Roman Andrén
Juanita

ATA Records: ...“I really like it. It sounds like my brother’s record with respect to the pocket and swing of the music, yet they own it. They make it their own.” - Illa J“New day” is the first original work by Abstract Orchestra and builds on the foundations laid on their debut LP “Dilla”. Flutes and electric piano lay out a gentle pad, propelled forward by Joost Hendrickx’s insistent drums. Occasional fragments of saxophones add an urgency to the insouciant groove laid out by the rhythm section as soft trumpets and trombones are gradually added to the flutes. This provides the perfect foil to Illa J’s laid back vocal delivery as he describes a typically relaxed tuesday morning spent contemplating the day ahead.The B-side is the AO remix which takes the instrumental performances of the a-side, chopping and fragmenting them and re-framing the original with a slightly harder edge, which should be popular with those DJs and listeners looking for something with a tougher sound.

boomkat: ...Japan's EM Records illuminate the liberated early works of Yokohama's no wave improv unit Inryo-Fuen circa 1980-82. First issued on flexi-disc and vinyl, these four tracks have now been remastered, re-edited and remixed from original tapes to provide a record of a fertile, pre-digital era when experimental music was performed on the very fringes of society to a tightly knit audience who really had to work to seek out anything beyond the pale - perhaps unlike today's instant access all areas culture. It opens with the historically poignant 'Dakyo Sezu (Uncompromising)' from their debut 7"; a stomping drums and bass dedication to Tony Conrad and The Dream Syndicate which provides an impromptu platform for local student agitators who burst onto the mic half way thru, only for the engineer to whip up the effects to chaotic effect. There follows some jagged skronk in 'Hammer Clock' which sounds uncannily like Mars meets Konono No.1, and then the thundering motorik turmoil of 'Sora Yori Orite Kisi Mono (That Which Falls From The Sky)' strangely alleviated by a lone, wistful organ figure that rises and swoops over all over the thing with celestial grace. But, for the full frontal, primal no wave dose, look no further than the 24 minute B-side of 'Ground Rock', summed up by the group's Jun Harada thusly; "This thrilling mode of performance had a mysterious power and sense of potential. By departing from pre-established harmony and pushing ourelves to our limits, we were able to discover a power that surpassed our own abilities. This act was like deciphering our own history from the deepest part of our being - the musical score of life that is DNA." Recommended!