"Incredibly organic, despite its programmed origins." Even with the ever-growing  popularity of Japanese ambient music (and an extremely fertile cross-disciplinary career), Masahiro Sugaya remains pretty much unknown in the west. Coming up in the early 80's, Sugaya crossed paths with Satoshi Ashikawa (of Sound Process) and Yoshio Ojiima, and quickly developed an interest in composing with the latest computer and synthesizer technologies. His early works would prove to be incredibly nuanced and oganic - remarkably natural sounding environmental music produced completely digitally. Sugaya's pieces would eventually find their way into films, art performances, and installations, where they might have faded as distant memories, but thankfully Empire Of Signs has compiled this volume of work on vinyl for the first time. Take a deep dive into the serene sounds of "Future Green," the relaxing "Wind Conversation," or the synthetic oasis of "Until The End Of The World." Fans of Hiroshi Yoshimura, Midori Takada, or Satoshi Ashikawa take note. Pressed on indie exclusive clear and green colored vinyl.

• indie exclusive clear w/ green colored vinyl pressing
• 1st ever vinyl pressing
• remastered from original tapes in cooperation w/ the artist
• liner notes in Japanese + English by Masahiro Sugaya and Spencer Doran / Maxwell August Croy
• obi strip
• music label: Empire of Signs 2019

reviewed by Endless Tsundoku 11/2019