pop

pop

yumi zouma sind freunde aus neuseeland, die in new york und paris leben. ihre musik ist stylish, spielerisch und intuitiver electro-pop vom feinsten. leichte gitarren noten sitzen auf programmierten drums und bilden das gerüst für die sanften und suchenden vocals. die vier songs auf yumi zoumas ep sind zeitlich und auf anhieb sympathisch. das 10 inch vinyl erscheint inklusive download-code.

what if time does not matter? welcome to the world of jonas saalbach, where nothing is solid but the rhythm of the base. we are drifting between synthwaves and nested melancholic melodies, between hazy vibes and spare used dark vocals and we call it >nika yumi<. this one is a brilliant number from a producer-youngstar, which strandet in berlin with a big smile and many dreams in the backage. so here we go with his first release on einmusika recordings. >next< - the second track on the ep, is an exotic odyssey in times of vocal- and deephouse, because this number is technoid, minimal and unimagined. >cave< can flip a good party into a great one in the space of six glorious minutes. the bendy baseline is catching everybody and the track is full of cosmic synths. and after this trip you surely need a bottle of water and a melody which picks up this feeling underlined with dreamy synth motifs and a kind of woozy bleeps. okay. so where we are? what time it is? whatever you can repeat everything.

a hotline to the gods! kagura is a thousand-year-old form of japanese shinto sacred music and dance, accompanying the chanting of myths the word kagura can be translated as god-entertainment.

disco / boogie out of japan

repress on sunny seaside splatter double vinyl.

wamono vol.3

an exploration of the 80s sound of tokyo, compiled by nick luscombe. remastered from the original tapes, pressed on double vinyl, housed in a gatefold sleeve.

re-release

incl. doublepack of goodies with extensive artist bios in oversized fold-out booklet

second album

the debut longplayer from laumé aka yumi zouma frontwoman kim pflaum. limited pressing on pink coloured double vinyl, housed in a gatefold sleeve with download code included.

third release of studio mule’s new project with miyako koda aka dip in the pool. following the cover versions of ohnuki taeko’s carnaval & mariah’s shinzo no tobira, we made the new version of japanese pop ambient classic “face to face by yumi murata”. extended edit on a side is full of the respect for the original version and ambient version on b side is simply emotional. the first album of studio mule is coming in the beg of next year. stay tuned.

since so many european labels have been reissuing lost and obscure 1980s japanese ambient albums of late, it was probably inevitable that at least one label would put together a compilation paying tribute to the sound. it turns out that jazzy couscous has won the race with kumo no moko, a superb double album that does a terrific job in putting japan s 80s ambient scene in context. as you d expect, the majority of the tracks feature either dreamy electronic sounds or a mixture of acoustic and electronic instrumentation, with nods to jazz coming thick and fast. there are naturally a couple of fairly well-known names on show, but for the most part the compilers have done a terrific job in highlight lesser-known tracks from unsung heroes.

the latest compilation by cultures of soul gathers together little known boogie, electrofunk and j-pop released in japan between 1981 and 1988. strong compilatin!