Release date : April 2021

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SAISEI is a Japanese label founded and curated by Junki Inoue. Known as an avid record enthusiast and for his impeccable dj sets, Junki Inoue brings a very carefully curated, idealised and conceptualised platform that marries his native Japan and his current London-base.

SAISEI is a Japanese word which means ‘reproduction’ and ‘to play’ (as in playing records).
Japanese culture is widely known for being traditional as much as it is known for being forward into the future and this label’s concept makes justice to exactly that. Having started to dig records as early as 16, Inoue delved into productions from 1990s Japan to feature native gems previously unreleased on vinyl. The idea is to recapture and reintroduce unique pieces of Japanese electronic music on a new (old) medium which is vinyl and, to an audience it never reached before as most of this music was only released in Japan.

As with most things Japanese, they are generally ahead of their time, in this case, it means this is music sounding so fresh now as it did when it came out, one that survived the test of time to, 30 years later, prove the true meaning of timeless, sublime, elegant and sophisticated music. With that said, it is no surprise this label will not limit itself to necessarily functional club music but way beyond.

The first EP on the label is by artists KINO-MODERNO formed by Dat Planet and Wah Wah Fuzzmaster and distributed by Berlin’s ‘Off the Grid’. This extraordinary acid house & techno music of Kino-Moderno that was originally created with the assistance of a powerful sound treatment of a 3D recording system called BMC that makes it sound so refreshingly retro-future but with an undoubtedly 2021 twist when listening to it. While incorporating a binaural recording technique via dummy head and given an improvised digital remix treatment via a classic synthesizer, Synclavia 2, you can enjoy these powerfully penetrating tracks that sought a 3D audio, trip-like feel throughout.

Kino-Moderno was experimenting very early on with emerging, different recording ideas such as rapping, poetry-reading and synthetic voicing. Their use of a 3D recording system called BMC added to the sound carrying over to today, paired with binaural recording technique via dummy head and an improvised digital remix treatment via the classic Synclavia 2 synthesizer. The album which featured ‘Into the Future’ and ‘The Glove’ was quite experimental in its time but very danceable as well.

Original release on VHS:
https://youtu.be/ukre8NXkw04
https://youtu.be/hXKwc-UmI7g

A1. Into The Future (snippet)

Contact: infoffthegrid [at] gmail.com

  3n0
  Animals on Psychedelics
  Appian
  Children Of The Sun
  Deep Frontier Records
  Disk Capita
  DMA
  Dote
  Dopium Tribe
  E.P.I.
  Fides
  Finest Hour  
  Flash As a Rat
  Fuori Orario
  Future Friend
  Garage Hermétique
  Hardacre
  Iceman
  Karnak On Acid
  Kontrast
  La Nota Del Diablo
  Lumbago
  Marginal Returns
  Metallic States
  Midibasics
  Mood Waves
  No Acting Vibes
  Off The Grid
  O Mato
  Needs
  No Time County
  Nugs on Board
  Overground
  Part of The Gang
  Pinguin Society
  Presence Unknown
  Roche Madame
  Sarahtonin
  Satelliet Studio
  Saisei
  Shotgun
  SHVRW1
  Spindesire
  Spinning Plates
  Space Shepherd
  Sports
  Stoned Pilot
  Subsequent
  Tape Archive 
  TFR
  Transversal
  trUst
  Tokyo Ghost
  Underlying Form
  Understory
  Wicked Bass
  Vakum
  YAY

A1. Into The Future (snippet)

Off The Grid Records