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Somewhere Between: Mutant Pop, Electronic Minimalism & Shadow Sounds of Japan 1980–1988 hovers vibe–wise between two distinct poles within Light In The Attic’s acclaimed Japan Archival Series—Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980–1990 and Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976–1986. All three albums showcase recordings produced during Japan’s soaring bubble economy of the 1980s, an era in which aesthetic visions and consumerism merged. Music echoed the nation’s prosperity and with financial abundance came the luxury to dream.

Sonically, Somewhere Between mines the midpoint between Kankyō Ongaku’s sparkling atmospherics and Pacific Breeze’s metropolitan boogie. The compilation encompasses ambient pop, underground electronics, liminal minimalism and shadow sounds—all descriptors emphasizing the hazy nature of the nebula. Out–of–focus rhythms wear ethereal accoutrements, ballads are shrouded in static, and angular drums snake skyward on transcendent tones. From the Avant–minimalism of Mkwaju Ensemble and Yoshio Ojima, to the leftfield techno-pop of Mishio Ogawa and Noriko Miyamoto (featuring members of YMO), and highlights from the groundbreaking Osaka underground label Vanity Records, these are blurry constellations defying collective categorization.

These tracks also exist in a space of transition when the major label grip on the Japanese recording market began to give way to the escalation of independents. Thanks to the idyllic economic climate and innovations in domestically–manufactured music gear, creators on the edges were empowered to focus on satisfying their artistic visions in the open headspace of home studios. While labels like Warner Music and Nippon Columbia explored new sounds through traditional channels, it was possible for Vanity, Balcony and other indie labels, not to mention self–released artists like Ojima and Naoki Asai, to publish their work via affordable media such as cassettes, 7" vinyl, and flexi–discs.

Expertly curated by Yosuke Kitazawa and Mark “Frosty” McNeill (dublab), Somewhere Between is a collection of music, much of it released for the first time outside Japan, that is bound more by energetic vibration than shared history, genre or scene. They are the sounds of transition and searching—a celebration of the freedom found in floating.

Note: The track “Days Man” by Yoshio Ojima is only available on the LP and Cassette versions.

"From Nishinari Osaka Japan Weird Wild Obscure Spooky exotica burlesque toy junk Muzak Trash One Man Band music made with broken cassette desks and fucked up record players feat members of (Acid Mother Temple)" - VRR 20202 Vinyl LP, starker Karton, bedruckte Innenhülle, Download inklusive. Willkommen in der wilden obskuren und seltsamen Welt von DEGURUTIENI und seiner ONE MAN BAND. teuflisch exotischer Striptease Kinder Spielzeug Krach mit ausgedientes Tonbandgerät und zerbrochenen Plattenspielern mit Mitgliedern von ua Acid Mother Temple in einigen Songs. Dies hier ist eine Zusammenstellung mit älteren Songs (selbst Veröffentlichungen und auf kleinst Labels) und viele neue Songs die noch nie vorher veröffentlicht wurden. Ich dachte, es ist an der Zeit, dass die Welt etwas über DEGURUTIENI erfährt (ich hatte Wochen, bis ich seinen Namen richtig buchstabieren konnte, hahaha ) Er tourt ständig durch die ganze Welt (pre Covid-19) und tritt in regulären Konzertsälen sowie in Theatern, Kunstgalerien oder sogar auf der Straße auf. wenn man ihn zum ersten mal sieht ist es eine Lebens Erfahrung die man nicht wider vergisst und es bleibt ein großes Lächeln im Gesicht und ein verzerrtes Fragezeichen in deinem Gehirn. Alco Degurutieni wurde Ende der 60er Jahre im Nishinari Ghetto von Osaka geboren (Alco Degurutieni: Diese Zeit in den 1970er Jahren war eine harte Zeit für alle, einmal im Monat Unruhen auf den Straßen. Rot Licht viertel Prostitution und die Yakuza-Mafia waren uns vertraut. Diese Erinnerungen an ein jugendliches Chaos sind seitdem ein Katalysator für mein Peter-Pan-Syndrom.) Degurutieni schafft Harmonie durch Gegenüberstellung, indem er ihnen Melodie aus Chaos und Dekadenz aus Abfall extrahiert. Mit 13 Jahren bekam er seine erste Boombox und wurde der beste Kunde in seinem örtlichen Leih-Platten und Trödler laden. Er arbeitete sich durch alle Genres von den Beach Boys bis zum Black Sabbath. Ab 16 Jahren begann er, seine eigenen Songs mit den einzigen Dingen zu kreieren, zu denen er Zugang hatte; Müll, umgebaute Kinderspielzeuge und ein ausgedientes Tonbandgerät. All dies spielt noch heute eine wichtige Rolle in seiner Musik. Auf diesem Album findest du ,Acme in the afternoon, ein komplett Hit, Tom Waits Blues Jazz Burlesque, dann mit ,Blur Blur Blur, hörst du ihn super minimalistisch und verloren im All Blues, oder den unglaublichen ,Midnight Express' mit einem orientalischen Trash-Flair der dich in einen neuen Blade Runner film katapultiert, und Zigeuner Fanafare und Rock'n'roll in ,13th Floor City ' zusammen mit: Orchester du Belgistan (aus Belgien) oder mein favorit ,Dreaming party' das wie ein psychedelischer horror film Soundtrack daher kommt LINE UP Alco Degurutieni (mostly all instuments) aditional Musissians on the Album Jyonson Tsu (ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE) Machiko Kuniki (Sujiko Sumoguri) Akiyoshi Kajitani (MOHIKAN FAMILIES) Atsushi Sekitani Watanbe (BRO TÜRK,PATO LOL MAN) Naoya Takami (Ichibanboshi Crue) Kwandae Park (UMA UMA UMA) Akira Ohno Tadahiro Ishihara Keigo Matsunaga (Rock'n'TASUKE'Roll & THE CAPTAIN SWING,MOHIKAN FAMILY'S) Tom Manoury (Orchestre du Belgistan) Mbengue Ndiaga Jordi Grognard (YOKAI) Akiko Igaki (TAYUTAU,COLLOID) Kiri Mochida Takeo Touyama (PATO LOL MAN) Shuichi Hirose (HUMNED) Takeo Touyama (PATO LOL MAN)

Back in stock!!

Active as a professional DJ in Japan since the late eighties, DJ Yoshizawa Dynamite is also a renowned remixer, compiler and producer. An avid record collector and an expert of the Wamono style, Yoshizawa published the Wamono A to Z records guide book in 2015 which instantly sold-out. The book unveiled a myriad of beautiful and rare records from a highly prolific, but still then unknown, Japanese groove scene.

After many years working as a record buyer for several stores, DJ Chintam opened his own Blow Up shop in 2018 in Tokyo's Shibuya district. A member of the Dayjam Crew and a specialist of soul, funk, rare groove and disco music, Chintam is also an expert of the home-brewed Wamono grooves. He supervised and wrote the Wamono A to Z records guide book together with Yoshizawa.

With this first volume of the Wamono series, our two DJs here guide you through some of the best and rarest jazz funk and rare groove tunes produced in Japan between 1968 and 1980. Put the needle on the record, turn up the volume and dig right now into the Wamono sound - the cream of the Japanese funk, soul, rare groove and disco music developed throughout the years since the end of the sixties in Japan!

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) is the award winning drama film adaptation of the novel of the same name, produced by (a.o.) Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment. The original score and songs were composed and conducted by John Williams (the Star Wars & Indiana Jones trilogies, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and many more). The album won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, BAFTA Award for Best Film Music and the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score.
Directed by Rob Marshall, the film stars Zhang Ziyi and Ken Watanabe, amongst others. The story revolves around a young girl who is sold by her family to an okiya, a geisha house. Her new family then sends her off to school to become a geisha. The story focuses on her struggle as a geisha to find love, while in the process making a lot of enemies. The film was nominated for and won numerous awards, including nominations for six Academy Awards, and eventually won three: Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.

Available as a 15th anniversary edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on white vinyl. The package includes an insert and the D-side contains an etch.

Limited edition, stocks might have to be allocated! Baker's Dozen is a vinyl series that shines a spotlight on instrumental music and the personalities behind the craft. To commemorate the 13th release in series history, Fat Beats Records aims to focus on thirteen of its most respected producers with the aptly titled compilation "Baker's Dozen: XIII".

Moroccan-French power quartet, Bab L’ Bluz, reclaim the blues for North Africa. Fronted by an African-Moroccan woman in a traditionally male role, Bab L’ Bluz are devoted to a revolution in attitude which dovetails with Morocco’s ‘nayda’ youth movement – a new wave of artists and musicians taking their cues from local heritage, singing words of freedom in the Moroccan-Arabic dialect of darija.

Now finally, the great "Music Exists"-series by Tokyo-based duo the Tenniscoats is completed. Apart from the regular 4 volumes, there is a heavy cardboard box, beautifully screenprinted and hand-numbered by senorburns, in 12 different color-combinations. Inside you'll find an extra-LP of bonus-tracks and alternative versions, "Music Exists disc 5", which only comes exclusively with this box. Like on the other LPs, you’ll hear heartbreaking songs, beautifully arranged with acoustic guitar, melodica, psychedelic keyboards and soundexperiments. Also included is a A3-Poster with a drawing by Ueno not used within the previous album-artworks.

Limited one-time pressing of only 500 copies worldwide. There is a small amount of full boxes with all 5 LPs and Poster available, for those, who don‘t have any of the albums so far.

Tenniscoats have devoted followers allover the world, but their releases were always hard to find outside of Japan. Except for their album "Tokinouta", which saw a very limited run on vinyl, and the seminal "Two Sunsets", their collaboration with the Pastels (and a small handfull of 7"s), there were never any vinyl-releases, and also the CDs were hard to get for any-one, who doesn't speak or read japanese.

So, this is the chance to dive deep into the beautiful, unique world of the Tenniscoats and their opus magnum "music exists".

"It may even be their greatest ever music, essential plus" Monorail Music, Glasgow

"Whatever's ailing you, Tokyo's Tenniscoats have got something for that" Boomkat, Manchester

Ground Tactics returns to Midgar Sands for his second release on the IDM/Leftfield focused side catalogue of Midgar Records. Over the past five years, Midgar has developed its sound through inventive records by the likes of Wata Igarashi, Forest Drive West, Susumu Yokota, and Retina.it, among others. Having developed from a music producer into a sound alchemist and tuning fork practitioner, Ground Tactics (aka Colin Tobelem) is moving beyond sound, Ground Tactic’s treatments inspire the addition of symbolic values in life – devoted to the purpose of seeking deeper meaning and knowledge of one’s self, to serve in the process of humanity’s transcendence. In a world uniting for self-reflection as a necessary step to spark our precious virtues into Light, Reality Implant symbolizes the start of a techno-prophecy: introducing the coming of a new era in which multiple realities and timelines merge together.

Santa Monica is the first Maxi Single released by WATAJ Recordings. It features three tracks ready to take you with in a very hot scenarios, from sunrise to aftersunset. Claudio Brioschi aka City Strike comes out with two very deep but at the sametime nostalgic and evocative electronic-funk composition. On the B side the bonus track is a new version of the never published, so far, "Music Lovers"
reinterpreted by DJ SCM aka Tony Pianola aka Enzo Conoga with his
overwhelming neo-disco

Following on from big recent releases from Neue Grafik & Oliver Night, CoOp Presents Sivey, with an all-new double-header of heat, 'Nobody Else' and 'Somebody Samebody'.

For those that don't know, Manchester-based Sivey became a player in the future beats scene a couple years back, releasing music with the LA-based collective Soulection, as a solo artist and via collaborations with Evil Needle, which came to fruition after a series of online beat battles, as well as releases and remixes with labels like Astral Black and Ninja Tune.

His last wave of output was greeted with enthusiasm by fans of soulful beats championed by artist collectives such as HW&W and Darker Than Wax, and saw Sivey subsequently spinning at events across the UK, and perform shows as far afield as Los Angeles and Tokyo.

Rooted in hip hop production, Sivey's largely instrumental tracks have brought together elements of millennial R&B, neo-soul, UK garage, jazz and 80s funk. In the few years since his previous releases, Sivey has continued to experiment with new ways of exploiting his diverse influences in his productions. As his listening habits became increasingly orientated around jazz and obscure 70s fusion records, his own productions began to reflect the shift.

The recent resurgence of the broken beat movement was something that also inspired him, admiring the balance between musicality and danceability of the genre. He made his first experiments with bruk in 2017 and found that it mixed perfectly with what he'd already been creating. Eager to share the results with the world, it made perfect sense for his first offerings of this ilk to find a home here with us at CoOp Presents.

These two tracks exemplify the ever-evolving progression of Sivey's sonics; the familiar deep keys and synth sounds of his previous productions are there, but nestled alongside more uptempo grooves, and the lush rhythmic complexity of bruk. Tied in with his love for jazz fusion, 'Somebody Samebody' sees Sivey reinterpret a late 70's track by Japanese guitarist, Kazumi Watanabe; this one also enlisting the help of Trian Kayhatu on keys. As well as the original tracks, prolific Selectors Assemble crew member Danvers adds in his own tasty heads-down version of 'Nobody Else', and label co-founder IG Culture (who recently received a Worldwide Award for 'lifetime achievement'!) provides a dope bruk-funk flip of 'Somebody Samebody' to close out the set.

Soothing Songs For Babies. Berceuses Du'

2024 Repress

midnight in tokyo is a compilation series that aims to be the perfect companion to nights in tokyo, collecting tracks by japanese artists that sound best at night. while vol.2 focused more on '80s jazz fusion, the latest installment, vol.3, picks up where vol.1 left off, bringing together forgotten soul, disco, and new wave gems. the compilation opens with japanese rare groove classic 'more sexy,' a provocative song by 'the queen of sexy songs,' yoko hatanaka. 'kimi no yume,' from the album yume no yonbai by the wandering poet masumi hara, is one of the best balearic acid folk song to come out of japan. 'silhouette call' is an electric bossa nova track—in the vein of antena—taken from a rare album called octopussy by yuki nakayamate, a singer songwriter who also worked as a backing vocalist for motoharu sano. 'theme of high school student' is a dubby cut featured on the soundtrack to the japanese '80s film kougen ni ressha ga hashitta, written by atsuo fujimoto of colored music—one of the key artists in the recent wave of global interest in japanese music. 'get to paradise' is a stone cold funk jam by mari kaneko, who was known as the janis joplin of shimokitazawa in her heyday, and is now known as the mother of the drummer and the bassist of popular rock band rize. following that is one of japan's greatest new wave disco track, 'hannya,' taken from tomoko aran's popular third album fuyu-kukan—produced by masatoshi nishimura who was part of the friends of earth project with haruomi hosono. masako miyazaki—whose rendition of seawind's 'he loves you' is a fan favorite—puts her own spin on the earth, wind & fire classic, 'fantasy,' singing in her accent-heavy english which gives the song an undeniable character. 'watashi no koukoku' is a certified disco boogie classic by popular singer junko sakurada. the brazilian-esque jazz fusion, 'sunshine bright on me' is by a fusion group called kangaroo, who were often billed as 'the japanese shakatak.' 'stranger's night' is a synth-pop number by pop idol maiko okamoto, which bears a suspicious resemblance to rah band's 'the shadow of your love.' electro-pop disco 'singing lady'—off the sole album released by the one-off project the fad—sounds like something giorgio moroder could've cooked up. 'magic eyes' is a disco anthem recorded by songwriter tetsuji hayashi's disco project, the eastern gang. following that is japanese soul gem 'crazy baby,' found on a rare 7 inch entitled minato no soul by rinda yamamoto—also composed and arranged by tetsuji hayashi. and last but not least, closing out this collection of 14 japanese rare groove goodies is 'i'm in love', a bittersweet mellow dance number by tomoko aran.

righteous expensive: motohiko hamase's 1986 album "reminiscence" scores a decent prize at online vinyl selling platforms and it is worth each coin!

it's a perfect "refuge from nasty reality", as the glorious british 20jazzfunkgreats blog once said. and it comes from a man that knows his trade: bass play - an artisan on which he also already wrote many theoretical books in his more than four decades long career.

in the 1970's hamase was no stranger to tokyo's vibrant jazz scene. together with jazz pianist tsuyoshi yamamoto and jazz-rock guitar-ist kazumi watanabe he played in the isao suzuki sextet and was part of their classic landmark jazz-funk album "ako's dream" from 1976.

in the following years he also participated on records like mikio masuda's latin-funk-jazz gem "moon stone" or japanese female jazz singer, actress, and essayist minami yasuda's last album "moritato". in the early 1980ees his work shifted from pure jazz to electronic and ambient spheres and he started to compose his own music around his deeply emotional bass play.

from 1985 to 1993, hamase released five solo albums. just recently studio mule dropped his first one, "intaglio", in a new recording that sounds as stunning as the original release from 1986.

now the previously mentioned "reminiscence", his second work for the celebrated defunct japanese new age record label shi zen, follows in a fresh shape on studio mule.

as the original, it features deeply touching moments of sheer pristine perfection and distributes hamase's inner emotional landscape with a bewitching bass performance. a soothingly beauty of an album, that reflects hamase's search for spaces of melancholy.

a rhizome of soundscapes that capture, settle and sound elusive while simultaneously being awe-inspiring. as for "intaglio", the 66-years old artist gathered again some befriended musicians, rented a studio, staged his gear and recorded most of the original "reminis-cence" material new, while keeping the moving musical story arc of the original album alive in a fresh wrapping.

the result is a dazzling, blue mood seething, strongly hypnotic longplayer, full of personality and hybrid ambient electronic jazz spheres that open doors to unheard sound universes and that perfectly work for all those stress-relieved souls that love the disclosure of the mind and seek for a "refuge from nasty reality".

is it the best jazz record from japan, as the french-born english disc jockey, record label owner and music collector gilles peterson once assumed or is it maybe the best jazz record of all jazz records
well, everybody needs to decide by himself and has to listen to 'watabase', the second solo piano album of the japanese jazz pianist fumio itabashi, that was originally released in 1982.
tokyo based mule music unearth it, remastered the original recordings and brings it back to the global stores in order to seduce all music lovers that embrace notes who come straight from the heart and soul.
while diving deep into the seven compositions on 'watarese', any sensible listener finds out, that the instrumental piano pieces are somehow soulfully connected to what keith jarret plays on his legendary 'the köln concert' live album for the munich based ecm record company.
like jarret, itabashi does not play his notes academic. he let them fly, gives them some kind a life of their own, hits the piano keys deeply emotional and injects his compositions and interpretations some kind of nervous human soul.
in terms of style some call his 'watarase' recordings post-bop, others contemporary jazz. none of such definitions fit really, as all is just that kind of agitating jazz that melts spirituality with humanity. three tunes, the epic 'someday my prince will come' as well as 'msunduza' and 'i can't get started', are interpretations of compositions by the us-american movie score pioneer frank churchill, south african pianist dollar brand and russian-american composer and songwriter vernon duke.
all other four compositions been written and recorded by the 1949 born itabashi who started to play the piano when he was eight years old. while studying at the tokyo based kunitachi college of music, he fell in love with jazz.
his love was so deep, that he starts to work in the 1970's with such legendary japanese jazz musicians like trumpet player terumasa hino, drummer takeo moriyama and saxophonist sadao watanabe.
till today fumio itabashi is a vital part of the japanese jazz culture as a live performer and film score composer. those who want to see how he makes love with his piano should check the world wide web for the french documentary 'jazzed out', that captured his unique way of playing in one episode.
but as music is always firstly for the ears, and not for the eyes, this little letter in-front of you would rather like to recommend to play the 'watarase' recordings loud to get hooked by the highly infectious piano gems that have been recorded at nippon columbia 1st studio in tokyo on 12th and 13th of octo-ber 1981.
they will haunt you. they will come for good. and they will force you to be a good friend with the repeat button - whatever medium you chose to surrender to the piano jazz music of fumio itabashi.

2022 repress

currently the rediscovery of long forgotten japanese electronic, jazz and new age music is at a peak like never before. but although many re-issues already flood the record stores around the world: the large, diverse musical culture of japan still got some gems in store that are really missing.

for example, it is still quiet around the the work of japanese bass player, new-age and ambient musi-cian motohiko hamase. when the today 66-years old artist started to be a professional musician in the 1970's, he quickly gained success as a versed studio instrumentalist and started to be part of the great modern jazz isao suzuki sextett, where he played with legends like pianist tsuyoshi yamamoto or fu-sion guitar one-off-a-kind kazumi watanabe.

he also was around in the studio when legendary japanese jazz records like 'straight ahead' of takao uematsu, 'moritato for osada' of jazz singer minami yasuda or 'moon stone' of synthesizer, piano and organ wizard mikio masuda been recorded.

in the 1980's hamase began to slowly drift away from jazz and drowned himself and his musical vision into new-age, ambient and experimental electronic spheres, in which he incorporated his funky medi-tative way of playing the bass above airy sounds and arrangements.

his first solo album 'intaglio' was not only a milestone of japanese new-age ambient, it was also fresh sonic journey in jazz that does not sound like jazz at all. now studio mule is happy to announce the re-recording of his gem from 1986, that opens new doors of perception while being not quite at all.

first issued by the japanese label shi zen, the record had a decent success in japan and by some overseas fans of music from the far east. with seven haunting, stylistically hard to pigeonhole compo-sitions hamase drifts around new-age worlds with howling wind sounds, gently bass picking and dis-creet drums, that sometimes remind the listener on the power of japanese taiko percussions. also, propulsive fourth-world-grooves call the tune and all composition avoid a foreseeable structure. at large his albums seem to be improvised and yet all is deeply composed.

music that works like shuffling through an imaginary sound library full of spiritual deepness, that even spreads in its shaky moments some profound relaxing moods. a true discovery of old music that oper-ates deeply contemporary due to his exploratory spirit and gently played tones. the release marks another highlight in studio mule's fresh mission to excavate neglected japanese music, that somehow has more to offer in present age, than at the time of his original birth.

The Second Release Of Wataj Recordings Introduces For The First Time Mr. Tony Pianola. A Trip Inside His Conscious And Unconscious Mind During A Night In Which Dreams, Euphoria, Lost Loves And Desires Mixed All Together Give Life To luce Artificiale'. The Result Is A Pure italo-synth' Style Influenced By The Attraction For The Experimental Slow Disco Sensuality.

more talking all that jazz, more high aiming music by fumio itabashi: mule musiq is ready to release another record by the legendary japanese jazz pianist, born in ashikaga, tochigi in the year 1949.
this time his first solo record ever: the heavy jazzing 'nature', which has never been reissued on vinyl since its birth in 1979. it has been recorded at nippon columbia 1st studio, tokyo from march 13 to 15 in the year of its release.
it features itabashi making feverish love with the piano and sharing the studio with the great bass players hideaki mochizuki and koichi yamazaki, drummers kenichi kameyama and ryojiro furusawa, soprano saxophonist yoshio otomo and vibraphone wizard hiroshi hatsuyama.
they all joined him to perform his very own songs, composed by itabashi himself and produced by ryonosuke honmura, who also produced japanese jazz heroes like saxophonist keizo inoue during his career.
but enough background information. what counts is sound. it is fresh, propulsive, twitchy and melodi-ous from the first to the last tone. sometimes the instrumentalists play a classic solo in an overall deep modal jazz atmosphere that seems to be made for cats that love the good old stars and inventors - from john coltrane to mile davis, from thelonious monk to art blakey.
'nature' also shows how deep itabashi studied the history of the genre, while keeping his very own vision of jazz alive. the man that made his professional debut as a member of the sadao watanabe quintet in 1971 and that also was a member of the elvin jones jazz machine world tour from 1985 to 1987, plays the piano in all tempos: nervous high-flying quick, deeply blue blues style slow.
besides the traditional jazz flavours, you get a feeling of mind-expanding spiritual jazz, that grand mas-ters like pharaoh sanders or gary bartz turned into a sacred music genre. a master-class record in ravishing big city jazz music, adventurous, sometimes meditative, sometimes faster than the speed of light, always grooving with a bright, pure-toned sensibility and deeply soulful melodic imaginations.
it extends the jazz history with a fine balance between tradition and innovation. and it stays infectious all the time while sounding surprisingly fresh due to a lot of thrilling musical spontaneity that touches profoundly even though all notes have been written down by fumio itabashi before he and his combat-ants entered the studio.
and maybe that's the mystery of these timeless five at times epic recordings: all notes been written on paper but each musician had the freedom to dance with them in his very own unique way. so, turn the volume loud and get ready to be steamrolled by fumio itabashi's 'nature', an inebriant album that is talking all that jazz deeply!

Our latest examination of Esoteric, Modal & Progressive Jazz of the 20th Century has taken us to Japan. The liberating force of jazz has been created and felt all around the world, but few nations on earth embraced the jazz message with the passion and intensity of Japan. From the dawn of the jazz age to the present day, Japanese audiences have been renowned tastemakers, enthusiasts and champions of the music - in the 1980s, Japan was the biggest per capita market in the world for jazz records, and it has even been said that Japanese jazz fans kept the jazz record industry alive through the lean years of the 1970s, when the music fell from commercial favour in the land of its birth.

But while the jazz aficionados of Japan are celebrated as sophisticated fans and consumers of the music, comparatively little is known outside Japan of the remarkable and abundant music produced by generations of Japanese jazz musicians. Numerous Japanese jazzers have found enormous success on the international stage - Toshiko Akiyoshi, Sadao Watanabe, Teramasu Hino, and many others are household names among jazz listeners all over the world, and with good reason. But if such global figures are put aside, the stunning heritage of Japanese jazz remains poorly understood outside Japan. As a result, the work of many celebrated Japanese jazumen has remained largely unknown to international audiences, and the extraordinary scope and depth of Japanese jazz has not been widely recognised.

Compiled for the Spiritual Jazz series in collaboration with the celebrated collector and DJ Yusuke Ogawa (Deep Jazz Reality, Tokyo), this 2CD/twin set of double LPs aims to correct that omission by uncovering the uniquely deep sound of esoteric, modal and progressive jazz from Japan - music of the heart, soul and Japanese spirit!

Each 2LP set comes complete with OBI strip and thick, textured sleeve. Our extensive liner notes extend onto printed inners, and are in both Japanese and English.

The first release from Heartless on Steve Bicknell's 6dimensions. Acid tinged techno lives throughout the EP. Hazy modular sequences, sizzling precision crushed atop of a constant kick drum creating an organic aesthetic.

Impulse Model exudes human emotion, the EP's emotional depth lies beneath its techno construct within coarse and bruised production which gives the release a confidently imperfect aura. The production process for Heartless is a 'way of absorbing things that have happened and completely escaping from them', ultimately Heartless has composed an EP that condones escapism whilst the listener stays firmly rooted in their emotional state.

Support from:
Steve Bicknell, Ben Klock, Jeff Mills, Robert Hood, Derrick May, Francos Kevorkian, Function, Luke Slater, SLAM, Oliver Ho, Dj Nobu, Wata Igarashi, James Ruskin, Dimi Agelis, Phase, Ben Sims, Paul Mac and more.......

Ninth instalment of Redscale. Grad_u with a masterpiece of dub techno. Vinyl only.

"Holdback", an unexpected twist of events for followers of Redscale, is actually a bold step forward in terms of pace and light. The enticing chords work like a magnet, and the potential of the lady on the mic is no lower than that one of a siren. The personal weapons of grad_u, the most powerful of which are the embracing loops, are of course out there, indicating the
producer's inner spirit and roots.

Picking up where "Holdback" left off, "Outwards from Laniakea" is a statement more rugged, yet as absolute as the message on side A. It's an invitation to put that jacket back to the
cloakroom, switch off that phone and let yourself go, again and again. It's, once again, a compelling statement against conformity.

***

Early support by DJ Deep, Cari Lekebusch, Jonas Kopp, Shlømo, Josh Wink, John Osborn, Echoplex, Don Williams, Wata Igarashi, Regal, Mark Broom, Marcus Intalex / Trevino, Ryan James Ford, Francois X, Albert van Abbe and many more... .

Warm Tapes Adjustment returns with the Second Volume once again performed by SCM a Gari Romalis.
On the A Side two raw and dusty live sample sessions from SCM.
On the B side two lo-fi disco styled house tracks from one of Detroit's finest underground producers
Four house tracks fused in a combination that makes this record unique! Vinyl Only release

Sein letztes richtiges Release als KAITO stammt aus
dem Jahr 2010 ('And That Was The Way'), drum sind
wir umso glücklicher die Rückkehr von Hiroshi
Watanabe anzukündigen, einem der absolut
ebenswertesten Produzenten im KOMPAKT-Stall.
Für BEHIND MY LIFE hat der erfahrene Musiker
einen Sound subtil an eine sich rapide verändernde
Klublandschaft angepasst, nicht ohne die zeitlosen
Qualitäten seiner früheren Werke sorgfältig
herauszuarbeiten.