Sławek Jaskułke Piano Solo - MOMENTS

HIMOROGI is the tenth album by ironomi. Divining Japanese mythology and its relationship with nature, the new album is an aural pastorale that fosters deeper territory in the realm of spiritual searching through dreamy, drifting piano, 17-string koto (jūshichi-gensō) and new form electronic processing. 

ironomi’s desire to commune with mother Earth and its season’s colors has always served as a continual inspiration for their music. In HIMOROGI, the duo delves into a more spiritual focus in their journey towards musical impressionism. Japanese culture has long held the idea that heavenly spirits live in many elements of the natural world, such as mountains, rocks, trees, and the sea. The album title comes from the Japanese word Himorogi (神籬), which in Shinto terminology is translated as "divine fence," which refers to sacred areas that a celestial spirit enters.

Six songs were created in chronological order, ama-saki (Bloom in the Sky), yume-asobi (Playing in Dream), sakura-ame (Cherry Blossom Rain), hibiki-sora (Echoing Sky), ama-yadori (Rain Shelter), chumu (Abstract Nil Space). On each, they move organically in the nature they were recorded, as rain connects the sky with the Earth, giving life to it with blossoming flowers. Once the hues of autumn bid their farewell, another life cycle begins. Rather than arriving at a state of tranquility, the idea is to reach a state of ‘nothingness’ as suggested in the zazen-inspired chumu. 

Junya Yanagidaira’s sublime, elegant phrasing of subtle polyphony and melodic piano lines fall like rain through a picturesque blue horizon over calming koto sways by multi-instrumentalist Yu Isobe. Flashes of sunlight momentarily refract through the water’s surface in the form of bright starlit keyboards, at times weaving child-like melodies of enchantment. The lightest touch of koto strings seems to hover and balance the murmur of a garden stream. It beckons you closer as the gentle caress of the music awakens your inner senses. HIMOROGI will remain timeless because the duo created music that absconded with time and place with their endless visions of beauty. 

ironomi releases HIMOROGI on 24 February 2023 via KITCHEN. LABEL. Available on clear vinyl LP, CD and digital formats, with artwork by Japanese photographer Kisei Kobayashi and design by KITCHEN. LABEL founder Ricks Ang. Katsunori Fukuoka mastered this record at Flysound in Japan.

ironomi - 天咲 (himorogi, 2023)

Ken Shima (島健) - Opening Theme

12 26

Song I made for the Kumoko compilation album. 

http://kumoko.bandcamp.com

It is also available on iTunes, Amazon.com.
All the proceeds will be donated to globalgiving.org to build schools in post-earthquake Nepal.
Check out the bandcamp link below to read more details about the compilation. 
The compilation features amazing artists from the US, Japan, and Europe. 
We hope you purchase this album to listen to some amazing music, and to help a great cause!

Lyrics:
"Red Star Blue Moon Pink Clouds And The Golden Sun" 

please paint me a cloud 
I've lost the one that I had 

please paint me the moon light 
behind the eye of the sky 

the night shines bright but it will fade 
before the dawn breaks I'll have to go 
I'll have to go 
as the sun takes me away 

red stars, blue moon, pink clouds 
and the golden sun 
sleep tight, the glowing sky is in her eyes 

the night shines bright but it will fade 
before the dawn breaks I'll have to go 
I'll have to go 
I'll see you again 

the night shines bright but it will fade 
before the dawn breaks I'll have to go 
I'll have to go 
I'll see you again 


Red Star Blue Moon Pink Clouds And The Golden Sun

ARAKI Shin: saxophone, Yukiko Hayakawa: Sho
Music for an exhibition at "10 Watts", Yokohama, Japan, 2016.

Encounter

Title : Dance
Artist : Marihiko Hara & Polar M
Cat # : mnc017
Release Date : September 2016
Format : CD / Digital
Genre : Post-Classical / Instrumental Pop 

01. Duo
02. The Season Changes
03. Ray of Light
04. Monologue
05. Dance
06. Ocean of Night
07. Beryl
08. Asia
09. Gone Gone Gone
10. On The Silent Way 

“Laughing, singing, dancing
Laughing, singing, and dancing
Howling, sobbing, shouting
Howling, shouting, sobbing
Laughing, singing, and dancing

Dancing.”

After releasing their critically acclaimed debut album “Beyond”, Kyoto-based Marihiko Hara and Polar M (Masumi Muranaka) have embarked on a series of live performance around Asia region, including Korea, Malaysia and many places in Japan. Each time they performed together, the sense of how their individual sounds complement each other grew stronger. And with these live performances, their interweaving sounds have underwent subtle refinement – they become even more profound and exquisite, and far more interconnected.

While touring, the duo was also actively collaborating with dance choreographers. In early 2016, the duo was again commissioned to compose new pieces for a dance performance. It was during that time, their brand new 2nd album “Dance”, was conceived.

Through their interactions with the talented dancers across Asia, these two very gifted musicians started to explore the meanings of “dance”. Gradually, they have come to realised that, everything in our daily life can be regarded as “dance” – the rhythm of the changing seasons, the subtle movement of time, the weight of words, the shifting of emotion, the cycle of life, all parts that form our lives, are indeed in themselves – a “dance”. And in this gorgeous new album, using their ever delicate sounds, the duo graciously illustrated this aesthetic interpretation of “dance”.

Musically, the duo picked up where they left off in their very successful debut album - traces of refined post-classical, melodic folktronica, floating ambient, and glimpses of jazz, continued to be found in this 2nd album. What is more apparent in this new album is that the guitars had taken a more prominent role. As such, the sound textures and melody movements have become much richer and more diverse, which impeccably reflect the refinement that underwent for the musical style of Marihiko and Masumi.

The duo’s good friend, Mia Cabalfin - a renowned contemporary dancer from Philippines, who lent her wonderful voice in the debut album, continued to feature in this album by performing the hauntingly beautiful spoken words in the album title track. This album is tastefully mastered by Tokyo’s renowned musician and sound engineer, Chihei Hatakeyama, and features photo by Ken Furudate, and design by Seitaro Nishioka. In addition, the artist management for the duo is supported by the excellent people from Kyoto’s label and event organiser NightCruising. 

Credits:
composition, arrangement & mixed by Marihiko Hara & Polar M
track 5 : spoken words by Mia Cabalfin

mastering: Chihei Hatakeyama
photo: Ken Furudate
design: Seitaro Nishioka

To enquire about distribution, please kindly email us at info(a)mu-nest.com. Thank you. 

DANCE / Marihiko Hara & Polar M (album preview sample)

Itoko Toma, a Pianist and vocalist, releases her second album.
Besides her piano solo works and original songs as same music style as her previous album, but also includes songs composed with chamber music style, which brings more taste in this album.
This album is created with many inspirations from ‘sea’ which she felt in her daily life. It begins with the song “shorebird”, which you will hear a gentle voice brings a bird floating on the sea wind. Also, a supporting piano will draw a flow of waves created with arpeggio sounds of moving from lower tones to higher tones. With this gently played piano without any intonation will show the image very clearly of the waves flowing. Her dreamy and feathery world is expressed in the track “fantasia”, the strings arrangements will widens up the view, and the motif played with piano brings the light as a sea splash. “horse from parallel”, a key track of this album, features a vocal as a major role of this song and a simple chord progression helps the enhancement of melodious sounds. “when the word and the heart will mix well”, an adagio-like composition, is wrapped with heartwarming atmosphere with the daintiness and delicate strings arrangements. The album ends with a gentleness tune of “cantabile”, with a singing of freely played piano, which echoes deeply to bring peacefulness.

For strings arrangement, track #3 done by Akira Kosemura, who is also a producer of this album, and track #9 done by Quentin Sirjacq, a French pianist and composer, who released his album under the same label SCHOLE. Also, Hiroshi Iguchi as a sound engineer who supports the previous releases of Akira and Quentin, and Shin Kikuchi creates MV and designed for album covers using the visuals taken from her hometown, Okayama. The album was produced by viewing Itoko Toma’s world through a SCHOLE filter.

When the world will mix well

when the world will mix well

fantasia - Itoko Toma

Fábio Caramuru - Uguisu

Fábio Caramuru - Tsumi

07 till it comes

FLAU is a record label based in Tokyo, Japan.

general inquires: flau@flau.jp
press: press@flau.jp

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events:
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Fábio Caramuru - Uguisu

FLAU

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