This all started as a middle of the night improvisation… it was quite mystifying to me because I quite simply had the sudden urge to sit and play very late one evening and out came most of this piece. I suppose it was all deep within me already. I have decided to call this work "An Interior Pilgrimage" because it is akin to a musical diary entry from me. I hope you all enjoy it. The performance can also be watched on my YouTube channel, be sure to like and subscribe there as well. Do also explore and follow my Instagram as there is a lot of material there. The artwork is, “Sympathy”, by surrealist painter, Remedios Varo. It is a work that has always registered with me deeply. Thus, I felt it a perfect match for this most personal piece. Thank you.

An Interior Pilgrimage-(A Late Night Impromptu)

‘Apologues’ will be released by Erased Tapes on September 11, 2015 on LP/CD/DL and can be pre-ordered from www.erasedtapes.com/store/index/ERATP075
or via iTunes here: http://snip.ftpromo.net/apologues

Masayoshi Fujita, the Berlin-based Japanese vibraphone player, also known under his alias el fog came to the attention of label founder Robert Raths a few years ago. Not only because the vibraphone is an intriguing instrument, but also the way Masayoshi treats his instrument and draws ethereal and layered sounds, is what truly attracted him to Masayoshi’s work.

Having released more ambient-based/electronic recordings of the vibraphone under el fog, Masa became more interested in the sound of the vibraphone itself. He started to compose acoustic pieces and released the first solo album under his real name, titled ‘Stories’, in early 2013. ‘Apologues’ sees Masayoshi for the first time use an array of instruments besides his lead instrument – such as the violin, cello, flute, clarinet, French horn, accordion, piano and snare drum played by friends, but arranged by Masa himself.

In addition to the mallets, Masayoshi often plays the vibraphone with a violin or cello bow, like on ‘Tears of Unicorn’ and ‘Knight and Spirit of Lake’. He would also place bead strings on the vibraphone bars to create an ambient shimmer that can be heard on songs like ‘Moonlight’ and ‘Swallow Flies High in the May Sky’. The latter was composed to let the clarinet express its characteristics and tell its story, whilst the vibraphone takes a supporting role. “The clarinet sounds very warm and soft and very ‘spring’ to me”, says Masa.

“With this album the main idea was to evoke images, atmospheres, sceneries and stories in the listener, the images that have accumulated in myself. At the same time it was an exploration of the unexplored beauty of the vibraphone, and also a pursuit of the charm of the instrumentation and the music itself. Erased Tapes releases a lot of great stuff and naturally became my favourite label of late. And I thought it would fit well to my music.” – Masayoshi Fujita

OFFICIAL WEBSITES: masayoshifujita.com · erasedtapes.com

Apologues

Moonlight

Masayoshi Fujita – Moonlight

12" Edition of Screws Rework album from Nils Frahm. I did a remix from the song "Mi", more infos here : reworked.nilsfrahm.com/

Nils Frahm - Mi (Soul Channel Rework)___Out on Erased Tapes Records

Taken from moogmemory (2016)
https://matthewbourne.bandcamp.com/album/moogmemory

Friday 4 March - BRISTOL Colston Hall
Saturday 5 March - LONDON BFI
Sunday 6 March - SALFORD, Islington Mill
Thursday 17 March - BRIGHTON Komedia
Friday 18 March - SOUTHAMPTON Turner Sims 
Saturday 23 April - GLASGOW Outskirts Festival. Platform


Pre-order moogmemory

Daniziel

Full stream of Nest - Body Pilot released on Serein

Body Pilot

Koretz's Meteor

recorded live at Roter Salon Berlin on FEB 6th 2017
taken from the album "Solo Collective Part One" , available on Vinyl and CD :
https://solocollective.bandcamp.com/album/solo-collective-part-one

Anne Müller with Alex Stolze - Solo? Repeat! (LIVE)

Two By Four is Piano Interrupted first full length record, compiling the work of three years of collaboration between laptop / electronician Franz Kirmann and pianist and composer Tom Hodge. 


Étude

Track from the never-released Die Nachtstunde album 'You collect me' (2016).

Die Nachtstunde - (you collect me)

With Bird Ambience coming out on May 28, Masayoshi Fujita makes a lateral leap from his signature instrument the vibraphone to the marimba, which takes centre stage on his new album alongside drums, percussion, synths, effects and tape recorder. The balletic arabesques of his third single ‘Morocco’ show both instruments unite and dance from twinkling filigree, to a cascading crescendo.

“The way of playing the marimba is similar to the vibraphone, so it was kind of a natural development for me and easier to start with, yet it sounds very different”, explains Masayoshi. “The marimba bars are made with wood and it has a wider range than the vibraphone, which gives me a bigger sound palette with more possibilities. I play the instrument with bows and mallets, and sometimes manipulate it with effects.”

Bird Ambience brings several fresh changes for the artist. Until now, Fujita would separate his acoustic solo recordings, the electronic dub made under his El Fog alias, and his experimental improvisations with contemporaries such as Jan Jelinek. The new album sees him unite all these different facets for the first time into one singular vision.

Arranged with a perfect Kanso-like balance, the unhurried pace of Bird Ambience allows each sound and phrase enough time to be mindfully absorbed and savoured. This subtle but affective work carries ethereal remnants of Midori Takada’s minimalism, the static atmospheres of Mika Vainio, To Rococo Rot’s organics and the bucolic electronics of Minotaur Shock. Fujita vaporises contemporary and classical, ambient and dismantled dub, controlled noise and fragments of jazz into an atmospheric, static mist, which he skilfully coerces into new forms.

Bird Ambience will be released on Erased Tapes in 2LP, CD and digital formats on May 28.

Bird Ambience

Morocco

Stream & pre-order

Masayoshi Fujita - Morocco

Snowdrops - Trapezian Fields

Two years after the release of his acclaimed Erased Tapes debut, ‘The Transition’, Californian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist David Allred returns with a solo piano perspective on the album, aptly titled Felt The Transition — out December 18.

"Felt The Transition is a new minimalist solo piano perspective on my experimental chamber folk album previously released in 2018, called The Transition. This music is reinterpreted on my 114 year old upright piano which was very kindly donated to me by my friend Adam Selzer who previously ran a recording studio in Portland called Type Foundry. This piano is very sentimental to me as it was used by a handful of my favorite musicians on their albums over the past 20 years, namely Peter Broderick’s ‘How They Are‘ and ‘Two Balloons’.” — David Allred

Felt The Transition

The Garden (Solo Piano)

Stream & order LP · DL

David Allred - The Garden (Solo Piano)

Founded by sonic architect and explorer Robert Raths aka ghostworker in 2007, Erased Tapes is a truly independent record label that has disrupted the industry and rejuvenated the musical landscape. The London-based label has consistently nurtured genre-defying artists from all around the world without losing its avant-garde ethos.

2015 saw BBC 6 Music radio presenter Mary Anne Hobbs stage an Erased Tapes evening featuring Nils Frahm and A Winged Victory For The Sullen at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the prestigious BBC Prom. It was the fastest selling ticket of the entire season. Shortly after Erased Tapes was awarded Best Small Label 2015 at the AIM Awards.

On February 5th 2017 Erased Tapes opened the doors to its new East London home, marking the 10th anniversary by introducing fans and the public to the new Erased Tapes Sound Gallery.

“Ten years of one of the most important record labels of the last few years“ — Gilles Peterson

"Over the last decade, Robert Raths’ label Erased Tapes has developed a sonic profile perfectly in step with the growing taste for quiet, meditative works on the cusp of ambient and chamber music" — The Independent

“The heart-string-tugging London label that floats gently between 20th century composition and ambient music” — Rolling Stone

David Allred - The Garden (Solo Piano)

Erased Tapes

Recent comments

MOON AND ARIES

Daniel Floyd

Related tracks