Modern Obscure Music presents "Sakuraza," a live album featuring Eiko Ishibashi (flute and electronics), Jim O'Rourke (electronics), Kei Matsumaru (alto saxophone), Tatsuhisa Yamamoto (drums), and Giovanni Di Domenico (piano). Recorded at the Sakuraza jazz club in Kofu, Japan, this dynamic and sophisticated performance blends jazz, electronic music, and pop elements.
Giovanni Di Domenico, a frequent visitor to Japan, organized this June 2023 concert with long-time collaborators Ishibashi, O'Rourke, and Yamamoto, and invited saxophonist Matsumaru. The warm, intimate setting of Sakuraza provided the perfect backdrop for their unedited, improvisational session.
"Sakuraza" captures the deep musical connection and spontaneity of these artists, offering an immersive auditory experience. Recorded on June 14, 2023.

TRACKLISTS:
A Sakuraza part I 16:29MIN
B. Sakuraza part II 22:19MIN


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TERRITORY: World excluding France
Les Mystères de Lorient remixes

After the release of their first album, Il Est Vilaine ask to artists and friends to deliver a series of high-flying remixes: Tolouse Low Trax, Krikor, Khidja, Marvin & Guy, Golden Bug, Rubin Steiner, C.A.R…
Tolouse Low Trax opens the ball with a destructured version of Yvré- L'évêque while keeping the darkness of the track. We can hear a nod to the track "Holland Tunnel Dive" anthem of the Salon des Amateurs.
For the eponymous track Khidja were inspired by the sounds of the land of the rising sun which is a good thing to accompany the song of Narumi Hedgehog! A bright version and influenced by YMO's era Sakamato.
Golden Bug & In Field proposes an alternative just as trippy as the original version of Marilyn Drum, a trip between neighborhood hospitals and crazy guru.
Another version of Yvré-l'Evêque this time Krikor takes care of it and takes out his sampler for a digi-dancehall version that only he has the secret, Faya !
Rubin Steiner delivers a version back to the roots of Bar à Gwin mixing deep house texture and 80's-NY-hip-hop/electro.
The two Italians of Marvin & Guy bring out the hits, the guitars and the arpeggios for an epic version of Mystères de Lorient.
To close the album, we find Narumi Hérisson at the controls of her piano for a dreamy and sensitive version of Phare Ouest where her voice and that of Yula Kasp are mixed in the greatest harmony!


A1. Yvré-L'Evêque feat. C.A.R, Tolouse Low Trax broken pleasure remix
A2. Les Mystères de Lorient feat. Narumi Herisson, Khidja remix
A3. Marilyn Drum, Golden Bug & In Fields remix
B1. Yvré-L'Evêque feat. C.A.R, Krikor remix
B2. Bar A Gwin feat. Macdara, Rubin Steiner remix
B3. Les Mystères de Lorient feat. Narumi Herisson, Marvin & Guy remix
B4. Phare Ouest feat. Yula Kasp, Narumi rework



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Tracklist:
A1 / Charlie - Spacewoman (Instrumental)
A2 / Charlie - Let Go
B1 / Charlie - Dark Waver
B2 / Charlie - In The Night


Key Selling Points
Polish multi-instrumentalist and prolific producer Charlie lands on Wrong Era with her earth-shattering EP 'Spacewoman'. As a revered live act and spearhead within the Italo-Proto scene, Charlie’s record is a testament to her unique and impactful sound design, which is on full display in her thunderous progressions.

Having garnered a following with her DJ and live performances at some of the most influential clubs in Europe, the record sees the Polish producer integrate her infectious rhythmic flair into another standout release, capturing the consistently mind-opening energy of her live sets and hooking us in with potent synth lines and vocals.


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LP, Heavy 350gsm Sleeve, Sticker

Genre: Ambient, Proto-Techno, Experimental, Minimalism


Tracklisting LP

a1. entrance
a2. orientation
a3. club-a
a4. club-b
b1. days-man
b2. boy in vision
b3. schooling
b4. graduation

WRWTFWW Records is honored to announce the first ever vinyl release for esteemed Japanese producer, composer, and environmental music luminary Yoshio Ojima’s rare forgotten album Club, previously only released as a limited edition of 50 cassettes back in 1983. The electronica/proto-techno/experimental gem is available as an LP reissue supervised by the artist, sourced from the original masters and housed in a heavy 350gsm sleeve. Only 500 copies were made.

A precious and sought-after item among collectors and enthusiasts of early Japanese electronic music, Club is a stunning and timeless collection of avant-garde electronica, proto-techno, mecha-ambient, and ear-pleasing experimentations from Yoshio Ojima, the ambient/environmental master behind the pivotal Music for Spiral albums released in 1988 (aka Une Collection Des Chaînons I and II reissued on WRWTFWW), and producer of Hiroshi Yoshimura’s Pier & Loft, Motohiko Hamase’s #Notes of Forestry, and Satsuki Shibano's iconic Rendez-Vous.

Filled with quirky minimalist acid-synth-and-drum-machine-handiwork, bouncy collages of beautifully childlike techno and pre-IDM, and the irresistible DIY charm of humble beginnings, the 8-track album is a fun, adventurous and risqué-but-catchy-in-the-most-peculiar-way piece of Japanese electronic music history neatly capturing the incredible creative energy boiling through the country’s scene in the 1980s.


Experience the roots of Japanese electronica!


Points of interests

For fans of electronica, ambient, minimalism, kankyo ongaku, cassettes, YMO, Hiroshi Yoshimura, DIY adventures, albums that were never on vinyl before, music that predicted the future (which is now the present…or even the past!)

First ever vinyl release of Japanese environmental music legend Yoshio Ojima’s super rare 1983 album Club.

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LP 180g Heavyweight vinyl, Remastered, with original track-list available on vinyl for the first time

"Ken Ishii has risen to be one of techno's biggest names" Bandcamp Daily

"A pivotal moment in the history of techno, ambient and electronic music from Japan. An important milestone in a journey to explore the endless possibilities of music and a precious result of our passion and adventure at the time" Manabu Yamazaki (Sublime Records)


GENRE: Techno, Ambient


Tracklist:

1. Into The Inside (2024 Remaster)
2. Fading Sky (2024 Remaster)
3. Non Essential (2024 Remaster)

Side B

1. Finite Time (2024 Remaster)
2. Interjection (2024 Remaster)
3. Scene One (2024 Remaster)


New liner notes by Martyn Pepperell

The musician and DJ Ken Ishii sits right at the pinnacle of techno's most noteworthy, but although a game changer for the artist personally - and for Japanese electronic music in general - his 1994 album 'Reference to Difference' is something of an unsung gem today.

Now reissued and remastered, released to mark the 30th anniversary of Musicmine / Sublime Records, and available on vinyl with its original track-list for the first time, this stunning, lesser-known classic is ripe for rediscovery.

Born 1970 in Sapporo, Ishii was introduced to electronic music at a young age through arcade games, and Japanese and German pioneers like Yellow Magic Orchestra, Isao Tomita and Kraftwerk. During his teens, he absorbed new wave, synth-pop, EBM and industrial, before making a life-changing discovery of Detroit techno in the late 80s.

As the 1990s dawned, so did his introduction to Black Dog Productions and Warp Records' Artificial Intelligence compilations. Blown away by the emerging British and American IDM, braindance, and ambient techno movements, he quickly folded their influence into his still-developing but cultivated aesthetic.

A futuristic confluence of unplaceable ambient atmospheres, space age techno, IDM and minimalist composition, 'Reference To Difference' unfolds as an effortless series of exercises in pristine synth textures, robust man/machine rhythm and understated melodies. It teleports the listener back to a golden moment in the mid-1990s, when a dedicated generation rose out of Tokyo's storied clubs and took the innovation, energy, and creativity of Japan's unique techno culture to the world.

Opened in 1993, Maniac Love was a new nightclub where Manabu Yamazaki aka DJ Yama promoted the Sublime parties, which soon became a crucial hub within the burgeoning Tokyo underground. It was here where Yamazaki rubbed shoulders with peers including Ishii and Susumu Yokota, and the trio's future became intertwined.

Much like Ishii, the late Susumu Yokota began his musical career by reaching out to Europe. Not long before Ishii released his debut longplayer 'Garden On The Palm' through Belgium's R&S, Yokota released his debut LP 'The Frankfurt-Tokyo Connection' through Harthouse, the German label co-founded by Sven Väth. In the wake of both records' overseas success, Ishii and Yokota set a benchmark for techno in Japan.

By 1993, as they both became in-demand producers and DJs, it felt like their dreams were coming true. Through talking with Ishii and Yokota, Yamazaki became emboldened to transform Sublime into a record label.

Soon after, Yamazaki partnered with Hideoki Amano, who was on the verge of founding Musicmine, a now respected and longstanding independent Japanese music company. As Yamazaki tells it, Amano helped him turn his dream into a reality: Sublime Records.

For Musicmine and Sublime Records' inaugural album releases, Yamazaki and Amano approached both Ishii and Yokota, resulting in the simultaneous drop of 'Reference To Difference' and 'Acid Mt. Fuji' respectively, on June 29th 1994.

Yamazaki remembered 'Reference To Difference' being well received by DJs, listeners, record store buyers and journalists, stating "people were excited by this new wave of music coming out of Japan, and had high praise for its unique sound."

With the pair of LPs further stamping Japan on the contemporary musical globe, the scene was beginning to boom at home too. Specialist record stores, and club music magazines like Ele-King and Loud spread the word, and in the wake of Maniac Love's impact, new nightclubs like the legendary Liquid Room were opening up, bringing a steady stream of world-famous DJs to the Japanese capital.

"Without a doubt, I think the arrival of Ken Ishii was a major turning point for the Japanese music industry in the 1990s," Amano reflected. "Nowadays, the Western club music scene is rediscovering Japanese techno from the 1990s, and digging our music is a common sight, but before Ken Ishii, no Japanese DJ was in sync with the global club music scene. He was the catalyst."

"Looking back, I can tell it was meaningful that this was one of the first techno albums by a Japanese artist that was released on a Japanese label," Ishii reflects. "Maybe I did something that bridged between old school Japanese electronic music and 'new school' techno in line with the Detroit sound with this record" he adds, in modest understatement.
The new liner notes were written Martyn Pepperell, a well-regarded music journalist who has covered Susumu Yokota for Wax Poetics and Midori Takada for Dazed, amongst numerous other articles.

Ken Ishi DJ dates:

Fri 14 June Tokyo, Japan : MUSICMINE 30th Anniversary @ WWW
Sat 15 June Nagano Pref, Japan : Re:birth Festival 2024 @ Kurumayama-Kogen Skypark Resort
Sat 22 June Tbilisi, Georgia : Tbilisi Open Air (Khidi Stage) @ Lisi Wonderland
Fri 12 July Tokyo, Japan : TECHNOH LAB. @ Suigian (*Non+techno performance with Manjiro Tatsumi)
Fri 12 July Tokyo, Japan : @ Vent
Fri 26 July Tokyo, Japan : @ Shinjuku Loft
Sun 28 July Naeba, Japan : @ Fuji Rock Festival
Sat 31 August Amsterdam, The Netherlands : Wooferland 2024 @ Houtrak Halfweg



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GENRE/S: House

TRACKLISTS:
A1: Night Susan
B1: Boom-A-Rang

SHORT INFO:
‘Two pop-infused tunes from under the blanket, ahead of their upcoming new EP, stay tuned!’














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LP - Full-colour sleeve, Japanese lyric sheet insert, postcard

Tracklist

A1. Doily
A2. Horizon
A3. Crystals of Rabbit
A4. Toratolion
B1. Dead Plant
B2. Gaikotsu
B3. New Season
B4. Amuinbow

Shortinfo:
A Colourful Storm presents the first vinyl edition of Yahho no Potori, a treasured recording by one of the most cherished contemporary Japanese folk outfits, Eddie Marcon.

Comprised of the core duo of Eddie Corman and Jules Marcon, Eddie Marcon was formed in Himeji in 2001, following Corman's involvement in noise-rock duo Coa and Shinsuke Michishita's fabled psychedelic outfit, LSD March. Marking a stylistic shift into delicate, acoustic territories, the duo would release dozens of albums and singles, mostly self-released through their Pong-Kong imprint, that have seen little distribution outside of Japan.

Recorded over a particularly humid summer and autumn, Yahho no Potori sees Eddie Marcon drifting from the delicate psychedelia of their debut EP into traditional song-based structures. A touching document of joy, tenderness and wistfulness, Marcon's deft yet effortless strum sets a stylish backdrop for Corman's voice to ascend. Desirous yet self-assured, Corman breathes life into an intimate space adorned by the elegant instrumentation of Yashuhisa Mizatani, Yoriro Tatekawa, Ran Mizutani and Saya Ueno, whose ingenuous collaborative instinct has been gifted to listeners through collectives such as Tenniscoats, Maher Shalal Hash Baz and Spirit Fest. Here, she also lends her engineering prowess, having produced the album.

Devotees of ambitious yet beautifully understated songwriting, as well as followers of Reiko and Tori Kudo, Nagisa Ni Te and Ai Aso, will find much to adore in the songs of Eddie Marcon. An intense and devastating recording, A Colourful Storm is proud to give new life to a shimmering, underappreciated gem.






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2024 repress, Watergate standard sleeve

Tracklist:
A1) Checkmate
A2) Checkmate (Cinthie Remix)
B1) Checkmate (Steve Rachmad Remix)

Infotext:
It's been quite a while since we've last seen our next artist on Watergate Records. It was 2014 when he dropped his Watergate mix and EP so it is with great pleasure that we welcome back the legendary Kerri Chandler.
'Checkmate' is the epitome of a Kerri Chandler classic and has all the makings of a timeless future classic. With bold, soulful keys and massive analog drums 'Checkmate' elevates any dance floor's intensity to meteoric levels. To give an extra perspective to the single we invited another icon, Steve Rachmad to remix the original and he delivers an incredibly soulful Techno revision while Watergate mainstay Cinthie hands over a expertly crafted modern twist with classic appeal. No matter what your searching for, there is a gem for you here. Welcome back Kerri!


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