Seigen Ono – Comme Des Garçons Volume One

Featured in Shotaro Matsumoto’s Walearic Disc Guide, Comme Des Garçons Volume One is, like its title suggests, a commissioned piece for the luxury Japanese clothing brand. While this may seem unusual for a brand to collaborate with an avant-garde composer, the practice was actually quite common in Japan during the ’80s and a crucial part of the Kankyo Ongaku “environmental music” movement. Comme Des Garçons Volume One features the great Seigen Ono collaborating with essential figures from the NYC avant-garde art scene including Arto Lindsay, John Lurie, Bill Frisell, Sussan Deyhim, John Zorn, and others. The music is unique and not your typical ’80s branded Japanese ambient, with elements of new age, jazz fusion, blues, rock, and Bossanova all merged together for a sound that “hadn’t been heard before.”

Recommended – Full Listen