Review: Shunji Mori's name might not be immediately familiar to those who haven't been paying proper attention, but the Japanese musician has been responsible for so much incredible music over the years it's hard to know where to begin. Perhaps with the nu-jazz, deep house and downtempo output in the early-1990s, when labels like Nuphonic, Japanese Idyllic Records and Down 2 Earth Recordings were providing the platform. Maybe it's the instrumental guitar duo Gabby & Lopez with his buddy Masayuki Ishii, or improvisational concerts performed alongside Daiho Soga.
Who knows. What's really important is that we're here now, with 222 - a return to the solo spotlight for the exalted artist in question. Song For Joni, a brand new full-length, is a spellbinding and beautiful trip into the blissful places we rarely get to visit, ambience that surrounds, then lulls, then hones in. Work is both fresh and decades old, mirroring the overall effect of listening, with time and space seeming to melt away into mesmerising tones.
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