Various

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨 𝙤𝙛 '𝟴𝟬𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 '𝟵𝟬𝙨 𝙅𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙏𝙑, 𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙖 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙘 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙗𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚, 𝙫𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙮𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙣𝙤𝙣-𝙒𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨.

When Japanese composer Yas-Kaz left Tokyo for Bali in the mid 1970s he had little idea of how influential his trip would become. In studying the storied art of gamelan, the jazz and avant-garde percussionist opened a door to a world of sound and rhythm left behind by the West. The music he and his contemporaries made would become known as new age. It also happened to soundtrack the golden era of anime.

Elsewhere, pioneering children’s TV composer Chumei Watanabe’s ‘Fushigi Song’ (performed by a vocal group Korogi ‘72) offers a trippy and infectious groove with sonic similarities to Don Cherry’s ‘Brown Rice’; little-known jazz-funk library group Columbia Orchestra showcase the best of Tokyo’s session musicians on ‘Hearts Beats - Theme for Andrew Glasgow’; before lawyer-turned-composer Kan Ogasawara closes out the compilation with a dramatic flourish on ‘Gishin Anki’.

Following on from Time Capsule’s acclaimed deep-dive into the world of manga & anime synth-pop in 2022, this vinyl only collection is set to broaden and diversify an understanding of how soundtracks shaped the sound of new age music in Japan for a generation.