Spencer Doran and Maxwell August Croy’s Empire of Signs label will release two more transmissions from Tokyo’s ambient sphere: retrospective collections of works by Masahiro Sugaya and Inoyama Land, both of whom featured on parent label Light In The Attic’s Japanese ambient, environmental music, and new age compilation Kankyō Ongaku.

Almost completely unknown in the west, Sugaya has been composing and producing music since the 1980s in an exceptionally wide range of fields. Horizon, Volume 1 presents some of his early scores for experimental Tokyo theatre group Pappa Tarahumura.

Makoto Inoue and Yasushi Yamashita’s Inoyama Land project spans nearly four decades. Commissions: 1977-2000 collects their work as they entered the world of environmental music following the release of their 1983 release Danzindan-Pojidon. Included is music written for the Kankaku (Sense) Museum in Miyagi and their score for a Tokyo re-staging of New York avant-theatre pioneer Richard Foreman’s post-modern stage piece Egyptology.

“These collections offer an even deeper dive into the long-hidden lineage of Japanese ambient/environmental music that is now being discovered and celebrated outside of Japan,” the label explains.

Commissions: 1977-2000 and Horizon, Volume 1 arrive via Empire Of Signs on September 20 and October 11 respectively.

Tracklistings

Horizon, Volume 1

01. Horizon (Intro)
02. Future Green
03. Afternoon of the Appearing FIsh
04. Grain of Sand by the Sea
05. Straight Line Floating in the Sky
06. Wind Conversation
07. Until the End of the World
08. Horizon (Outro)

Commissions: 1977-2000

01. Hair Air
02. Cycle
03. Soushiyou To Shiteiru
04. Garasudama
05. Aa Egypto
06. Skyfish
07. Bananatron
08. Fairy Tale
09. Morn
10. Kodama
11. Ougon No Sara
12. Candy Floss
13. Watashikara Ubawanaide
14. Anatano Yushoku No Tameni
15. Candy (alt.)
16. Sekai No Owari