jazz

fuzati (klub des loosers) producer and die-hard crate digger has teamed up with modulor to launch le très jazz club. label exclusively dedicated to vinyl reissue and jazz. for his third and fouth releases, le très jazz continues his journey through japanese jazz! with this reissue of “orang-utan” by legendary bassist and cello player isao suzuki, le tres jazz club offers a remarkable and highly sought-after free jazz album. the eponymous track is a sublime mix of free jazz and jazz fusion, leaded by sax player kenji mori and kazumi watanabe on guitar. essential!

we had no choice but to bring back our friend kiko navarro after the success of the new life ep released on local talk earlier this year. isao is kiko at his finest, a beautiful and hypnotic house track that has the perfect blend of afro and latin elements with a bouncy electronic edge. theres also a mighty fine remix coming from jose marquez. jose develops the vocal elements and brings in a whole orchestra of drums taking the track in a sweatier direction. kiko also delivers a koki dub where he continues on the same vibe and adds strings complimented by shakers and percussions throughout the track.

jazz

180 g gatefold, vinyl 2xlp

in late 2017, thomas gandey and danny mclewin - known from the popular disco-influenced electronic music collective psychemagik - emerged from their studio in bordeaux, france, claiming to have produced an extended musical arrangement, both entitled, and containing the sounds of, the shakuhachi. furthermore, they insisted, for the purposes of this production, and a further album of related arrangements to be released subsequently in conjunction with the successful german record label kompakt, they should be referred to henceforth as ghost vision. shortly thereafter, the audio recordings described by gandey and mclewin came into the possession of noted los angeles degenerate, dj and nymphomaniac citation needed dirty dave, who was quick to relay the hallucinatory qualities of the duo’s productions to fellow dj and trusted hallucinogenic expert paramida, of esteemed german musical imprint love on the rocks. paramida, recognising the innate quality of the sounds presented to her, decided that such recordings warranted immediate release through her audio distribution channel, and not without remixes. quite without thinking of the origins of the instrument which had given the recording its particular sonic distinguishment, and of course, its title, she enlisted the help of two musicians named alex - one from tokyo, and one from kyoto. both alex from tokyo - teaming up with his colleagues isao kumano & kenichi takagi as tokyo black star, known for their prior releases on popular german label innervisions - and his counterpart, alex from kyoto, better known as al kassian, rising tamagotchi on paramidas love on the rocks imprint, and his own label, planet sundae - turned in striking reinterpretations of gandey and mclewin’s composition.

modular ball is an experienced duo from japan. sound engineer isao kumano teamed with musician kenichi takagi for their first release on rowtag records. they usually work together with alex from tokyo under the name tokyo black star. they share a same passion for analog old synths but kenichi added his touch on the project using his own modular systems.

* after almost 20 years of making tracks with blaringly loud kicks, you tend to start producing with the other elements first to give yourself a break from the constant pounding of monitors at point blank range. following an analog filter shopping spree, i began working on a group of tracks where the low end was satisfied by the filtering, and realized these songs worked just fine without a bass drum. therefore this record is called “rareforms” since most of my other work consists of a kick drum and lots of loud effects. this record is dedicated to the brilliant synthesist and interpreter isao tomita, whose records always provide inspiration in the lab. also to master storyteller rod serling and his frequent collaborator bernard hermann, whose score for the hitchcock film vertigo i adapted through some midi processes and wavetable synthesis, then sent it through a 4-foot spring reverb.* - phil moffa

unique 21st century galactic samurai artists tokyo black star are a trio led by new york-based international dj alex from tokyo tokyo-based sound engineer / music producer isao kumano and man of mystery / analog equipment otaku / musician kenichi takagi.

after the release of their album -black ships- earlier this year tokyo black star cybersamurais alex and isao are returning to the mothership innervisions with their new 12 inch. -caballero- is tune from the album with a brand new mixdown by andreas schorpp and Âme plus a little edit-help from dixon. on the b-side radio slave delivers a fantastic remix of -caballero- which transfers the repetitive and hypnotic patterns he is known for with an exotic more cosmic sounding touch. all in all we think that this is definitely the best tokyo black star release we ever had in our hands.

tokyo black star is finally back in full effect on reincarnation with 2 timeless deep house music gems in collaboration with our very dear friends at slam jam. >sotto marino< takes on a long ride and is reminiscent to the early 90s beautiful ecstastic italo house music vibe we love so much, while black box pays tribute to the real black funk at the now legendary friday fever black box party at club suono in ferrara with resident djs pasta boys and dj hendrix making you funk, jack and sweat under the strobe light dancing on a light floor lost in the jacking zone! produced and mixed by alex from tokyo and isao kumano for tokyo black star production in spring 2010. this ep is a tribute to our special friends at slam jam, to the maestro enrico crivellaro and to our extended music&party family in italy! arigatoni!!