va - Masters Of Japanese Electronic Music

Far East Experimental Sounds/Sonic Plate was a label somehow aligned with the similarly genre-defying Zero Gravity. Both labels published synthesizer music that straddled noise, techno, ambient, and that certain something that only ever existed when it was on a FEES/Sonic Plate or Zero Gravity album. This compilation is a necessary piece to that puzzle, bringing together disparate artists in what can best be understood as a statement of purpose. You get well-established noise acts like Hanatarash and Merzbow, improvising turntablist Otomo Yoshihide, producers Mom'n'Dad Productions, Kazunao Nagata, and Hado-Ho, one track by the magnificent Nerve Net Noise and one by novelist Manabu Yuasa (whose only other recording seems to be a collaboration with none other than Mr. Zero Gravity, Kazunao Nagata). The presentation sets the bar pretty high: not only does the CD come in a metal can, it also includes trading cards for each artist!

va - Masters of Japanese Electronic Music