★Kitchen.Label
Himorogi
Himorogi is the tenth album by Ironomi. Divining Japanese mythology and its relationship with nature, the new album is an aural pastorale that fosters deeper territory in the realm of spiritual searching through dreamy, drifting piano, 17-string koto (jūshichi-gensō) and new form electronic processing. ironomi’s desire to commune with mother Earth and its season’s colors has always served as a continual inspiration for their music. In himorogi, the duo delves into a more spiritual focus in their…
A Little Fable
*2023 stock* Ahead of the release of Aspidistrafly’s long-awaited new album, their 2011 fan-favourite second album 'A Little Fable' will be reissued on vinyl for the first time. “With a hushed wispy voice in the spirit of Vashti Bunyan, Aspidistrafly have more in common with ambient composers like Max Richter — and, along the way, have found their own leaf-covered path.” wrote NPR Music upon its original release. Now marking the 10th year anniversary of the album, 'A Little Fable' is still being…
mirror in the gleam
"nature dreams, sings, of the moments of absolute clarity – alignments in the universe coinciding with the individual experience of living creatures. the subconscious web between all things, briefly brought to the fore. made luminous in a flash of benevolent light." Known as Singapore’s “ambient boy,” Kin Leonn is ready to captivate his audience anew with his upcoming release, mirror in the gleam. Following his previous albums, Commune (2018) and Faraway Vicinity with Hiroshi Ebina (2020), Kin L…
Stranger To My Room
“Temporary signatures of time sweep across the house. They shift and morph across the day, creeping slowly, almost still.”
Murmurations
“Constantly transiting and transitioning, suspended in a liminal state.”
In Science and the Human Heart
*2023 stock* In science and the human heart is the latest album from Tokyo-based audio artist and gagaku (Classical Japanese imperial court music) musician Hiroshi Ebina. Ebina made his debut on Kitchen. Label with Faraway Vicinity EP, via a collaboration project with composer Kin Leonn, was recorded during the early days of the Coronavirus pandemic and offered a remedy for social isolation. In science and the human heart represents an evolution of its predecessor and goes deep diving into craft…
Faraway Vicinity
*2023 stock. 100 copies limited edition* In this era of uncertainty and shaken normalities, we are forced to confront a different landscape in society - one which has modified our interactions with people and nature. There is a sense that the zeitgeist, the spirit of the times, has shifted further into the dystopian territory. "Faraway Vicinity" is the amalgamation of these landscapes - human and non-human, familiar and unknown - to construct a sonic world that mirrors these strange times. But m…
Kofu III
** 180g heavyweight vinyl in 12" debossed sleeve with capped obi, 32pp booklet (22x14cm) with words in Japanese and English from Meitei. Offset printed, full colour on premium matt paper. ** Hailing from Hiroshima, Meitei, unveils the final chapter of his transformative Kofū trilogy. “Kofū III” marks the apex of a musical journey that began in 2020, unraveling an introspective exploration of the artist's psyche while delving deep into the essence of Japanese culture. This latest release invites …
Kwaidan
** 5th Anniversary Edition. Limited 180g smoke haze vinyl, 12″ sleeve with capped obi, 8pp insert, offset printed, full colour on premium matt paper. Includes two previously unreleased bonus tracks. ** Meitei (冥丁) is a Japanese artist from Hiroshima, who started out as a freelance composer, making various kinds of music across genres. Having done it for eight years, his goal was to eventually release his own original music as an artist. Living in Kyoto for the past two years has deeply influence…
Kofu
* 2022 repress! Limited edition LP including 16-page inserts with words in Japanese and English from Meitei and design by Kitchen. Label founder Ricks Ang * It began with ‘Kwaidan’, a simmering study on the lost art of Japanese ghost story-telling. Then there was ‘Komachi’, baptized in the earthly winds and static that define its comforting sonics. On ‘Kofū’, Meitei masterfully closes his trilogy of lost Japanese moods with an engaging interrogation of artforms and aesthetics as a provocation —…
Kofu II
* Glass-mastered CD housed in a die-cut customised debossed outer case (14.5 x 14.5cm) with rounded obi, 16pp inserts with words in Japanese and English from Meitei. Offset printed, full colour on premium matt paper. * Meitei’s 2020 album Kofū was the bold bookend to an expedition, where sounds were first navigated and then subverted in 2018’s Kwaidan and 2019’s Komachi. All three albums were Meitei’s attempt at immersive storytelling, reimagining moments of Japanese history he felt were being w…
琹の葉 Kotonoha
Kotonoha is Ironomi’s 8th album and first ever release on vinyl. A tonal portrait of microscopic nuances particular of a Japanese midsummer saunter through deep emerald green forests and tranquil fields, transcribed into a meditative pastoral reverie created with crystalline piano playing, lute acoustics and real-time processing. The title kotonoha (琹の葉) comes from a poetic anachronistic metaphor, combining form of leaves (葉 ha) and plucked string instruments (琹 koto) depicted in classical anti…