Light In The Attic has announced details of a compilation collecting music from a number of the finest Japanese composers of ambient and new age music.
Co-compiled by Visible Cloaks’ Spencer Doran, Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990 will collect music released through the 1980s by the likes of Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Ryuichi Sakamoto and Haruomi Hosono, Studio Ghibli soundtrack composer Joe Hisaishi and widely revered ambient producers such as Hiroshi Yoshimura and Yoshio Ojima, amongst others.
‘Kankyō Ongaku’ translates from Japanese as "environmental music" and, as Light In The Attic explains, it was an "umbrella term used to describe the soundscapes, architectural acoustics, and incidental music that soundtracked the spaces, products, and experiences of 1980s Japan".
"As this music continues to echo in modern times and resonate with a new generation of listeners, I’m very happy to help present a window into its universe," says Spencer Doran.
The compilation will be available in February in vinyl and CD packages, accompanied by an essay penned by Doran. You can pre-order it here.