KUNIYUKI TAKAHASHI Vinyl & CDs

Review: Japanese imprint Endless Flight presents a reissue of the arcane and mystical opus Ancient Rain by Koss aka Kuniyuki Takahashi, originally released back in 2008 as a CD only. It was an attempt to meld old melodic traditions with textural layers of modern electronic frequencies, in the process creating a ''new oriental sound', translating traces of ancient Asian music traditions into modern realms. Featuring a variety of moods and tones, from the celestial new age beats of 'Jumoku', to the shoegaze tinged ambient of the title track, '78 to 2008' with its knackered house vibe and the neo-classical inspiration behind 'Dream' (Real World) are just some highlights on this highly mediative sonic journey through the veteran producer's mind.

Review: Before delivering the self-explanatory Newwave Project album in 2017, Kuniyuki Takahashi had spent well over a decade delivering spiritual, life-affirming blends of deep house and future jazz. It's this side of his output that shines through on Remix Works, a collection of some of the producer's most sublime reworks of other people's work. Typically atmospheric, musically detailed and emotion-seeped, the set contains numerous headline-grabbing highlights, including a fluid, acid-flecked Latin deep house version of 'Plateau' by Mouse on the Keys, a sparkling and futuristic Afro-house re-wire of Mr Raoul K's extra-percussive 'Dounougnan Magni', a marimba-sporting drift through deep aural rainforests (his sublime revision of Kazumi Watanabe's 'Garuda') and a loved-up, life-affirming re-imaging of Jungle By Night's horn-sporting 'Love Boat'.

Review: Mule Musiq presents more remix delights from veteran producer and label staple Kuniyuki. The new Remix Works EP features a suitably deep, dusty and low-slung rendition of 'Shake House' by Detroit musician Paul Randolph on the A side, followed by a sublime ambient house version of Hokkaido-based quartet Marewrew's 'Rera Suy' featuring a backdrop of ethereal pianos and subdued percussion that allows their amazing vocals to play centre stage. Over on the flip, there's another left field offering in the form of Etv Girls Choir's 'Sampo Tagumine (Forging The Sampo)' where Kuniyuki reworks the track by exploring a neo-classical style to mesmerising effect.