Music from Japan

7FO, an electronic musician/producer based in Osaka, has released numerous works on renowned labels such as Rvng Intl., Métron Records, and EM Records. In 2022, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, 7FO brought forth the album "蘭 - 茫天" through Conatala.
 Now, we have the new cassette album "Homemade Inspirations," which can be considered the most intimate collection of tracks in 7FO's career. This album compiles recordings originally created in 2015 without the intention of release.
 Using electric guit…

*2023 stock* "On a summer-like evening of May 2012 in Milan, Italy, three master improvisers played together for the first time, and created music full of spontaneity and ethereal beauty at JapzItaly – Jazz Aid for Japanese Children. At a superficial level, Andrea Centazzo – the idiosyncratic composer and percussionist renowned for refined finesse – and Akira Sakata – the iconoclastic reedman famed with volcanic emotional display – would make an ‘odd’ musical team. Despite this presumption, guid…

Tip! Surface World is pleased to share David Lee Myers (aka Arcane Device) and Toshimaru Nakamura’s Elements, a remote collection written and assembled in tandem at the suggestion of the label. Sharing an idiosyncratic approach to feedback-based sound generation and a commitment to their signature instruments (respectively, the Feedback Machine and the No-Input Mixing Board), the pairing lands during an especially fruitful period in their individual discographies. Harmonically dense, energetic a…

Live recordings of heavy weigh Japanese saxophone wizard Akira Sakata Europen tour in 2022. In Greece together with Giovanni di Domenico: piano, Giotis Damianidis: electric guitar, Petros Damianidis: double bass, Stephanos Chytiris: drums; in Italy with di Domenico, Damianidis and Balázs Pándi on drums; and in Belgium with di Domenico, Damianidis and Aleksandar Škorić on drums.

A documentation of prolific Japanese noise master Merzbow's double show at London's Cafe OTO in October 2016.

Tip! Noise Matrix unleashes material from the same sessions as noisembryo and counterpart 'hole' and selected recordings from the time period. Originally released as a bonus disc on the definitive ’Noisembryo' 2xcd edition  noise matrix absolutely can’t be missed for fans of this period of noise deity Merzbow. When people ask where to start with merzbow or the entire 90’s noise movement in japan - this is an answer! Masami Akita’s surrealism of the past stands prominently relevant to this day co…

Three musicians of different generations came together to form this unusual free jazz trio. Comprised of veteran musician Akira Sakata (alto sax, clarinet, narration), noted young drummer Raiga Hayashi, and Toshimaru Nakamura (no-input mixing board)—who has been active on the improvised music scene inside and outside Japan since the 1990s—this much-talked-about band performs mainly at live music venues in the Tokyo area. Naturally, their performances contain the furiousness and wildness characte…

Yui Onodera and Takashi Kokubo are two visionary artists hailing from Japan, known for theirexceptional ability to create captivating and immersive sonic experiences. The compositionsseamlessly blend Yui Onodera's minimalist sensibilities with Takashi Kokubo's mastery oftraditional Japanese instrumentation, creating a sonic tapestry that transports listeners to arealm of serenity and introspection. Grammy-nominated Takashi Kokubo is a veteran musician, composer, and sound designerwho has played …

*2023 stock* Alto sax/clarinet player Akira Sakata is a legend of Japan’s free jazz scene. Ken Ikeda is a musician who resided for many years in New York and London, and has been based in Tokyo since his return to Japan from the UK in 2020. In 2021, Ikeda released "Signal and Signaless," a duo CD with Rie Nakajima, on the Ftarri label. This album, "Gauche," is Sakata’s first release from Ftarri. On May 21, 2022, Akira Sakata and Ken Ikeda gave a duo concert at Ftarri, Tokyo. This CD consists of …

"If Surround can be listened to as music that’s as close to air itself, allowing us to enter each listener’s sound scenery, or as something that exists within a new perspective, expanding the middle ground between sound and music, and transforming it into a comfortable space, it would be much appreciated."- Hiroshi Yoshimura Originally released as an album in January 1986, Surround was recorded by Yoshimura as a commission from home builder Misawa Homes, intended to function as an “amenity” desi…

Matching expansive ambience with environmental sound, Chihei Hatakeyama’s new album continues Field Records’ exploration of Japan and the Netherlands' shared approach to water management. As with Sugai Ken’s 2020 album Tone River, a specific project becomes Hatakeyama’s area of focus - in this case the Hachirōgata Lake in Akita Prefecture. Previously the second largest body of water in Japan, the government ordered extensive drainage work of Hachirōgata Lake after the second world war with the h…

This is a masterpiece album released in 1993 on Alchemy Records by Masonna, a solo project of Mazo Yamazaki who is acclaimed as one of the leading artists of Japanoise along with Merzbow and Emergency Staircase. It is finally being revived on vinyl! Cascades of electronic noise, a psychedelic touch and vocal belching mixed together constitute the ingredients of Mademoiselle Anne Sanglante Ou Notre Nymphomanie Auréolé, the double-barreled name for Masonna. Maso Yamazaki founded his project in 198…

Not for the faint of heart! Predating both Sonic Youth and Swans’ debut albums by a year, Zourokuno Kibyou, initially released in 1982, quickly vaulted Kansai noise rockers Hijokaidan to indie music fame. Compiling their early, borderline grotesque, extreme live performances, Zourokuno Kibyou is as much a historical document as it is one of the heaviest noise albums to ever come out of Japan. With cover art by legendary horror manga artist Hideshi Hino and a booklet containing photos from the wi…

The Return of Sai Yoshiko! At first glance, the partnership between Jojo Hiroshige and Yoshiko Sai seems implausible. After all, what could the King of Noise and the mystical folk singer have in common? Released in 2001, and marking the first musical work from Sai in over two decades, Crimson Voyage is dark swirling ambience, a spirited improvisation between a master of dark noise, and one of Japan’s most underrated singers. Sai’s voice, still as exhilarating as it was during Mangekyo, bursts fo…

*2023 stock. 70 copies limited edition* Takahiro Mukai is a Japanese composer, born in Osaka and also now based in Osaka.

"More unearthed demo recordings by the Japanese psychedelic noise legends Les Rallizes Dénudés. Recorded in Azabu, Tokyo 1985." - Take It Acid Is. Vol. 2 of a two-volume set.

Freaked out lo-fi psychedelic noise recordings from 1972 and 1980 by the mythical Japanese psych rockers Les Rallizes Dénudés, including the 23 minute "Guitar Jam" filling the complete A-side, a sort of Stooges riff with Ramones like drumming ending up in a total feedback noise orgy. Recorded on Sept. 9, 1980. Side B starts with the droning 18 minute track "A Tale Of Love," from the same 1980 Mars Studio sessions recorded 3 days before "Guitar Jam" and ends with a 6 minute version of the classic…

** 2CDs housed in a gatefold wallet**  In 1991, Les Rallizes Denudes released three full-length albums on CD, the band’s first-ever recordings to be made available since their formation in Kyoto more than two decades prior. In 1993, the band appeared in front of an audience for the first time since 1988.  Their February 17 appearance at Club Cittaʼ, which came four days after their “comeback” gig at Baus Theater, turned out to be one of the most notable out of all the Rallizes performances thus …

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Studio Songs! Popular titles that have been out of stock for a long time are being reissued at mid-price. The first title is the miraculous duo of Togashi and Takayanagi. Although the album is only 35 minutes and 50 seconds long, the tense improvisation on this masterpiece has captivated many free jazz fans. Masahiko Togashi/percussion, Masayuki Takayanagi/guitar Recorded: September 29, 1984 at Nagoya Far Out

First ever vinyl pressing of Haruomi Hosono's full album N.D.E. Featuring Goh Hotoda, Yasuhiko Terada, Yasuaki Shimizu, Bill Laswell & François Kevorkian.  Ever since his days as a pioneer of Japanese electronic music in the 1970s, Haruomi Hosono has constantly pushed forwards musically. The 1990s was a particularly fertile decade for the Yellow Magic Orchestra co-founder. Following two decades spent creating and releasing innovative electronic pop, imaginary sound worlds and inspirational ambie…