Attempting to recreate the golden yesterdays of Jose Padilla’s White Isle sunsets with the tunes of today…

Jun Arasaki & Nine Sheep / Kajyadhi-Fu Bushi / EM Records

“Kajyadhi-Fu Bushi” is a traditional Okinawan song, passed down from generation to generation. However, in 1970, jazz musician Jun Arasaki produced a radical arrangement of the number for his band, Nine Sheep, to perform on live TV. It’s still a slow, stately, sentimental ceremony, that conjures images of the players in ritual robes, but the voices and plucked sanshin strings are many, instead of the usual solo, and joined by flutes, piano, percussion and electric guitar. Somehow, Osaka’s EM Records got their hands on the tapes, and released this unique piece of music on a 7” in 2018, flipped by a futuristic Visible Cloaks rework. The duo translating the melodies into quiet keys, ethereal sighs and woozy wows of sound. The original reduced to a distant echo, as if overheard dialling between stations on a shortwave radio. The feel that of an experimental art installation. 

Aukai & Vraell / Meld

Aukai is the alias of German musician Markus Sieber, who has travelled the globe, but is currently based in The Balearics. He releases a lot of fine solo work, however, here, on the album “Meld”, he collaborates with guitarist Alessio Scozzaro, who lives in London and creates under the name Vraell. The set, only available to stream, centres on some incredibly elegant fretwork. Not just from Scozzaro, who slips delicately, effortlessly between Spanish and classical styles, but also from Sieber, who plucks and picks both guitar and South American charango. Sieber also adds Prophet-05 textures – subtle snaking synth lines and an unobtrusive, atmospheric vapour. His production a carefully crafted polish. Sympathetically finding ways to spotlight the duo’s dexterity and allow it to shine. Together, the patterns they make, the pretty ripples and cascades, move from melancholy lullaby and harp-like harmonics to urgent flamenco. Summoning scenes of Mediterranean heat, and dreams of distant horizons. In places conjuring the drama of an Ennio Morricone Sergio Leone score. Sieber seems to acknowledge this homage, adding “For A Few Dollars More” pocket watch chimes to the beautiful “Edge”. Penguin Cafe Orchestra’s playful fusions of folk and chamber music are another point of reference.

Samana / Without Words

Samana, Rebecca and Franklin Mockett, mark, celebrate the birth of their first child with this beautiful, softly strummed and sung ballad. A loving, hummed and la-la-ed lullaby for the new born baby, whose lyrics describe a life-long bond communicated without words. 

Giuliano Sorgini / Savana Selvaggia / Four Flies

Four Flies continue their mission to make available previously unreleased gems from the archives of Italian soundtrack composer Giuliano Sorgini, with a fresh 45 that contains 2 contrasting tracks. Sorgini, probably best known for the sought after scores “Living Dead At Manchester Morgue” and “Zoo Folle”, in the `70s pioneered the use of modular synths at his Cat & Fox studio in Rome, and his beats have since been plundered all over. The moody, Moog-y, Middle Eastern “Arabian Safari” is prophetic, percolating electronica. The sort of obscurity that could have cropped up on a Daniele Baldelli Cosmic Club tape, or a Two Lone Swordsmen “Inspirations & Influences” mix. “I mister del mondo”, on the other hand, is a sophisticated soft focus, romantic swirl of synthesised sound. The sort of library cue that Stereolab paid homage to. 

Emily A. Sprague / Sing To (Khotin Remix) / RVNG Intl.

Emily A. Sprague promos her forthcoming album “Cyano” with a remix from Khotin, who weaves the Catskills based musician’s whispered words around a slow, wonky, broken breakbeat. Its tock-ticking like winding down clockwork, and surrounded by ethereal electronica detail. The fluttering folk flute complimented by cracked, crystalline cascades and gentle whizzing and whirring. 

Tam Tam / No Woman No Cry / Insense Music Works

Insense Music Works have issued a trio of 7s, cherry-picking tracks from Café Apres-Midi’s “Meets Studio Ghibli” project, which itself selects songs, and covers, from the legendary Japanese anime production house’s films. My favourite has Tokyo quartet Tam Tam on one side, with an ambient, steel pan-led take on the Bob Marley & The Wailers’ classic, “No Woman No Cry”. A dubby, daydream drift, their version, floats on muted brass fanfares and harmonium-like wheeze, as if wafting in on a tropical / Caribbean breeze. On the flip you’ll find Nobuyuki Nakajima‘s “Sayonara no Natsu”, a perfect piano reading of a theme from 2011’s “Up On Poppy Hill”. 

Me and my sons used to look forward to these films every summer. I have precious memories of watching them, together, in the cinema, during school holidays – despite having to work out the plot by pictures / animation alone. We have a battered box set that I treasure. “Spirited Away” is a classic, “Princess Mononoke” holds a special place in my heart, since people used to say that my dog looked like the giant, white, wolf gods, but I think “Pom Poko” is my favourite.