Ambient music assuredly isn’t confined to national borders, but most of us are kidding ourselves if we act like Japan is a country that readily comes to mind when we ponder that most sedating of sub-genres. Even the great 2 8 1 4 are actually based in London (despite any evidence to the contrary), and apparently you have to go back to the 1980s to find a tangible Japanese trend in tone-based/atmospheric sounds. That’s around when the Japanese economy was experiencing an unprecedented economic boom, which may partially explain why such soothing music was able to a find a solid, though small and temporary, foothold.
More recently, both Midori Takada’s album Through the Looking Glass and Hiroshi Yoshimura’s album Green offered niche respite from stunning urbanization. Both albums also received renewed consideration following YouTube uploads within the past few years. But might we be in the midst of a whole NEW revival of the genre here…now?
Possibly! Feast your mind on a just-announced compilation called Kumo No Muko, which is scheduled for release September 17 via the Tokyo-based Jazzy Couscous label. The release is being billed as a collection (“selected by Alixkun”) of unknown, yet seminal, ambient and synth-pop songs recorded by Japanese artists during the 1980s. Aside from Ryuichi Sakamoto’s name appearing alongside Keizo Inoue’s on one track, chances are you’ll be hard-pressed to recognize or recall most of the artists being highlighted. All the better for our collective snobbish appreciation, right?
The release will come in a 3xLP format. Pre-order it here and sample a couple of its tracks below. After that, you’ll be fully licensed to lord your new niche-knowledge over all those plebes out there.
Kumo No Muko tracklisting:
01. Takashi Kokubo - Underwater Dreaming
02. Keizo Inoue - Kitsu Tsuki
03. Nobuyoshi Ino - Window
04. Masaaki Ohmura - A Touch Of Temptation
05. Dip In The Pool - Kuroi Dress No Onna
06. Shigeru Suzuki - Silver Snow Shining
07. Chika Asamoto - Obsession
08. Mami Koyama - Love Song
09. Fumio Miyashita - In The Beginning
10. Yoshio Suzuki - The Mirage
11. Yumi Murata - Watashi No Bus
12. Chakra - Itohoni
More about: Chakra, Chika Asamoto, dip in the pool, Fumio Miyashita, Keizo Inoue, Mami Koyama, Masaaki Ohmura, Nobuyoshi Ino, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Shigeru Suzuki, Takashi Kokubo, Yoshio Suzuki, Yumi Murata
