Hiroshi Watanabe is a Japanese DJ-producer best known for his interpretations of ambient, deep house, and trance on German label Kompakt, He comes from a family of musicians: his father was a composer and his mother a jazz pianist, and at the Tokyo College of Music Watanabe learned to play the double bass. After moving to the US, he studied at the Berklee College of Music, where he also earned a degree in composition, before moving to New York, where he spent his time DJing in clubs like Save The Robots and producing his own techno tracks. He became Kaito, an alias for his trance and ambient productions, with the release of the Beautiful Day 12″, and he’s since put out five albums—most recently Collection, which comprised eight shimmering ambient originals, on French label Infiné. Like all of Watanabe’s ambient work, the productions shimmer and glisten, and despite their superficial simplicity these are complex compositions that reconcile the enigmatic Japanese with the sobriety of Western minimal music. To mark the release, Watanabe has compared a long overdue XLR8R podcast. Across its one-hour run-time, you’ll hear many of Kaito’s own productions, plus those of artists he admires: Yuki Kawamura, bvdub, A Winged Victory for the Sullen, Gaspar Claus, and more.

01. What have you been up to recently?
I’ve been climbing mountains, making music, performing live, and taking photos.

02. What have you been listening to?
I’m always listening to music, but if I had to say what I listen to most, it’s probably the music I create myself. I’m constantly making and listening, repeating that cycle. Of course, I also listen to various genres because it’s important to refresh. Jazz comes naturally to me.

03. Where and when did you record this mix?
I recorded this mix in my studio on September 9, when it was still hot this summer.

04. What setup did you use?
I’ve been using Native Instruments’ Traktor for many years—probably around 20 years now. For this mix, I used Traktor, Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol X1 Mk2 and Mk3, and a Kontrol Z2 Mixer.

05. How did you choose the tracks that you’ve included?
I tried to include as many tracks as possible from friends whose music I regularly listen to, and I recorded the flow and transitions all ad-lib.

06. Where do you imagine it being listened to?
I want it to be listened to anywhere—whether in nature, in the middle of a big city, on a train, or even while falling asleep.

07. What’s next on your horizon?
What’s next? I live by following my instincts. I’m not the type to set my sights on a particular future. I believe that everything—what I need to do and who I meet—is guided.

XLR8R Subscribers can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R subscriber, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. Kaito “Call from the Ground” (iF edit) (InFiné)
02. Triola “L’atalante” (InFiné)
03. Lycoriscoris “A Piece of Nature” (Lycoriscoris)
04. Kaoru Inoue “Nagareru” (Seeds and Ground)
05. YPY “Dokonimo ikenai” (Paradigma Records)
06. Alaskan Tapes & Moshimoss “Dustlight” (Innersect)
07. bvdub “You and Me, Forever Reaching” (Original Mix) (R&S Records)
08. Diamondstein “The Villain” (InFiné)
09. Yumi Iwaki “Wind Paints” (Medium Music)
10. Sinerider “Aura projection” (Sinerider)
11. un & Leandro Fresco “De todo me acuerdo” (Leandro Fresco & un)
12. Jiroeux “Vajra Diamonds” (Jiroeux)
13. Waltz “Father” (Paradigma Records)
14. Yuki Kawamura “R.I.P. Sunset” (Oiran Music)
15. Yebisu303 “Midnight Sun” (Medium Music)
16. Takeshi Nishimoto & Hiroshi Watanabe “Unknown” (Unknown)
17. A Winged Victory for the Sullen “Sullen Sonata” (Ninja Tune)
18. vilagano “光源” (Rankandfile Records)
19. Gaspar Claus “L’envol” (InFiné)
20. Kaito “Seize the ray-act2-beatless” (Cosmic Signatures)
21. Daisuke Matsusaka “Tadahitasurani umareteru” (Medium Music)
22. Rikaar “A Song for Freedom” (Original Mix) (Apollo Records)
23. Kaito “Fly in the Dream” (Cosmic Signatures)
24. Kaito “Silent Sky” (iF edit) (InFiné)