BONGO 6

nook nook vol.8

Japão

The Drive "Africa Bossa"

Pleasure

New Affinity

1994

Buy/Stream: https://reflections.ffm.to/mbsy.pbt
Pre-order the album 'Jōhatsu (蒸発)': https://reflections.ffm.to/mbjohatsu.pbt
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Release date: 27th March 2023

Mark Barrott shares the third single from his upcoming soundtrack album 'Jōhatsu (蒸発)’, 'Shinrin-yoku (森林浴)’ is out now.

Mark Barrott is an artist that creatively speaking, never stops moving. His musical career has taken many forms. Some know him as Future Loop Foundation, the alias he used to create and perform ambient drum and bass from the mid-90s. Some know him for his Sketches from an Island albums, which he released under his own name, and others know him as the founder of the highly influential International Feel label, a label that spearheaded the bespoke vinyl movement of the 2010’s and brought DJ Harvey out of studio retirement. Barrott has spent close to four decades exploring new sonic territory and pushing the boundaries of various genres and is considered a pivotal figure in the revival of the Balearic music scene of the last decade.

Barrott’s new album, ’Jōhatsu (蒸発)’, is predictably unpredictable. Due for release this April on Above & Beyond’s new downtempo imprint Reflections, the album is a full departure from anything Mark has written before, partly because he was writing to moving picture. In 2019, Mark was commissioned by a director to write the score for their new documentary, ‘Jōhatsu (蒸発)... the art of Evaporation’.

‘Jōhatsu (蒸発)’ is an 8-track journey through the sounds, sights, smells and sensations of traditional and contemporary Japanese culture.

Every year, it is estimated that as many as 100,000 people in Japan vanish, without a trace. These are the so-called johatsu. The “evaporated people”. People become jōhatsu for many different reasons including addiction, divorce and job loss. While some people may consider taking their own lives, others simply… evaporate. Jōhatsu refers to these people who purposefully leave the lives they knew behind.

‘Jōhatsu... the art of Evaporation’, shadowed a Japanese man as he went through this exact process, paying a contractor to help him vanish, moving from central Kyoto to Scandinavia. Scene notes from the director and shots of Kyoto at night-time, rural Japan, and Scandinavian forest-scapes informed Barrott’s musical direction for the project. The tracks on this album are the ‘full’ pieces - those written for the longer sequences of film. 

Mark approached the whole album much like a Japanese calligrapher. He prepared the room, the paper, the brushes and the ink to make the actual act of creating as spontaneous and unencumbered as possible. Inspired by the art of minimalism and Zen, with this album he wanted to create space and simplicity while allowing room for spontaneity.

You can hear this ethos across much of the album, particularly in the piano-led tracks like 'Shinrin-yoku (森林浴)', which is Japanese for forest-bathing. The track is minimalism personified, with field recordings of rain on leaves painting an aural picture reflective of the title. 

'Jōhatsu (蒸発)' is out 17th April on Reflections. 'Shinrin-yoku (森林浴)’ is out now.

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Buy/Stream

Mark Barrott - Shinrin-Yoku (森林浴)

It is hard to believe we are now up to Volume 6 of our renowned Record Club series. Curating these compilations, where we share our latest musical discoveries and old favourites from the global stage, is always a labour of love. 

When one of our most revered artists offered us the chance to include a digital exclusive track we of course jumped at the chance. As expected, what we received blew us away and we knew it had to be the lead single from the compilation. 

Hearing the Swedish outfit Sven Wunder for the first time is as refreshing as an ice-cold Limoncello after an Italian meal. One of those artists that feel instantly familiar like an old friend, yet simultaneously fresh and new. Having released three stunning albums adored by a rapidly growing fanbase, and a host of critical acclaim from the likes of the New York Times, Pitchfork and the Quietus to name just a few, the expectation of what is to come next from this wonderfully unique artist is palpable. 

‘Easy Going’ is a digital exclusive for our Mr Bongo Record Club Vol.6 compilation. The track was previously pressed to a limited edition 7” on Piano Piano Records that sold out within 24hrs, so the demand for a digital version is high. ’Easy Going' sounds like it would be at home on a lost Brazilian Trilha Sonora Original Da Novela (original TV Soundtrack From The Novel). Sven has assembled beautifully orchestrated strings that swirl over bubbling keys, snappy drums, and calls on a harmonica to take the role as the lead instrument.

Sven Wunder - Easy Going

10 I'll Keep My Light In My Window - New York Community Choir


Bradley Zero’s Rhythm section imprint sees its next release come in the form of some divine grooves courtesy of South London based duo, Chaos In The CBD. The New Zealand Born, Peckham based brothers have released with the likes of ClekClekBoom and Hot Haus and now step up for RS008 with four melancholic cuts that pays homage to deep house and laid-back jazz in their truest forms. Hypnotic and hazy, Midnight In Peckham goes on a late night tip, with a subtle poetry to the track that gives it an unequivocally timeless vibe. Due for release 24th August, delve deep into this exclusive i-D premiere.
https://soundcloud.com/chaos-in-the-cbd

Pre order Midnight In Peckham via Bancamp here: http://bit.ly/rs008Bandcamp


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Premiere: Chaos In The CBD - Midnight In Peckham

Vinyl, CD and digital. 16 tracks.

A magic mixture of traditionnal Min'yo songs and latin jazz elements. Recorded in Japan between 1958 and 1962.

With its second release, Akuphone keeps exploring Asia with an original compilation of Japanese singer Chiemi Eri. This edition – which is available in vinyl record, CD and digital - includes exclusive liner notes and a rich calligraphed booklet containing the romanization of lyrics. It encourages to (re)discover Chiemi Eri’s recordings. On this compilation, Akuphone has brought together 16 songs from 10 inches albums originally released by King Records (Japan) between 1958 and 1962.

As the daughter of a musician father and a singer mother, Chiemi Eri (1937-1982) grew up in a musical environment. When she was still a teenager, she started a career as a singer on US military bases. She became famous by singing numerous classics from the post-war American musical repertoire. At the age of 14 she recorded the song Tennessee Waltz with King Records, which turned out to be an immediate success, the first of many others.

Chiemi Eri is considered as one of the most famous Japanese singers of the 20th century, more precisely of the Showa era (1926-1989), named after the Japanese emperor of the time, better known under his westernized name Hirohito. Both a singer and an actress – she played in more than 50 films, as well as many theatre plays – she definitely made a mark in the post-war Japanese cultural landscape, along with fellow singer-actresses Izumi Yukimura and Hibari Misora.

The success of these true national icons, who were nicknamed « the three sisters », can be connected to the specific context of the time, that is the cultural opening of Japan which, although initiated a century before, accelerated with the US military occupation of the archipelago (1945-1952). This period saw the import of popular musical styles of the time: jazz, be-bop, swing, mambo, etc, as well as the development of a hybrid musical style - the Kayokyoku - which consists of a delicious mix of so-called “western” music with Japanese music. 

Combining vocal jazz, Latino rhythms and Japanese folk, this new compilation of Chiemi Eri offers an original musical syncretism. Supported by Tadaaki Misago and the Tokyo Cuban Boys – the oldest and most prolific latin-jazz group in Japan – Chiemi Eri sings themes, in Japanese, that are mainly taken from the traditional folklore. Thus, the drums and brass of the Cuban arrangements are mixed with the Min’yo, which shows how rich these folk songs are: every region, every local tradition, every event is celebrated by a particular song or dance. Chiemi Eri also reveals the vocal prowess specific to the Min’yo, in particular the kobushi, a sort of melisma – this vocal technic that consists in singing a single syllable while moving between several different notes in succession.

This compilation, which surprisingly blends Min’yo and latin-jazz elements, invites to the discovery of the archipelago from a different perspective.

more information here : akuphone.com

Chiemi Eri : Okosa-Bushi

Music for Saxofone & Bass Guitar full-length album on ltd cassette and world wide digital June 15th

Music for Saxofone & Bass Guitar

Sam Gendel & Sam Wilkes - BOA

* Read more: https://boltingbits.com/natural-lateral-bossa-blue-social-joy
* Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/B_LxNvDWa-Q
* Pre-order: https://naturallateral.bandcamp.com/

‘Cogito Ergo Jam’ meaning, "I think therefore I jam" sums it all up nicely.  Natural Lateral was born organically out of endless and spontaneous jam sessions at the Lazy Robot Studio in North London. Since 2017, Aziz Mustafa, Ozan Nidayi, Oli Arlotto, Malte From and Tim Balasubramaniam, have all been enjoying playing and recording ideas which gave the birth to their first LP on the Social Joy imprint.

‘Cogito Ergo Jam’ weaves together strands of different musical forms and roots. Although much of the band's love for jazz massively influences their music, their open-minded spirit keeps them engaged in other creative fields and venturing into new territory.Creating organic vibes and textures, the music draws from jazz, through to electronic, with deep grooves and mesmerising psych-synth melodies, weaving magic over the top.

The band fuses rhythmic elements from funk & Latin jazz to syncopated odd meter timings drawing inspiration from Azymuth to Soft Machine, Coltrane to Liston-Smith, to name few of their many influences.

On every track of this LP, Natural Lateral’s frenetic energy in the studio is almost palpable, giving these recordings a beautifully intimate insight into the phenomenal vision of the band.

Cogito Ergo Jam

PREMIERE: Natural Lateral - Bossa Blue

Record label. Record shop. Film label. Since 1989.