Japanese multi-instrumentalist Masahiro Takahashi's latest album, Flowering Tree, Distant Moon, is a meditation on seasons and distance. Recorded in isolation at his temporary home studio in Toronto, following the coldest winter he'd experienced to date, this is a collection of hushed, lush color wheel electronic vignettes. Flowering Tree, Distant Moon was created using an array of instruments including software synthesizers, granular samplers and a shruti box. The original Not Not Fun cassette run sold out quickly and this Telephone Explosion re-release will be Tanaka's first official vinyl offering. The songs shimmer and sway, unspooling in sparkling arcs and alternating between reverie and lullaby. Inspired by blooming apple trees, gagaku music, the nostalgia of immigrants and longing for home, Flowering Tree, Distant Moon moves from soothing to surreal, a swirl of quiet melody and imagined landscapes, as transportive for its listeners as its maker. Torch Dance: 5:54 Spring At Home: 4:03 Frog Into The Pod: 3:09 Forget Me Not: 2:38 Touji: 3:31 Yellow Sunset: 3:10 Endless Thought: 2:04 Dripping Rain: 6:08 Moon Rabbit: 4:14 Pray: 3:53
