Satoshi Ashikawa
芦川聡
Birth nameSatoshi Ashikawa
Born(1953-05-07)May 7, 1953
DiedJuly 28, 1983(1983-07-28) (aged 30)
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Composer
  • Producer
  • Record store owner
Instrument(s)Synthesizer
Years active1974-83

Satoshi Ashikawa (芦川聡) was a Japanese musician, composer, producer and record store owner. He is considered one of the earliest flag bearers of ambient music in Japan.[1]

Life and career

Ashikawa graduated from the Department of Sociology at Tokyo's Keio University in 1977.[2] His first musical performance was at Sōgetsu Kaikan Hall in 1974 and he participated in performances at many galleries and cultural spaces across Japan during the late 1970s.[2]

Ashikawa founded the record and book store Art Vivant in Ikebukuro, Tokyo in 1975.[2] The shop was one of the first in Japan to import Brian Eno's Ambient records alongside a niche selection of avant garde and ethnographic LPs, and became a hub for the influential kankyō ongaku (環境音楽) 'environmental music' scene.[3] Ashikawa's keyboard piece 'Still Space' was later featured as the opening track on Light in the Attic's compilation Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990.[4]

Sound Process and Still Way

In 1982, Ashikawa co-founded the record label Sound Process with colleague Munetaka Tanaka,[3] which soon grew into a sound design consultancy firm and book publisher.[5] The label released three LPs as part of the Wave Notation series: Hiroshi Yoshimura's Music For Nine Post Cards (1982), Ashikawa's Still Way (1982) and Satsuki Shibano's Erik Satie (France 1866-1925) (1984). Still Way was Ashikawa's only full-length release and featured celebrated percussionist Midori Takada alongside harp, piano and flute players. Ashikawa described the album as "intended to be listened to in a casual manner, as a musical landscape or a sound object... not something that would stimulate listeners but music that should drift like smoke and become part of the environment."[6]

The album received a resurgence in popularity thanks to online sharing in the late 2010s and was reissued on CD and vinyl in 2019 by WRWTFWW Records.[6] Crack Magazine included the album in their list of '7 essential Japanese ambient and new age records',[7] FACT called it "a record of chilly, beautiful stillness",[5] and Exclaim! named it an "ambient masterpiece".[8]

Ashikawa was killed in a car accident the year following the release of Still Way.[1]

Discography

Albums

Appearances

  • 'Free Music Rev. vol.2' (recorded 1977 with Tatsuo Hattori, violin) on Japanese Underground Music in the Late 70s and 80s, CD (2016) - Loft Books
  • 'Still Space' on Tra New Artist Catalogue No.4, cassette (1983) - Tra Project
  • 'Still Space' on Kankyō Ongaku (Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980 - 1990), LP/CD (2019) - Light In The Attic Records

References

  1. 1 2 Needham, Jack (19 February 2019). "Lullabies for air conditioners: the corporate bliss of Japanese ambient". The Guardian. Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Still Way (LP booklet). Tokyo: Sound Process. 1982.
  3. 1 2 Doran, Spencer (12 February 2019). "Composing for space: The meticulous design of Japanese environmental sounds". The Vinyl Factory. The Vinyl Factory Limited. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  4. ↑ "Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980 1990". Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  5. 1 2 Gordon, Lewis (14 January 2018). "Another Green World: How Japanese ambient music found a new audience". FACT Mag. FACT Mag. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  6. 1 2 Helfet, Gabriela (3 July 2019). "Satoshi Ashikawa's coveted Japanese ambient LP Still Way reissued for the first time". The Vinyl Factory. The Vinyl Factory Limited. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  7. ↑ Yeung, Vivian. "7 essential Japanese ambient and new age records". Crack Magazine. Crack Magazine. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  8. ↑ Thiessen, Brock. "Satoshi Ashikawa's Ambient Masterpiece 'Still Way' Gets First-Ever Vinyl Reissue". Exclaim.ca. Exclaim! Media Inc. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
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