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Tsunaki Kadowaki curates the fourth installment of Midnight in Tokyo, themed around Ambient Kayō. The Midnight in Tokyo series by Studio Mule focuses on Japanese music, serving as a soundtrack for Tokyo nights -- whether for home listening, club play, or as a driving BGM, transcending location and space. The fourth volume takes "Ambient Kayō" as its new perspective, compiling genre-defying tracks released between 1977 and 1999 to explore the intersection of Japanese ambient and pop music. The fo…
Mule Musiq announce their new label, Studio Mule. Midnight In Tokyo Vol. 1 is a compilation of Japanese disco, boogie, and soul music. The compilation starts off with the Afro disco classic "Mi Mi Africa" by harmonica player Nobuo Yagi. "Silver Spot" is a jazzy fusion disco track taken from composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist Nobuyuki Shimizu's first album (1980), released when he was 19. The track features singer Epo. "Samba Night" is by vocalist Keisuke Yamamoto and his band Piper, f…
Midnight In Tokyo Vol. 2, the second installment to the compilation series that rounds up hidden gems by Japanese artists that's perfect for listening at night in Tokyo, is here. This time the collection brings together some tasty electric jazz fusion from the '80s, compiled by Dubby, the man behind the online record store Ondas. The compilation begins with "Hikobae", a dark and slow cosmic jazz by saxophonist Genji Sawai, followed by "Danza Lucumi", an odd Caribbean-style jam by Today's Latin P…
A 20th Century Renaissance man, cartoonist, film director, author, radio personality, record company owner, German guitarist Volker Kriegel played an important role in the European jazz-rock and fusion movements. Co-founder of the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble, Kriegel’s own groups and collaborations with American vibraphonist Dave Pike gained him a world-wide audience, as his 14 albums for MPS as leader and 15 as sideman can attest.
Volker Kriegel assembled a band of some of the leading musical…
Prolific Norwegian trumpeter and ECM veteran Arve Henriksen returns with Estonian guitarist/composer Robert Jürjendal in tow, matching his idiosyncratic shakuhachi-style melodic condensations with Jürjendal’s glassy electro-acoustic soundscapes and sonorous percussion. Fans of Jon Hassell & Brian Eno, Daniel Schmidt and Badalamenti, this one’s for you
First Terrace are thrilled to present the new album Lucid Dreams from the prolific Japanese artist Chihei Hatakeyama on January 24th 2025. Renowned ambient composer Chihei Hatakeyama is set to release his latest album, Lucid Dreams, an evocative sonic exploration that invites listeners to drift between the waking world and the dreamscape, to experience “dreams you are aware that you are dreaming”. Known for his deep atmospheric textures and minimalist approach to sound, Hatakeyama’s new project …
This is the first ‘lost’ album Jazz In Britain has discovered. We’ve released albums that were only previously released on vinyl, or even cassette tape, ie never on CD, or albums produced from sessions by groups that never made a record, or we’ve included unreleased tracks that never made it only albums… but this is a real first for us. In 1979 Tony Coe and Bob Cornford composed pieces for an unusual, and unrepeated, combination of a six-piece jazz ensemble (two reeds, bass trombone, piano, perc…
For Lullaby, Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick draws on the quartet formation in a programme that includes some of his most exploratory and improvisatory qualities, with a cast of ECM familiars Kristjan Randalu and Ole Morten Vågan on piano and bass, and new arrival Hans Hulbækmo on drums. There’s a sense of abandon within these melodic songs, as the musicians flow smoothly between harmonies, collectively building momentum from within the forms. Eick’s immediately recognizable and soothing tone i…
After Chick Corea’s Piano Improvisations, and Keith Jarrett’s Facing You, Paul Bley’s Open, To Love was the third fabulous chapter in ECM’s quietly revolutionary solo piano manifesto, whose impact endures and continues to influence improvisers today. In the liner notes to this Luminessence vinyl edition, Bley biographer Greg Buium writes, “After more than fifty years, Open, To Love remains an imperishable gem, lodged forever in the present tense, and among the great masterpieces in ECM’s vast c…
Julia Hülsmann’s quartet resurfaces with a fresh Norwegian voice on horn in tow and presents an attractive batch of originals that finds the group thoughtfully exploring common ground with a knack for adventure. As on past outings, each quartet member contributes music to the session, the leader herself being responsible for half the programme. Saxophonist Uli Kempendorff’s introduction to Julia’s trio on 2019’s Not Far From Here already brought a new dimension to the group’s interplay – this se…
2025 stock We would like to introduce a new Polish- Austrian quartet led by the trumpeter and composer Piotr Damasiewicz and his Viennese connections- the meticulously passionate saxophonist Krzysztof Kasprzyk, Viennese-to-the-bone, versatile bassist Thomas Stempkowski, and the jazz and electronica drummer Alex Yannilos.The music of the quartet is best described as “(…) expressive, free though very rhythmic and melodic, manic at times, always lovingly passionate.” It goes back to dear to our hea…
Kari Takemoto, who performs improvised live collaborations with various artists using sumi ink, flowers, painting, recitation, and dance, releases a solo guitar album. The album was mastered by Chihei Hatakeyama, a leading figure in the Japanese ambient scene. The album contains 10 tracks, including a song for the introduction video for the solo exhibition held at Ginza six by Chima, the ink painter in charge of the ink on the jacket of the album, as well as a song for the art event gallery.
This 2025 album by sound artist Yengo is a haunting exploration of sonic landscapes. Oscillators rise as if drawing curses from the depths of the underworld, surrounded by collage noise that drifts, vanishes, and gradually intensifies in ferocity. The album weaves a chilling atmosphere reminiscent of Japanese horror films with an experimental and avant-garde auditory sensibility, converging towards a sonic catastrophe. The cassette tape edition is uniquely packaged in a sleeve wrapped in bamboo …
Tip! 'Celesta’ marks Barbarelle first foray into composing and producing her own music; a debut that reveals the intimate, heartfelt territories of her creative universe. The culmination of years of composing for herself - ‘behind closed doors’ - ‘Celesta’ is a deeply personal, self-guided masterstroke of beguiling, free-flowing ambient soundscapes and DIY electronics. With ‘Celesta’, Barbarelle artfully transitions from ardent music aficionado to fully-fledged artist, unveiling an enchanting so…
In 1977, for Brian Eno’s Obscure Records, I made a version of Irma. These notes arise from that experience and explore how the piece can be performed. Irma is an unusual score—printed on a single 50cm x 50cm sheet. Its notation consists of verbal fragments from Tom Phillips' A Humument, referencing “libretto,” “decor and mise-en-scène,” or “sounds.” These categories are arranged separately, with stave notation at the bottom. At first glance, it appears indeterminate—requiring preparation before …
A split album by Christopher Hobbs, John Adams, and Gavin Bryars, released in 1975 as the second title on Brian Eno's imprint Obscure. The album includes two pieces by Hobbs and one each by Adams and Bryars. Side A opens with the experimental compositions of Hobbs, followed by Adams’ spoken-word and orchestral work, while Side B concludes with Bryars’ dissonant, frontier-classical ambient piece, featuring contributions from Brian Eno and Derek Bailey. "Aran" and "McCrimmon Will Never Return" (19…
And just like that, you’ll never think of improvisation the same way again. GPS is the emerging trio raising the bar for improvised music, and 577 Records is elated to present its debut album, Directions + Destinations. The group includes clarinet wizard Guillermo Gregorio, Yamaha Performance Artist Charley Sabatino on the double bass, and flourishing saxophonist Jeff Pearring. What they make isn’t just music; it’s an unforgettable experience. Recorded in two sessions a year apart, Directions +…
Many have been taken by the works of New Orleans’s Byron Asher and NYC’s Tomas Majcherski, but few have heard them as the Sonic Chambers Quartet. Joined by rising bassist (and frequent collaborator) Matt Booth from North Carolina and NOLA’s beloved avant-garde drummer Doug Garrison, the new group has teamed up with 577 Records to release its debut album, Kiss Of The Earth. It’s a beautiful, thought-provoking arrangement of emotion, creativity, and freedom that soothes your soul.
Though not offi…
There is something intensely alluring, almost addictive, about Kansas City-based artist Jackie Myers. Known for her innovation and fluidity on the keys and her sultry, bluesy vocals that could spark warmth in even the iciest of souls, she has a way of leaving all your flabbers ghasted and with a voracious appetite for more. Now, 577 Records is ecstatic to present her latest work of art, What About the Butterfly, a technical masterpiece born from the depths of this vocalist/pianist/composer’s bea…