Samurai 7 (2004)

On Chasm, Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto blends together his favorite styles of music without limiting himself to one genre. Chasm is a mixture of avant-garde and Western pop and a vehicle for uncompromising electronic experimentation. Chasm opens with "Undercooled," a composition that combines rap with an Asian melody. This piece is followed by "Coro," a track made up of harsh audio static. The title track is composed of electronically altered piano notes, which swell up and down and loop mechanically. This piece has a haunting, almost underwater, feel to it. Towards the end of Chasm, we come across "Song," an abstract work that combines a Spartan electronic backbeat with loud white noise. However, Sakamoto makes a sharp left turn for the album's closer "Seven Samurai - Ending Theme"…

TRIX was formed in 2004, led by drummer Noriaki Kumagai (ex-Casiopea), with bassist Mitsuru Sutoh (ex-T-Square) and now guitarist Yuya Komoguchi and keyboardist AYAKI has joined the group. Their very ear-catcy music with thrilling techniques, and entertaining stage performance have been widely accepted among fans. Some of their songs are featured as the main theme of TV programs.

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of a freshly re-mastered and expanded edition of the classic and highly regarded self-titled album by the Progressive rock group SAMURAI.

Diego's Umbrella is an American gypsy rock band consisting six male members from San Francisco, California, celebrated as San Francisco's Ambassadors of Gypsy Rock. The members of the group include Tyson Maulhardt a.k.a. the Facehorn, Vaughn Lindstrom a.k.a. the Juergistador, Jason Kleinberg a.k.a. the Gypsy, Benjamin Leon a.k.a. the Token Ecuadorian, Jake Wood a.k.a. the Samurai, and Red Cup a.k.a. the Animal. Diego's Umbrella describes their own music as "a blend of eastern European gypsy traditional stuff, Spanish flamenco, polka/ska rhythms, and good ol' pop and rock from the west. It sounds schizo to describe it, but it all comes together as dance music. It's a show for getting drunk, sweaty and making bad decisions." Their matching outfits are homemade, and they are known to perform shows without set lists.

Ryuichi Sakamoto, one of the pioneering figures of Japanese electronic music, demonstrates his versatility on this change-of-pace album. Released in 2004, 04 is dominated by Sakamoto's prowess on the acoustic piano, and features excerpts from several of his scores for motion pictures (including his music for Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence), television commercials (such as a campaign for Louis Vuitton), and video games ("Seven Samurai: Ending Theme" was composed for the PS2 game Seven Samurai 20XX).

The Spaghetti Epic: Six Modern Рrog Bands For Six '70 Рrog Suites (2004). Musea and Finnish magazine Colossus have come up trumps with their 'Six Modern Prog Bands For Six '70 Prog Suites' idea. Two and quarter hours of quality music and a booklet that has to be seen to be believed (including a documented story of the film, illustrated story boards and various photographs). The sheer audacity of such a concept has to be applauded and encouraged, particularly as the results are so good!
Take a classic film of the genre, in this case Once Upon A Time In The West, and invite six modern prog bands to write a piece of music based on a character from the film…

David Crosby and Graham Nash, two-thirds of Crosby, Stills and Nash, began writing and playing together 36 years ago and their brand of mellow harmony became one of rock's trademarks. Together and apart they have had circuitous careers since, taking in drug rehab and political activism (in the case of Crosby) and photography (Nash is a digital imaging pioneer). Their last album together was the mid-Seventies Wind on the Water. Now, more than thirty years later, comes another, simply titled Crosby-Nash…