I was just randomly browsing Youtube when I stumbled upon these two heavenly and sonically rich Ambient projects from two Japanese new age musicians:
Hiroshi Yoshimura – A・I・R (Air In Resort)
This album has some very beautiful synth arrangements that sounds like the trees are playing instruments and the grass is dancing to the composition. There are nature sounds that drift in and out throughout the album and they are kept at a comfortable volume to not distract you or focus away from the melodies. The moods of the songs can shift from blissful and hopeful to more shady and distant in tone. The album cover really helps paint the visual of the music in your mind of a beautiful forest on a sunny day.
Takashi Kokubo (小久保隆) – Barcelona ～ Gaudi’s Dream ～ (バルセロナ～ガウディの夢～)
One of the things I admire most about this album is how dreamy and earthy it sounds. It isn’t as electronic sounding as the Air In Resort album as above, but I know it has some electronic processing of some kind to make the instruments sound as acoustically rich as possible. The melodies and harmonies dancing and jump around like happy children playing at a playground, while the percussion in the tracks have loads of melody too and sit underneath the instrumentation like laying underneath a warm blanket on a cold day. Shimmering sparks of heaven float in and out of
arrangements like spraying mists of cool water on your face in the summer. There isn’t many quiet segments in the album, the instrumentation stays busy without being at all overwhelming, sort of like hanging out with someone you adore that isn’t judgmental. Be sure to listen to this album with headphones on or keep it at a decent level through your speakers to get the full effect of how each instrument occupies a certain stereo channel.