MAYA ONGAKU - Approach To Anima LP

Highly recommended.

SOLD OUT AT THE SOURCE.

Includes OBI strip.

Hailing from the seaside communities surrounding Enoshima, a small island 50 km southwest of Tokyo, maya ongaku is a ragtag collective of local musicians whose brand of earthy psychedelia transcends widely beyond the roots of their inner souls. The name derives not from any ancient civilization, but rather a neologism defined as the imagined view outside one’s field of vision. Currently a trio - Tsutomu Sonoda, Ryota Takano, and Shoei Ikeda - finds sanctuary at the Ace General Store, a beachy vintage shop and salon-like space hidden from sight from the bustling, touristy riverside Subana St. Between discussions on music, art and curating the vinyl section, and chatting with locals, the members find time to jam and record their spontaneous ideas in the studio tucked away out back. It’s in this unlikely setting where maya ongaku finds its origins, the culmination of what Sonoda describes as 自然発生 (shizen hassei), meaning spontaneous generation, or the supposed production of living organisms from nonliving matter.

Their debut finds maya ongaku building a foundational groove while tapping into their innermost psyche. Sonoda’s malleable guitar and vocals, Takano’s sinuous bass lines, Ikeda’s floating woodwinds, and a sprinkling of delicate percussion—all coalesce into an aural experience that’s assertive yet abstract, calm but unsettling. The slow building, sax-laden Approach serves as an introduction to maya ongaku’s world, while the appropriately-named Water Dream floats its way toward the gentle finale of Pillow Song. It’s a concise distillation of their many interests and influences, from Neo-Dada and Fluxus, to where contemporary art intersects with the development of modern recording technology in the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Ultimately, maya ongaku’s uninhibited world-building will make it possible for us to see the unseen, expand the possibilities of the naked eye—all through the unbridled vibrancy of their music.