New Arrivals
Live Life
*Limited Edition* In this early 80s trio collaboration, Japanese pianist Kunihiko Sugano teams up with the legendary American drummer Jo Jones, resulting in a pleasingly traditional vibe. Sugano opts for the acoustic piano, and the album features laid-back tracks adorned with lyrical nuances. Kunihiko delivers soulful and warm solos, subtly propelled by Jo Jones' drumming expertise, while receiving solid backing from bassist Kunimitsu Inaba. The album's lengthier tracks showcase a delightful fus…
Opa! Brasil
*Limited Edition* Dive into the groovy sounds of pianist Kunihiko Sugano with this album, where he skillfully maneuvers the Fender Rhodes to produce a blend of sharpness reminiscent of an acoustic piano. The bossa nova flavor promised in the title is delivered with a post-bossa twist, akin to the bossa jazz trio style of the 60s but updated. Think of it as a 70s take on the genre, akin to the works of Tamba Trio and Milton Banana but arguably even better. Sugano's dynamic approach is complemente…
Black Orpheus: Date In Daté
*Limited Edition* Album released in 1977 by Japanese jazz pianist Kunihiko Sugano, who started playing in a trio with Isao Suzuki and George Otsuka in the early 1960s and recorded the classic album Blow Up with the aforementioned two and Takashi Mizuhashi on Three Blind Mice in 1973. Recorded live in Date City, Hokkaido in 1976 as a trio with Osamu Kawakami and Hiroshi Murakami. The air from the venue was recorded to give a realistic impression, and standard numbers such as Luiz Bomfa's A1, whic…
Solo
*Limited Edition* Pianist Kunihiko Sugano unveils a collection of solo pieces, featuring shorter tracks than his trio albums of the time but brimming with emotion. Sugano's gentle and expansive piano touch, reminiscent of Bill Evans, is complemented by a unique phrasing that suggests an approach to the acoustic instrument akin to an electric one. The notes unfold with a measured attack and a lingering sustain. Sugano's distinctive style shines here offering a beautiful and individual musical jou…
The Days Of Wine And Roses
*Limited Edition* Pianist Kunihiko Sugano shines in this early album, captured in a relaxed live setting at a small Japanese club. With a conga added to his usual trio, Sugano introduces each number with introspective lyricism before the trio kicks in, showcasing majestic and soulful solos. A classic in the 70s Japanese piano style, the ensemble includes Izao Suzuki on bass, Shinji Mori on drums, and Yoichi Ogawa on congas.
Totsugeki Kamikaze Tokkotai
*Limited Edition* Delve into the intensity of saxophonist Kazumi Odagiri's rare trio session on Aketa's Disk label. Odagiri's fiery solos, accompanied by bassist Koichi Yamazaki and drummer Kenichi Kaneyama, create a dynamic interplay. Tracks include a vibrant take on Freddie Hubbard's "Intrepid Fox," as well as interpretations of "Invitation," "Striped Slacks," and "When Sunny Gets Blue." This searing session epitomizes the label's rare and freewheeling spirit.
Iris
Following their 2021 debut album, ‘Brama’, One Million Eyes return with their highly anticipated second album, ‘Iris’, set to captivate us once more through a kaleidoscope of analog and instrumental fragments. The inspiration behind the album was born from a powerful symbol—the iris of the eye. Controlling the inflow of light, the iris mirrors the duo's mission for the album, “letting light in, even in the darkest of times”. Representing an attempt to shed new insight on their sometimes indescri…
Smile
*Limited Edition* Hiroshi Hatsuyama's presence is invaluable in Japan's jazz vibraphone scene. His ability is evident in his achievements alone, as he has brilliantly colored the works of musicians such as Shoyuki Akutagawa, Koichi Matsukaze, Yoriyuki Harada, and Fumio Itabashi, all of whom have been difficult to dislodge from the scene. This is his first album. This is his first album, and it is a delightful work, sometimes bluesy, sometimes swingy, and filled with beautiful sounds. The "melanc…
Live: First Flight
Delight in Hiroshi Fukumura's live brilliance, where his unusual approach to the instrument shines. This quartet, featuring Hiroshi Tamura on piano, Tsutomu Okada on bass, and Shinji Mori on drums, delivers open, flowing tracks reminiscent of Japanese piano trios. Fukumura's solos, crafted like trumpet lines, boast a gritty yet lyrical power, this live session captures the essence of Fukumura's unique artistry and musical strides.
Demain Des L'Aube
Barely a week seems to go by without us hearing from zake, the US ambient producer who is hugely prolific and also unwaveringly creative with each new project. For this latest in a long line of many essential albums on his own Past Inside The Present label he links with From Overseas for the sublime sounds of Demain Des L'aube. This is a 160-gram audiophile vinyl version that sinks you deep into his widescreen and sweeping crepuscular synth work. It is delicate and spare but hugely impactful and…
Unlikely Places
The ambient husband-and-wife duo is an effective formula, one which here reawakens in the form of Awakened Souls. James Bernard and Cynthia Hall Bernard join forces for the making of Unlikely Places, a mini-album of Californian swells, field-recorded wonderments and guitar-drenched accompaniments - ultimately a washed-out ode to the creative possibility in all things. Centring on the idea that inspiration can be found anywhere, this is an album of relentless, gazy, waterfally gushings, from the …
Cadere
Past Inside The Present is at it again, and by 'it' we mean both releasing great music and also doing so on unusual formats. This new single 'Cadere' is taken from Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea's forthcoming long-player, which will arrive in the Spring of next year, and it comes on a rather unusual glass-mastered 3" mini-CD which includes a download link and code. It's a lush and widescreen ambient single detailed with subtly uplifting chords coated in lo-fi hiss and hum. Also included is a…
Appear To Fade
*100 copies limited edition* Tip! Brooklyn pianist and composer Richard Sears debuts on Shahzad Ismaily’s Figureight records with the hypnotic Appear to Fade, a gentle, melancholic, semi-improvised expression for piano and experimental tape loops, recorded in a single day.
Appear to Fade unveils a realm where the boundaries between jazz and ambient music blur, guided by the skilled hands of Richard Sears on piano and Una Corda. This recording weaves between improvisation and composition, brought…
Double Consciousness
*75 copies limited edition* From the label: "On the occasion of Eric Thielemans' japanese tour, we have published 75 numbered cassettes with which Eric will go on tour."
Made In Japan
*2023 stock. 250 copies limited release* Recorded during Japanese tour.
Recorded live at Musica Japonica, Umeda, Osaka on 21 March 2007Petter Flaten Eilertsen - electronics, effects and percussionPer Gisle Galåen - guitar and effectsHiroshi Higashi - synthesizerMakoto Kawabata - guitar and effectsKai Mikalsen - electronics and effects
Recorded by Petter Flaten EilertsenEdited and produced by Kai MikalsenMastered by Lasse Marhaug
Love In Song
Helen Merrill's masterpiece, featuring arrangements by the genius Masahiko Sato, who adds new pop tunes to jazz standards. The album is composed of a very well-balanced selection of jazz standards, including Barbra Streisand's "Reminiscence," Paul McCartney's "Love in Song," and "I Remember Clifford," dedicated to Helen's golden partner, Clifford Brown.
Seize the Means of Complexity
Tip! *150 copies limited release* Xing presents the LP Seize the Means of Complexity by Mattin, ninth release of XONG collection - artist records. The release is on white vinyl, in a limited numbered edition of 150 copies. The collector's edition consists of 20 copies, each accompanied by a different polaroid - credit card size - portraying fragments from the social media universe.
Seize the Means of Complexity, the new record by Mattin is a call for all social media users of the world to unite:…
Summer Samba
Hiro Tsunoda began his career as a jazz drummer in the mid-1960s, studying under Masahiko Togashi and playing professionally in the groups of Masahiko Sato and Sadao Watanabe. In the mid-1970s, Tatsunoda played back-up for Maki Asakawa at Aketa's and hit it off with Shoyuki Akutagawa, with whom he had a series of sessions. This album is excerpted from the recordings made during this period. As Tsunoda says, "It is not unusual for one song to last 30 to 50 minutes," and the performance is thoroug…
Four Wings
The members of the Hidehiko Matsumoto Quartet, a famous combo from the 1960s, reunited for one night only. Their performance was on a grand scale, as if they were flapping their wings on four different wings, including the groovy "Speak Low" and the swinging "Four Wings".
Good Aderegechegn (Blindsided By Love)
*2023 stock. 100 copies limited edition* Ayalew Mesfin stands aside the likes of Mulatu Astake, Mahmoud Ahmed, Hailu Mergia and Alemayehu Eshete as a legend of 1970s Ethiopia. Mesfin’s music is some of the funkiest to arise from this unconquerable East African nation. Mesfin’s recording career, captured in nearly two dozen 7” singles and numerous reel-to-reel tapes, shows the strata of the most fertile decade in Ethiopia’s 20th century recording industry, when records were pressed constantly by …