Articles
The Fun Years
Mlle Caro & Franck Garcia
James Blackshaw
Lullatone

Albums
@c
Antenne
Antripodean Collective
Rudi Arapahoe
Black Gold 360
Brael / Tokyo Bloodworm
Richard Chartier
Jack Dangers
Rae Davis
Depth Affect
Taylor Deupree
Engine7
Emanuele Errante
Force of Nature
Gel-Sol
Glissando
Hardfloor
He Can Jog
Hulk
Adam Hurst
Kenny Larkin
Loco Dice
Mad EP
Maju
Marc + Hillage
Izumi Misawa
Nico Muhly
Toshimaru Nakamura
Organum
Maja S.K. Ratkje
Nicola Ratti
Recue
Renfro
Sawako
Seawalker
Raoul Sinier
Spyweirdos et al.
Svartbag
Tape
John Tejada
Tietchens + Chartier
Transitional

Compilations / Mixes
Ai022LP
Buzzin' Fly 5 Golden Years
Cielo-Cinco
Deconstructive Music
Om: Miami 2008
Sounds of Om Vol. 6
Traum 100
Underscan Now

EPs
Claro Intelecto
Funckarma
Tanaka Hideyuki
Jona
Alton Miller
Move D
saidsound
Sebastian San
Scott vs. Vaz
Philip Sherburne
Vakula

Maju: Maju-5
Extreme

“Maju” (pronounced “May-you”), the group name used by Japanese duo Sakana Hosomi and Masaki Narita, is Japanese for “cocoon,” and it's an apt choice given the immersive character of Maju's music. Hokkaido native Hosomi, who established Maju in 1997 and has shared the name with Narita since 2003, was deeply influenced by the forests and fields with which he was surrounded when growing up. Using samplers, effects, and laptops, Hosomi and Narita try to distill the peaceful spirit and physical expanse of that rustic setting into sound. Certainly Maju succeeds in evoking expanse by having its tracks unspool for as much as twelve minutes on its fifth Extreme release (four of the seven tracks are in the ten-minute range) and having them flow uninterruptedly from one into the next, and the ambient character of the compositions does much to intensify their meditative impact too. The style isn't unfamiliar—in essence, the hour-long Maju-5 presents multi-textured drones of varying intensity levels (sometimes placid, sometimes windswept) that teem with organ tones, clicks, willowy streams, percussive babble, shimmering waves, and insect chirp—but without question Maju executes it with precision.

July 2008