hiroshi yoshimura

  • Illustration by Laura Gomez I think, no undertaking is ever as enriching if isn’t done with a purpose in mind. For myself, trying to understand and (most importantly) differentiate what makes Japanese Ambient music different than other ways to music led me to an idea. It’s one that I thank NTS for giving me a…

  • There’s something about fall that makes me play Hiroshi Yoshimura’s music much more often. On prior albums like Green, A・I・R (Air In Resort), and Soundscape 1: Surround, Hiroshi perfectly seized on exactly what “environmental music” could be and how it could differ from BGM (background music). No longer mere ambient music, it was decidedly rich, melodic experimentation…

  • Recorded by Hiroshi Yoshimura at his private studio, Hiroh 806, using Yamaha DX7, TX7, and FB01 synthesizers, a Roland MSQ-700 sequencer and a Victor AV computer. That’s exactly what the Sona Gaia release of Hiroshi Yoshimura’s Green stated in its liner notes. That can’t be. You put on Green, and the things that last with you, long after the…

  • It’s easy to get away with music that sounds like something. Vast store shelves are littered with “albums” proclaiming exactly what you’ll hear inside. Relaxing Sounds of the Rainforest, Nights in Ireland, Serenity and Bliss Mix, etc. all serving as perfect sonic backgrounds to whatever space you want them to live in. But is this…

  • Hiroshi Yoshimura was commissioned in 1984 by Japanese multi-national personal care company Shiseido to create something that might be entirely out of his own wheelhouse: music that could complement a fragrance. It’s a pitch that would sound ludicrous to most musicians but for Hiroshi presented a magnificent idea.

  • Self-released on cassette in 1983, Hiroshi Yoshimura’s Pier & Loft earns the distinction of being both his most hard to find record (Discogs prices pointing upwards of $100 now) and also, surprisingly, his most accessible. The problem, of course, has been finding actual audio of it. On this release he took his environmental music somewhere new. You…

  • Every Hiroshi Yoshimura record is a bit of something very special. Versed in the mastery of combining environmental sound with personal music, every bit of Hiroshi’s recordings speaks of the special connection we as beings of this earth have with the feelings our surroundings can inspire. A lot of people hate technology, a lot of people feel there is…

ambient art pop art rock balearic brazilian electro-acoustic england environmental music experimental folk-rock fourth world Funk fusion japan jazz minimalist neo-folk neoclassical new age walearic