Strange sounds and sound-scapes from the avant-garde, here you'll find our picks from the fringes of the musical landscape. Synth witches and wizards, psychedelic explorers, modern composers, and oddities across the spectrum are all covered here.
Haruomi Hosono Paraiso / Philharmony / omni Sight Seeing
Following on the launch of their Japan Archive Series, Light in the Attic digs deeper into the Japanese underground with this gorgeous set of Haruomi Hosono reissues. A hyper-prolific producer in the late 1970s, through to the 90s, Hosono is most well know as role in the electronic pop trio Yellow Magic Orchestra, alongside Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahash. Yet concurrently with the founding of Y.M.O. his own solo forays into Pacific island music and electronic exotica exhibit an equally rich and nuanced exploration of genre fusion. Taking in influences from Caribbean reggae and disco, Pacific island exotica, American R&B, jazz and boogie, and a fixation on technological futurism, 70s and 80s producers like Tatsuro Yamashita, Toshiki Kadomatsu, and Haruomi Hosono embraced the latest studio equipment and techniques in pursuit of their complex musical hybrids. Look no further than this set's "Paraiso" for evidence of the riches to come of this fusion, one of Hosono's best in a series of musical postcards to purely imagined destinations.
Various Artists 1 + 1 = X
For their 10th anniversary Erased Tapes, the UK neoclassical, electronic and experimental label that introduced Nils Frahm and Olafur Arnalds to the world, have released a limited 3 x LP set. Featuring exclusive tracks by every artist on the label, the six sides of vinyl offer up a bounty of ambient, electronic, and contemporary classical sounds to explore. Contributions from the two above-mentioned label stars are presented alongside new music from Arnalds' techno project Kiasmos, Rival Consoles, Penguin Cafe, Masayoshi Fujita and Stars of the Lid's offshoot A Winged Victory For The Sullen. Heard Frahm and wanted to begin exploring the label's neoclassical offerings? There is where to begin!
Sarah Davachi Gave In Rest
The music of Sarah Davachi straddles the boundaries of ambient, elctro-acoustic, modern minimalism, and post-rock and has been one of the top young voices in the contemporary avant-garde music world. A prolific artist, Gave In Rest is her second record this year. It has a natural mystery and rich sonic aura, making for a very freeing take on ambient music. Highly recommended for fans of Grouper, Stars Of The Lid, the fringes of “free-folk", and the like.
Universal Eyes Four Variations on Artificial Society
We still have a few copies of this wild new combination of forces by Wolf Eyes & Universal Indians. Wolf Eyes bring their grinding mastery of industrial-noise-throb while Universal Indians offer their helping of free jazz skronk. Naturally it’s very post-apocalyptic and raw, though fully alive, nuanced, and electrifying. Masters of the craft at work.
Oakland Elementary School Arkestra Saga of Padani
You know you want to hear a record of elementary school kids hanging out with Terry Riley and covering Sun-Ra. It’s naive and imperfect in all the right ways for the connoisseur of odd sounds. Released in tiny editions back in the 90s, this is the first edition available on vinyl of these nearly lost recordings. A truly unique listen!