Various Artists Anchor/Hiro
Is it a rule that abstract electronic labels must launch with limited-edition compilations? Japan’s SAAG […]
Is it a rule that abstract electronic labels must launch with limited-edition compilations? Japan’s SAAG Records will be excused for following rules, because Anchor and Hiro are filled with top-notch beats and melodies. Some of the featured names, like Logreybeam and Octopus Inc. will be familiar from labels like Merck and Schematic, but plenty of unknowns from the Japan scene round things out. Hiro is more beat-oriented, epitomized by Julian Neto’s “Amenimo,” which stretches grainy pads over whispers in Japanese and triplet taps, while Anchor favors beatless soundscapes like Toshiaki Ooi’s spacious, strange “Energy in Woods.”