Search "japan" 319 Items

For a quarter of an hour, Zürich was the navel of the world. Let's look back: at New York's CBGB's, pre-punks were shredding away, Malcolm McLaren, as a man with a fine-tuned taste for the hip, imported the sound to London, where his sweetheart Vivienne Westwood dressed the test-tube band The Sex Pistols. A few pop magazines later (we are in an analog world!) punk bands sprouted everywhere, like shiny pimples on poorly fed teenagers. Contrary to legend, even back then, it was often those with a musical background who were the most successful. One such example, Henrich "Wüste" Zwahlen, who had learned the violin, attended a jazz school and went into prog-rock before joining the Nasal Boys, one of the first punk bands in Zürich. The scene included the female band Kleenex (cover: Fischli of art heroes Fischli/Weiss), whose minimalism was praised by the London music press, while the world's most important rock theorist, Greil Marcus, wrote an ode highlighting Zürich's role as the birthplace of Dadaism. A fertile ground for the militant youth movement that exploded in 1980 and stirred up the city of banks, protestantism and boredom with raw wit and expressive violence. Gathering at concerts of local bands and fueled by endogenous and artificial substances - they paid homage to exuberance and self-indulgence. The mantra of "everything-is-possible" was driven forward on the musical front by progress in terms of means of production: analog electronic instruments were no longer reserved for hippie nerds, who sat in front of large plug-in boards like autistic-psychedelic switchboard operators connecting cables for their sound carpets. Now snazzy stage personnel elicited fast-paced sounds from handy devices often made in Japan. Kraftwerk was fashionable, the Zurich duo Yello experimented with new synthetic sounds, and the groundbreaking album "Alles Ist Gut" by the Düsseldorf based duo D.A.F. (Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft) was released, which chanted its program of provocation times danceability with lines such as "Tanz den Jesus Christus, tanz the Mussolini, tanz the Adolf Hitler." In England meanwhile, electronically backed New Romantic bands were replacing New Wave. The Human League, Heaven 17, Duran Duran, OMD, Depeche Mode or Visage stormed the charts. In Zürich's underground, the duo Aboriginal Voices caused a stir at that time. A couple, good-looking, styled, looking cool into the cold neon light, with a danceable beat and sequenced electro sounds, to which Micheline gave a very unique touch when she sang in French and English. Micheline had a classical piano education, had left home early, worked as a lighting technician in a strip joint and at Booster, the hottest boutique in town (one of the relicts that still exists). Voilà: a musician who was as stylish as she was tough. She was already playing with Wüste in the band "Doobie Doos", a band where everyone played an instrument they didn't master. In 1980 the Aboriginal Voices were formed, initially with vocalist Magda Vogel (of later UnknownmiX fame), who was trained as a classical singer.

Frustrated by organizational friction and constant hassles with band lineups, Wüste and Misch decided to do everything as a twosome: self-mixed, self-styled, self-produced. With the top-of-the-line Linn drum machine clocking the beat, Wüste's guitar and Micheline on the Yamaha synthesizer created a unique sound of danceable electronic music. Whereby the Aboriginal Voices acted as a kind of proto-influencer, receiving the latest equipment to try out, especially since they made it a point not to work with tapes, but to design everything for live shows. They had an interface built for the legendary Roland Mc-4b, who sequenced the modular Roland System 100m but where one output controlled a light show synchronized with the sound. A pioneering act that fit well into the DIY spirit of punk, with its self-distributed tapes and fuck-you attitude towards the cretins of the music industry. Consequently only two cassettes and an EP were released. There was something futuristic about the sound, the vestiary style and the electronics, while the attitude remained rebellious. Of course something so deeped in the Zeitgeist wasn't meant to last. Wüste moved to New York, Micheline stayed in Zurich, both still active in the music scene to this day.

Sven Regener, head of the band Element of Crime and one of Germany's most successful pop writer said a few years ago when asked if he knew of any Swiss music: "Of course! In 1983, a Swiss band called Aboriginal Voices played with us at a festival in Zurich. Great, avant-garde electro-pop. That was my first encounter."

If you ever saw them live, you never forgot them, and so over the years you belonged to a teeny-tiny circle of insiders, happy to be joined after all these years by new aficionados who appreciate the sound of that quarter-hour, when Zurich was ravishing, creative and exciting.

- Thomas Haemmerli

Abradako was formed in 1983 by Hirotomo Hasegawa. In the punk / hardcore scene of the time, it has attracted attention as a completely different personality compared with other bands and gained cult popularity. In 1985, released the 1st album "Aburadako". Since then, he has released seven albums by the time he stopped their activity in 2009. All album titles are "Aburadako". P-vine presents parts of their discography as LP for the first time. All titles come with OBI-strip. "adk" is their early stadio recordings which including the tracks before their music style are getting more avantgarde, more proressive. some tracks is come from compilation albums from Tokuma Japan.

Aburadako's "Yokujitsu" (The Day After), a masterpiece that will remain in the history of Japanese punk/rock, was performed at Shimokitazawa Shelter on May 12, 2002, for 23 minutes and 56 seconds, and is now available in analog form for the first time after 20 years!

Solid green coloured heavyweight 180 gram audiophile vinyl double LP reissue with the new 2019 artwork layout. Re-mastered by John Rivers at Woodbine Street Studio especially for vinyl release.Does The Cosmic Shepherd Dream Of Electric Tapirs? is not only a question deserving of an answer, but also the title of Acid Mother Temples first ever release on Space Age Recordings. As a Japanese soul collective, Acid Mothers Temple and The Melting Paraiso UFO are something of an enigma to the western world, and most likely to eastern ears too. Their music can be described as acid-rock, experimental, psychedelic or a whole host of genres dependent on the listeners' mood. Having been out of stock for some time, the long anticipated repress of this wild offering from AMT, comes as double solid green vinyl with the seductive, uncensored artwork of the original sleeve. Limited to 500 copies ww.

The seductive first full-length from electronic composer and multi-disciplinary visual artist Amosphère. Born in China, partly educated in Japan and now residing in Paris, her work came to the attention of a wider circle of listeners when she was invited by Laurel Halo to perform as part of a 10-hour durational ambient concert at London's Mode Exchange in 2019. Amosphère uses a careful selection of vintage electronics, sophisticated harmonic sense, and keen compositional intelligence to invite listeners into a meditative sonic space. Time expands and contracts, simplicity reveals complexity, and repetition becomes patient transformation. Spreading out over six expansive yet self-contained tracks, more die of heartbreak serves as a perfect introduction to Amosphère's warmly enveloping approach to analogue sound. Developed from scores (contained in the accompanying booklet) using techniques from concrete poetry and graphic notation as well as fragments of traditionally notated material, these six pieces take in a broad sweep of moods and approaches, from the gently burbling layered monophonic patterns of the opening 'circuit of unconsciousness', reminiscent of the sun-drenched synth figures of 70s Alvin Curran, to the haunted gliding tones and reverberating pops of the closing 'melting a piece of cadmium'. At times starkly minimal and making bold use of the stereo field, Amosphère's production approach keeps the grit and grain of her analogue gear intact, at times calling to mind the work of pioneers like Delia Derbyshire and Eliane Radigue.

Ten years ago, Analogfish charmed Japanese audiences with infectious vocal harmonies, jazzy rhythms and intricate guitar needle-work that patched together a full-bodied work of adventurous Japanese indie-rock, and to welcome its tenth year anniversary P-vine will be pressing Kouya On The Wild Side for the first time on vinyl. There's something for everyone here in a release that will captivate fans of Japanese post-rock bands like Mono and Toe just as much as arena-filling western acts like Interpol or Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Analogfish have a knack for picking out melodies and doubling up vocals to deliver anthemic lines for the masses, and "phase", "Hybrid" and "Fine" all feature guitarist Akira Shimooka teaming up with bassist Kentaro Sasaki to punch home vital pockets of sound.

Analogfish formed in 1999, and having one foot in the 90s lives on healthily in their releases with clusters of the era's shoegaze and electronica written into the mix. Shimooka and Sasaki debuted on a major label in 2005 and were joined by Shuichiro Saito on drums who completed the three piece line up. Now veterans of the Japanese indie rock music, they have produced ten albums together as a unit and continue to release and tour as energetically as ever. Kouya On the Wild Side serves as both a great introduction to their work and a slice of the vibrant sounds coming from Japan at the tail end of the 00s.

“There Is A Sound” is a compilation of blissed-out psych-folk songs by Andersens, a Japanese independent pop group who were led by Tsuby, aka Kiyokazu Onozaki, and were active throughout the 00s. A lovely set of intimate revelations, with some widescreen, bold pop moments, dreamy guitars meeting brass, electronics and sitar, it’s really the first time listeners outside of Japan have had the chance to take in the full spread of Andersens and their gentle pop songs. Released on the heels Morr Music’s Minna Miteru compilation of Japanese indie-pop, “There Is A Sound” is the first in a series of artist compilations that dig deeper into Japan’s musical underground. Co-compiled by Tsuby and Markus Acher (The Notwist, Spirit Fest), the collection sheds much-needed light on a unique songwriter, one part of a vital and energetic scene that is largely unrepresented outside of Japan.

Released in 1991, Angel’in Heavy Syrup’s self-titled debut LP ensured that they would be remembered as one of the greatest all-female Psych-prog-rock bands ever. With only one CD reissue to its name, this album has become one of the most sought after albums of Japan’s early-90’s underground rock scene. Make sure not to miss the first-ever reissue of this phenomenal album on vinyl, available only from P-vine Records and Alchemy Records’ Alchemy Records Essential Collection.

Although there were not that many psychedelic rock bands made up of all females in the world of the 1980s, "Angel'in Heavy Syrup" was the rarity one existing in the underground scene of rock and punk in Kyoto / Osaka area along with SxOxB, Outo, Nightmare and Hijo-Kaidan etc. Following reissuing the debut album of Japanese female psychedelic rock band "angel'in Heavy Syrup" last year, P-vine proudly presents their succeed releases on vinyl for the first time! Their third album, with its brilliant psychedelic cover artwork, is regarded as the greatest work of their career. Compared to their previous albums, the sound production is even more progressive rock-oriented, and includes songs such as 'Boku Dakega...', which encompasses a sad melody like that of Morita Doji, and the instrumental 'Water Mind', which develops into a spectacular piece of music. The album is the most fantastic of the entire works of their career.

Heavy Nerd Tip!

Limited edition 2x7" edition of a wildly experimental and unique gem from 1981 (originally released in an edited single 7" form on Japan's Pinakotheca) .

Spread over two records packaged in a bubble wrap outer sleeve - the set features unreleased full length takes and unheard material from the band's master cassettes. All transferred and mastered with the blessing of the original musicians.

The record features heavy involvement from Morioka based musician, Onnyk (key member of the near mythical The Fifth Column group) an underground behemoth who's music has appeared on seminal labels such as Vanity Records (jp), Insane Music (be) & Thirdmind (uk) & Omega Point (jp) to name a few.

Årabrots`S 9th Full-Length Album Norwegian Gothic Sees The Band Collaborate With Lars Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist), Cellist Jo Quail, Tomas Järmyr (Motorpsycho), Anders Moller (Turbonegro, Ulver) And Massimo Pupillo (Zu). A Stellar Production By Jaime Gomez Arellano (Black Eyed Peas, Paradise Lost, Hexvessel, Oranssi Pazusu) Makes This The Quintessential Årabrot Record, As Guitarist And Vocalist Kjetil Nernes Confirms:"Norwegian Gothic Is The Culmination Of Everything Årabrot Has Done Musically The Past 10 Years. It Is Not Only The Climax Of The Band So Far, But Also A Good Indication Of What To Come. It Is Basically An Amalgamation Of All Of Our Influences Here In The Church Where We Live. Musically It Is Inspired By All The Albums Of Our Record Collection And Thematically By The Books We Have In Our Shelves. More Specifically It Is Our Special Brand Of Rock'n'roll Music Mixed With Fin-De-Siecle Decadence, Surrealism And Even A Pinch Of Old German Philosophy To Boot."While The 20 Years History Of The Band Is A Story Of Change And Correlation, It Would Be Too Simple To Break This Creative Duality Down To The Stereotypical Dichotomy Of The Yin And The Yang_ And If One Attempted To Do So, It Would Turn Out To Be Quite Difficult To Determine Which Of These Forces Would Be Represented By Which Individual.A Chubby Child From A Christian Family, Growing Up In A Small Swedish Village And Years Spent In A Missionary School In Japan Made Karin Desperate To Break Away From Narrow Thinking. And She Used Her Only Advantages To Do So; Her Unique Voice And Personality. By The Age 15 She Had Moved Away From Home To Find Her Place In Music. After Studying At Stockholm Music Conservatory, A Norwegian Poet Took Her To Norway Where She Started Her Pop Career, This Was Followed By A Move To London To Write Songs, And Working As A Model.After Five Albums, A Few Grammys, Writing A Eurovision Entry For Norway And Hits For Other Artists And Performances With Lana Del Rey And David Bowie, Karin Returned To The Vil...

The first LP release of Art-school's classic albums, which continue to lead Japan's alternative music scene, is being reissued for the first time in their career to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their release! The two albums will be released simultaneously as "Record Day 2023" limited editions! The band's sound textures are post-grunge and shoegazing, with a slow and steady progression of roaring guitars and beautiful melodies. The second album by Art-school, which confirms their position as a one-of-a-kind band through the fragile and dangerous worldview of vocalist Riki Kinoshita, is now being released on LP for the first time in their career, as a double-vinyl!!

The first LP release of Art-school's classic albums, which continue to lead Japan's alternative music scene, is being reissued for the first time in their career to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their release! The two albums will be released simultaneously as "Record Day 2023" limited editions! The major label debut album by Art-school, which shocked the scene with its sweet melodies and sharp, dynamic, roaring guitar sound that creates a sense of intoxication and a sense of speed, has been released on LP for the first time in their career as a double-vinyl!!

“I went mourning without the sun; I am a companion to owls.”

In the autumn/winter of 2010, Singapore-based April Lee and Ricks Ang of Aspidistrafly (also founders of Kitchen. Label) embarked on the recording of their second album A Little Fable in Japan in collaboration with several artists. Fascinated by the patina of time and themes of folklore, A Little Fable narrates a surrealist procession of tales, twelve compositions simmering one into the other lyrically and picturesquely. This album sees the duo returning to a warm, organic palette of closely-whispered vocals, fingerpicked guitar, string arrangements and their trademark texture-focused arrangements. Featuring guest collaborators Kyo Ichinose, Seigen Tokuzawa, haruka nakamura, Junya Yanagidaira (ironomi), honagayoko, Akira Kosemura, Janis Crunch and more.

A dusty bottom drawer of forgotten memoirs is unlocked, and the album opens with a mourning, solitary cello while a harmonium drone forebodes an oscillating motif of glockenspiel tones, or sprinkled stars if you will. In Landscape With A Fairy, a tale of loss and longing during the earliest dawn mist – the world in its daily transition – is daubed in the hues of intensified sunlight, foliage or shadows, only to be diffused and faded by time, not unlike Andrei Tarkovsky’s polaroids of the Russian countryside. April Lee’s intimate vocals and acoustic guitar gently break the silence of a cold morning, backed by graceful string flourishes arranged by Kyo Ichinose. Kitchen. Label’s very own haruka nakamura and Junya Yanagidaira (ironomi) add harmonizing colors of the guitar and piano respectively.

Tracing the mysterious migration routes of nocturnal animals, Homeward Waltz skips home along a breadcrumbed-path with ephemeral glimpses of forest sights, ornamented by violins and other curious sounds before fulminating into a amorphous guitar drone, as Seigen Tokuzawa’s improvised cello strokes drift and wander with split-second apparitions in the night sky. Sounds of wooden creaks and early morning spoon-in-coffee stirrings permeate the spontaneous atmosphere of Cocina. honagayoko’s quaint and chopped piano phrases waltz with spliced vocals and flute.

Emerging from the darkened foliage into a vast, cryptic hemisphere, the second half of the album teeters on the frailty and transitoriness of the world. A Little Fable’s voyage reaches a turning point by SEA OF Glass. Ricks Ang constructs a prolonged arpeggio of sonorous looping guitar motifs that float in and out of focus, reverberating almost like a narcotic percussion across tumultuous oceans. Now distanced and gauzy, sounds of surging waves open Countless White Moons in a misty indefiniteness, yet held together charmingly by Akira Kosemura’s luminous piano. The elusive narration in Language OF Flowers tells of a deliberate escape from the passage of time with a folkloric enchantress who wordlessly casts her spells. In Gensei, April Lee relates an unspoken anguish in her tender, wavering vibrato while Janis Crunch’s somber piano and chorus vocals loom like a harbinger of death. The last chapter Twinkling Fall, the second track to feature haruka nakamura, now shuts the drawer of secrets, dissipated monochrome colours restored once again to full bloom.

A Little Fable is available on CD and the digital format on 15th December 2011. The physical CD copy comes in a 48-page artbook edition (21 x 15cm) featuring photographs and collages by April Lee and Miu Nozaka, with styling by Rika M. Orrery, who have, from their expeditions during the making of this album, directed a dream sequence around the encompassing atmosphere of a secluded hilltop cottage, a forest hued in the splendor of autumn and distant, rocky shores.

Aspidistrafly, the Singaporean duo comprising April Lee and producer Ricks Ang, return with Altar of Dreams, their first studio album in a decade.

While their last album A Little Fable introduced the world to their bucolic and wispy brand of folk songwriting, Altar of Dreams sees the duo – also the founders of Kitchen. Label – harness their experiences over the past decade to create a wholly new and inspired vision. In this new and third album, they drew upon a rich palette of shapes, sounds and movement: straddling between the visionary photography of Serge Lutens and Dora Maar, 80s Japanese ambient pop, musique concrète and the mournful strings of Béla Bartók.

The world in which Aspidistrafly once inhabited was foggy and awash in faded memory. A feeling of being suspended in time felt inescapable with each listen. In Altar of Dreams, the fog is clearing up. At nine songs under 35 minutes, the album possesses all the defining hallmarks of Aspidistrafly – poetic lyricism, cosmic introspection, lush strings, surrealism, tenderness and texture. But what was once seemingly inscrutable has now been explored with astounding clarity, the duo maneuvering through a space-time continuum with delicate leaps.

‘How To Find A Marblewing’, the opening track, is a heady sound collage of early internet sounds, film, anime, and chopped-and-screwed 90s J-pop. It’s a presence deeply embedded throughout the record, a method Lee describes as “a form of environmental/tape treatment”.

The compositions glimmer with sincerity, addressing all at once destruction, mystery, uncertainty, hopes and dreams. The resulting music is backed by an opulence only possible with a line-up of guest musicians. ‘The Voice of Flowers’ is stirring in its balance of flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone and piano, bolstered by a string quartet. Kitchen. Label artist haruka nakamura features on the track alongside Kyo Ichinose (who arranged the strings for the album) and wind instrumentalist Araki Shin.

‘Interlude: Chrysalises and Larvae’ takes the heavy path downward, adopting its name from the 1973 surrealist odyssey The Hourglass Sanatorium. It leads into ‘Companion to Owls’, a gothic pop paean to mortality inspired by the Book of Job.

Before the namesake centrepiece of the album, another interlude arrives in ‘A Ceremonial Ode’, both of which were stirred by a series of regal Shiseido ads from the 1980s starring model Sayoko Yamaguchi. ‘Altar of Dreams’ is haunted by the lucid dreams that once provided escapism for Lee. Its tranquility belies a simmering tension, just as how a lucid dream would offer control in the face of the unknown. “In one of them, I was floating in a vast darkness safe and secure, and then I fell into a turbulent mirage where I willingly allowed myself to be swept away further and further from reality, hoping that I would never wake up,” she says. “Needless to say I did, and ended up writing this song on one of these dead nights.”

If the title track replicates the feeling of falling deep into that spiral, ‘Silk and Satins’ is a direct analysis of the phenomenon. Warped frequencies collide with nature and television sound effects – the latter sourced from 80s Singaporean horror series Mystery – within an inter-dimensional music world. The track was made with featured artist Sugai KEN, whose own work is an endless scroll of intoxicating found sounds.

‘Quintessence’, the sweeping closing track, distills all the elements scattered across the album into a coda that beautifully refuses to resolve. At first an exercise in guitar looping, the song was then written without a beginning and end in mind. “I’d like to think of it as poetry that’s sung,” says Lee.

In Altar of Dreams, Aspidistrafly are renewed and hopeful. They’ve emerged from a decade spent reframing the world they see through vivid dreams and memories. Now, it’s all yours to experience.

Aspidistrafly, the Singaporean duo comprising April Lee and producer Ricks Ang, return with Altar of Dreams, their first studio album in a decade.

While their last album A Little Fable introduced the world to their bucolic and wispy brand of folk songwriting, Altar of Dreams sees the duo – also the founders of Kitchen. Label – harness their experiences over the past decade to create a wholly new and inspired vision. In this new and third album, they drew upon a rich palette of shapes, sounds and movement: straddling between the visionary photography of Serge Lutens and Dora Maar, 80s Japanese ambient pop, musique concrète and the mournful strings of Béla Bartók.

The world in which Aspidistrafly once inhabited was foggy and awash in faded memory. A feeling of being suspended in time felt inescapable with each listen. In Altar of Dreams, the fog is clearing up. At nine songs under 35 minutes, the album possesses all the defining hallmarks of Aspidistrafly – poetic lyricism, cosmic introspection, lush strings, surrealism, tenderness and texture. But what was once seemingly inscrutable has now been explored with astounding clarity, the duo maneuvering through a space-time continuum with delicate leaps.

‘How To Find A Marblewing’, the opening track, is a heady sound collage of early internet sounds, film, anime, and chopped-and-screwed 90s J-pop. It’s a presence deeply embedded throughout the record, a method Lee describes as “a form of environmental/tape treatment”.

The compositions glimmer with sincerity, addressing all at once destruction, mystery, uncertainty, hopes and dreams. The resulting music is backed by an opulence only possible with a line-up of guest musicians. ‘The Voice of Flowers’ is stirring in its balance of flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone and piano, bolstered by a string quartet. Kitchen. Label artist haruka nakamura features on the track alongside Kyo Ichinose (who arranged the strings for the album) and wind instrumentalist Araki Shin.

‘Interlude: Chrysalises and Larvae’ takes the heavy path downward, adopting its name from the 1973 surrealist odyssey The Hourglass Sanatorium. It leads into ‘Companion to Owls’, a gothic pop paean to mortality inspired by the Book of Job.

Before the namesake centrepiece of the album, another interlude arrives in ‘A Ceremonial Ode’, both of which were stirred by a series of regal Shiseido ads from the 1980s starring model Sayoko Yamaguchi. ‘Altar of Dreams’ is haunted by the lucid dreams that once provided escapism for Lee. Its tranquility belies a simmering tension, just as how a lucid dream would offer control in the face of the unknown. “In one of them, I was floating in a vast darkness safe and secure, and then I fell into a turbulent mirage where I willingly allowed myself to be swept away further and further from reality, hoping that I would never wake up,” she says. “Needless to say I did, and ended up writing this song on one of these dead nights.”

If the title track replicates the feeling of falling deep into that spiral, ‘Silk and Satins’ is a direct analysis of the phenomenon. Warped frequencies collide with nature and television sound effects – the latter sourced from 80s Singaporean horror series Mystery – within an inter-dimensional music world. The track was made with featured artist Sugai KEN, whose own work is an endless scroll of intoxicating found sounds.

‘Quintessence’, the sweeping closing track, distills all the elements scattered across the album into a coda that beautifully refuses to resolve. At first an exercise in guitar looping, the song was then written without a beginning and end in mind. “I’d like to think of it as poetry that’s sung,” says Lee.

In Altar of Dreams, Aspidistrafly are renewed and hopeful. They’ve emerged from a decade spent reframing the world they see through vivid dreams and memories. Now, it’s all yours to experience.

Aspidistrafly, the Singaporean duo comprising April Lee and producer Ricks Ang, return with Altar of Dreams, their first studio album in a decade.

While their last album A Little Fable introduced the world to their bucolic and wispy brand of folk songwriting, Altar of Dreams sees the duo – also the founders of Kitchen. Label – harness their experiences over the past decade to create a wholly new and inspired vision. In this new and third album, they drew upon a rich palette of shapes, sounds and movement: straddling between the visionary photography of Serge Lutens and Dora Maar, 80s Japanese ambient pop, musique concrète and the mournful strings of Béla Bartók.

The world in which Aspidistrafly once inhabited was foggy and awash in faded memory. A feeling of being suspended in time felt inescapable with each listen. In Altar of Dreams, the fog is clearing up. At nine songs under 35 minutes, the album possesses all the defining hallmarks of Aspidistrafly – poetic lyricism, cosmic introspection, lush strings, surrealism, tenderness and texture. But what was once seemingly inscrutable has now been explored with astounding clarity, the duo maneuvering through a space-time continuum with delicate leaps.

‘How To Find A Marblewing’, the opening track, is a heady sound collage of early internet sounds, film, anime, and chopped-and-screwed 90s J-pop. It’s a presence deeply embedded throughout the record, a method Lee describes as “a form of environmental/tape treatment”.

The compositions glimmer with sincerity, addressing all at once destruction, mystery, uncertainty, hopes and dreams. The resulting music is backed by an opulence only possible with a line-up of guest musicians. ‘The Voice of Flowers’ is stirring in its balance of flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone and piano, bolstered by a string quartet. Kitchen. Label artist haruka nakamura features on the track alongside Kyo Ichinose (who arranged the strings for the album) and wind instrumentalist Araki Shin.

‘Interlude: Chrysalises and Larvae’ takes the heavy path downward, adopting its name from the 1973 surrealist odyssey The Hourglass Sanatorium. It leads into ‘Companion to Owls’, a gothic pop paean to mortality inspired by the Book of Job.

Before the namesake centrepiece of the album, another interlude arrives in ‘A Ceremonial Ode’, both of which were stirred by a series of regal Shiseido ads from the 1980s starring model Sayoko Yamaguchi. ‘Altar of Dreams’ is haunted by the lucid dreams that once provided escapism for Lee. Its tranquility belies a simmering tension, just as how a lucid dream would offer control in the face of the unknown. “In one of them, I was floating in a vast darkness safe and secure, and then I fell into a turbulent mirage where I willingly allowed myself to be swept away further and further from reality, hoping that I would never wake up,” she says. “Needless to say I did, and ended up writing this song on one of these dead nights.”

If the title track replicates the feeling of falling deep into that spiral, ‘Silk and Satins’ is a direct analysis of the phenomenon. Warped frequencies collide with nature and television sound effects – the latter sourced from 80s Singaporean horror series Mystery – within an inter-dimensional music world. The track was made with featured artist Sugai KEN, whose own work is an endless scroll of intoxicating found sounds.

‘Quintessence’, the sweeping closing track, distills all the elements scattered across the album into a coda that beautifully refuses to resolve. At first an exercise in guitar looping, the song was then written without a beginning and end in mind. “I’d like to think of it as poetry that’s sung,” says Lee.

In Altar of Dreams, Aspidistrafly are renewed and hopeful. They’ve emerged from a decade spent reframing the world they see through vivid dreams and memories. Now, it’s all yours to experience.

On this first record, entirely self-produced, the Parisian trio Ausgang 256 joyfully offers us pop songs that would have been melted in experimental junk like sugar in water, overtly inspired by bands like Broadcast, Animal Collective or by the composer Sonic Boom. Indeed, the music of these young dreamy electronicians slips through our fingers but flows gently into us. Carefully, patiently, meticulously assembled in a small living room in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, the debut album of these devoted disciples of the Japanese magician Cornelius works like a pointillist painting. Too close and it's completely abstract. From too far away, you lose the flavour and the craftsmanship. But at the right distance, all the details come together as if by magic.The ten fragments of the album oscillate between experimental pop, space rock, theremin folk ballads and other unstructured melodies. The Essai 256 will be released on 21 October on Planisphère.

Auto-Mod is known as a pioneer band in the Japanese positive punk scene, and their aesthetic and theatrical songs influenced many artists who followed in their footsteps. Their debut album was released in 1983 by Telegraph Records, which runned by a legendary photographer Yuichi Jibiki. Tomoyasu Hotei also played in Auto-Mod as a guitarist about 20 years before his name became famous with his work for Kill Bill's main theme. This is the first time the album is reissued on vinyl!

Japanese indie artist Ayane Yamazaki, who has been heard on college radio and Internet radio in Europe and the United States by young indie music listeners, especially college students, releases her new album "Serenade of the Wind" on Record Day. Electronica + City Pop + Folk Songs. Colorful whisper voice and unforgettable melodies will make you want to sing once you hear this impressive album. A new city pop masterpiece!!

Baku Furukawa is precise in the intimacy expressed by his music, reaching into the depths of his imagination to create a sonic world unlike anything else. Born in California and raised in Japan, his music draws influences from genres as varied as bossa nova, traditional folk music, jazz, classical music, and pop, to create music quite unlike anybody else. From lush string quartets, to jangly guitar chords, to even the melancholy finger-picking of a nylon string guitar; there’s no sound that Furukawa cannot master. With a who’s who of the Japanese alternative scene appearing on the album, this album is a classic! Baku Furukawa’s second album “Seascape” (2018) is finally getting its long-deserved analog release, available only from P-vine Records.

Behind the Shadow Drops is the new solo endeavor from Takaakira 'Taka' Goto,
founding guitarist and composer of iconic Japanese experimental rock group,
MONO. Established in 2016, Behind the Shadow Drops combines Goto's disparate
but commensurate interests in many different forms of music, most notably
ambient, trip-hop, industrial minimalism, and modern classical. Recorded at Goto's
home studio and mixed with esteemed producer and percussionist, John McEntire
(Tortoise, The Sea and Cake, Yo La Tengo), H a r m o n i c merges Goto's
dynamic, moody compositions with McEntire's renowned drum programming and
percussive sensibilities. What begins as a passing resemblance to the more
melancholy work of Goto's ensemble, MONO, slowly mutates into something
otherworldly, submerging in a symphony of synths, drum machines, noise loops,
and mournful strings (courtesy of Los Angeles experimental cellist, Helen Money).
Resembling something like waves rippling in the ocean under a cloudy moonlit sky,
H a r m o n i c is as eerie as it is beautiful - a vast abyss punctuated by seemingly
endless glimmers of light.

Big Clown is a group of best friends from Memphis, TN and Jackson, MS who got together one night to try and make a record without writing or rehearsing anything beforehand. What came out of it was a car-hitting-a-brick-wall style explosion, true living room punk from southern freaks trying to create something memorable and honest in the smallest timespan they can. The rules were simple: every song has one good idea and only one good idea. Get in, get out. Don’t linger. Tune each string to the same note. When it’s done, it’s done. Fast forward four years, three main releases, one Japanese exclusive tape, and several Gonerfests later to Beatdown. Written after a road trip gone wrong soundtracked by 16 hours of buttrock hits, Beatdown is what happens when your guitars tuned to only one note need to play something new. Beatdown is what happens when you write songs to amuse yourself and hope other people come along for the ride. Beatdown is what happens when your city faces a near insurmountable water crisis and you know exactly who is to blame. Sometimes you just gotta laugh.

Furthermore, Billy Mahonie now have their own label, Whistling Sam Projects, an almost sold-out London launch show at The Lexington on May 4th, and they are confirmed to play Portals Festival Saturday May 25th in East London. After nearly quarter of a century, Billy Mahonie are very much back.

Formed in the first wave of British post-rock alongside the likes of Mogwai in the late 90s, John Peel favourites Billy Mahonie are set to return with the first new music from their original line-up in some twenty-four years. Whilst their debut album ‘The Big Dig’, released in 1999 on Too Pure Records, is considered a classic of the post rock genre, Billy Mahonie always crafted their intricate music with memorable hooks and melodies and performed it with energy and gusto. Theirs was not an aimless, meandering sound, instead the songs and attitude were rooted in punk rock, and still are. Billy Mahonie put the rock into post-rock.

Set for release this coming May 24th via Whistling Sam Projects, ‘Field Of Heads’ sees the band returning with their classic original line-up of Gavin Baker (guitar), Howard Monk (drums), Hywell Dinsdale (bass and guitar) and Kevin Penney (bass and guitar). Whilst this line-up has been semi active for a few years, no new material came to fruition. After their last gig in 2017, however, the band decided it was time to get back

into the studio, but with two members living abroad new challenges were faced, but ideas were shared, old ones were resurrected and finally in October of 2019, Billy Mahonie were back in the studio.

Recorded over two long weekends on either side of the Covid 19 lockdowns, the band tracked at The Church studios, owned by their former collaborator and front of house engineer Paul Epworth, with senior engineer Luke Pickering at the controls, allowing ‘Field Of Heads’ to quickly take shape.

New single ‘Kaiju’ gives the music world the first taste of ‘Field Of Heads’ and right from the off, it’s classic Billy Mahonie. Immediately bursting into life with the energy and melody that is so unique to their sound, Howard’s driving drums thrust the music ahead as the guitars and synths weave their way around them. Intricate and shifting, but never at the expense of a tune that sticks in your head.

“This one came from a chord progression myself and Gav first tried out jamming in 2010,” explains drummer Howard. “Needless to say, when Hywell and Kev got their hands on it, it became something no-one ever envisaged. Kev's great title is, of course, the Japanese name for the subgenre of monster-based science fiction. A frenetic riff opens the song and for a counter guitar part only two options remain, play in the minimal gaps or find an overarching theme. We chose both. Kaiju films influence the additional Synths, echoes of those early Japanese movie themes. Some people we have played this to in advance have suggested this track is one we should lead with, as it is kind of where we left off. We agree. It rocks pretty hard. And is a bit funky too. What’s not to like?!”

Furthermore, Billy Mahonie now have their own label, Whistling Sam Projects, set up for global distribution through SRD, an almost sold-out London launch show at The Lexington on May 4th, and they are confirmed to play Portals Festival Saturday May 25th in East London. After nearly quarter of a century, Billy Mahonie are very much back.

Dark cloud approaching – Black Magic Six set to release their fifth album in September!

The title of Black Magic Six’s upcoming album Black Cloud Descending really sums up the mood and thoughts of its creators during the album making process. It tells stories of constant escaping, accepting defeat, destinies of outcasts, failures, and drunks. Tales of the wiser, exaggerated lies, vague rumours, fuzzy states of mind and suspicious circumstances – even the thought in the back of your head about the possibility of redemption while standing on the edge of the cliff right before falling in; it’s all there.

The album’s first single Blood of Babylon is a garage rocking song about Sam Berkowitz’s relationship with Sam Carr’s speaking dog. Lyrical themes of the upcoming album are moving between reality and the imaginary world; remembering the moments at Belo Horizonte, how to use the powder that protects you from the evil eye, how it felt to wonder in the same alleyways with the werewolf of Istanbul or diving to safety to the bottom of a pond in Northern Savo.

Musically the album is on a narrow path. All the sounds heard on Black Cloud Descending are produced by Taskinen and Motherfuckin’ Japa. Sure, there are two exceptions; the gong heard in the end of Werewolf of Istanbul was recorded by Sakke Koivula at his home and the church bells in the outro of Full House Blues are ringed by unknown. Previous albums of BM6 had lots of featured vocalists and other guests playing guitar, percussions, and harmonica. People that one could call actual musicians. These past albums have had a softer, more versatile, and maybe even a livelier touch to them. This time around there’s only the core; the percussionist and the singing guitar player. The result is more raw, rugged, and rougher than before.

Black Cloud Descending is out on September 1st on vinyl, CD and digital platforms. The album was produced, recorded, and mixed by Mitro Kylliäinen at Kung Fu Audio along with BM6 during 2022-2023. Original art used for the album cover was made by Greger Grönholm. The band will play selected live shows to celebrate the new album in Finland, Germany, Denmark, and Spain. Dates of these gigs will be announced closer to the release date of the album.

Dark cloud approaching – Black Magic Six set to release their fifth album in September!

The title of Black Magic Six’s upcoming album Black Cloud Descending really sums up the mood and thoughts of its creators during the album making process. It tells stories of constant escaping, accepting defeat, destinies of outcasts, failures, and drunks. Tales of the wiser, exaggerated lies, vague rumours, fuzzy states of mind and suspicious circumstances – even the thought in the back of your head about the possibility of redemption while standing on the edge of the cliff right before falling in; it’s all there.

The album’s first single Blood of Babylon is a garage rocking song about Sam Berkowitz’s relationship with Sam Carr’s speaking dog. Lyrical themes of the upcoming album are moving between reality and the imaginary world; remembering the moments at Belo Horizonte, how to use the powder that protects you from the evil eye, how it felt to wonder in the same alleyways with the werewolf of Istanbul or diving to safety to the bottom of a pond in Northern Savo.

Musically the album is on a narrow path. All the sounds heard on Black Cloud Descending are produced by Taskinen and Motherfuckin’ Japa. Sure, there are two exceptions; the gong heard in the end of Werewolf of Istanbul was recorded by Sakke Koivula at his home and the church bells in the outro of Full House Blues are ringed by unknown. Previous albums of BM6 had lots of featured vocalists and other guests playing guitar, percussions, and harmonica. People that one could call actual musicians. These past albums have had a softer, more versatile, and maybe even a livelier touch to them. This time around there’s only the core; the percussionist and the singing guitar player. The result is more raw, rugged, and rougher than before.

Black Cloud Descending is out on September 1st on vinyl, CD and digital platforms. The album was produced, recorded, and mixed by Mitro Kylliäinen at Kung Fu Audio along with BM6 during 2022-2023. Original art used for the album cover was made by Greger Grönholm. The band will play selected live shows to celebrate the new album in Finland, Germany, Denmark, and Spain. Dates of these gigs will be announced closer to the release date of the album.

Dark cloud approaching – Black Magic Six set to release their fifth album in September!

The title of Black Magic Six’s upcoming album Black Cloud Descending really sums up the mood and thoughts of its creators during the album making process. It tells stories of constant escaping, accepting defeat, destinies of outcasts, failures, and drunks. Tales of the wiser, exaggerated lies, vague rumours, fuzzy states of mind and suspicious circumstances – even the thought in the back of your head about the possibility of redemption while standing on the edge of the cliff right before falling in; it’s all there.

The album’s first single Blood of Babylon is a garage rocking song about Sam Berkowitz’s relationship with Sam Carr’s speaking dog. Lyrical themes of the upcoming album are moving between reality and the imaginary world; remembering the moments at Belo Horizonte, how to use the powder that protects you from the evil eye, how it felt to wonder in the same alleyways with the werewolf of Istanbul or diving to safety to the bottom of a pond in Northern Savo.

Musically the album is on a narrow path. All the sounds heard on Black Cloud Descending are produced by Taskinen and Motherfuckin’ Japa. Sure, there are two exceptions; the gong heard in the end of Werewolf of Istanbul was recorded by Sakke Koivula at his home and the church bells in the outro of Full House Blues are ringed by unknown. Previous albums of BM6 had lots of featured vocalists and other guests playing guitar, percussions, and harmonica. People that one could call actual musicians. These past albums have had a softer, more versatile, and maybe even a livelier touch to them. This time around there’s only the core; the percussionist and the singing guitar player. The result is more raw, rugged, and rougher than before.

Black Cloud Descending is out on September 1st on vinyl, CD and digital platforms. The album was produced, recorded, and mixed by Mitro Kylliäinen at Kung Fu Audio along with BM6 during 2022-2023. Original art used for the album cover was made by Greger Grönholm. The band will play selected live shows to celebrate the new album in Finland, Germany, Denmark, and Spain. Dates of these gigs will be announced closer to the release date of the album.

Blacklab are back. The self-proclaimed 'Doom witch duo from Osaka' are set to drop their 3rd album 'In A Bizarre Dream' this summer.Their debut 'Under the Strawberry Moon 2.0' saw them taking Sabbath inspired doom, mashing it with a Japanese sensibility and a fuzzed-up groove. It certainly caused a stir, but only hinted at their potential. Album two 'Abyss' added to the mix. A Stooges like squalor to the riffs, dollops of lo-fi hardcore punk and loose riffing, pointing the way towards a signature sound. -Blacklab are: Yuko Morino, guitar and vocals. Chia Shiraishi, drums and percussion. -So what of the 'difficult' third album? Not so difficult at all it seems. 'In A Bizarre Dream' ups the ante considerably, to let rip and define what Blacklab are about. The combined talents of Jun Morino on production and Wayne Adams (Big Lad, Green Lung, Pet Brick, John, Cold In Berlin) on the mix have conspired to produce a towering beast of a record. A real step forward for the 'Doom Witch Duo '.The drums have a humungous 'Fugazi' like welly, and the guitars are a boiling maelstrom of fuzz dense riffola and warped psychedelics, with added synth. Yuko's throat shredding snarls are as mean as a pissed off Satan, and melodious, often within the same song. This is doom meets hardcore punk, hooky melodies, and killer riffs, all cranked up to the max. Japan has always had a special take on 'noise' and 'heavy' and with 'In A Bizarre Dream' Blacklab add their own spin to that tradition.Gone is the lo-fi approach, here is Blacklab in full effect. -Yuko has said before that the band's name is a combination of her two favourite bands, Black Sabbath and Stereolab. Odd bedfellows to be sure, but if you want to know what that combination might sound like ... here it is. Track 'Crows, Sparrows and Cats' actually features Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab, no less, providing the lead vocal, adding a layer of cool over Blacklab's Hawkwind meets krautrock sludge. It's a stoner groove with pop at its heart ...Sludge Pop even...

After winning three leading Belgian music awards with Humo's Rock Rally, De Nieuwe Lichting and Sound Track, girl band Bluai is expanding its horizons. On their debut album Save It For Later, the trio leaves for a road trip through the sonorous areas populated by the likes of Big Thief, Pinegrove, Haim, and Alabama Shakes. Save It For Later is a record not unlike a Polaroid picture. Belgian songwriter Catherine Smet captures the memories of her youth in lyrics with a perfume of Americana, country pop, and indie folk. The stories areset in her native Flanders, but close your eyes, and galloping horses on a ranch in Mississippi form the backdrop of Bluai's debut album. Catherine Smet (vocals, guitar), Mo Govaerts (drums), and Caitlin Talbut (bass) joined forces with producer Willem Ardui (blackwave.) for this record. Bluai's instrumentation was expanded with banjo, twelve-string guitar, and lap steel. Engineer Tobie Speleman received 'Nashville tuning' as a briefing. Bluai thus shifts the focus from indie rock to Americana and breaks open the band's frame of reference, with influences ranging from Maggie Rogers to Alabama Shakes to The Japanese House. Save It For Later is the creation of a group that came together two years after the formation of Bluai, found a common drive, and is now cruising at full speed. Bluai is here to stay.