‘Disco na Koi’ sets the scene for Reflection Overdrive. Playful yet dark, and with nostalgic echoes of YMO and John Lennon, this track features Ryota Miyake singing about microbes dancing in a forest.

CRYSTAL - Disco Na Koi

"The End Isn't the End" in which the tapestry woven by the arpeggio of the guitar spreads in the space like a constellation, this song was commissioned by The New York Times and was made for the documentary film below. 

nyti.ms/2pAesVo
https://vimeo.com/298466006

Motohiro Nakashima hails from Fukuyama, a city near Hiroshima. Noted for his fingerstyle guitar, and an experimental, ambient approach to making music, Nakashima debuted from Lo Recordings (Thurston Moore, Susumu Yokota, Luke Vibert) and has three albums from several labels.
Gathering The Light is his most personal work to date. Combining fingerstyle guitar and ambient instrumentation for emotive minimalist soundscapes, the album illustrates the universal search for light in the darkness, beauty in melancholy.

Motohiro Nakashima - The End Isn't the End

Motherese

Turbulent

happen

Tracklist:
01. EVENFALL
02. OBSCURE DUSK
03. SINUSOIDAL PIRR
04. SOLEMN SOLACE
05. NIGHTFALL
06. INTERMISSION I : HÆTU
07. ETHEREAL COSMOS (ft. Okamotonoriaki, Kent Lee)
08. ANDROMEDIDS
09. COSMIC INFLATION (ft. Flica)
10. INTERMISSION II : ARÊTE
11. DAWNFALL

EVERY SINGLE DAY, OUR LIVES REVOLVES AROUND A SPIRAL OF SYSTEMATICAL LOOPS OF ACTIVITIES THAT SEEMS TO STATE OUR EXISTENCE IN THIS EARTH. THE MUNDANE DAYS AND ROUTINES THAT WE ENDURE AWAITS THE ARRIVAL OF THE WEEKENDS, WHERE WE SEEK COMFORT AND REST. THE CYCLE REPEATS TO FULFIL ONE GOAL AFTER ANOTHER, WHICH WILL LAST THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. WE CONSTANTLY SEEK FOR LOVE, FILLING THE EMPTINESS INSIDE WHENEVER IT COLLIDES WITH SOLITUDE. IN THIS DAY AND AGE, IT IS INEVITABLE THAT SOCIAL MEDIA AND MATERIALISM HAS OFTEN PLAYED A PART IN THIS FACADE TO SHELTER OURSELVES FROM THE ABYSS OF THE INSECURITIES SCREAMING FROM WITHIN. AMONG ALL OF THESE CATASTROPHIC SELF-SEARCHING EVENTS, YET IRONICALLY AT TIMES A BLESSING IN DISGUISE, WE FIND OURSELVES SEEKING FOR SOLACE

And like anyone of us, a Korean born musician, Dae Kim fnds his comfort in his frst LP, entitled Solace. In the midst of his soul-searching voyage, it has occurred to Dae that there is no other way to fnd comfort in life than fulflling one’s mandate, which in this case for him is by making music. Just like the mechanism of nature in this earth, every element took place to serve its core purpose. Hence, throughout this album, Dae was able to portray his perspective of this expedition through a soundscape of the living world. The three main themes entitled “Evenfall”, “Nightfall” and “Dawnfall” acts as a mould to the album with it’s looping melody lines and thematic structure.

Working for more than two years for his album, Dae Kim has took the approach of combining acoustic instruments from rhodes, piano, guitars, accordion to analogue synthesisers and turntables to create sounds of many colours. After spending countless nights in his bedroom drafting from one melody line to an ensemble track, he was fearless in trying new sounds and arrangements. With a mixture of electronica, ambient and acoustic, he was able to create songs that carries strong messages with a heartfelt innocence. As you could find the profound usage of these instruments throughout the album, it is hard to deny that Dae’s core inspirations such as Vangelis, Ennio Moricone and A winged victory of the Sullen (just to name a few), has played a part in shaping the overall soundscape of this production.

Playing a signifcant part in bringing this album to its fruition, is a strong line-up of musician collaborators. Bassist Kent Lee has showed his ability as a versatile musician through songs like “Obscure Dusk”, “Solemn Solace” and “Hætu” which carries the weight of the album’s theme between its heartwarming bass lines. He also did an additional composition for the seventh track, providing the drive and thrust for the song. Besides that, renowned ambient/electonica musician, Flica added an eccentric touch to the track “Cosmic Inﬂation” with his overdrived keys and alluring melody lines. It is as though in the midst of these indentation, there is peace and calmness. Last but not least on the featured artist is the Japanese born composer, Okamotonoriaki. Through his simple and benign repetition of vocal and harmonies, Okamotonoriaki was able to bring forth a sense of resolution through his work on the track “Ethereal Cosmos”. The album was mastered by Chihei Hatakeyama from Tokyo, who brought the entire album to it’s life and fruition.

“Solace” is Dae Kim’s journey of fnding his comfort amongst his vagrancy and it has been a rewarding one thus far. In this 52 reminiscing minutes of music, it stands for something more for the listeners. A time to reﬂect or a moment of catharsis, it is Dae Kim’s biggest hope for everyone who stumble upon this album to fnd their own solace amidst the pandemonium of our generation.

Solace

mnc018

Solace / Dae Kim (album sample mix)

Kin Leonn, Hiroshi Ebina - Human crossing (Faraway Vicinity, 2020)

SOOTHE & SLEEP - 3

Kumi Takahara - Ditty

Kenji Kihara
Raindrops
PYR-025
_______

Limited cassette/digital
https://pyramidblood.bandcamp.com/album/raindrops

_______

A1 - Raindrops
A2 - Fog
B1 - Awakening
B2 - Slow Mist
B3 - Storm

Whenever the seasons change, it rains, fog forms, and the city is enveloped in a storm.

After the storm, there will surely be a pleasant world waiting for us.

- Kenji Kihara

_______

Written and Recorded by Kenji Kihara
Photography by Paul Duchnay 

Released February 22, 2021

_______

https://sphontik.com
https://sphontik.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/sphontik

Kenji Kihara - Raindrops

Electronic,Ambient,Downtempo,Chillout Musician. Sound designer.
& Singer song writer.

SOOTHE & SLEEP - 3

KENJI KIHARA / sphontik

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