Takao – The End of the Brim

In the ‘80s during the era of Kankyō Ongaku environmental music, Japanese composers like Yasuaki Shimizu, Ken Muramatsu, and Toshifumi Hinata were increasingly called upon to produce commercial music that would be heard by the general public. These compositions, while still retaining the brilliant inventiveness of these legendary composers, adhered to a more “universal listenability” and lended the sounds a certain timelessness that remains appealing even today. Tokyo-based composer Takao’s latest album The End of the Brim draws from this lineage of “production music.” While in many cases this kind of “easier listening” approach might lead to a lack of depth in the music, for Takao, this actually meant diving deeper into his studies with legendary keyboardist Ichiko Hashimoto, and bringing on collaborators including vocalists Yumea Horiike, Cristel Bere, Atsuo Fujimoto of Colored Music, along with veteran engineer Hiroshi Haraguchi, who is known for his work with Haruomi Hosono. The resulting album, filled with minimalist melodies, nylon-string guitars, and vintage synthesizer sounds, is beautifully reminiscent of the ‘80s era works that inspired it, while also presenting an entire sound world of its own.

Available Now: https://club.insheepsclothinghifi.com/products/takao-the-end-of-the-brim-lp?label=em-records