Chee Shimizu - Obscure Sound (a music book)

https://pictures.abebooks.com/isbn/9784845622580-uk.jpg

Does anyone out there have a copy of this book by any chance? It's basically a list of interesting-looking LPs that may well have just been beamed from a dream of imaginary records. Subdivided into the following sections, I think there are about 50 records in each:

- Organic
- Ethnic
- Psychedelic
- Spiritual
- Experimental
- Cosmic
- Meditative
- Tropical
- Floating
- Mellow
- Pensive
- Groovy

I would absolutely love a complete list of records from it if anyone is willing and able?

Published in 2013 in Japan btw.

There's a flick through its pages right here:
https://vimeo.com/69685842

Someone has also made a Discogs list of the first two chapters here:

https://www.discogs.com/lists/Obscure-Sound/281665

ooh this looks like a "cool" version of John Corbett's Vinyl Freak anthology

only copy i can find to buy is $207.00 US

His instagram is quite nice to follow btw, a lot of his posts are of things he's sourced for his record store, and maybe half of it is rubbish who knows? but gosh there are so many intriguing and mysterious album covers on this our planet

yeah there's probably a thread to be had on "record geek Instagram accounts" but I have not gone down that rabbit hole.

ha yes, 75% of the accounts I follow!

this looks dope as hell!!

Oh man, after reading the Playing Favourites feature on him that Resident Advisor did, I desperately sought out the book, checking all sorts of Japanese sites. No luck, sadly.

https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/2723

Would love to see what else is in it, if someone has a copy (or easy access to one). One of those new record geek outlets (e.g., Record Magazine, Dust and Grooves) should republish it. Or one of these reissue labels.I would totally contribute to a kickstarter for it.

I would totally also nerd out on an instagram accounts thread. I think the closest thing was the dj's and their living rooms thread from a while back, which was a nice and weirdly satisfying one to follow.

yeah that RA feature is great! maybe someone somewhere is working on a translation of the book, who knows?

btw was also wildly oogling these japanese books on my fruitless search:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51vpKTlnnXL._SX349_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41QpHfxRR7L._SX350_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/519XA88EM3L._SX349_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41jni9gfR6L._SX326_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/513P98QCFXL._SX332_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41-6BU7Ou0L._SX338_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

need a subscription where i just get a random one of these sent to my house every month

I have it but a bit too mammoth a task to list all the records. Next time I have insomnia maybe I'll do it though.

one record a week for the next 10 years plz

would actually be a good listening club idea tbh

just jokes btw but anytime you want to flag up a few select titles that would be awesome

Keep hoping that this might come out in Eigo, I love the More Better Days compilation he curated last year, some fantastic music on there.

when i have some time, i will do. there is so much amazing music in it that it definitely needs to be shared more widely.

I had a total meltdown in the Books dept of Disc Union in Shinjuku a few years ago, so many amazing looking reference books that I'll never be able to read and that will never be translated.

Here is two from it that I had before I got a copy that I absolutely adore.

Michael O'Shea - Michael O'Shea - https://www.discogs.com/Michael-OShea-Michael-OShea/release/167429

林英哲 ‎– 風の使者 - https://www.discogs.com/林英哲-風の使者/master/636582

It was a potent mixture of option paralysis and total regret at throwing my entire life away by never going to University and moving to Japan when i was twenty so I could read books about Japanese music.

oooh i know that michael o'shea, came out on wire's label. beautiful record! thank you stirmonster!

maresnest i hear u and i heart u

And two I discovered from the book -

Música Esporádica ‎– Música Esporádica - https://www.discogs.com/Música-Esporádica-Música-Esporádica/release/2659986

Takashi Toyoda - Big Bang - https://www.discogs.com/Takashi-Toyoda-Big-Bang/release/2136473

away for the weekend but will post some more next week.

my man! thank you!

I never even knew that Dome put out other people's records, but I'm sure I must have known that at one point.

Just that, the A.C. Marias 7" and also the highly recommended Desmond Simmons "Alone On Penguin Island" album.

would actually be a good listening club idea tbh

― plp will eat itself (NickB), vrijdag 28 juli 2017 9:18 (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'd totally be up for this.

we could do that if people are keen? not sure how many are on spotify / youtube but definitely some of them are

Awesome, thanks for sharing these stirmonster, will also check these out!

Hooray!

So there is a copy that just came up for $100 on Amazon's marketplace which, despite my better judgment, I am so tempted to buy....

Going to try and revive this one - anyone actually want to try out the listening club idea? Or even just individually post interesting otherwise unknown discoveries from it? Could start with ones featured in the discogs list upthread. Even if it's the few of us, it would be a good excuse - for me at least - to finally try and seek some of these albums out and get around to listening to them!

i totally forgot about this. i'll post some records from it. will try and make some of them ones i don't know so it motivates me to check them out too.

I frame stepped through part of the Vimeo of the dude flipping through it... was able to grab some titles that way

Yes I am pathetic

Thanks stirmonster

Yeah, thanks Stirmonster. Let's get this show on the road.

Here's 5 from the "Floating" chapter (picked at random). If the whole album isn't on Youtube you'll find some tracks on the Discogs links. I'll also give the number the record has in the book and the genre Chee assigned to it.

1) Harmonia - Deluxe (Germany, 1975) 441 Rock

I'm guessing there is no need to link this one.

2) D-Day - Grape Iris (Japan, 1986) 449 New Wave

https://www.discogs.com/D-Day-Grape-Iris/release/1457004

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CrD82-8GVQ

I have this one. Comes as a picture disc inside a normal album sleeve. It's an album of two halves so worth listening right through as it is quite a schizophrenic album and the first few tracks in particular are radically different from my personal favourites on the album - "Sweet Sultan", "Dust", "Ki-Ra-I" and "Float A Bort" which could all have made up an imaginary legendary EP on mid 80s 4AD.

3) Hiroshi Yoshimura - Surround (Japan, 1986) 459 Ambient

https://www.discogs.com/Hiroshi-Yoshimura-Soundscape-1-Surround/release/3447244

A holy grail record for me; been after this forever and hoping it will eventually see a reissue. Probably the most "floating" of these. Ecstatic ambient.

4) Litto Nebbia ‎– Canciones Para Cada Uno Vol.1 (Argentina, 1978) 464 Rock

https://www.discogs.com/Litto-Nebbia-Canciones-Para-Cada-Uno-Vol1/release/3621235

I know nothing about this one. Haven't heard it yet.

5) Roberto Musci / Giovanni Venosta ‎– Water Messages On Desert Sand (UK, 1985) 475 Experimental

https://www.discogs.com/Roberto-Musci--Giovanni-Venosta-Water-Messages-On-Desert-Sand/release/755801

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MojW0fVaaFE

Released on Recommended Records. I haven't heard this one. Only thing I know by him is "Tower Of Silence' which Music From Memory put out last year. I'm pretty sure Music From Memory have taken inspiration from this book.

Oops. Hiroshi Yoshimura Youtube link in wrong place but i'm sure you can navigate your way through anyway.

I love the Musci/Venosta records, they were on Mutantsounds for a while

http://post-ambient.blogspot.com/2013/03/664-roberto-musci-giovanni-venosta.html

this is terrific, thank you stirmonster!

I'm mostly going to be away the next few weeks so here's another 5 to keep you going.

From the "Spiritual" chapter.

Amaia Zubiria, Pascal Gaigne - Egun Argi Hartan (Spain, 1985) 183 World

https://www.discogs.com/Amaia-Zubiria-Pascal-Gaigne-Egun-Argi-Hartan/release/3350574

Codona (Colin Walcot, Don Cherry, Naná Vasconcelos) - Codona 3 (Germany, 1987) 187 Jazz

https://www.discogs.com/Codona-Codona-3/release/1904147

Eitetsu Hayashi - Kaze No Shisha (Japan, 1983) 190 Contemporary

https://www.discogs.com/林英哲-風の使者/release/3232319

This is the only one of these I have. I adore this record which is in a similar vein to some Yas-Kaz or Geinoh Yamashirogumi. I can't find any Youtube videos for this but one of the tracks can be heard at 45 mins here - https://soundcloud.com/twitch/optimo-espacio-nts-17012017

Ivory Playground - Scattered Clouds (Germany, 1986) 200 Contemporary

https://www.discogs.com/Ivory-Playground-Scattered-Clouds/release/2249855

Naná Vasconcelos ‎– Zumbi (Brazil, 1983) 210 World

https://www.discogs.com/Naná-Vasconcelos-Zumbi/release/1853826

not sure why a couple of those links don't work. you'll have to cut and paste and actually, the Eitetsu Hayashi track starts at 40 minutes on that mix.

Have spent the morning listening to the Yoshimura. Halfway through the weather shifted and a breeze must have picked up because all the old leaves on the big sycamore outside my window started floating down to the ground

Just saw that the first Yoshimura is being reissued next month btw:
https://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=39755

The label says more Yoshimura reissues are on the way.

Hooray, thanks again stirmonster! I'm going to start with the Yoshimura as well. Yes, perfect music for the Fall weather.

Also thanks for reposting about the reissues NickB, it didn't even come across my radar at the time. Going to seek them out!

yes, and Yoshimura's "Pier & Loft" recently got a vinyl issue for the first time.

oh man, there's one song on that Naná Vasconcelos that I love, it's basically just vocals and drums.

Yes, saw that - from Mr. Shimizu himself, it seems! I pre-ordered the Music for Nine Postcards and am excited about what else of his they may be putting out.

Onto D-Day and am feeling those 4AD vibes. This is great stuff, thanks for posting it.

https://www.discogs.com/Pepe-Maina-Il-Canto-DellArpa-E-Del-Flauto/master/349962

Pepe Maina ‎– Il Canto Dell'Arpa E Del Flauto

this is by far the best record i've gleaned from the book so far... eclectic rhythmic ambient instrumental space folk.. an absolute joy

how are y'all listening to these - Spotify, downloads, hard copies?

strictly internettin

at some point i can YSI (RIP. Now called Hightail) a big folder of the ones I have, if that isn't going to get me banned. ;-)

thanks for all the links Stir, sitting working my way through these at the moment, some wonderful music.

Nice, that would be amazing. I've been listening via Youtube/Spotify as well.

This is exactly why I prefer digital downloads to streaming. Should also mention the FondSound and Listen To This! blogs for their own efforts in this area.

I've been considering starting a Listen To This! thread but I wouldn't have much to say except Read This! so it would be a bit pointless.

return to forever is a great weekend morning listen, ftr

Pepe Maina ‎– Il Canto Dell'Arpa E Del Flauto

thanks for flagging this one up brims, i loved it

Yes, the tracks I've listened to from it are hitting the spot. Added bonus, looking it up online (it was recently reissued, btw) it pointed me to the prog band Jade Warrior, who I hadn't been aware of and which he identifies as "a strong influence". I randomly came across an album of theirs at a record store the other day which I grabbed and is quite nice (the second half of the album, esp) in a noodly early-mid 70s Eno way.

https://www.discogs.com/Jade-Warrior-Floating-World/release/9826609

http://www.soundohm.com/product/il-canto-dell-arpa-e-del-flauto/pid/17067/

Yeah, this Pepe Maina album is beautiful. Reminds me a bit of Michel Moulinié's Chrysalide. It's refreshing to rediscover these "ambient prog" albums that I too harshly judged when I was younger (see also Budi Siebert's Hmmm, which I once bought and resold too hastily.) Guess I should have another listen to Jade Warrior.

While looking up info on other music guides, I recently came across A Crack in the Cosmic Egg, a krautrock/German experimental rock guide. Not sure if anyone else is familiar with it - I believe it may have been mentioned in a krautrock thread or two - but figured it would also be welcome here.

A list on discogs of the authors' top 100 - see link below - seems to check out. It's at my library, so I'm planning on taking it out and giving it a closer look.

https://www.amazon.ca/Crack-Cosmic-Egg-Encyclopedia-Experimental/dp/095295060X
https://www.discogs.com/lists/The-Krautrock-Top-100/795

i am enjoying this song from Pedro Aznar's Contemplacion album. The rest of the disc doesn't do much for me but this song is a nice kind of 80s progressive latin jazz pop thing with great vocals:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4SVmFhg8YM

I went back to see if the price went down for the book on Amazon and it's now $400+ :(

I'm listening to Schatseite by Adelhard Roidinger after seeing a reference to it elsewhere and recognizing it from the book. Early 80s, released on ECM. Only a bit of the way through, but enjoying so far and thought I'd share.

https://www.discogs.com/Adelhard-Roidinger-Schattseite/release/1048269

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1555&v=F9wPmpLNIy4

holy shit, deliverance at last - this discogs user has uploaded all the chapters as individual lists:

https://www.discogs.com/user/low-bay/lists?header=1

not uploaded of course but you know what i mean

Excellent.

ahhhhhhhhh

Thanks again NickB, this is good news for me/bad news for the wallet...

ha yes, i know that feeling :)

quite a few records on the list that pop up fairly regularly if i let youtube or spotify play me ramdon things. don't think that's a coincidence?

this is one of those random things:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQZESJ2Pga8

also, nearly half a million views?

i guess someone needs to put that song out as a single

oh wait i read a p good and v thread-relevant article about that phenomenon:

https://thevinylfactory.com/features/youtube-algorithm-vinyl-reissues/

that rare silk track is spectacular

it definitely has a very strange atmosphere to it

this thread is making my morning much, much better than it would otherwise have been

I've been listening to this stuff but my YouTube recommendations are still shit. This music seems completely different to anything popular on youtube or are there any other interesting trends?

The book appears to be available used for about $70 (not including s&h, which for all I know could be about as much) at kupiku.com, a site I've read good things about which apparently specializes in making Japanese stuff available overseas.

mostly the youtube phenomenon tells me how common, and totally random, it is to manipulate play counts. i don't feel the phenomenon is a million miles removed from the phenomenon observed a couple months ago of massive quantities of children's fetish porn youtube videos.

i'm not sure how well that rare silk song would sell if it were released as a single, in other words. there are all sorts of marginal cults but only on youtube does it get amplified to half a million page views, mainly through algorithmic chicanery. if the right algorithm felt like it the lewis sisters could have half a million pageviews (and i'd like if they would, if only because their "voices, strings, and percussion" record of tchaikovsky adaptations looks super interesting and should have a reish).

thank you for the discogs link, NickB! great find. no idea where to start, just going by appealing chapter headings and artwork for now...

and also for the interesting vinylfactory article - i have indeed been recommended (and clicked on) most of those Japanese ambient records by the mysteries of youtube's algorithms

there's a newish FACT article on Japanese ambient including Green and Through the Looking Glass too:
http://www.factmag.com/2018/01/14/japanese-ambient-hiroshi-yoshimora-midori-takada/

Came across this mix series run by the Red Light Radio/Records guys in Amsterdam, which I feel will appeal to my fellow posters on this thread.

I've listened to the Lovefingers and Young Marco mixes and recommend them. Each tracklist is also nicely annotated with nice track-by-track notes (which I find a nice touch), often from the person responsible for the mix itself.

http://redlightradio.net/liner-notes

excellent - thank you both! :)

Also, someone heroically created a Spotify playlist of the albums that are available.

https://open.spotify.com/user/1169389625/playlist/3AcBhC6K0hfXUhV2696v7X?si=Cvl6hPiPT_CiOOZyFIy90Q

oooh nice find!

now we're talking! thanks for that.

I discovered Harald Grosskopf's album 'Oceanheart' last night on Spotify from that playlist (it was recently reissued, it appears - I will prob grab a copy) while walking home in the rain. Lovely mood music - beautiful, lush synth work (Berlin-school) by a drummer, so it has some of the groove that I'd wish was in some Klaus Schulze et al's work.

I only knew of his other album, Synthesist, which is also worth checking out if you're into this stuff.

This Spotify playlist is great - had it on shuffle all day and really enjoyed it.

342 tracks though - presumably indicating that the bulk of the LPs in the book aren't up there?

The Grosskopf tracks are gorgeous.

yeah, I'm loving this. the Per Tjernberg record is amazing.

have had this shuffle for a few hours and have constantly been going omfg what the heck is this? luis paniagua has popped up a few times and sounded p sweet, will have to look in to that one

xxxp Synthesist is indeed great. I would recommend in a similar vein Michael Shrieve's "Transfer Station Blue".

Ooh, will check out that Shrieve album. I like that record he did with Steve Roach in the 80s.

the Per Tjernberg record is amazing.

a track off that popped up on my ipod earlier, really good odd electronic fusion stuff. also been enjoying rainer bruninghaus, orquesta de las nubes and glen velez

Second the recommendation for Transfer Station Blue as well! I'll check the Tjernberg today. At least from the Spotify list there seems to be q

Second the recommendation for Transfer Station Blue as well! I'll check the Tjernberg today.

At least from the Spotify list there seems to be quite a bit of Spanish stuff on the list, which seems like an interesting niche to dig further in (I know v little about Spain's music scene, apart from a couple of Balearic artists and some of the early 80s post punk scene from Madrid).

Oops ignore the earlier post, looks like I was a bit trigger happy with the 'submit' button :(

"grape iris" is so good

Heh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dy-fdpqJwk

Hey, if anyone sees the reissue of Yasuaki Shimizu's 'Subliminal' on sale in Europe at a good price, please let me know!

it's this thing btw:

https://www.discogs.com/Yasuaki-Shimizu-ReSubliminal/release/11738359

I've just spent the last few hours compiling everything in the book (at least according to those Discogs lists) into a bunch of Apple Music playlists. There's 1771 songs on here, compared to the 350-ish on the Spotify one - I don't know if Apple's got rarer stuff, or if the compiler of the Spotify one just got bored (I wouldn't blame them).

I was really surprised how many albums were up there. Loads weren't, but I reckon about 50% are?

Here's the master playlist, which has everything on it:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/playlist/obscure-sound-complete/pl.u-AkAmEgGc77pal2

I've also broken it out as twelve separate playlists for the categorised chapters, which might be a bit more useful/manageable. Rather than paste twelve URLs here, you can add each of the playlists from my Apple Music profile page here:

https://itunes.apple.com/profile/mattnida

Let me know if you spot any mistakes or anything I've missed.

whoa! very impressive, can't do Apple Music unfortch but perhaps some kind soul can cross-reference

Thanks for your work in putting these playlists together. really enjoying listening to them.

My pleasure. Yes, it's quite fun to have these on shuffle I find, a lot of interesting chance discoveries.

wow - i'm not on apple music atm but that's solid work!

thank you! listening to Cosmic at work.

Awesome, thank you for taking the time to do this! Incidentally, I was thinking of reviving this thread yesterday - I just ordered the Grape Iris D-Day off Discogs a few days ago. Funny timing.

Will dive into the Apple playlists!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_lub0vIMuc

I've been looking for a physical copy of Eve's Canto Aberto MPB album hearing this track in a Hunee mix about a year ago. It's in Obscure Music, too. No luck. It's not even listed on Discogs, no reissues either. Lovely song though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=124&v=nzQ0CTwshHU

Oops, maybe now it'll embed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzQ0CTwshHU

it seems likes the great apple music playlists that Bamboohouses was kind enough to create are down. did anyone get a chance to download or mirror them? was still enjoying shuffling through them. wish i would have created my own local copy before they disappeared!

I never even knew that Dome put out other people's records, but I'm sure I must have known that at one point.

― MaresNest, Friday, 28 July 2017 09:40 (one year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Just that, the A.C. Marias 7" and also the highly recommended Desmond Simmons "Alone On Penguin Island" album.

― stirmonster, Friday, 28 July 2017 10:08 (one year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

There's also the album by Michael O'Shea, who I believe they discovered busking. Never seen a vinyl copy though.

https://img.discogs.com/Tn-tKHfm4tJFMr942-GbM9uUJ9w=/fit-in/200x200/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-167429-1272017742.jpeg.jpg

Please update this incredible thread regularly kthxbye.

it seems likes the great apple music playlists that Bamboohouses was kind enough to create are down. did anyone get a chance to download or mirror them? was still enjoying shuffling through them. wish i would have created my own local copy before they disappeared!

― dsb, Saturday, 13 October 2018 16:20 (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm so sorry about that. I was on a free Apple Music trial through my phone provider that I chose not to continue, but I didn't think it would nuke all those playlists with immediate effect and that I'd at least get some warning or be able to back them up. I'm sorry for any problems this has caused anyone.

If it's any consolation, this person - https://open.spotify.com/user/gh_cl?si=htvNwcoUTSuucOpyz_GiSQ - has done the same thing on Spotify, alongside many other great playlists. I'm convinced that if I ever met gh_cl we'd be really good mates, our tastes are astonishingly similar.

There's also the album by Michael O'Shea, who I believe they discovered busking. Never seen a vinyl copy though

Indeed! I'm not sure how I missed that one out as The Michael O'Shea (which is incredible) is one of my most listened to records. It is being reissued shortly, apparently.

In other news, i have heard that Obscure Sound 2 is coming soon.

Nice, that's good news! Curious to see what it'll be like/if there'll be any changes in its approach. I still regularly dip into the lists (posted on Discogs) for new discoveries and will look up random things from his instagram account from time to time. The latest one which I'll bump here is this Saada Bonaire album:

https://www.discogs.com/Sa%C3%A2da-Bonaire-Sa%C3%A2da-Bonaire/release/5106716

Fingers crossed he may take it as an opportunity to do another printing of the first one.

this looks U&K: https://lightintheattic.net/releases/4088-kankyo-ongaku-japanese-ambient-environmental-new-age-music-1980-1990

holy shit that packaging is irresistible to me

yeah that looks great

it is v pretty

Oh wow, way to go LITA!!!

I've reactivated my Apple Music subscription, for now at least, so I spent a bit of time this morning rebuilding the Obscure Sound playlists. Here's the master one with everything on it; the chapter-by-chapter ones are on my Apple Music profile.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/playlist/obscure-sound/pl.u-RRbV7YVFxxNWe3

Now that I know that cancelling your subscription nukes all the playlists, I'll try and give everyone advance warning next time!

Sorry to be a pain, but I'm probably going to let my Apple Music subscription lapse again at the end of the month as I'm not using it as much as I'd hope. I know a couple of people are following these playlists, so if it's anyone here please do copy/back them up now!

Thanks again for putting these together! i have reposted them so that the link will still be active, so if anyone on apple music is interested:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/playlist/obscure-sound/pl.u-V9D73lKhWbB2o

categorized sub lists on my page: https://itunes.apple.com/profile/rawconverter

https://youtu.be/dbq4P2_XkdI

for any Glen Velez fans out there, this looks great - a collection of tracks from his 1st three solo LPs on CMP:

https://emotional-rescue.bandcamp.com/album/sweet-season

Man Emotional Rescue is on a goddamn tear

New edition of Obscure Sound is on its way (!!!)

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5ZglqbACqd/

“Obscure Sound” record guide book is coming back again as revised edition in February 21st 2020. 200 record reviews left on first edition, and about 600 new reviews added. Further long interview with Yasuaki Shimizu, feature articles for ECM, japanese ambient/new age, spanish experimental/new age music appered. Regular reviews are inheriting unique categories likes organic, ethnic, psychedelic, spiritual, experimental, cosmic, meditative, and floating.
Please email us, if you would like to order this. Will get you back information. We accept PayPal payment.

i✧✧✧@organicmu✧✧✧.j✧

author : Chee Shimizu
deformation A5 / 248 pages (full color)
price : 2,530 JPY
ISBN978-4-8456-3409-5
publisher : Ritto Music co., ltd.
.
CONTENTS：
THE WORLD OF YASUAKI SHIMIZU（with interview）／JAPANESE AMBIENT & NEW AGE／SPECIFICITY OF ECM／ACCIDENTAL MUSIC IN SPAIN／ORGANIC／ETHNIC／PSYCHEDELIC／SPIRITUAL／EXPERIMENTAL／COSMIC／MEDITATIVE／FLOATING

It's xmas!!!

amazing, thanks for sharing

Immediately sent an e-mail to order a copy (have yet to hear back).

dead link! Need to order this. Do you remember the email address you used?

link to Chimizu's shop

Looks like a beautiful resource but... no English translation?

^^ that's my question too

i think the original edition was all in japanese apart from the titles, guessing that this will be the same

there's always word lens though (anyone ever used it?):

https://www.techradar.com/news/google-word-lens-ar-app-now-translates-japanese

I've been deliberately avoiding this book and the associated playlists because I'm afraid that it'll just take up too much of my time and probably money. Not sure if I'll be able to resist much longer.

I'm not even halfway through the ILM top 100 ambient albums yet

Looks like a beautiful resource but... no English translation?

all I see is instructions for overseas ordering?

xpost I was asking whether the book itself will be in English

ah sorry I misunderstood. As far as I know the texts are Japanese, with English translations for titles, dates and label information.

That's what I understood as well. I got a nice reply back and have a copy reserved for February 2020.

Same here. Thanks for the heads up.

I am going to check out his record store in Tokyo in March. Excited! Anyone been?

wow, plz report back!

Have not visited the store but he posts new arrivals regularly on his IG. Looks like a stellar shop.

Shipping now!

"+ tape" it said in the mail! That'll be the "special gift" then? Stoked.

sure looks like it

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8YS08oA_zC/

awesome

YSI?

Can't wait for this.

My copy has arrived! With cassette. Such a beautiful book, and the new chapters (on Yasuaki Shimizu, ECM, Japanese ambient etc) seem pretty bang on with what I want to listen to right now...

Anyone want to do a cover-to-cover listening thread?

BTW, I think some selections from the previous edition have been removed - the Mellow, Groovy, Tropical chapters are gone, and at a quick glance, Frida's Something's Going On has been removed...

ah i keep forgetting to order this! thanks for the reminder, when i get my copy i would be happy to embark upon a listening odyssey

still waiting......

^^ same.

i was late with my order and then i never heard back from chee, so i've ended up ordering from amazon.co.jp.

also ordered this at the same time cos it looks like fun:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41eroewqITL._SX350_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

This guide book features various albums recorded & produced in Japan, ranged from Easy Listening, Mood Music, New Age, Ambient, Pops, Rock, Disco, New Wave, Movie OST till Cartoon OST. Under the supervision of Shotaro Matsumoto who is a famous store manager of Coconut Disc record shop, 10 writers introduce about 600 discs."Walearic" is a word coined by Matsumoto, connecting "Wa"(means "Japanese" in Japanese) and "Balearic" club music established in Ibiza, Spain through '00s. As a matter of fact, Walearic is not exactly the same as Balearic. Matsumto was inspired by the vague concept of Balearic which crossovers any genres, and coined the new genre Walearic under his own aesthetics. As you may know, the demand for Japanese vinyls recorded in 70s & 80s has been rising among the collectors worldwide. This guide book will be the ultimate tool for them to dig the discs.

oh sweet just threw that in my cdjapan order. lotta porn on that website.

it came !!!

I've got a copy too - so good! It's kind of nice that it'll take a million years to read it with Google Lens. Also cool that the tape comes with a download.

Is that Walearic book all in Japanese? Guessing it is but wanted to confirm as this seems right up my street.

Hopefully my Obscure Sounds arrives soon as well.

the walearic book is also in japanese and roughly the same format as obscure sound

ysi that tape? mine didn't come with one

Mine came too. I am currently bereft of opportunity to listen to the tape so second the ysi request. Will happily send some Obscure Sound music i have in return. T

Totally delving into it tonight.

Send me an email via my profile if you want to have a listen to the mix.

I hope mine comes with a cassette. Don’t recall even seeing an option when I was emailed though an option of with or without a cassette. Is it just being sent randomly?

My cassette is numbered 189/200, so looks like I got lucky. Reminds me I really must give it another listen.

i now have my Obscure Sounds! and my Walearic Disc Guide! really looking forward to digging through those with youtube accompaniment once my job stops being a whirlwind of panic

thank you so much bamboohouses! now all I need is a trackless, I expect it will pop up on Discogs soon enough

when I was looking for it I realized that Chee Shimizu has some other, older mixes as well

ffs trackLIST

Got my book delivered on Friday with the cassette (181/200). Haven’t had a chance to dig into either with my 4yo son bouncing off the walls due to COVID induced cabin fever. Hopefully soon.

few days ago a friend dropped off a tape deck, so i was finally able to hear the mix — it’s good !

it'll take a million years to read it with Google Lens.

not sure exactly what this is but will look into if that means having a rough translation of the blurbs. as is i’ve been enjoying paging through at random and then digging around on youtube or wherever to find a sound clip

How are you all reading this? Am I the only person who doesn't read Japanese? Want this book very badly but not to look at pictures.

Using the Google Lens app, you can get surprisingly decent translations by hovering your phone camera over the text. Might be a bit hard to read it cover to cover this way, but good for individual listings. Check it out!

Thanks for the tip cooldix. Never even realized this was a thing. Also I have the Wa-learic book onroute so this will be extremely handy for both books. Cheers!

OK, I just made my first random purchase based on this, and it's amazing (thanks Facebook vinyl trading group). Morgan Fisher - 'Flow Overflow'. Former Mott the Hoople (!) keyboardist moves to Tokyo and makes ambient/environmental/TV commercial music not unlike Yoshimura and co. I'll have to make a vinyl rip cos the only online I could find is from an uptight Soulseeker doing FLAC trade-only. His 'Water Music' is on social media and also quite lovely.

Anyone else made any discoveries?

Social media... I mean, streaming services.

I still dig the Glen Velez and Per Tjernberg records I discovered through that Spotify playlist

the mixtape is up on Discogs now, but with no tracklist - get to work, trainspotters!

https://www.discogs.com/Chee-Shimizu-Obscure-Sound-Revised-Edition/release/14978065

I'd love to hear the morgan fisher record if you ever get around to ripping it. Water music is nice.

Hey Deflatormouse (and anyone interested), I've made a vinyl rip of the Morgan Fisher record. Not sure the best way to share?

Some five months later but it arrived today and I love it! Seriously impressed with all obscure Dutch releases I've never even heard of.

Google translate lens app actually works, though it's tiresome to read the whole book in one go like that. The blurbs have a nice bitsize though. Looking forward to starting with the ambient section first. Will have to make sure slsk has enough feul in the tank to help me track some of this stuff down!

this Priscilla Ermel retrospective is really hitting the "obscure sound" sweet spot for me atm

https://music-from-memory.bandcamp.com/album/origens-da-luz

i finally got round to listening to Chee's tape that comes with the book.

!@%$?

i got about two thirds through side 1. he's trolling with this, isn't he?

how so?? The tape is on my Discogs wantlist but of course it never turns up

lotta smooth acoustic guitars? that’s the impression I got surfing through the albums in the book

xp that was a legit q, haven’t heard it myself

it is the opposite of smooth acoustic guitars. more musique concrete head frying collage with the odd lapse into pleasant percussion before some more ganrly spoken word bit kicks in again. It slightly reminded me of early Current 93 type sound collages which I like just fine but wasn't really expecting here.

gnarly!

as I noted on the Discogs page, I would love to see even a partial tracklist of this cuz I have no fuckin clue

Side 2 is something else entirely. I would also love a tracklist of this side.

Not sure what thread to put this in tbh, but lost yasuaki shimizu album from 1984 being released on palto flats next year, sleevenotes by yer man chee shimizu:

https://ra.co/news/76561

there's a preview clip at the end of that story and lemme tell you, it sounds great

That clip sounds completely amazing! Thanks

Not sure what thread to put this in tbh, but lost yasuaki shimizu album from 1984 being released on palto flats next year, sleevenotes by yer man chee shimizu:

https://ra.co/news/76561🕸

this is absolutely incredible

do believe the hype.

Yep

cosign

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWMG_pkOf7w

Dream shop.

i hope to go someday <3