★Victory
Medicine Compilation From The Quiet Lodge
Double LP edition. A classic from Haruomi Hosono’s late ’80s and ’90s abstract electronica period, Medicine Compilation From The Quiet Lodge is a sublimely inviting ambient album with touches of acid house, downtempo pop, and ethereal trip-hop. Standout “Laughter Meditation” opens up the album with gorgeous zither and kalimba from Laraaji, a peaceful 4-to-the-floor beat, and spoken word. Medicine Compilation from the Quiet Lodge features ultimate ambient music that invites listeners to another w…
The Tale Of Genji
Another favorite from the Haromi Hosono canon. This was the score for the first animated adaptation of The Tale of Genji, a sprawling piece of 11th century literature written by noblewoman Shikibu Murasaki, considered by many to be the first modern novel in recorded history. (Isao Tomita later write his own symphonic adaptation of the story.) The anime was directed by Gisaburō Sugii, and while it only covers a small part of the epic storyline, the score is highly ambitious.
Unlike much of Hosono…
Morning Picture
Another fine out-of-print album from 1984 from the Japanese bassist/keyboardist. This one is mellow and quite easy to get into. All music composed by Yoshio Suzuki. Suzuki plays all the instruments on tracks 3-10. Musicians: Yoshio Suzuki (all tracks): Acoustic & Electric Pianos, Synthesizers, Upright & Electric Bass, (also Linn Drum machine on tracks 3-10) On Tracks 1 & 2 only: Toshihiko Inoue: Soprano Saxophone Kazumasa Akiyama: Electric Guitar Jun Saitoh: Percussion Hideo Yamaki: Simmons Drum…
Omni Sight Seeing
This was his first studio album in four years since his last album, "Endless Talking", and the first release since moving to Epic/Sony Records. This work was the result of sessions and collaborations with Arabian musicians, with an inclination towards the 'world music' that was gaining attention at the time. Deployed often in pop culture as punchline, Hosono takes such sight-seeing and transforms it into a metaphor for sample-heavy electronic music, drawing from various cultures and weaving them…
The Aegean Sea
*2024 much needed repress!!* Victory present a reissue of Haruomi Hosono, Takahiko Ishikawa, and Masataka Matsutoya's The Aegean Sea originally released in 1979. The album is somewhat of a companion piece to the previous year's Pacific (V 25AH426). A beautiful piece of Japanese smooth fusion-jazz with elements of traditional Greek music and Balearic grooves, it's one of Hosono's cleanest and most focused works to date. Long sought-after by collectors, this record is nearly impossible to find in …
Akira O.S.T.
The strength of the Akira soundtrack lies in its unique blend of traditional Japanese instruments and futuristic electronic sounds. Yamashiro weaves together an eclectic mix of influences, creating a sonic landscape that mirrors the dystopian and cyberpunk themes of the movie. The use of traditional chants, taiko drums, and shakuhachi flutes alongside electronic synthesizers and orchestral elements generates a hauntingly mesmerizing atmosphere that perfectly complements the visuals on screen. Th…
Pacific
2024 repress. Victory present a reissue of Pacific, originally released in 1978. Reuniting the best session musicians Japan had to offer to make an album that would evoke the atmospheres of the South Pacific islands, the kind of places Japanese people spend their vacations. Pacific is a treat to the ears; its theme of the southern Pacific ocean and its warm cerulean waters relax its listeners with a fusion of city pop, soft jazz, and that good old 1970s funk while remaining surprisingly fully in…
Live at Yubin Chokin Kaikan Hall, Tokyo,14.05.1986
For this historical concert held at the Yubin Chokin Hall, in Tokyo on May 14, 1986, the legendary Japanese drummer Masahiko Togashi brought together an amazing line-up with such modern jazz luminaries as Steve Lacy (soprano sax), Don Cherry (pocket trumpet) and Dave Holland (bass). This particular album consists of four previously unpublished tracks (on vinyl), including some highly regarded Lacy's compositions such as The Crus and Quakes, and Don Cherry's African flavored anthem called Mopti. …
Music For 18 Musicians: Tokyo Opera City, Tokyo, Japan, May 21st
A stunning version of Steve Reich's masterpiece of musical minimalism Music For 18 Musicians (1974-1976), performed live at Tokyo Opera House in 2008 by Ensemble Modern and Synergy Vocals, featuring the composer as guest performer. LP housed in a deluxe die cut jacket with printed insert. In the 1960s, with Terry Riley and Philip Glass, Reich gave pulse back to experimental music. He discovered the tape-based techniques of looping and phasing, using recordings of fragments of speech, and then mo…
Rashomon
First with his band The Bunnys and later with The Blue Jeans, guitarist Takeshi "Terry" Terauchi covered many popular genres in the '60s and '70s, from garage, frat rock, and surf guitar instrumentals to sentimental ballads via his own inimitable take on the popular classics. Japan's premier guitar hero, her remains little known in the US. His style could be described as neo-surf, blending traditional surf sounds with fuzz guitar, acid organ, and impetuous drums. In 1972 the instrumental album R…
Live 77
Repressed. Les Rallizes Dénudés are one of the earliest and most revolutionary Japanese psychedelic rock bands, and existed off and on through four decades. The band formed in November of 1967 at Kyoto University, inspired by Exploding Plastic Inevitable-era Velvet Underground as well as the over-amplified rock of Blue Cheer and Mario Schifano's avant-garde ensemble Le Stelle. By 1968 they were gigging live and even began a regular collaboration with an avant-garde theater troupe, which ended th…
Pianology
Masahiko Satoh’s fourth album is a duet with German pianist and composer Wolfgang Dauner. Dauner is one of very early European avant-garde jazz pianists, and he recorded the first free jazz album in Germany back in 1964. Dauner played with Eberhard Weber and Jean-Luc Ponty, and in the late 60s, he experimented with choral music. Being a passionate innovator and experimenter, in 1970 he discovered electronic devices and started using them in his music. He experimented with ring-modulated Hohner c…
Captain Future o.s.t.
Reissue of a soundtrack, originally released 1978. Yuji Ohno, is a Japanese jazz musician born in 1941. He's principally known for his musical scoring of Japanese animated television series, of which 'Lupin III' and the feature film 'The Castle Of Cagliostro' are his best known works. Ohno is also well-known as a member of the jazz trio which he forms with bassist Miroslav Vitous and drummer Lenny White. 'Captain Future' is a legendary soundtrack performed by Yuji Ohno and his You & The E…