Tomonari Nozaki – North Palace

Wonderful full length from emerging Tokyo composer and producer Tomonari Nozaki.

He may not be the only artist to have forsaken the convenience of producing his music on a macbook but there haven’t been many we have heard who have produced such a thoroughly captivating sound from their old reel to reel tape units and analogue equipment in recent times.

‘Tomo’s’ hugely immersive sound feels like opening an old dusty wooden box and hearing a frayed melancholy soundtrack to somewhere standing outside of time and the concerns of the world. It manages to be remote and indefinable in parts but has such spirit and warmth it’s hard not to let yourself become completely absorbed.

Tomonari has been previously released under his UNKNOWNjp. alias on the Slovakian Label Soun Records. ‘North Palace’ sees him make his physical release debut, the first of hopefully many more.

Anyone who has been following the forwind story so far will know we don’t go for bluster. Hand on heart this is genuinely sublime stuff.