CD!
Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=lK7VeSI5ciI&

Flora is an album that is listened to perpetually,
Passed on from one listener to another,
And the charm of the sound- and music-loving figure
known as Hiroshi Yoshimura,
Just might come drifting through.
Like the scent of a small flower.
—Junichi Konuma

Announcing the worldwide reissue of Flora, Hiroshi Yoshimura’s underrated work originally recorded and completed in 1987 and first released on CD in 2006, three years after his passing in 2003.

Flora is chronologically and stylistically a follow-up to Hiroshi Yoshimura’s acclaimed 1986 works Green and Surround, wherein Yoshimura continues to play with the ambience of sound and the sound of ambience, underscoring his mastery in the field of environmental music. Listening to Flora is like taking a stroll in a park, absorbing the colors and textures of the natural environment—flowers, insects, the swaying of the leaves—as Yoshimura often did at his beloved Edo-era park near his home in Tokyo. As Junichi Konuma describes in his liner notes, Yoshimura’s music “only begins to emerge as it exists at the intersection of passive and active.” Yoshimura's approach to sound and melody invites the listener to hear the intricacies of the music with intent, while simultaneously allowing the aural textures to exist as part of the background of our everyday life.

This reissue marks the first time the album will be available on vinyl (2LP, 45 rpm) and cassette, and includes liner notes written by music scholar Junichi Konuma and remastered audio by Grammy-nominated engineer John Baldwin. Reissue design and layout was handled by Tiffanie Tran.

All composed and performed by Hiroshi Yoshimura
Photos by Hiroshi Yoshimura & Takeo Kubota
Recorded by Hiroshi Yoshimura at Hiroo 806 Studio, 1987
Produced for release by Yasushi Takamatsu & Tamiko Hohda
Original art direction by gift_lab (Toshikazu Goto & Fumiko Ikeda)
Original cover design by Takuu tuore Inc. (Masahito Suda)

Reissue produced by Yosuke Kitazawa & Patrick McCarthy
Remastered by John Baldwin
Reissue layout and design by Tiffanie Tran
Liner notes by Junichi Konuma

Special thanks to Yoko Yoshimura, Tsutomu Mizusawa, Saki Nagato

Selling Points:
- First ever official reissue
- Produced in full cooperation with Hiroshi Yoshimura’s estate
- Liner notes by contemporary music writer and professor Junichi Konuma
- Remastered from original sources by John Baldwin
- First time on vinyl
- 2xLP vinyl housed in gatefold jacket
- Discs cut at 45 rpm for optimal sound quality
- Vinyl pressed at Optimal Media (Germany)
- CD Digipak


Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Black Vinyl!
Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=lK7VeSI5ciI&

Flora is an album that is listened to perpetually,
Passed on from one listener to another,
And the charm of the sound- and music-loving figure
known as Hiroshi Yoshimura,
Just might come drifting through.
Like the scent of a small flower.
—Junichi Konuma

Announcing the worldwide reissue of Flora, Hiroshi Yoshimura’s underrated work originally recorded and completed in 1987 and first released on CD in 2006, three years after his passing in 2003.

Flora is chronologically and stylistically a follow-up to Hiroshi Yoshimura’s acclaimed 1986 works Green and Surround, wherein Yoshimura continues to play with the ambience of sound and the sound of ambience, underscoring his mastery in the field of environmental music. Listening to Flora is like taking a stroll in a park, absorbing the colors and textures of the natural environment—flowers, insects, the swaying of the leaves—as Yoshimura often did at his beloved Edo-era park near his home in Tokyo. As Junichi Konuma describes in his liner notes, Yoshimura’s music “only begins to emerge as it exists at the intersection of passive and active.” Yoshimura's approach to sound and melody invites the listener to hear the intricacies of the music with intent, while simultaneously allowing the aural textures to exist as part of the background of our everyday life.

This reissue marks the first time the album will be available on vinyl (2LP, 45 rpm) and cassette, and includes liner notes written by music scholar Junichi Konuma and remastered audio by Grammy-nominated engineer John Baldwin. Reissue design and layout was handled by Tiffanie Tran.

All composed and performed by Hiroshi Yoshimura
Photos by Hiroshi Yoshimura & Takeo Kubota
Recorded by Hiroshi Yoshimura at Hiroo 806 Studio, 1987
Produced for release by Yasushi Takamatsu & Tamiko Hohda
Original art direction by gift_lab (Toshikazu Goto & Fumiko Ikeda)
Original cover design by Takuu tuore Inc. (Masahito Suda)

Reissue produced by Yosuke Kitazawa & Patrick McCarthy
Remastered by John Baldwin
Reissue layout and design by Tiffanie Tran
Liner notes by Junichi Konuma

Special thanks to Yoko Yoshimura, Tsutomu Mizusawa, Saki Nagato

Selling Points:
- First ever official reissue
- Produced in full cooperation with Hiroshi Yoshimura’s estate
- Liner notes by contemporary music writer and professor Junichi Konuma
- Remastered from original sources by John Baldwin
- First time on vinyl
- 2xLP vinyl housed in gatefold jacket
- Discs cut at 45 rpm for optimal sound quality
- Vinyl pressed at Optimal Media (Germany)
- CD Digipak


Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Repress!

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” designed to enhance the company’s newly built living spaces.

In his original notes for the album, Yoshimura recommends that Surround be placed in the same family of sounds “as the vibration of footsteps, the hum of an air conditioner, or the clanging of a spoon inside a coffee cup.” And, as he suggests, “with the addition of city noise from outside the window,” you may hear Surround in a completely new way.

A pioneer in the field of environmental music, Yoshimura’s previous works included Music For Nine Post Cards (1982), originally produced to be played back inside a museum space, and designing sound environments for public spaces and subway systems. Surround was recorded almost concurrently with the acclaimed and popular GREEN (1986); the two albums are described by Hiroyoshi Shiokawa in his liner notes as being Yoshimura’s yin and yang.

* First-ever official reissue of the pioneering 1986 ambient work
* Produced in full cooperation with Hiroshi Yoshimura’s estate
* New liner notes by original album producer Hiroyoshi Shiokawa
* Includes Yoshimura’s original notes in Japanese & English
* Remastering and lacquer cutting by John Baldwin
* Vinyl pressed at Gotta Groove Records


Original credits:

COMPOSED & PERFORMED Hiroshi Yoshimura
RECORDED Hiroo 806 Studio, Kojima Recording Studio
RECORDING ENGINEER Yukio Kojima
DESIGN Toshikazu Ota
PHOTO Yoichi Nagata
PRODUCTION Misawa Homes Institute of Research and Development

Reissue credits:

REISSUE PRODUCERS Yosuke Kitazawa & Patrick McCarthy
REMASTERING & LACQUERING John Baldwin
VINYL PRESSING Gotta Groove Records
REISSUE DESIGN & LAYOUT Ella Gold
ARTWORK SCANNING Satomi Sugiyama
RETOUCHING Ward Long
REISSUE LINER NOTES Hiroyoshi Shiokawa
TRANSLATION Yosuke Kitazawa
SPECIAL THANKS Yoko Yoshimura

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

CD!
Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=lK7VeSI5ciI&

Flora is an album that is listened to perpetually,
Passed on from one listener to another,
And the charm of the sound- and music-loving figure
known as Hiroshi Yoshimura,
Just might come drifting through.
Like the scent of a small flower.
—Junichi Konuma

Announcing the worldwide reissue of Flora, Hiroshi Yoshimura’s underrated work originally recorded and completed in 1987 and first released on CD in 2006, three years after his passing in 2003.

Flora is chronologically and stylistically a follow-up to Hiroshi Yoshimura’s acclaimed 1986 works Green and Surround, wherein Yoshimura continues to play with the ambience of sound and the sound of ambience, underscoring his mastery in the field of environmental music. Listening to Flora is like taking a stroll in a park, absorbing the colors and textures of the natural environment—flowers, insects, the swaying of the leaves—as Yoshimura often did at his beloved Edo-era park near his home in Tokyo. As Junichi Konuma describes in his liner notes, Yoshimura’s music “only begins to emerge as it exists at the intersection of passive and active.” Yoshimura's approach to sound and melody invites the listener to hear the intricacies of the music with intent, while simultaneously allowing the aural textures to exist as part of the background of our everyday life.

This reissue marks the first time the album will be available on vinyl (2LP, 45 rpm) and cassette, and includes liner notes written by music scholar Junichi Konuma and remastered audio by Grammy-nominated engineer John Baldwin. Reissue design and layout was handled by Tiffanie Tran.

All composed and performed by Hiroshi Yoshimura
Photos by Hiroshi Yoshimura & Takeo Kubota
Recorded by Hiroshi Yoshimura at Hiroo 806 Studio, 1987
Produced for release by Yasushi Takamatsu & Tamiko Hohda
Original art direction by gift_lab (Toshikazu Goto & Fumiko Ikeda)
Original cover design by Takuu tuore Inc. (Masahito Suda)

Reissue produced by Yosuke Kitazawa & Patrick McCarthy
Remastered by John Baldwin
Reissue layout and design by Tiffanie Tran
Liner notes by Junichi Konuma

Special thanks to Yoko Yoshimura, Tsutomu Mizusawa, Saki Nagato

Selling Points:
- First ever official reissue
- Produced in full cooperation with Hiroshi Yoshimura’s estate
- Liner notes by contemporary music writer and professor Junichi Konuma
- Remastered from original sources by John Baldwin
- First time on vinyl
- 2xLP vinyl housed in gatefold jacket
- Discs cut at 45 rpm for optimal sound quality
- Vinyl pressed at Optimal Media (Germany)
- CD Digipak


Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Black Vinyl!
Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=lK7VeSI5ciI&

Flora is an album that is listened to perpetually,
Passed on from one listener to another,
And the charm of the sound- and music-loving figure
known as Hiroshi Yoshimura,
Just might come drifting through.
Like the scent of a small flower.
—Junichi Konuma

Announcing the worldwide reissue of Flora, Hiroshi Yoshimura’s underrated work originally recorded and completed in 1987 and first released on CD in 2006, three years after his passing in 2003.

Flora is chronologically and stylistically a follow-up to Hiroshi Yoshimura’s acclaimed 1986 works Green and Surround, wherein Yoshimura continues to play with the ambience of sound and the sound of ambience, underscoring his mastery in the field of environmental music. Listening to Flora is like taking a stroll in a park, absorbing the colors and textures of the natural environment—flowers, insects, the swaying of the leaves—as Yoshimura often did at his beloved Edo-era park near his home in Tokyo. As Junichi Konuma describes in his liner notes, Yoshimura’s music “only begins to emerge as it exists at the intersection of passive and active.” Yoshimura's approach to sound and melody invites the listener to hear the intricacies of the music with intent, while simultaneously allowing the aural textures to exist as part of the background of our everyday life.

This reissue marks the first time the album will be available on vinyl (2LP, 45 rpm) and cassette, and includes liner notes written by music scholar Junichi Konuma and remastered audio by Grammy-nominated engineer John Baldwin. Reissue design and layout was handled by Tiffanie Tran.

All composed and performed by Hiroshi Yoshimura
Photos by Hiroshi Yoshimura & Takeo Kubota
Recorded by Hiroshi Yoshimura at Hiroo 806 Studio, 1987
Produced for release by Yasushi Takamatsu & Tamiko Hohda
Original art direction by gift_lab (Toshikazu Goto & Fumiko Ikeda)
Original cover design by Takuu tuore Inc. (Masahito Suda)

Reissue produced by Yosuke Kitazawa & Patrick McCarthy
Remastered by John Baldwin
Reissue layout and design by Tiffanie Tran
Liner notes by Junichi Konuma

Special thanks to Yoko Yoshimura, Tsutomu Mizusawa, Saki Nagato

Selling Points:
- First ever official reissue
- Produced in full cooperation with Hiroshi Yoshimura’s estate
- Liner notes by contemporary music writer and professor Junichi Konuma
- Remastered from original sources by John Baldwin
- First time on vinyl
- 2xLP vinyl housed in gatefold jacket
- Discs cut at 45 rpm for optimal sound quality
- Vinyl pressed at Optimal Media (Germany)
- CD Digipak


Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Repress!

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” designed to enhance the company’s newly built living spaces.

In his original notes for the album, Yoshimura recommends that Surround be placed in the same family of sounds “as the vibration of footsteps, the hum of an air conditioner, or the clanging of a spoon inside a coffee cup.” And, as he suggests, “with the addition of city noise from outside the window,” you may hear Surround in a completely new way.

A pioneer in the field of environmental music, Yoshimura’s previous works included Music For Nine Post Cards (1982), originally produced to be played back inside a museum space, and designing sound environments for public spaces and subway systems. Surround was recorded almost concurrently with the acclaimed and popular GREEN (1986); the two albums are described by Hiroyoshi Shiokawa in his liner notes as being Yoshimura’s yin and yang.

* First-ever official reissue of the pioneering 1986 ambient work
* Produced in full cooperation with Hiroshi Yoshimura’s estate
* New liner notes by original album producer Hiroyoshi Shiokawa
* Includes Yoshimura’s original notes in Japanese & English
* Remastering and lacquer cutting by John Baldwin
* Vinyl pressed at Gotta Groove Records


Original credits:

COMPOSED & PERFORMED Hiroshi Yoshimura
RECORDED Hiroo 806 Studio, Kojima Recording Studio
RECORDING ENGINEER Yukio Kojima
DESIGN Toshikazu Ota
PHOTO Yoichi Nagata
PRODUCTION Misawa Homes Institute of Research and Development

Reissue credits:

REISSUE PRODUCERS Yosuke Kitazawa & Patrick McCarthy
REMASTERING & LACQUERING John Baldwin
VINYL PRESSING Gotta Groove Records
REISSUE DESIGN & LAYOUT Ella Gold
ARTWORK SCANNING Satomi Sugiyama
RETOUCHING Ward Long
REISSUE LINER NOTES Hiroyoshi Shiokawa
TRANSLATION Yosuke Kitazawa
SPECIAL THANKS Yoko Yoshimura

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Black Vinyl!
Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=lK7VeSI5ciI&

Flora is an album that is listened to perpetually,
Passed on from one listener to another,
And the charm of the sound- and music-loving figure
known as Hiroshi Yoshimura,
Just might come drifting through.
Like the scent of a small flower.
—Junichi Konuma

Announcing the worldwide reissue of Flora, Hiroshi Yoshimura’s underrated work originally recorded and completed in 1987 and first released on CD in 2006, three years after his passing in 2003.

Flora is chronologically and stylistically a follow-up to Hiroshi Yoshimura’s acclaimed 1986 works Green and Surround, wherein Yoshimura continues to play with the ambience of sound and the sound of ambience, underscoring his mastery in the field of environmental music. Listening to Flora is like taking a stroll in a park, absorbing the colors and textures of the natural environment—flowers, insects, the swaying of the leaves—as Yoshimura often did at his beloved Edo-era park near his home in Tokyo. As Junichi Konuma describes in his liner notes, Yoshimura’s music “only begins to emerge as it exists at the intersection of passive and active.” Yoshimura's approach to sound and melody invites the listener to hear the intricacies of the music with intent, while simultaneously allowing the aural textures to exist as part of the background of our everyday life.

This reissue marks the first time the album will be available on vinyl (2LP, 45 rpm) and cassette, and includes liner notes written by music scholar Junichi Konuma and remastered audio by Grammy-nominated engineer John Baldwin. Reissue design and layout was handled by Tiffanie Tran.

All composed and performed by Hiroshi Yoshimura
Photos by Hiroshi Yoshimura & Takeo Kubota
Recorded by Hiroshi Yoshimura at Hiroo 806 Studio, 1987
Produced for release by Yasushi Takamatsu & Tamiko Hohda
Original art direction by gift_lab (Toshikazu Goto & Fumiko Ikeda)
Original cover design by Takuu tuore Inc. (Masahito Suda)

Reissue produced by Yosuke Kitazawa & Patrick McCarthy
Remastered by John Baldwin
Reissue layout and design by Tiffanie Tran
Liner notes by Junichi Konuma

Special thanks to Yoko Yoshimura, Tsutomu Mizusawa, Saki Nagato

Selling Points:
- First ever official reissue
- Produced in full cooperation with Hiroshi Yoshimura’s estate
- Liner notes by contemporary music writer and professor Junichi Konuma
- Remastered from original sources by John Baldwin
- First time on vinyl
- 2xLP vinyl housed in gatefold jacket
- Discs cut at 45 rpm for optimal sound quality
- Vinyl pressed at Optimal Media (Germany)
- CD Digipak


Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Repress!

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” designed to enhance the company’s newly built living spaces.

In his original notes for the album, Yoshimura recommends that Surround be placed in the same family of sounds “as the vibration of footsteps, the hum of an air conditioner, or the clanging of a spoon inside a coffee cup.” And, as he suggests, “with the addition of city noise from outside the window,” you may hear Surround in a completely new way.

A pioneer in the field of environmental music, Yoshimura’s previous works included Music For Nine Post Cards (1982), originally produced to be played back inside a museum space, and designing sound environments for public spaces and subway systems. Surround was recorded almost concurrently with the acclaimed and popular GREEN (1986); the two albums are described by Hiroyoshi Shiokawa in his liner notes as being Yoshimura’s yin and yang.

* First-ever official reissue of the pioneering 1986 ambient work
* Produced in full cooperation with Hiroshi Yoshimura’s estate
* New liner notes by original album producer Hiroyoshi Shiokawa
* Includes Yoshimura’s original notes in Japanese & English
* Remastering and lacquer cutting by John Baldwin
* Vinyl pressed at Gotta Groove Records


Original credits:

COMPOSED & PERFORMED Hiroshi Yoshimura
RECORDED Hiroo 806 Studio, Kojima Recording Studio
RECORDING ENGINEER Yukio Kojima
DESIGN Toshikazu Ota
PHOTO Yoichi Nagata
PRODUCTION Misawa Homes Institute of Research and Development

Reissue credits:

REISSUE PRODUCERS Yosuke Kitazawa & Patrick McCarthy
REMASTERING & LACQUERING John Baldwin
VINYL PRESSING Gotta Groove Records
REISSUE DESIGN & LAYOUT Ella Gold
ARTWORK SCANNING Satomi Sugiyama
RETOUCHING Ward Long
REISSUE LINER NOTES Hiroyoshi Shiokawa
TRANSLATION Yosuke Kitazawa
SPECIAL THANKS Yoko Yoshimura

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

180g black vinyl
LP booklet included
mastered by Noel Summerville
original artwork by Theo Ellsworth.

Italian sound artist Marco Shuttle debuts on Astral Industries with AI-39. Alluring and evocative, 'Sonidos y Modulaciones de la Selva' is a journey deep into the Amazon rainforest, seeking to capture its power and vastness, but also a rumination on the problem of its impending destruction.

In this album Shuttle sees the continuation and further ripening of an ongoing creative process, utilising both audio and visual documentations as source material. On this occasion most of the field recordings were taken in the Tupana Arü Ü nature reserve in the Amazonas region of Columbia, between Leticia and Puerto Nariño.

For the compositional process Shuttle employs a distinctly minimalist approach, achieving highly rich and articulate soundscapes with relatively little. Painting with an almost impressionistic stroke, the depth of imagery is underpinned by a strong experimental leaning and a sophisticated musical language.

Within its wild freeform, the seamless interplay between nature and the machines sees them merge into a mysterious dance - a liquifying sequence of scenes that shimmer with flora, fauna and the unmistakable aliveness of the jungle. A procession of sputtering and cavernous pulsations, sprawling biologies and hidden mysteries, the jungle as an entity, a spirit, begins to emerge. With all its peculiarities and strangeness, it reveals a world of seeming chaos, yet underneath it all a thread of something innately conscious.

Although it could be considered a form of sound diary, the scope spans much further than a standalone creative work. Within its intoxicating montage of shifting forms, 'Sonidos y Modulaciones de la Selva' stands as a sonic ethnography, and a contemplation on time, space, and our evolving relationship with nature.

Ongoing large-scale logging, agriculture and infrastructure projects are leading to significant deforestation in the Amazon, and continues to threaten biodiversity, the global environment and the livelihoods of indigenous communities. Part of the proceedings from this release will be donated to Amazon Watch (amazonwatch.org), a nonprofit organisation that works to protect the rainforest and advance the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin.

"Special thanks goes to Marco Cruz from Amazon Jungle Trips and to Aberlardo and Manuel (who is also the narrator of the story at the end of Part 2), the indigenous guides who took me deep into the forest and made me experience its overwhelmingly powerful beauty. This record is dedicated to Colombia and all the fantastic people I met in this wonderful country" - Marco Shuttle


Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Repress!

This expansive double pack from Silentes finds each side of vinyl taken up by one long, ever-evolving piece of music based around one original. Gianluca Favaron & Stefano Gentile go first with their take on 'Landslide,' which goes from whirring machines sounds to brain cleansing sine waves and found sound abstraction. Dub techno don Rod Modell explores emptiness on 'Landslide' (Reworked) and Carl Michael Von Hausswolf's take is an eerie one with scratchy textures and filtered synth meanderings. Rod Modell then closes out with another rework of his own remix that will leave you adrift in space.

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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Repress!

A wonderful, rare record wrapped in a mysterious yet playful ambiance. Or maybe it's just the impression that the Japanese language often gives me. ''Suiren'' is an odd jazz-fusion-wave tune that sounds like its boiling, waiting to burst but somehow manages to stay in control. Like the nervous tick of a leg fidgeting under the table of a restaurant on a first date. Re-issued again, with new liner notes.

Yasuaki Shimizu is a Japanese composer, producer and saxophone player born in 1954. He worked with Ryuchi Sakimoto on certain arrangements, with the South Korean artist Nam June Paik on art+sound installation pieces and even DJ Towa Tei (of Deee-Lite fame). ''Suiren'' was released in 1981 and is the opening title on the sought-after ''Kakashi'' album and is my personal favorite on this overall brilliant record. It weaves behind new wave, jazz, fusion, ambient and experimental music.

Repetitive and hypnotizing, punctuated by exclamation marks on most first mesures, the muted triangle percussion hits me straight in the heart. About 90 seconds into the song, the saxophone makes its appearance and the song goes from ''this is cute'' to ''oh, this is some serious shit!''. Shimizu's saxophone frees the song from the rest of the elements which are more calculated and repetitive.

A joyful, mysterious slow-moving train ride led by the artist's mellow voice that rocks us with this calming but funky lullaby. Every phrase is punctuated by the xylophone there to energize the piece, albeit very subtely.

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Cleo Sol's arrival in the past few years has been one of the best things to happen to UK soul music in a long time, and she's gifted us two of her outstanding albums in the past 12 months. While ears are reeling from the wonder of Heaven, we're now treated to Gold and it's hard to fathom how so many incredible songs can spill out from one person. There's a dusky, understated quality to this album which makes it so easy to sink into and even in the most stripped down arrangements you can sense the guiding hand of dub giving the music a womb-like intimacy. The playing has a raw, in-the-room immediacy and it flows so naturally it wouldn't be a surprise to learn it was recorded in one take.

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Reissue of the legendary album of Janko Nilovic , sampled by Dr Dre, Pop Smoke ... and more!
This album recorded in 1972 with around 40 musicians making up the cream of the studio orchestras of the time, remains a centerpiece of the composer's work.

A1 - Black On A White Ground
A2 - Giant Locomotion
A3 - Xenos Cosmos
B1 - Underground Session
B2 - Mouvements Aquatiles
B3 - The Savage Rose

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Recorded at the Philharmonie de Paris and one and a half years after releasing his magnum opus "Music For Animals"—described by PopMatters as “a musical waterfall of monumental proportions”—Nils Frahm shares a new live album, due for release by his LEITER label on December 6. In what’s becoming a tradition, it follows 2013’s "Spaces", a Pitchfork Album of the Year taped at shows over the preceding 18 months, and 2020’s "Tripping With Nils Frahm", also released as a film. "Paris", nonetheless, is Frahm’s first live album from a single night, March 21, 2024, and contains ten tracks over a running time of 84 minutes.

Frahm’s performances have always been known for expanding upon his studio recordings, and "Paris" is no exception. Drawing on his substantial catalogue, the German composer and producer reworks tracks from various albums, and also adds the brand new, luxurious and strangely gripping ‘Opera’ to the track list.

If he leaves the stage to the same uproarious jubilation with which he was initially greeted, "Paris" makes it clear why he’s been so in demand. He’s been booked, frequently for multiple nights, at halls around the world, including Sydney’s Opera House, London’s Barbican and LA’s Orpheum Theatre. Indeed, the LA Times wrote, “Watching him at work, and hearing the audience react, is a little like watching an athlete at the top of his game.” Expect nothing less from Nils Frahm on "Paris", a vital document of this ingenious, gifted musician’s endless pursuit of fresh perspectives.

All tracks written, produced and mixed by Nils Frahm.
Mastered by Zino Mikorey, recorded by Terence Goodchild.
Vinyl cut by Andreas Kauffelt at Schnittstelle.

All tracks published by Manners McDade Music Publishing Ltd.
Cover artwork and design by Studio Torsten Posselt.

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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When she started her career just over a decade ago, Cleopatra Nikolic AKA Cleo Sol was considered a singer-for-hire within the international deep house community. Now, with the assistance of beat-maker Inflo, she's decided to strike out on her own via a quietly impressive solo debut that re-casts her as a genuinely fresh and exciting soul talent. Beginning with the layered acapella vocals and deep, jazzy grooves of stunning opener "One Love", the album sees her brilliantly deliver heartfelt and thoughtful lyrics over hazy backing tracks that brilliantly join the dots between jazz, neo-soul and R&B. While she's undoubtedly the star of the show, Inflo's stripped-back, partially acoustic and largely soft-focus production is also worthy of high praise.

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH275gX4auQ

The debut album from Bahraini-born, British-based musical duo Dar Disku is a celebration of their Arabic heritage and multicultural influences that melds golden age West Asian and North African sounds with a contemporary dance floor focus. Recorded between the UK, Algeria, Turkey and Tunisia, the album seamlessly crosses from disco to Raï, piano house to Turkish psychedelia, ambient to Bollywood and features guest artists from Algeria, Turkey and Bahrain as well as legendary Indian singer Asha Puthli.

Dar Disku is the innovative duo of Mazen Almaskati and Vish M, known for their dynamic DJ sets and eclectic mixes, into which they bring a deep-rooted passion for the rich musical traditions of the SWANA region (South West Asia and North Africa).

The self-titled album is a culmination of years of learning, listening, and creating. It serves as a transportive portal into the duo's expansive world beyond the dance floor, capturing the cosmic emotions of cinema through a meticulous analog approach to live recordings. It channels a wide range of influences, including Egyptian folk, Turkish psych, Algerian rai, Sudanese funk, Ethiopian jazz, and Khaleeji disco.

“Sonically we have tried to capture what time traveling with Dar Disku through our different influences would feel like,” they say of their recording process, “and although inspired directly some of our favourite hidden gems from the past, the sound of this record remains unmistakably rooted in our present day where current influences from electronic genres, hip hop, jazz and psychedelia also shine through.”

The pair explain that they learnt much of this through their own previously released edits of middle eastern music “which inspired us to create our own brand new original songs that draw from a similar breath. We've been able to combine this with our contemporary inspirations and bring to life something that is comfortingly nostalgic and yet refreshingly new.”

Vish and Maz have put immense effort into researching the songwriting and recording methods of the decades they draw inspiration from - utilising vintage consoles, analog synthesisers, and carefully crafted sonic spaces. This dedication is evident in every track, which combines their contemporary influences with the rich musical traditions of the region to create something that feels both timeless and innovative.

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Mad Professor is a dub legend. We can't say much more about this release other than it's two dubs of a beautiful record and all time classic and there will be more to follow...

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore