Hiroshi Yoshimura – Soundscape 1: Surround (Blue Vinyl)

In the widespread revival of Japanese ambient music, Hiroshi Yoshimura's music has been cast as some of the most cherished and reissued. Albums such as Music For Nine Post Cards and Green have enjoyed high-end editions in recent times, and now comes the turn of 1986 masterpiece Surround. It's been fervently pined for by the new wave of Far East ambient aficionados, and for good reason. This is Yoshimura at his best, delicately placing elegant musical figures atop oceanic pools of synth and leaving ample room for the mind to cast adrift. That might sound like a very generic way of describing an ambient release, but Surround's qualities transcend the formulaic trappings of the genre to become something truly magical.