Triple vinyl LP pressing in deluxe Stoughton tip-on jacket, slipcase and poster. Light In The Attic's Japan Archival Series continues with Kankyo Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990, an unprecedented overview of the country's vital minimal, ambient, avant-garde, and New Age music - what can collectively be described as kankyo ongaku, or environmental music. The collection features internationally acclaimed artists such as Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Joe Hisaishi, as well as other pioneers like Hiroshi Yoshimura, Yoshio Ojima and Satoshi Ashikawa, who deserve a place alongside the indisputable giants of these genres. In the 1970s, the concepts of Brian Eno's ambient and Erik Satie's furniture music began to take hold in the minds of artists and musicians around Tokyo. Emerging fields like soundscape design and architectural acoustics opened up new ways in which sound and music could be consumed. For artists like Yoshimura, Ojima and Ashikawa, these ideas became the foundation for their musical works, which were heard not only on records and in live performances, but also within public and private spaces where they intermingled with the sounds and environments of everyday life. The bubble economy of 1980s Japan also had a hand in the advancement of kankyo ongaku. In an attempt to cultivate an image of sophisticated lifestyle, corporations with expendable income bankrolled various art and music initiatives, which opened up new and unorthodox ways in which artists could integrate their avant-garde musical forms into everyday life: in-store music for Muji, promo LP for a Sanyo AC unit, a Seiko watch advert, among others that can be heard in this collection. Kankyo Ongaku is expertly compiled by Spencer Doran (Visible Cloaks) who, with a series of revelatory mixtapes as well as his label Empire of Signs (Music For Nine Postcards), has been instrumental in shepherding interest in this music outside of Japan. Together with Light In The Attic's celebrated anthologies I Am The Center and The Microcosm, Kankyo Ongaku helps to broaden our understanding of this quietly profound music, regardless of the environment in which it's heard.
T**N
Great vinyl product, no poster included
The vinyl release is beautifully packaged. The outer container is sturdy and the inner sleeves are all beautiful. The liner booklet is really informative and well written. The records themselves sound great. Contrary to the item description, no poster was included in my package.
K**D
Sound issues on both sets I received.
Terrible sound Issues. I have 2 copies (first set had a thick scratch on the 1st record, so got a replacement) Side C has same sound issues on its first track on both sets. Sound issues on 1st record of the replacement sent. All records are warped to heavily warped. Both getting sent back and I haven't even tried to listen past the 1st track of side C. Records were cleaned with a Project VCS record cleaner before playing. Such a let down. I'm surprised other have had no issues with theirs.
K**1
Kontemplation und innerer Friede
Was hier für vergleichsweise dann wenig Geld kommt ist eine Box, die sich haptisch gut anfühlt mit drei sehr gut gepressten Platten und dünnem Booklet.Sehr, sehr schöne asiatische Ambient Musik, die gut zu den Arbeiten von Eno, Sakamoto oder Sylvian passt.Passt auch zu einem Buch, einer Tasse Tee an einem Regentag.
J**L
Greatness in strangeness
Weird tunes. But very pleasant to listen to if you in a need a change
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