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Nova + 4

by Yutaka Hirose

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  • Digital Album
    Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      €8 EUR  or more

    You own this

     

  • Double CD SIGNED BY YUTAKA HIROSE (Edition of 5)
    Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    *ONLY ONE COPY PER CUSTOMER - ORDERS WITH MORE THAN ONE COPY WILL BE CANCELLED*
    Collector's item // Yutaka Hirose - NOVA+4 Double CD signed by the artist // Only 5 available // Only here.
    TRACKING ON ALL ORDERS

    Includes unlimited streaming of Nova + 4 via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • Rare First TEST PRESSING With Different Tracklisting // DLP SIGNED BY YUTAKA HIROSE // Includes Track Fissures Of The Atmosphere (Never Pressed To Vinyl Aside From This Test Pressing) // Edition Of 10
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    *ONLY ONE COPY PER CUSTOMER - ORDERS WITH MORE THAN ONE COPY WILL BE CANCELLED*
    ULTRA RARE Collector's item // Yutaka Hirose - NOVA+4 Double LP first TEST PRESSING (with one different track from retail album) signed by the artist // This first test pressing was rejected because it contains one track that wasn't supposed to be on there - Fissures Of The Atmosphere which has never been pressed to vinyl aside from this test pressing (it's only on the cassette version) // Only 10 available // Only here.
    TRACKING ON ALL ORDERS

    Includes unlimited streaming of Nova + 4 via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • Double Lp SIGNED BY YUTAKA HIROSE (Edition of 5)
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    *ONLY ONE COPY PER CUSTOMER - ORDERS WITH MORE THAN ONE COPY WILL BE CANCELLED*
    Collector's item // Yutaka Hirose - NOVA+4 Double LP signed by the artist // Only 5 available // Only here.
    TRACKING ON ALL ORDERS

    Includes unlimited streaming of Nova + 4 via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • Limited Edition Cassette / Special Version Without Nature Sounds + 1 Exclusive Track / 100 Copies
    Cassette + Digital Album

    wrwtfww.com exclusive - available ONLY here.
    Every cassette purchase comes with a free digital download of the regular version of the album (with nature sounds and vinyl tracklisting).
    Music on the cassette itself is different - no nature sounds on the tracks and one bonus track ("Fissures Of The Atmosphere").

    A1. Nova (cassette version)
    A2. Slow Sky (cassette version)
    A3. In The Afternoon (cassette version)
    A4. Taiko (cassette version)
    B1. Humming The Sea (cassette version)
    B2. Through The Windows (cassette version)
    B3. Fissures Of The Atmosphere (cassette only exclusive)

    Includes unlimited streaming of Nova + 4 via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • Test Pressing SIGNED BY YUTAKA HIROSE Double Lp (Edition of 20)
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Collector's item // Yutaka Hirose - NOVA+4 Double LP TEST PRESSING signed by the artist // Only 20 available // Only here.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Nova + 4 via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • Double Digipack CD / With Liner Notes
    Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Includes liner notes by Yutaka Hirose

    CD1
    01. Nova
    02. Slow Sky
    03. In The Afternoon
    04. Taiko
    05. Humming The Sea
    06. Through The Windows
    07. Epilogue
    CD2
    01. Old Dream Spell
    02. Light Which Shakes Quietly
    03. One Day In Summer
    04. Shadow Of A Water Droplet

    Includes unlimited streaming of Nova + 4 via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • Limited DOUBLE LP / Gatefold / With Liner Notes
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Includes liner notes by Yutaka Hirose

    A1. Nova
    A2. Slow Sky
    A3. In The Afternoon
    B1. Taiko
    B2. Humming The Sea
    B3. Through The Windows
    B4. Epilogue
    C1. Old Dream Spell
    C2. Light Which Shakes Quietly
    D1. One Day In Summer
    D2. Shadow Of A Water Droplet

    Includes unlimited streaming of Nova + 4 via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

1.
Nova 10:47
2.
Slow Sky 06:32
3.
4.
Taiko 07:30
5.
6.
7.
Epilogue 07:41
8.
9.
10.
11.

about

Double LP and Double CD have nature sounds + 50 minutes of unreleased music. Cassette (available only here) has the rare version of the album without the nature sounds + one exclusive track not on any other version.

WRWTFWW Records is blissful to announce the expanded reissue of one of the most fascinating Japanese ambient/environmental albums ever made, NOVA + 4 by Yutaka Hirose. The double LP includes the album known as Soundscape 2: Nova, sourced from its original masters, as well as 50 minutes of never-released-before recordings. It comes in a beautiful gatefold sleeve, packed with liner notes from the artist in English and Japanese. NOVA + 4 is also available on double digipack CD, cassette (different tracklisting, no nature sounds, one exclusive track), and digital.

Initially released in 1986 as part of the Soundscape series* commissioned by Misawa Home Corporation for use in their prefabricated houses, Yutaka Hirose’s NOVA has grown to become a mythical piece of the Japanese minimalist/ambient/environmental scene of the eighties. Initiated around the enchanting landscapes of the two first tracks recorded for the project, "Nova" and "Epilogue", Yutaka Hirose’s magnum opus serenely blends vintage synth with nature sounds, exploring soothing palettes and organic backdrops. For "Slow Sky", Hirose explains he "went for a pointillism-like sound, and tried to express a scenery of awakening, where the portal of a heart is opening up", while on "Humming The Sea", he "tried to compose a kind of music that expresses the daily, lazy life of child-like innocence in a summer vacation in some small town."

The bonus LP gathers four long unreleased pieces created around the same period of time for installations, described by Yutaka Hirose as "not music per se but rather sound sculptures", and including the haunting "Shadow Of A Water Droplet" which was recorded for an Ikebana exhibition.

All in all, NOVA + 4 is a transcendent experience of nature in the urban context, an oeuvre which, much like Midori Takada’s Through The Looking Glass or Satoshi Ashikawa’s Still Way, holds the power to appease the soul in turbulent times. As one inspired YouTube commenter once said when describing Yutaka Hirose’s masterstroke: "I can't tell if the birds are singing inside or outside! Thank you!"

*The Soundscape series also includes Hiroshi Yoshimura's Surround.

credits

released July 5, 2019

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WRWTFWW Records Geneva, Switzerland

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