A place to house artwork, links and music I enjoy. There is an 'About' page which talks a little more about who I am and what I do, but to give a brief note, I'm Eastern Orthodox by confession, into jazz, progressive and avant-garde music as well as post-punk and psychedelic, love art, pretty women and Jorge Luis Borges, Ezra Pound and P'u Song-Ling. Feel free to contact me to your heart's content, as I love shooting the breeze with people.
Being under the annoying grip of having to use a VPN has been an irritant living in the city of my employment. Being in Japan led to a horrible surprise in that I have been missing some stunning releases. Thankfully, I have a chance to amend this, so I start with our old friend William Ryan Fritch who comes to us courtesy of the ever-wonderful Lost Tribe Sound. From the label’s Bandcamp…
I enjoy drifting back to progressive rock every so often because, even though its detractors crow on about the death of the genre, new bands like Malabriega show up and give a fresh perspective. The instrumentation reminds me of the bigger bands like Yes, but the vocals have a more gritty, properly Spanish feel to them. I quite like this!
In honor of my first trip to Japan, I am pleased to present you with my favorite psych album from the country. Ghost was a collective led by multi-instrumentalist Masaki Batoh. This particular album is dripping with psychedelic folk references, bringing an eerie vibe to what would have been known as 1970s acid folk. Dark, but sublime.
Yesterday, it was a soft slice of psychedelic creampuff and a tasty one at that. Today’s fare is quite a bit heavier. With Mental Health Food Store’s current release, think of it as a more electroacoustic-tinged Kraftwerk with, surprisingly, a bit of Gershon Kingsley’s Popcorn. I’d venture to say that this is quite danceable! This is certainly an original piece of music, but it draws from…
This has to be some of the sunniest psychedelic pop that I’ve heard since childhood! Margo Guryan is a Los Angeles-based singer whose album sounds as if it were made during the 1970s with airy production and a soft psychedelic pop sound. It’s a charming bit of digital candy.
Saxophonist Trygve Seim is well known to fans of the ECM Records sound, but I did not know he worked with other labels, such as Grappa Records, to produce a gorgeous disc full of Christmas music in the Nordic style. Sumptuous listening.
Hiroshi Yoshimura in 1993. His latest posthumous release, Flora, arrived on Thursday, the first day of spring.
(Photo: Nuvola - Yoko Yoshimura)
As contemporary listeners seek relaxing or meditative sounds, YouTube’s algorithm has turned unofficial uploads of Yoshimura albums like Wet Land and Green into favorites.
(Photo: Nuvola - Yoko Yoshimura)
Hiroshi Yoshimura’s Environmental Music Is Enchanting a New Generation
The Japanese musician, who wasn’t widely known before his death in 2003, has become a beacon for listeners on YouTube and beyond.
When listeners discover the Japanese musician and visual artist Hiroshi Yoshimura for the first time, the experience is often a revelation. “I noticed how it activated everything,” said Dustin Wong, the experimental guitarist. “It was extremely generous.”
YouTube music >> Hiroshi Yoshimura - FLORA (Full Album) [52mins.+42secs.]:
FLORA (1987) Hiroshi Yoshimura 吉村 弘
Recorded by Hiroshi Yoshimura at Hiroo 806 Studio 1987.
Special thanks to Yoko Yoshimura, Tsutomo Mizusawa, Yasushi Takamatsu / Tato Schab. CD issued in 2-panel digipak with 4 page poster and obi. Made in Japan.
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YouTube music >> Hiroshi Yoshimura - GREEN (Full Album Stream) [43mins.]:
Barely known outside of his home country during his lifetime, the late Japanese ambient music pioneer Hiroshi Yoshimura has seen his global stature rise steadily in the past few years. The 2017 reissue of his lauded debut, Music For Nine Post Cards, along with algorithmically created playlists and recommendations has helped ignite a renaissance in his acclaimed body of work, much of which has never been released outside of Japan. Known for his sound design and environmental music, Yoshimura worked on a number of commissions following the 1982 release of Music For Nine Post Cards, including works for museums, galleries, public spaces, TV shows, video art, fashion shows, and even a cosmetics company.
Originally released in 1986, GREEN is one of Hiroshi Yoshimura’s most well-loved recordings and a favorite of the artist himself. Recorded over the winter of 1985-86 at Yoshimura’s home studio, the compositions unfold at an unhurried pace, a stark contrast to the busy city life of Tokyo. As Yoshimura explained in the original liner notes, the album title in the context of this body of work is not meant to be seen as a color, but is rather used to convey “the comfortable scenery of the natural cycle known as GREEN” - which perfectly encapsulates the soothing and warm sounds contained on the album, although it was created utilizing Yamaha FM synthesizers, known for their crisp digital tones.
This edition marks the first reissue of the highly sought-after and impossible to find album. It features the original mix preferred by Yoshimura himself, previously available only on the initial Japanese vinyl release (a limited edition remixed version of the album, with added sound effects, was released on CD in the US). Additionally, this release is the first in our ongoing series, focusing on the works of Hiroshi Yoshimura.
I am going to assume that picnic hails from Australia, as this is where their record label, Dais Art, is based. The album has a cinematic, drone-laden feel, but rather than being foreboding, it’s a very warm-sounding album. Imagine music to swim in warm waters to. Quite pleasant!
VLMV comes from Great Britain, where he (they?) was, like everyone during these days, heavily affected by the cursed lockdown. This album, ethereal to its core, is the soundtrack to his coming back out to the world.
Ruptured Sessions has produced a compilation of Lebanese folk and blues. Considering the horror happening in the region, hearing mournful folk and blues music seems appropriate. May God save Lebanon from evil.
Geräusche von Hallesches Ufer hail from Poznań, Poland, and have a sound that is as bleak as Current 93 at their most experimental touched off with a Kosmische Musik vibe. Quite a profound listen for those into wyrd-psych music.
KABRA are another discovery from the near-flawless Reverse Alignment Records out of Sweden associated with our friends at Unexplained Sounds Group, themselves possessing exquisite taste when it comes to dark ambient and drone music. We know nothing about them (him, her?) except for the music, but what music it is! The music is, as you would expect, dark, but it feels like you are in a sea being…
Orbit Service is a side project of Randall Frazier and Erik Drost of the Legendary Pink Dots. This music is a bit less apocalyptic folk in nature, and has more of a dark, drony, psychedelic rock vibe to it. The recording is sublime, and the instruments (at least the acoustic ones) sound perfectly recorded.
A happy St. Patrick’s Day to my friends and readers. I won’t post any cheesy folk-rock to spare your ears. Instead, I offer some proper traditional music from the Emerald Isle courtesy of a fine flautist, Conal Ó Gráda.
