Cosmic relaxation institution Seahawks return to earth with an EP of remixes of tracks from their recent album, Infinite Echo. Dropping one year after the original LP, the remixes tap some of Japan’s most accomplished and unique producers for new takes on singles and album cuts.
The enigmatic aus, aka Yasuhiko Fukuzono of Flau Records in Tokyo, delivers a celestial rework that hovers somewhere between modern classical and new age jazz. Free floating piano and synthesizer combine with distant voices to create a deep haze of enchantment. Mysterious and immersive.
Taro Nohara, known for his releases on Hamburg’s beloved Growing Bin label, and as a member of trip-ambient outfit Unknown Me, has created a cocoon of warm electronic tones and organic saxophone vibrations that emphasize the track’s Buddhist nature, featuring the voice of Mindar (‘Kyoto’s Buddhist robot’).
Kawasaki-based Kiyotaka Fukagawa, better known as Calm, has been creating beautiful music for over 30 years and his remixes of “Blue Surround” are no exception. Fine tuned for chillout zones inside or outside the mind, his sonic meditation is deep, acidic and serene.
Helmed by perennial co-captains Jon Tye (founder of Lo Recordings) and Pete Fowler (acclaimed Welsh visual artist), Seahawks’ recent album Infinite Echo emerged from a series of scraps and vignettes informed by a breadth of eclectic chillness (mid-80’s digital new age in the Higher Octave vein, Michael McDonald remixed by Oneohtrix Point Never, etc.), then fleshed out with Lyra Pramuk’s Siren Songs app and Holly Herndon’s Holly+ software, rendering it choral, otherworldly, and “emotional in a new kind of way.” The results are elevated and ineffable, like music heard at the edge of dreams, hinting at worlds yet to come.