Satoshi Ashikawa (芦川聡) was a Japanese musician, composer, producer and record store owner. He is considered one of the earliest flag bearers of ambient music in Japan.[1]
Satoshi Ashikawa 芦川聡 | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Satoshi Ashikawa |
| Born | May 7, 1953 |
| Died | July 28, 1983 (aged 30) |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instrument | Synthesizer |
| Years active | 1974-83 |
Life and career
editAshikawa graduated from the Department of Sociology at Tokyo's Keio University in 1977.[2] His first musical performance was at Sōgetsu Kaikan Hall in 1974 and he participated in performances at many galleries and cultural spaces across Japan during the late 1970s.[2]
Ashikawa founded the record and book store Art Vivant in Ikebukuro, Tokyo in 1975.[2] The shop was one of the first in Japan to import Brian Eno's Ambient records alongside a niche selection of avant garde and ethnographic LPs, and became a hub for the influential kankyō ongaku (環境音楽) 'environmental music' scene.[3] Ashikawa's keyboard piece 'Still Space' was later featured as the opening track on Light in the Attic's compilation Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990.[4]
Sound Process and Still Way
editIn 1982, Ashikawa co-founded the record label Sound Process with colleague Munetaka Tanaka,[3] which soon grew into a sound design consultancy firm and book publisher.[5] The label released three LPs as part of the Wave Notation series: Hiroshi Yoshimura's Music For Nine Post Cards (1982), Ashikawa's Still Way (1982) and Satsuki Shibano's Erik Satie (France 1866-1925) (1984). Still Way was Ashikawa's only full-length release and featured celebrated percussionist Midori Takada alongside harp, piano and flute players. Ashikawa described the album as "intended to be listened to in a casual manner, as a musical landscape or a sound object... not something that would stimulate listeners but music that should drift like smoke and become part of the environment."[6]
The album received a resurgence in popularity thanks to online sharing in the late 2010s and was reissued on CD and vinyl in 2019 by WRWTFWW Records.[6] Crack Magazine included the album in their list of '7 essential Japanese ambient and new age records',[7] FACT called it "a record of chilly, beautiful stillness",[5] and Exclaim! named it an "ambient masterpiece".[8]
Ashikawa was killed in a car accident the year following the release of Still Way.[1]
Discography
editAlbums
edit- Still Way, LP (1982) - Sound Process - as composer and producer
- Hiroshi Yoshimura, Music For Nine Post Cards, LP/cassette (1982) - Sound Process - as producer
Appearances
edit- 'Free Music Rev. vol.2' (recorded 1977 with Tatsuo Hattori, violin) on Japanese Underground Music in the Late 70s and 80s, CD (2016) - Loft Books
- 'Still Space' on Tra New Artist Catalogue No.4, cassette (1983) - Tra Project
- 'Still Space' on Kankyō Ongaku (Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980 - 1990), LP/CD (2019) - Light In The Attic Records
References
edit- ^ a b Needham, Jack (19 February 2019). "Lullabies for air conditioners: the corporate bliss of Japanese ambient". The Guardian. Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ a b c Still Way (LP booklet). Tokyo: Sound Process. 1982.
- ^ a b Doran, Spencer (12 February 2019). "Composing for space: The meticulous design of Japanese environmental sounds". The Vinyl Factory. The Vinyl Factory Limited. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ "Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980 1990". Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ a b Gordon, Lewis (14 January 2018). "Another Green World: How Japanese ambient music found a new audience". FACT Mag. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ a b Helfet, Gabriela (3 July 2019). "Satoshi Ashikawa's coveted Japanese ambient LP Still Way reissued for the first time". The Vinyl Factory. The Vinyl Factory Limited. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ Yeung, Vivian. "7 essential Japanese ambient and new age records". Crack Magazine. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ Thiessen, Brock. "Satoshi Ashikawa's Ambient Masterpiece 'Still Way' Gets First-Ever Vinyl Reissue". Exclaim.ca. Exclaim! Media Inc. Retrieved 12 May 2020.