Despite his status as a key figure in the history of Japanese ambient music, Hiroshi Yoshimura remains tragically under-known outside of his home country. Empire of Signs-a new imprint co-helmed by Maxwell August Croy and Spencer Doran-is proud to reissue Yoshimura's debut Music for Nine Post Cards for the first time outside Japan in collaboration with Hiroshi's widow Yoko Yoshimura, with more reissues of Hiroshi's works to follow in the future. Working initially as a conceptual artist, the musical side of Yoshimura's artistic practice came to prominence in the post-Fluxus scene of late 1970s Tokyo alongside Akio Suzuki and Takehisa Kosugi, taking many subsequent turns within Japan's bubble economy afterward. His sound works took on many forms - commissioned fashion runway scores, soundtracking perfume, soundscapes for pre-fab houses, train station sound design - all existing not as side work but as logical extensions of his philosophy of sound. His work strived for serenity as an ideal, and this approach can be felt strongly on Music for Nine Post Cards. Home recorded on a minimal setup of keyboard and Fender Rhodes, Music for Nine Post Cards was Yoshimura's first concrete collection of music, initially a demo recording given to the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art to be played within the building's architecture. This was not background music in the prior Japanese "BGM" sense of the word, but "environmental music", the literal translation of the Japanese term kankyo ongaku Given to Brian Eno's "ambient" music when it arrived in late 70's Japan.

Tracklist

A1 Water Copy 6:02
A2 Clouds 5:50
A3 Blink 4:39
A4 Dance PM 6:28
B1 Ice Copy 2:52
B2 Soto Wa Ame 4:30
B3 View From My Window 6:10
B4 Urban Snow 4:41
B5 Dream 5:20