http://faderbyheadz.com/release/headz252.html

Sam Prekop "Quartet" from "In Away"

Release Date:
CD, Digital - 10 Dec 2021
LP - 28 Jan 2022

Ⓟ & © 2021 KITCHEN. LABEL

Meitei’s 2020 album 'Kofū' was the bold bookend to an expedition, where sounds were first navigated and then subverted in 2018’s 'Kwaidan' and 2019’s 'Komachi'. 

All three albums were Meitei’s attempt at immersive storytelling, reimagining moments of Japanese history he felt were being washed away – not least by the unforgiving sands of time – through wistful compositions that stretched across ambient music, hauntology, and musique concrete.

When it came to finalizing 'Kofū', Meitei found he was left with over 60 fully realized tracks, bursting with ideas that fired in divergent, curious directions. Meitei was content with the 13 tracks he had selected. But when it came time to begin his next album, he found that it had been sitting in front of him all along.  He realized his work wasn’t over yet. 

Meitei sounds right at home celebrating the past he first reimagined in his previous work. The merriment is palpable in its first two tracks of 'Kofū II' – a loop of cheery whistling amidst the clanking of wood leads into strings, cricket sounds and flutes, all united in bustling harmony.

'Happyaku-yachō' is where it comes into focus. Pitch-shifted vocal samples roam around in the crowded sonic field. “My image of this music is that it expresses the vibrant mood of Edo's merchant culture,” says Meitei, “where old Japanese dwellings were densely packed together in a vast expanse of land.” The affair becomes bittersweet as the track leads into the desolate 'Kaworu', a compositional piece lifted from his 'Komachi' sessions – a final requiem to his late grandmother.

The album is bursting with spectral vignettes of wandering samurais, red lanterns, ninjas, puppet theatres, poets, even a vengeful assassin ('Shura Yukihime', known to Western audiences as ‘Lady Snowblood’). 

'Saryō' is as elegant and refined as you would expect. It induces stillness in its repetition, with each synth note a brushstroke. It was inspired by a Sengoku-era tea house he once visited, designed by national icon Sen no Rikyū. Meitei tied it to the reaction he felt while poring over the ink paintings in his grandmother’s house. “The decayed earthen walls and faded tatami mats gave me an emotional impression,” he says. “And the cosmic flow of time drifting in the small room. I decided to put my impression of this into music.”

In 'Akira Kurosawa', an appropriately thunderous track, Meitei finds deep resonance in his vast filmography, which drew equally from Japan’s rich heritage and troubled circumstances post-WWII. 

'Kofū II' is not a leftovers album, nor is it a straightforward companion piece. In this album, Meitei has his biggest reckoning with the Japanese identity yet. Over the years, he has attempted to peel back what he believes has defined Japan and its people. After seeking answers with three full-length albums, his fourth poses more questions. 

If his first three albums inspired a sense of longing – or, perhaps inevitably, fed an irreparable nostalgia doomed to history – Kofū II compels us to reassess our relationship with the past.  

By constantly looking back, are we ever afforded a clearer present? After capturing the “lost Japanese mood”, where does that leave its country in the modern world? Meitei offers no immediate answers with 'Kofū II'. It forces you to sit with its disparate moods, to meditate amidst the textured fragments. 

'Kofū II' will be released in 180g LP, CD and digital format on December 10, 2021 (LP expected to land January 28, 2022) via KITCHEN. LABEL. Both LP and CD format are presented in a debossed sleeve with obi strip and include a 16-page insert with words in Japanese and English from Meitei, printed on premium paper stock with design by KITCHEN. LABEL founder Ricks Ang, and is mastered by Chihei Hatakeyama in Tokyo, Japan.

Kofū II

Meitei - 八百八町 / Happyaku-yachō (Kofū II, 2021)

Marking the 5th year anniversary of his seminal debut album, Hiroshima-based artist Meitei announces his Kwaidan Anniversary Japan Tour beginning from 22nd July in Tokyo, with more dates to be added. This is the first time the ghostly masterpieces from Kwaidan are being played live in a thematic-specific show. 

A collaboration between 2 Singaporean labels – KITCHEN. LABEL (Kofu I & II) Evening Chants (Kwaidan), the anniversary also sees the highly anticipated special 5th Anniversary Edition of Kwaidan with 2 unreleased bonus tracks. This will come in the long out-of-print vinyl format, with obi strip, 8-panel insert, new colour variant and the first ever CD version. 

In 2018, Meitei shook the ambient world with the release of his debut album “Kwaidan”, a transposition of Japanese folklore into intricate compositions, capturing what he would coin as the “lost Japanese mood”. The album almost instantly received critical acclaim from the likes of Pitchfork, where it was included in their Best Experimental Albums of 2018, Bandcamp, calling it “different than some of the ambient music that has been coming from Japan in recent years”, The Wire and more. Outside of press, he has also received nods from the likes of Rosalía and has collaborated with contemporaries Anthony Naples, DJ Python, Tourist, Chitose Hajime and more. 
Cementing his name in the ambient and experimental world, Meitei has since continued to cultivate devoted fans globally, with monumental follow-up albums as part of his unique musical canon – Komachi, Kofu I and Kofu II, showcasing his immense musicianship in building a unique sonic world of his own. 

Mastered by Taylor Deupree, Kwaidan’s 5th Anniversary Edition will be released with 2 bonus tracks on a smoke haze variant LP, CD and digital formats, released via KITCHEN. LABEL and Evening Chants.

Meitei - Touba (Kwaidan, 2023)

Taken from "あの丘のむこうがわへ（remixed by VIDEOTAPEMUSIC）／lament" 7" released on 18th October 2023 from Sweet Dreams Press, Tokyo.

作曲：服部将典
composed by Masanori Hattori

録音：吉田悠樹、服部将典、牧野琢磨
recorded by Yuki Yoshida, Masanori Hattori, Takuma Makino

ミックス：牧野琢磨
mixed by Takuma Makino

マスタリング：岡田拓郎
mastered by Takuro Okada

――――――――

吉田悠樹：二胡
Yuki Yoshida: erhu

服部将典：コントラバス、ブラシ
Masanori Hattori: contrabass, brush

牧野琢磨：ギター
Takuma Makino: guitar

中尾勘二：クラリネット
Kanji Nakao: klarinette

NRQ - lament

Il y a une mouette dans ma cave-Dojo - 81

わたしのすいか

Nihon Mukashi Banashi

title track, also closing track from album 'Bali Dream'(VSCD-9685) released by Vivid Sound & High Contrast Recordings, 2008
Available CD and digital DL(on iTunes/Amazon)
Makoto Kubota Official Homepage http://www.makotokubota.org (*previous site - archive >>> www.kubotamakoto.com)
On soundcloud >>> @kubotamakoto

Makoto Kubota/久保田麻琴 - Bali Dream

T9R-003
guruGURU（And Summer Club）待望のソロアルバム
ＣＤ・8曲 レーベル：TANI9 RECORDS
10月中旬リリース予定

Wake up Bowie

8/Dec/2012 Sendai, SENDAI KOFFEE CO.

Ayuko Takayanagi: vocal
Koji Shibuya: bass
Shunji Otsuki: fluegelhorn
Natumi Shibuya: french horn
Yuto Ashida: ac-guitar
Chieko Yamaji: percussion
with
Atsuko Hatano: violin
Eriko Teshima: viola

歌を書く時には、登場人物が生きているのか死んでいるのかを設定するところから始めることが多い。「地獄の歌」では、2002年の暮れに火星の庭でやった忘年会ライヴで格好を付けるために書いた「家」という曲に似通った関係性（というか僕の中で繋がっているイメージ）を再度、掘り起こしている。「家」に登場する夫婦は二人とも死んでおり、亡霊になって間もない妻が、大昔に死んだ夫の帰りを待ちわびている、という状況である。一方、「地獄の歌」は「家」の幽霊夫婦の外伝というか、時間を遡って夫が死んだ直後の状況（妻＝わたしはまだ生きている！）を描写しているように思う。

このトラックは昨年の暮れのsakana、triolaとのイベント「ensemble of rests in sendai」での演奏で、triolaのお二人に参加していただいた。

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/shibuya_igloo/20120612

地獄の歌 at SENDAI KOFFEE CO.

Taken from CD "縁かいな 〜Brin Us Together〜" released on the 25th May 2020 from Sweet Dreams Press, Tokyo.

Makoto Kubota/久保田麻琴 - Bali Dream

CRE096T

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