Marcos Valle
Marcos Valle

Nippon Acid Folk 1970-1980 is pressed on 12” vinyl and represents the start of Time Capsule’s deep dive into Japan’s rich history of folk and psychedelic soul music.A counterculture movement united by an expansive, experimental and deeply soulful sensibility, Japan’s rebel protest music challenged the status quo and changed the country’s music industry in the process.Vinyl LP with 4 page insert, original artwork, photosThe birth of Japan’s nascent acid folk scene was rooted in the messy and invigorating political climate of the late 1960s. It is a story of Dadaists, communists, pharmacists and cult leaders, led by a young generation of upstart students, artists and dreamers hellbent on turning their world upside down.Born on the campuses of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, and centred around newly formed independent label and left-wing stronghold URC, this uniquely Japanese form of folk expression provided an outlet for musicians who were tired of aping Western sounds and instead found ways to sing in Japanese and integrate traditional forms in new ways.At the forefront of this movement was Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Haroumi Hosono, a polymath innovator whose band Happy End released the first Japanese language rock album, and whose influence would go on to be felt across Japanese music for decades. Alongside, and informed by the Kansai scene’s Takashi Nishioka and Happy End collaborator Ken Narita, they experimented with cadences and accents of the Japanese language to open the door for others to experiment with their own forms of psychedelic folk too.Some, like Nishioka, were more inspired by Dadaism than drugs, while others, like Kazuhisa Okubo, would ultimately find work as a chemist, having founded two further folk groups that flirted with varying levels of success. Obstinately uncommercial, relentlessly creative, the music featured on Time Capsule’s Nippon Acid Folk represents a broad church of influences.Perhaps the wildest addition to this congregation however was Hiroki Tamaki, a classically-trained violinist and committed iconoclast, whose synth-prog odysseys hinted at his obsession with the divine. Subsumed by the teachings of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, he penned an album in praise of the infamous religious leader of which two superbly mind-bending tracks are featured on this compilation.Charting the decade from 1970 to 1980 as the dreams of political and spiritual liberation seeded in the ‘60s turned to dust, Nippon Acid Folk surveys a little explored corner of Japanese music history, but one which ultimately laid the foundations for an independent music industry, launching the careers of Hosono and others in the process.Nippon Acid Folk 1970-1980 is pressed on 12” vinyl and represents the start of Time Capsule’s deep dive into Japan’s rich history of folk and psychedelic soul music.

Slowaxx is the solo project and live band created by Riccardo Chiarucci, a music producer, arranger and composer based in Tuscany (Italy). His first album ‘‘Shapes Interfusion’’ features a unique blend of jazz, electronic music and hip-hop, recorded with a collective of musicians and the rapper Young A.M.A.The creative process of the album involves a mix of home-studio production and live recorded sessions. Starting from ideas and demos from Riccardo, all tracks are the result of collaborative jams with musicians bringing their own styles and perception to the table. These sessions created a dialogue of personal vibrations, blending together to emerge as a collective sound.Opening the album, the track « Emoyeni » (a Zulu word for wind, soul and spirit) is a handful of thoughts fluttering in the air, expressed through a Rhodes jam played by Luca Sguera and conversing with sharp electronic drums. The following title « Y.B.A » is an electronic jazz session featuring rapper Young A.M.A. The provocative and ego-driven lyrics add a layer of complexity to this atmospheric production beside beautiful improvisations on the second part. Both tracks start as relaxed flights but step up to drive more excitement throughout the journey.Another highlight of the album is the track « Femmes », a tribute to women and an appeal against gender inequality. It features a speech from Emma Watson, drawing a line on a carpet of lounge, soul sounds and 90s sampled drums. A touching, soft electronic jazz ballad offering the perfect opening for B side.Tracks « Pantere Rosee » and « Stazione Funk » complete both sides with their own aesthetics. The first offers a pure Rhodes, bass and synth jam built on programmed acoustic drums. It’s a cartoon-esque, never-ending chase into very colourful sounds. The latter goes in the opposite way with a deconstructed sampled 90s drums, acid sounds and grooves. It is the most experimental track of the album, bringing a harsh balance to an overall chill and warm sound.Young A.M.A. returns on the ending track « No Secret » to openly express his approach and views on hip-hop while the instrumental part is built as an astral travel with multi layered keyboards echoing to a heavy bassline played by Jury Maccianti.« Shapes Interfusion » delivers a unique and thought-provoking listening experience. Not only it invites listeners on a sonic journey at the crossroads of music styles, but it is also the result of a unique creative process. By mixing live recorded sessions of improvised jams, written music and pre-recorded home-production, Riccardo Chiarucci confronted his ideas to the personalities, knowledge and feelings of seven musicians, one rapper, and their creative shapes, fused into one musical experience: Shapes Interfusion