Hiroshi Yoshimura

First ever reissue of this groundbreaking ambient work from the esteemed, Hiroshi Yoshimura

Barely known outside of his home country during his lifetime, the late Japanese ambient music pioneer Hiroshi Yoshimura has seen his global stature rise steadily in the past few years. The 2017 reissue of his lauded debut, Music For Nine Post Cards, along with a slow building cult internet following has helped ignite a renaissance in his acclaimed body of work, much of which has never been released outside of Japan. Known for his sound design and environmental music, Yoshimura worked on a number of commissions following the 1982 release of Music For Nine Post Cards, including works for museums, galleries, public spaces, TV shows, video art, fashion shows, and even a cosmetics company.

Originally released in 1986, GREEN is one of Hiroshi Yoshimura’s most well-loved recordings and a favorite of the artist himself. Recorded over the winter of 1985-86 at Yoshimura’s home studio, the compositions unfold at an unhurried pace, a stark contrast to the busy city life of Tokyo. As Yoshimura explained in the original liner notes, the album title in the context of this body of work is not meant to be seen as a color, but is rather used to convey “the comfortable scenery of the natural cycle known as GREEN”—which perfectly encapsulates the soothing and warm sounds contained on the album, although it was created utilizing Yamaha FM synthesizers, known for their crisp digital tones.

This edition marks the first reissue of the highly sought-after and impossible to find album. It features the original mix preferred by Yoshimura himself, previously available only on the initial Japanese vinyl release (a limited edition remixed version of the album, with added sound effects, was released on CD in the US).

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‘Green’ was released in 1986, almost four years after ‘Music For Nine Post Cards’, and has been a cult classic since. Although it went largely unnoticed outside Japan for decades it has become one of the most sought after Japanese ambient albums in recent years, a clean original copy going for a neat six hundred euros on any given day.

Yoshimura, who died of cancer in 2003, was a true polymath; a composer, designer, historian and architect pushing the boundaries between sound, construction and art while composing music for exhibitions, installations, fashion shows and subways. Music that was always as functional as is was beautiful. Not art for the sake of art, but art for the sake of beauty.

It’s a philosophy that’s best demonstrated by the breathtaking title track,. Based around a simple electro-acoustic melody. It has Yoshimura cracking the code for composing the perfect amalgam of synthetic and organic sound, caught in a deceptively effortless composition.

While the title track alone should be enough to justify the purchase of this stunning album, the are no weak moments on this meticulously produced work of pure beauty. Could this be the best reissue of the year?
(by Rogier Oostlander.)