Bleep

In recent times Light In The Attic has been at the forefront of resurgent interest in out-of-print Japanese music - a run of Haruomi Hosono editions springs to mind - but even by their standards Kankyō Ongaku is quite the record. Due to the convergent factors of a booming economy, an interest in the incidental compositions of artists like Brian Eno and the growth of cosmopolitan city living, Japan in the 1980s saw a rapid rise in the demand for ‘environmental music’ (Kankyō Ongaku). Soon artists as prestigious as Hosono and his Yellow Magic Orchestra were coming up with sounds for advertisements, in-store playlists and home atmospheres. Compiled by Visible Cloaks’ Spencer Doran, Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990 provides a meticulously-cultivated overview of this quiet revolution.