FIELDS OF ARTIFICIAL FLOWERS

1 - Autechre - Outpt [EP7, 1999] 2 - Secret Chiefs 3 - Hagia Sophia [Book M, 2001] 3 - Talking Heads - Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) [Remain In Light, 1980] 4 - Aphex Twin - Logon Rock Witch [Richard D. James Album, 1996  5 - Netsky - Eyes Closed [Eyes Closed, 2010] 6 - Boards Of Canada - Happy Cycling [Music Has The Right To Children, 1998] 7 - Deckman Coss - cities on the slopes [what became, 2010] 8 - AFX - Crying In Your Face [Analord 04, 2005] 9 - Tim Exile - Family Galaxy [Listening Tree, 2009] 10 - Venetian Snares - Too Young [The Chocolate Wheelchair Album, 2003] - 11 - Richard Devine - Floccus [Asect:Dscect, 2003] 12 - Oval - Do While (Command X) [‘94 Diskont, 1995] 13 - Autechre - ilanders [Oversteps, 2010] 14 - Bluebird Handwriting - 7355 [Bluebird Handwriting EP 1, 2008] 15 - Casey LaLonde - Double Shot [Thank You, 2010] 16 - Oneohtrix Point Never - Nobody Here [Memory Vague, 2009]

The evening hour is fading within the dwindling sun, And in a lonely moment those embers will be gone And the last of all the young birds flown.

Farida Kudasheva - Жиллэр-жиллэр

Hanan - Nefarek

Charles Long & Stereolab - Space Moment

RICOCHET - Blue Melody (from their s/t 7” EP, 1985, Toypick/Zero Records) Ridiculously stoked to have managed to finally cross this off the ol’ wantlist a while back. The elusive RICOCHET 7” has been my #3 top Japanese minimal synth want for years and years (the MODEL-T flexi held the top spot and #2 is still at large) so even though I had to cough up some dough and that my copy isn’t totally mint I’m more than happy with it. This was released in 1985 on Toypick, a sublabel of the label Zero Records who, among other things, released early stuff by SHONEN KNIFE and CHÉ-SHIZU as well as the “Aura Music” compilation in collaboration with Kageroh Records (PORTRAY HEADS, HE WAS etc). Also, for those of us trivia-minded, T. Mikawa from INCAPACITANTS and HIJOKAIDAN noted in “The History of Hijokaidan” that the ads for Zero Records releases were always pretty weird (he didn’t specify in which way though). So what does this sound like then? Minimalistic and brooding for sure, but not without some sort of hints of shall we say bittersweet optimism. In a sense I get to think about DIASTEREOMER, except mellower and possibly on antidepressants. The singing on this is a bit weird - alternating between nasal and deadpan to operatic and slightly hysterical vocalizations. Finally - isn’t the cover art for this just beautiful? Reminds me of the awesome “Your Passion” single by MARTIN DUPONT. Again; my copy of this isn’t in tip top shape, so please excuse the odd crackles here and there.

HALF MOON - Heart Break (from “キメキファンタジー / Heart Break” 7” single, 198?, Paradise Records) Best song ever? Maybe it’s just a temporary infatuation, but right now this is it for me! I’m seriously head over heels in love with this song - not sure if I even need to hear any more music than this. Taking a more sober look at it, “Heart Break” is at very least to my ears one of the finest pieces of powerpop to come out of Japan - a perfect blend of bittersweet melancholy and subtle hopefullness, tied together by a heartfelt and yet quite disciplined performance. For some reason or other HALF MOON decided to use the cheesiest synth sounds imaginable on this track - and through some very weird alchemy it actually works out incredibly well! Apart from being the geniuses behind this single, I don’t know much about HALF MOON. I’m assuming they were a Tokyo band since the Paradise Records label were based in Shibuya. I know the label put out a couple of more singles, but I think this was the only one HALF MOON ever put out.

IMAGE - Shaking Hart (from the “Shaking Hart / Ki·La·La” single, 1980, no label) Got this a while ago and was initially pretty dissapointed since I’d for some reason or another expected fast paced, synth-driven new wave á la early EXCENTRIQUE NOIZ or something. But as usual it took a couple of listens before I understood the charms of this single and I’ve since warmed to it quite a lot. Despite being perhaps more than a bit on the bombastic and dated sounding (this thing is VERY eighties, to say the least …but then again, it did come out at the very beginning of the decade) I do think this is quite nice. It sounds like an ending theme to some truly epic 80:s space opera animé that never existed - or something to that effect! You really have to admire how slick and professional everything sounds considering that the band most probably produced and released this by themselves. My copy of this single is a bit beat, so my apologies for the slight pops and crackles present.