Various Artists: Polyphonic Cosmos: A Beginners Guide To Japan In The 80s (1981 - 86)

Compiled by JD Twitch • Cease & Desist / C&D002

Side 1

1 World Standard - ばら二曲 Baranikyoku (Fellini&Rota) - 3.34 (1985)
2 Masumi Hara - Your Dream - 2.45 (1984)
3 Normal Brain - M.U.S.I.C. - 4.16  (1981)
4 Hiroyuki Namba - Who Done It? (part 2) - 4.04 (1983)

Side 2

1 Yasuaki Shimizu - Crow - 4.46 (1981)
2 Hiroyuki Namba - Tropical Exposition - 3.29 (1982)
3 Imitation - Exotic Dance - 6.02 (1982)
4 Pecker - Sha La La - 3.21 (1983)

Side 3

1 EP-4 - dB - 5.12 (1984)
2 Earthling - You Go Natural - 4.27 (1981)
3 Masumi Hara - Camera - 5.22  (1982)

Side 4

1 Geinoh Yamashirogumi - Rinne Kohkyogaku Meikei - 5.06 (1986)
2 D - Day - Ki Ra-I - 4.16 (1986)
3 Ryuichi Sakamoto - A Wongga Dance Song - 6.18 (1985)

Ever since he made his first trip to Japan to DJ, Optimo Music founder JD Twitch has been bewitched by Japanese music, and particularly the vibrant, imaginative, and often far-sighted sounds which emerged from the island nation during the 1980s. Now he’s put years of digging in Japanese record shops to good use on Polyphonic Cosmos, the latest release on his compilation-focused Cease & Desist imprint.

Subtitled ‘A Beginners Guide to Japan In The ‘80s’, the collection offers a personal selection of Japanese gems recorded and released between 1981 and ’86 – a period when advances in recording and musical technology offered the nation’s artists and producers a whole new tool kit to employ. When combined with the unique musical culture of Japan, where local traditions are frequently fused with Western styles to create timeless, off-kilter aural fusions, this embrace of locally pioneered music technology had spectacular, often unusual results.

Eight years in the making, Polyphonic Cosmos provides an endlessly entertaining musical snapshot of Japanese music of the early-to-mid ‘80s with all of the open-minded eclecticism and sonic twists that you would expect from the Glasgow-based DJ.

Compare and contrast, for example, the gently breezy, morning-fresh folk-plus-electronics bliss of ‘ばら二曲 Baranikyoku (Fellini&Rota)’ by World Standard – the most familiar alias of long-serving musician/producer Sohichiro Suzuki – and the hallucinatory, slow-motion tribal rhythms, post-punk rhythms and tape delay-laden electronics of Imitation’s ‘Exotic Dance’. Or, for that matter, the tipsy mid-‘80s electronic reggae of Pecker’s ‘Sha La La’, the grungy but melodic post-punk strut of ‘You Go On Natural’ by Earthling (a track Twitch accurately describes as “sheer unrelenting groove”), and the unearthly, swirling sonics, new age instrumentation and flotation tank vocals of prolific (and seemingly mysterious) act Geinoh Yamashirogumi’s ‘Rimme Kohkyogaku Meiki’.

It’s a credit to JD Twitch’s curatorial skills that the quality never dips, and sonic surprises lurk around every corner. Consider for a moment the hard to describe, far-sighted audio immersion of D-Day’s ‘Ki-Ra’ – all languid post-pop guitar, enveloping chords, spoken word vocals, shuffling 808 beats and marimba melodies – and the two contributions from video games soundtrack specialist (and driving instrumental synth-pop specialist) Hiroyuki Namba.

The collection naturally includes some selections that have long been favourites in Twitch’s DJ sets – see Masumi Hara’s ‘Your Dream’ – as well as a handful of tracks from artists who may be more recognisable to those with only rudimentary knowledge of Japanese musical culture. The great Yasuaki Shimizu, whose work as Mariah has become far better known in recent years thanks to reissues of some of his most magical albums, is represented via ‘The Crow’, a picturesque chunk of horizontal, hard-to-define jazz-not-jazz smokiness, while the collection fittingly concludes with a sublimely funky, oddball electronic workout from Yellow Magic Orchestra legend Ryuichi Sakamoto (the frankly incredible ‘Wongga Dance Song’).

Cease & Desist 002 - Various: Polyphonic Cosmos: Sonic Innovations In Japan (1980 - 86) OUT NOW!

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
〶 AFRO TEMPLUM 〶 BRĀHMANA 〶
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
▉ Onto The Cosmos ▉
〶 Lorenzo Valeri
〶 Disco Segreta (Carlo Simula)
〶 Afro Templum Armada
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
●STRAIGHT TO●▒▒▒
▒▒▒●THE COSMOS●
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Recorded during 〶 Afro Templum - Brāhmana 〶
14/08/2022 @ Punta Eucalipto / Lago Trasimeno

TASCAM DR-05

Bandcamp

AFROTEMPLUM BRĀHMANA -2022- • DISCO SEGRETA (CARLO SIMULA) / LORENZO VALERI / AFRO TEMPLUM ARMADA

Veteran NTS host Hampus brings you Doing Time: a genre-agnostic monthly trip through quality records from around the world’s past and present, featuring regular appearances from musical friends and family. 
Find the full tracklist and related episodes on NTS: https://www.nts.live/shows/doing-time/episodes/doing-time-5th-january-2025

Doing Time w/ Mostrow 050125

After a longer-than-expected hiatus, we're happy to welcome Danny Bodega, bringing us 120 min of music, ranging from Sundog Serenades all the way up to burning Zookadoodle 🌞🐩🌻🦴

ID Requests -> @beaton-4

To keep our project going and growing, please support us with a donation on BuyMeACoffee. It's quick, easy, and you don't even need to create an account. Your contribution, whether one-time or recurring, helps us thrive. Thank you for your consideration 💖💖💖
www.buymeacoffee.com/balearicbanana

Danny Bodega

https://www.instagram.com/princelanguage


PRINCE LANGUAGE @ The Lot Radio 06-03-2025

🌐 Refuge Worldwide is a radio station and community space based in Berlin-Neukölln.
➡️ More info, more music: www.refugeworldwide.com

Help us stay on air by donating to our fundraiser: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-refuge-worldwide-community-radio

New Massage - Telephones & Chucheewa - 02 Jul 2025

Apiento, a.k.a Paul Byrne runs the invaluable Test Pressing blog and releases music on World Building, World Unknown and more. His show has that esoteric techno thing and whatever suits the mood…
 
Find the full tracklist and related episodes on NTS: https://www.nts.live/shows/test-pressing/episodes/test-pressing-26th-july-2025

Test Pressing 260725

Collector John Gómez brightens up Mondays with some music from different times and different places.  
Find the full tracklist and related episodes on NTS: https://www.nts.live/shows/soup-to-nuts-john-gomez/episodes/soup-to-nuts-john-gomez-28th-july-2025

Soup To Nuts w/ John Gómez 280725

Munir b2b Varumi performing at Rainbow Disco Club @ Potato Head Bali 4/25

Munir b2b Varumi at Rainbow Disco Club @ Potato Head Bali 4/25

Mandala Beach
10th August
18:00-20:00
@beaton-4

Danny Bodega at Piña 2025

@aniphoebe

“I was on the road on tour in Europe when I recorded the mix, and I had a momentary respite doing some cat sitting for friends and thinking about how dependent we are on friends and networks. It feels like sitting underneath a big shaded tree on a sunny day :) tired from travel but energized by music and life!”

Apricot 70: Ani Phoebe

〶 

cosmic weirdos pilgrimage

〶  〶  〶  〶  〶  〶  〶  〶  〶  〶  〶  〶  〶  〶  〶  〶  〶  

A four-headed beast with many different inclinations — from irregular club nights (Réduit, Tarot) to a small label, from an annual lakeside party at Trasimeno (Brāhmana) to a collective of DJs and selectors (Afro Templum Armada, AT Coda De Serpiente, AT Galaxia Extesa).

A four-headed creature with a thousand shades and a heart that beats to an unmistakably afro-kitsch rhythm.

New Beat, Dub, Post-Punk, Afro/Cosmic from the golden era, Trance, Yacht Rock, Proto House, and kindred experiments.

〶 〶  〶  〶  〶  〶  〶  〶  〶  〶 〶  〶  〶  〶  〶  〶  〶