Maju-5 has been out on EXTREME.The disc is available at the online shops of EXTREME and P-VINE.




"Maju-5" shows this Japanese duo of Sakana Hosomi and Masaki Narita at the height of their musical powers. Maju have managed to find the "human spirit inside the machine".

Equipped with samplers, effects and laptops and a sensibility that is unique to Japan, Hosomi and Narita continue to forge their enveloping alchemy in a way that is achingly beautiful. Their effortless interaction only heightens the truly special music they create.

"Maju-5" has escaped the realms of fashion to create a music that is timeless in its magnificence. It is a pure and personal expression that rewards and surrounds the listener.

The duo that is Maju, Hosomi and Narita, has been working together for nearly a decade. Their music shows a great kinship and mutual understanding that results in a true harmony of musical vision.

"Maju-5" is a musical journey that you will want to go on forever.

Maju (pronounced "May-you") is Japanese for cocoon.

EXTREME

Hosomi's first release under his own name, has been out on Commune Disc. The CD contains eight tracks including those featuring collaboration with Masaki Narita, Ryo Miyashita and hiiragi_. The disc is available on amazon.



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It was hidden in the apple woods inside of the laptop - snowflake : crystallizing : kira kira : evaporating : once you touch it : ephemeral : eternal : bubble bursting : white white evacuating : void : null : intangible : mist : peeping with : microscopic telescope : quietly : milky way made by white noise : silently : midnight light : drifting departure from headphone : dream : dreamy : intimate far away next to you can't find instead n o w h e r e : Finally we meet each other.

sawako

It seems a very long time since I first listened to neina and Maju, but Hosomi's signature sound is little changed since then, without any apparent attempt to be heard more widely, which to me is the proof how strong willed he is about his music. A significant amount of time has passed since my first listening, and a lot of things happened. I have seen some friends get married and some of them now even have children. God knows how many times I have gotten out garbage on Monday mornings. I imagined a sound reverberating forever through the cycle of life that goes on like that. And I vaguely thought that that sound may be exactly like this.

mondii, PLOP / SPEKK

Sakana's music is mesmerizing music. At times I could not tell if it were I breathing or the music was. These are the sounds of inner landscapes - thoughtcapes. We might be hearing the sound of a beehive as the baby bees do growing in their six sided chambers. If you could hear light it might sound like this. We might be hearing the sound of the Triple Heater moving chi in the body. This music is like the networks of drifting micro-forces in the ocean. It is the music of the floating astronaut, alone deep in thought about his family back on Earth, the Whole Earth family, the whole planet. Sternklang for Stockhausen on his trip back to Sirius. The music ends, but another life begins when you press "play" one more time.

Andrew Deutsch


After so many years helping others create music, it is a wonder that Sakana Hosomi can find his voice within. However, through Maju and now on this solo album he continues to do so. It is a revealing and sensitive expression of an artist who knows that great music comes from the heart. May we always be so privileged as to hear his creations and revel in the sincerity.

Roger Richards, Extreme

Free download file available at Anticipate site under Creative Commons License. This is a collection of remixes by various artists using Sawako's "Summer Tour" field recordings as material. Hosomi contributed a track.