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 - 忍 / Shinobi (Kofū II, 2021)

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

輪の中

aus - Neanic (ft. Benedicte Maurseth)

Taken from the album "How Many Glasgow" released on 15th October 2014 from Sweet Dreams Press, Tokyo.

Jad Fair, Tenniscoats and Norman Blake - レインドロップス（Raindrops）

I’ve been collecting new tracks for this project so that I can share them with you together in one bundle. I’m thrilled that this project is attracting wildly talented new and innovative artists from all over the globe. On this short mix, you’ll hear diverse elements: two songs from Japan (though one of them pretends to be Russian for shits and giggles), a poetic song from Australia, another from New Zealand (the one track here not a premiere, I just love it so much I can’t help but plug it again), yet another from England, and of course a smattering of new ideas from far corners in the United States. I love that part of doing the premiere mixtapes. Have a listen!

Photo by Jeffery Silverstein from Singles Club, used by permission.

Don’t forget to chip in to these artists’ beer/retirement funds. Click through to their sites through the handy hypertext links provided below. Buy their records, tapes, t-shirts and concert tix.

Tracklist: 

Brothertiger - Out of Touch
Space Above - Hold In
Villa Coola - Everything is Horrible All the Time
möscow çlub - Band of Outsiders
Moski Jo - I Don’t Know My Name
Mishka Shubaly - Ohio
Algae & Tentacles - Little Body
Himuro Yoshiteru - Takhos
DVWEZ - Celebrity
Boy Thought - Daring
I Am Snow Angel - Losing Face
Balacade - Marquee Moon
Workman Song - O Lord The Valley Weeps
That Dream Was Our Life - The Truth Won’t Set You Free But Yr Secret’s Safe With Me
If you enjoy the tunes, be a friend and #REBLOG the love!

Listen + share the mixtape here:

8tracks.com/yvynyl
SoundCloud.com/yvynyl
Grab past yvynyl mixtapes here.

Möscow Çlub - Band Of Outsiders

Taken from 7" single "一週間歌（Week）" released on 15th October 2017 from Sweet Dreams Press, Tokyo.

一週間歌（ICHI）

ICHI - 一週間歌（Week）

From Album "People + Waltz for Dubby" (epcd 114)
September 13th 2019 on sale

more info : www.7ep.net/item/epcd114/

Tenniscoats & Tachibana Yasuhiko / Waltz For Debby

Christmas Song 2019

Yanokami (Akiko Yano & Rei Harakami) - Ruby Tuesday

JOHN TO PAUL new 7" single "ONGAKU / GOD SAVE THE MEN" 2020.4.25 release!

https://seikosha.stores.jp/items/5e8d5264e20b045f926088b4

ONGAKU

"By deathly pale light, silent is the night."

Established within the cultural nexus of Tokyo and tracing its origins to Singapore, KITCHEN. LABEL stands as the home for artists traversing the realms of ambient and transcendent musical expressions.

Founded by Ricks Ang in 2008 and named with an essence drawn from the magic realism of Banana Yoshimoto's novel "Kitchen," the independent label has gone on to release music by haruka nakamura, ASPIDISTRAFLY, ironomi, Meitei, sonicbrat, Kin Leonn, Hiroshi Ebina and more.

Meitei - 忍 / Shinobi (Kofū II, 2021)

KITCHEN. LABEL

Recent comments

88cuitlahuac

Related tracks