Various Artists - Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental, & New Age Music 1980-1990

February 15, 2019 - Light in the Attic Records

As spring pokes its head around the corner, a new album of old music has emerged. Complied by Spencer Doran of Visible Cloaks for Seattle, Washington based Light in the Attic Records, Kankyō Ongaku (Japanese for “environmental music”) is a collection of 25 tracks by 25 artists about 25 different things with 25 different moods. Unfortunately all but 10 of the tracks are on the physical release only which is backordered as of this review. So I will write 10 things about the 10 tracks by the 10 artists that were available to listen to digitally.

Satoshi Ashikawa - ‘Still Space’ — The space is still but not frozen, as contemplative notes chime out like bioluminescent shrimps, or “umibotaru.”

Yoshio Ojima - ‘Glass Chattering’ — An astute title; minimal melodic plucks in the style of ringtones and startup jingles sit atop a cold ocean of delayed synth chords.

Yoshiaki Ochi - ‘Ear Dreamin’ — Organic-esque kalimba arrangement featuring marimbas, rain-sticks, and other wood-based percussive instrumentation; the feeling of waiting in an air-conditioned jungle themed queue for a pleasantly nostalgic theme park ride.

Toshi Tsuchitori - ‘Ishiura (Abridged)’ — The first overt foray into the physical side of music, hand-struck chimes with plenty of space for thought. 

Masashi Kitamura + Photogenix - ‘Variation III’ — The noise of ocean waves are subverted from the typical realm of relaxation as seemingly disparate and mostly eerie one-shots pepper the soundscape.

Yasuaki Shimizu - Sieko 3 — This track was apparently used in a Seiko watch commercial back in the day and it sounds like Harry vapor space fantasy Potter magic nostalgia minimal playful about to lead into something and then it’s gone; fantastic.

Hiroshi Yoshimura - ‘Blink’ — Music to be played in retail store environments that is equal parts emotionally heart wrenching, ambiguously nostalgic, and slightly spooky.

Fumio Miyashita - ‘See the Light (Abridged)’ — A great example of anytime music, the track does not impart any direct mood or feeling, instead it has enough breathing room and vagueness to take in and amplify its surroundings.

Akira Ito - ‘Praying for Mother / Earth Part 1’ — More water sounds but less about “Mother Earth” and more about the science fiction world of the video game Mass Effect; this is definitely water but definitely not our home planet. 

Masahiro Sugaya - ‘Umi No Sunatsubu’ — Sugaya must have been the bane of his childhood piano class; if I could make my cat walking on the right side of the piano sound this good, I wouldn’t be sitting here writing about it. 🍍