I don’t know what it is about the back half of 2018 that is conjuring up serious electronic nostalgia for me personally, but I’m here for it. Ventla returned, and Metome captured ennui for a time gone by perfectly. And now, Taquwami returns via Secret Songs. The producer hasn’t been gone that long, all things considered — the Moyas EP came out in 2015, and still manages to sound a million years ahead of everything else. But a lot has changed in just three years, so “Long Kigo III” does feel like a real shock…and real comfort, one of the best in Japan’s electronic music scene returning. His latest isn’t quite the shapeshifting madness found on Moyas, but more reflective of the slow-burning numbers of Aj Mo Ka / Ka Ao Um. The main melody zigs and zags through the whole song, but everything around it blurs and mutates. The percussion changes, what sounds like a particularly menacing Kirby sucks in air, voice pop up briefly to add the grandeur of the landscape. It’s a trip, and I’m so happy to take it again. Listen above.
