The Dutch label Music From Memory, which has been driving the recent global revival of New Age and obscure, has released a historic compilation album titled 'Virtual Dreams II - Ambient Explorations In The House & Techno Age, Japan 1993-1999' ('24), which takes a look at Japanese ambient techno from a musical perspective after the New Age revival, and this compilation is attracting a lot of attention. Meanwhile, Rika Kayama, a psychiatrist working at Hobetsu Clinic in Mukawa-cho, Hokkaido, who is also famous for her political and social criticism activities, has handled the commentary, supervision, and music production of this legendary 1990s Japanese ambient techno masterpiece, which has miraculously been officially released on vinyl!The word 'Technostalgia' is a combination of TECHNO, which means 'science and technology,' and NOSTALGIA, which means 'nostalgia. ' Yukihiro Takahashi of YMO, who wrote the liner notes at the time (and who Kayama himself is a self-proclaimed fan), also praised the album, saying, 'There is not even a trace of the intrusive 'vulgarity' of 'Come on, I'll heal your hearts. ' ' This work, which fills the missing piece of Japanese techno, which is being rapidly unearthed, is now being reissued for the first timewith Kayama's approval! The 1990s was the heyday of the 'healing boom. ' Kayama was approached to produce a number of healing CDs, which are now called 'popular ambient' in recent years, but he repeatedly refused due to his position and deep love for music. This work, which motivated him, clearly presents his own musical tastes and stance, and reconsiders 'healing music' through the prism of club music, which was the cutting edge of music at the time. The main composer and arranger is Sakamoto Masayuki, a renowned producer, arranger and keyboardist known for his album 'PSYCHE' ('87), which is also famous in the modern new age/left field scene, and was also featured in the demo tape special on 'Sakamoto Ryuichi Sound Street. ' Kayama himself teamed up with his musician/dentist brother, Nakatsuka Kei, to actually compose some of the tracks, making this a work that shows his seriousness and high level of ambition, setting it apart from the many psychiatrist-supervised project albums that flooded the streets in the '90s. It is anextremely good piece of euphoric classic Japanese house that will appeal to fans of Terada Soichi and Yokota Shinichiro, but it also has a strong influence on Geinoh Yamashirogumi's 'AKIRA' and Kawai Kenji's 'Ghost in the Sky. ' 'Technostalgia - A Nostalgic Future' has a cyberpunk feel that is reminiscent of the soundtrack for 'The Shell'; 'Flower and Plant Dome' is a Japanese jungle/trip hop with a sweet, left-field, musical quality that is gentle and flower-like optimism; 'Sacred Fragments of the World' is a strange, bizarre, indigenous techno dub that is reminiscent of the missing link between Jon Hassell's fourth world and cyberpunk; 'CRT Rhapsody' is a funky deep house ballad with a wonderful, funny, sentimental sound full of melancholy and sadness, and the constant beat exchanges make it seem as if you are lost in the night cityscape; 'Sewing a Voice' is a gem of Japanese dungeon synth/neoclassical dark ambient that seems to dive deep into the inner world of humans and the dark side of modern society. 'The Great Passage' is a track that is characteristic of Kayama, a fan of Kraftwerk, and features influences from German electronic music of the 1970s and 1980s woven into the structure of deep techno, such as the distant view gazed at through vacant eyes in 'Cockpit Dream,' the edgy deep minimal with it's vivid dystopian dark scenes that are reminiscent of industrial techno from the 2000s and later such as Violetshaped and Kerridge, the Kosmische Musik 'Mandrake Crossing' which reaches the abyss of this album which could be called a spiral tale of optimism swirling with emotion, and the graceful closing track 'On the Banks of the Elbe' which depicts dreams of a peaceful homeland and a longing for it. All of these tracks skillfully express the speculative theme of this album, which is contained in the title 'Technostalgia. '
