t make them like they used to.” However, in the case of Atsuko Okuno – better known as Iria – you could argue that she has always made herself into exactly what she wanted to be. From pioneering Japanese girl punk rocker to her wonderful left-field turn as a…
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Sometimes, it’s the combined power of simpatico ideas that yields the biggest payoff. I remind myself of this whenever I listen to the wonderfully sunny, “summery” music of Carole Serrat. Made in Japan but born in France, Carole’s OSE serves as a perfect gateway into a little-known bit of musical symbiosis.
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Once again, we’re back at the shoreline or more like: I can’t seem to leave the water’s edge. As summer continues to wind down, I keep going back to explore my kind of deep easy listening: “resort music.” My mind and ears keep heading down to the early works of Moonriders’s Masahiro Takekawa and his…
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With nearly everyone transitioning into late summer, my mind (and ears) lately come back to Yoko Kanno’s music. It’s not Yoko’s out-there jazz for Cowboy Bebop nor her cyberdelic contemporary work on anime like Macross Plus. No, it’s Yoko Kanno’s little-heralded, windswept, breezy, Balearic soundtracks for Koei’s 大航海時代 (aka Uncharted Waters) video game series.
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Who says I don’t like a good mystery? I say this because it appears that lately I’ve been hitting on this theme: unsolved mysteries. Once again, I’m caught torn between sharing some work that absolutely pushes all my right buttons and not sharing it because: all stones left turned reveal nothing about who made it.…
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You know, sometimes you’ve gotta go with what you’ve got. It was over three years ago when I first discovered Blue (ブルー・碧い海のイマージュ) by Blue on yaoiboi92’s YouTube channel (whom you really should subscribe to if you haven’t done so). I was immediately taken by this album’s meditative blend of aquatic ambient music and organic, almost…
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