Time Capsule Vinyl & CDs

Review: Time Capsule's latest dive into lesser-known Japanese musical culture doesn't focus on dusty old music from the dim and distant past, but rather relatively obscure music made between 2008 and 2016 by artists specializing in "Island music" - a kind of hard-to-pigeonhole and stylistically eclectic sound with a defiantly tropical twist. This eclecticism makes for great listening and some genuinely unusual and entertaining musical fusion. For proof, check the hybrid jazz/reggae/jazz-funk flex of Speak No Evil's self-titled opener, the reverb-laden, bottle-neck Balearic blues of Aqatuki and the dub disco-with-surf guitars of Altz. Best of all, though, is probably the dubby exotica of Keichi Takanka, who delivers two contrasting versions of the same track ("City of Aleppo" and "City of Dub"). Top stuff!