Tomotsugu Nakamura - For A Fleeting Moment (IIKKI)
"acoustic microsounds & his usual sense of magical music realism" + thoughts on Apple Music banning a respected ambient artist being released on TSMM for being "generic".
A few brief thoughts…
It's rare that a label gets mentioned in dispatches twice in a week, but it's also rare that IIKKI release two LPs at the same time. For those unaware IIKKI is the artist/musician dialogue sister label to the similarly ambient obsessed, music only Laaps label. On this new release TSMM fave Tomotsugu Nakamura provides the soundtrack for Swiss photographer Simone Kappeler's hazy, alternative world view with another space appreciating soundscape, rich in consciousness altering tones, surgically separated acoustic microsounds & his usual sense of magical music realism.
Have a listen…
You can also find Tomotsugu Nakamura & other sound bathers taking a long soak in the Slow Ambient Playlist.
In other news…
The new single on TSMM from The Green Kingdom was released yesterday everywhere, well apart from Apple Music who have classed it (& the previous single) as "generic"!
Apple Music define “generic” as:
1. Instrumental releases with every track under 2 minutes
2. Releases with minimal accompaniment - usually less than 3 instruments
3. Repetitiveness - if there is absolutely zero progression in composition.
None of these criteria apply to the previous two singles, despite them being minimal ambient downtempo tracks. My distributor seems unable (or unwilling) to assist and it seems there is no recourse to Apple’s decision. I partially understand why they might be implementing these measures. There are a 100K tracks released a day as it is and AI music apps have just removed all barriers to music creation and are enabling a wave of pretty passable (apart from the audio quality) ambient music - give them a try, you’ll be surprised.
More worryingly though is that the “generic” music detection software - I presume there are no humans involved, seem to be about to refuse entry to sizeable chunks of music in certain genres. I mean The Green Kingdom has been going for 20 years and is a well respected ambient artist who has been interviewed by a host of reputable publications. If it can happen to him then the new wave of ambient/minimal/downtempo artists are screwed. Worrying
Anyway don't worry about out our cultural overlords, the track is a wonderfully dreamy slice of ambient downtempo that will sound perfect during your quiet moments and lazy summer days. Watch out for the Horizons LP dropping next week.