Kitaro: Silk Road Vol.1 + Vol.2 (1980) + Kitaro & Jon Anderson: Dream 1992

 

Masanori Takahashi (Takahashi Masanori; born February 4, 1953), professionally known as Kitarō

(喜多郎), is a Japanese musician, composer, record producer, and arranger noted for his electronic-instrumental music, and is often associated with and regarded as one of the most prominent musical acts of new-age music. He won the Grammy Award for Best New Age Album for Thinking of You (1999), with a record 16 nominations in the same category. He received a Golden Globe Award for the original score to Heaven & Earth (1993). 
                          

Kitaro is one of the most popular and influential new age artists of all time, having sold millions of records and toured across the world numerous times. His style fuses contemplative, highly melodic

synthesizer work with acoustic instrumentation, drawing from Eastern musical traditions as well as folk, classical, and rock influences. Interestingly enough, the famous Japanese composer taught himself to play electric guitar in high school -- inspired by the R&B music of Otis Redding. In the early '70s, Kitaro formed the Far East Family Band, which released two albums of progressive rock. In 1972, however, he met the innovative German synthesist Klaus Schulze during a trip to Europe. Kitaro was hooked. He built his first synthesizer and began experimenting with all kinds of unusual sounds. 
                       

Masanori Takahashi was born in Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan, and is a graduate of Toyohashi Commercial

High School. Kitarō, which is his boyhood name meaning "man of love and joy", a practicing Buddhist himself, was born in a family of Shinto-Buddhist farmers. After graduating his parents were first opposed to the idea of their son having a musical career. In an effort to maneuver him towards their vision, they made arrangements for him to take a job at a local company. In response, he silently did not show up for the job, eventually convincing them that he should work on something he loved.
                                          

Kitaro's style had changed as well, becoming more theatrical and assertive while retaining a certain level

of innocence and purity. His  recordings showed a renewed interest in the rock and pop elements that originally attracted him to music in the late '60s. Aside from collaborations with Hart, he also worked with Yes vocalist Jon Anderson on the album Dream, and co-produced Scenes, a solo album by former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman. Both albums were released in 1992. 
                         

In 1997, Kitaro released the soundtrack to Cirque Ingenieux, a production bound for the Broadway stage.

Thinking of You followed two years later, and Ancient appeared in spring 2001. It was well received, leading to a sequel of sorts in the like-minded Ancient Journey in 2002. On 24 February 2022, he married Brazil-born, ethnically Japanese artist Franci Shimomaebara[21][22] in a private ceremony attended by friends and relatives. They had met in 1990, and after becoming friends worked together on The Wind, which was featured on Kitarō's Grammy-nominated 2003 album, Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai, Volume 1. 
                                   

KITARO - SILK ROAD 1980

                                             

The Silk Road: The Rise And Fall Of Civilizations is an NHK Tokushu documentary series that first aired on 7 April 1980, with sequels being broadcast over a 10-year period. It took a total of 17 years from conception to complete what many consider a landmark in Japan's broadcasting television

history. The intention of the program was to reveal how ancient Japan was influenced by the Silk Road trade route. The documentary was narrated by Ishizaka Koji with music composed by Kitaro, who insisted that the show be broadcast in stereo. The music was composed mainly using a Minimoog, miniKORG 700, and Maxikorg DV800. The score received a Galaxy Award, and the series of soundtracks sold millions of copies. The success created from the program brought Kitaro international attention.

KITARO - SILK ROAD VOL. 1 1980 (REMASTERED 1985)

                                 

Kitaro – Silk Road
Label: Gramavision – 18-7009-2
Format: CD, Album, Reissue 1985
Country: Europe
Released: 1980
Genre: Electronic, Stage & Screen
Style: Soundtrack, Score, Ambient

TRACKS

                           

01. Silk Road Theme    4:12
02. Bell Tower    2:27
03. Heavenly Father    4:07
04. The Great River    2:40
05. The Great Wall Of China    1:54
06. Flying Celestial Nymphs    4:38
07. Silk Road Fantasy    4:40
08. Shimmering Light    3:20
09. Westbound    2:57
10. Time    3:30
11. Bodhisattva    2:12
12. Everlasting Road    5:33

NOTES

                            

Soundtrack for the NHK TV series about the Silk Road.
Recorded and mixed at Kitaro's Kamakura and Hitokuchizaka Studio.
Originally released in 1980.

Flac Size: 214 MB

KITARO - SILK ROAD VOL. 2 1980 (REMASTERED 1996 & 2002)

                   

 

 

Kitaro – Silk Road (Volume 2)
Label:New World Music – NWCD 031, New World Music – 71051-2
Format:CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered
Country:UK, Europe & US
Released:
Genre:Electronic, Stage & Screen
Style:Soundtrack, Ambient

TRACKS

                               

             

          

01. Peace (Shizukesa No Nakade)    3:48
02. Takla Makan Desert (Takuramakan Sabaku)    3:16
03. Eternal Spring (Inochi No Izumi)    5:23
04. Silver Moon (Karakhoto No Genso)    5:01
05. Magical Sand Dance (Shimpi Naru Suna No Mai)    6:09
06. Year 40080 (40080 Nen)    4:40
07. Time Travel (Jikukan)    2:32
08. Reincarnation (Saisei)    4:22
09. Dawning (Yoake)    3:13
10. Tienshan (Tenzan)    4:45

KITARO: Engineer, Mixed By, Composed By, Arranged By, Programmed By [Synthesizers], Synthesizer [Korg, Roland, Yamaha, Moog and Prophet], Acoustic Guitar, Drums, Percussion, Quena, Mellotron [Chanting Bell Mellotron], Dulcimer [Santur]

NOTES

                     

 

Recorded at Kitaro's Kamakura And Miasa Studios
Mixed at Kitaro's Kamakura, Hitokuchuzaka
1980 Pony Canyon Inc.
2002 New World Music Limited

Flac Size: 246 MB

KITARO & JON ANDERSON - DREAM 1992

                               

Two giants in contemporary music have joined forces to create one of the most awe-inspiring albums of the '90s. Kitaro has taken his signature style into a new dimension of orchestral drama with

three tracks featuring the breathtaking vocals of Jon Anderson, from Yes. Anderson, a longtime Kitaro fan, showed up on Kitaro's Japanese mountaintop and hung out for a month. Their ensuing "marriage" of vocals and music is the result. Kitaro composed the music while Anderson wrote the lyrics. The songs revolve around the eternal theme of love, as in the transcendental romanticism of "Lady of Dreams" and the ecstasy of spiritual liberation in "Agreement"....This is a special album full of soaring emotion and spiritual upliftment. 
                         

Kitaro – Dream
Label: Geffen Records – GED24477, Geffen Records – GEFD24477
Format: CD, Album
Country: Europe
Released: 1992
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Ambient, New Age, Symphonic Rock

TRACKS

                      

01.Symphony Of The Forest    4:41
02.Mysterious Island    3:41
03.Lady Of Dreams   8:18
Lyrics By – Jon Anderson
Music By – Kitaro
Vocals – Jon Anderson    
04.A Drop Of Silence    2:56
05.A Passage Of Life    8:01
06.Agreement   6:30
Lyrics By – Jon Anderson
Music By – Kitaro
Vocals – Jon Anderson    
07.Dream Of Chant   3:52
Vocals [Chant] – Jon Anderson    
08.Magical Wave    3:08
09.Symphony Of Dreams    5:44
10.Island Of Life   9:40
Lyrics By – Jon Anderson
Music By – Kitaro
Vocals – Jon Anderson

LINE - UP

                              

Written-By, Arranged By – Kitaro (tracks: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 to 9)
Vocals - Jon Andreson / Backing Vocals – Deborah Anderson
Drums – Syoji Fujii
Electric Bass – Shigeru Okazawa
Electric Guitar – Jimmy Hahn
Flute – Kristin Stordahl Kanda
Guitar – Hiroshi Araki
Percussion – Ken Park
Strings – Coral Symphony Strings
Tabla – T.Y. Burhos
Vocals [Chanting] – Jonathan Goldman

NOTES

           

All songs [...] © 1992 Publisher House Amuse / Kitaro Music Publishing adm. by Brainstorm Music Inc. ASCAP except "Lady Of Dreams" (track 3), "Island Of Life" (track 10) and "Agreement" (track 6) © 1992 Publisher House Amuse / Kitaro Music Publishing adm. by Brainstorm Music Inc. / WB Music Corp. ASCAP.
Recorded at Kitaro's studio, Conway Recording Studios (Los Angeles), Amuse Studio, Aobadai Studio, Hitokuchizaka Studio.

Flac Size: 293 MB

Nitzer Ebb: That Total Age 1987 (Limited Edition 2018)

 

Douglas John McCarthy (1 September 1966 – 11 June 2025) was an English vocalist whose work covers a range of electronic music genres. He was the lead vocalist of the EBM band Nitzer Ebb

from 1982 until 2024. McCarthy was hospitalized in 2021 during Nitzer Ebb's U.S. tour, prompting a break from performing. He returned to the stage in 2023, but in 2024, the band announced that he was taking a break from performing due to the effects of cirrhosis "after years of alcohol abuse". McCarthy died on 11 June 2025, aged 58.
                     

Nitzer Ebb (/ˈnaɪtsər ɛb, ˈnɪt-/) were an English EBM group formed in 1982 by Essex school friends

Vaughan "Bon" Harris (programming, synthesizers, drums, vocals), Douglas McCarthy (vocals), and David Gooday (drums). The band were originally named La Comédie De La Mort but soon discarded that and chose the name Nitzer Ebb by cutting up words and letters and arranging them randomly to create something Germanic without using actual German words.
                    

The band at the time was inspired by the post-punk scene and specifically acts like "Siouxsie and the Banshees, Killing Joke and Bauhaus who were having a big influence on us, in some ways stylistically

but also in the energy that they gave". Their debut album That Total Age was released in 1987. Depeche Mode invited them to open for the European leg of their successful Music for the Masses Tour in 1987. David Gooday left after the tour and they completed their next album Belief (1989) as a duo. Mark 'Flood' Ellis became their new producer. They recruited Julian Beeston to assist them on their own world tour, and he soon became a regular contributor both on and off stage.
                       

Nitzer Ebb virtually disappeared from active music-making for the next four years, finally reappearing

in 1995 with their fifth (and least industrial-sounding) album, Big Hit. The group became inactive, but McCarthy became a regular collaborator with Alan Wilder's Recoil project, and formed the duo Fixmer/McCarthy with techno producer Terence Fixmer. 
                           

THAT TOTAL AGE

           

If the resultant debut was a bit one-note as an overall release, the duo already showed a bent for making sure their concoctions were instantly memorable and undeniably thrilling. McCarthy's singing is less

supple and more ear-piercingly harsh than Gabi Delgado's, say, but his seemingly odd quaver actually gives the band a unique stamp, delivering the slogan-like lyrics with the force of overwhelming command. Consider "Violent Playground," which could almost be a Soft Cell stomper with all the swooning romance completely pared away to leave nothing but brute homoerotic force (and appropriate volume). 
                     

Harris' ear for beats and how to make them really crunch through doesn't let him down -- check out the huge, sudden metal door-slam rhythms on "Smear Body" for a particularly notable example of his

ability. If there's a standout track from That Total Age, it would probably have to be "Join in the Chant," with McCarthy's clipped, elliptical words and delivery perfectly suited for the invigorating storm of drum hits and central bass part. That said, there's plenty of close competition, with the quick, frenetic surge of "Murderous," electronic bass and percussion barely in control as McCarthy roars, "Lift up your hearts!," and the equally impressive "Let Your Body Learn" with its use of vocal echo for maximum impact.
                             

Nitzer Ebb – That Total Age
Label: Pylon Records, Geffen Records – B0025391-02, 
Format: CD, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue Oct 19, 2018
Country: US
Released: 1987    
Genre: Electronic
Style: EBM ("Electronic Body Music")

TRACKS

                          

01. Fitness To Purpose    5:00
02. Warsaw Ghetto    3:47
03. Violent Playground    3:46
04. Murderous    5:40
05. Smear Body    5:40
06. Join In The Chant    6:01
07. Alarm    3:55
08. Let Your Body Learn    2:47
09. Let Beauty Loose    2:24
10. Into The Large Air    4:08
11. Murderous (Instrumental)    5:02
12. Fitness To Purpose (Mix Two)    4:54
13. Join In The Chant (Burn)    5:23
14. Let Your Body Learn (Twelve Inch Mix)    6:26
15. Join In The Chant (Metal Mix)    5:13
16. Warsaw Ghetto (Original 12" Mix)    7:04

FORMER MEMBERS

                       

Douglas McCarthy – vocals, guitars (1982–2025; his death; not touring during 2024–2025)
Duc Nhan Nguyen – drums (1987–1988)
Julian Beeston – drums (1989–1992)
Jason Payne – drums (1992–1995, 2007–2019)
Bon Harris – programming, synthesizers, drums, vocals, bass (1982–present)

NOTES

Expanded Collectors Edition - Released in an embossed tri-fold card sleeve.
Contains 4 Bonus tracks, including the 12” mixes of “Join In The Chant”, “ Let Your Body Learn”, “ Warsaw Ghetto” and rare instrumental version of “Murderous”.

Flac Size: 575 MB

Nitzer Ebb: Showtime 1990 on Urban Aspirines HERE

John Foxx: Metamatic 1980 (Deluxe Edition 3CD 2018) + The Garden 1981 (1993)

 

John Foxx (born Dennis Leigh; 26 September 1948) is an English singer, musician, artist, photographer, graphic designer, writer, teacher and lecturer. He was the original lead singer of the new wave band

Ultravox, before leaving to embark on a solo career in 1980 with the album Metamatic. After several changes of name, including Fire of London, The Zips and The Damned, the band became Ultravox! in October 1976. The group's style fused punk, glam, electronic, reggae and new wave music.
At the same time, Leigh adopted his stage name of John Foxx. Once the band signed to Island Records, they released three albums during 1977–1978.
                                 

The debut Ultravox! single, "Dangerous Rhythm", backed with "My Sex", was released on 4 February

1977. Their first album (the self-titled Ultravox!) was released three weeks later on 25 February 1977, produced by Steve Lillywhite and the band, with assistance from Brian Eno. It was followed by their second album Ha! Ha! Ha! in October 1977, which included the single "ROckWrok", although both were commercial failures.
                 

After signing to Virgin Records, Foxx achieved two top 40 entries on the UK Singles Chart with his first solo singles, "Underpass" (No. 31) and "No-One Driving" (No. 32). Its parent album Metamatic

was released on 17 January 1980, and peaked at No. 18 in the UK Albums Chart.Foxx played most of the synthesisers and "rhythm machines", as they were listed on the sleeve. One of the album's songs, "Metal Beat", takes its name from a CR-78 drum machine sound used on the record. Virgin released the album under the imprint name Metal Beat Records, which was used for Foxx releases throughout his contract with them.
                

Primarily associated with electronic synthesizer music, he has also pursued a parallel career in graphic design and education. Andy Kellman of AllMusic described Foxx as an influential cult figure whose

"detached, jolting vocal style inspired mainstream and underground artists across the decades". His icy synths and sophisticated song structures, as well as his surrealist lyrics and detached, jolting vocal style, have inspired mainstream and underground artists across the decades, from synth pop superstar Gary Numan to electro-techno duo ADULT. Initially known as the original lead singer of new wave pioneers Ultravox, he left the band in 1979 and released his fully electronic solo debut Metamatic at the beginning of 1980.
                

The groundbreaking album reached the top 20 of the U.K. album chart and contained two top 40 hits,

"Underpass" and "No-One Driving." His subsequent albums were more ambitious and incorporated a diverse array of electronic and acoustic instruments. In June 2014, it was announced that Foxx was to receive an honorary degree from Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire. He was made an honorary Doctor of Philosophy during the ceremony at the university on 21 July 2014.
              

John Foxx and the Maths composed the soundtrack to the York Theatre Royal's production of E.M.

Forster's short story The Machine Stops. A digital-only EP drawn from a live performance based on the material, The Bunker Tapes, appeared in 2016, and full album The Machine was released in 2017. Foxx contributed to two songs on the Belbury Circle's 2017 album Outward Journeys. In 2019, the Maths returned to the studio, this time with former Ultravox guitarist Robin Simon, and the full-length Howl arrived in 2020.
               

JOHN FOXX - METAMATIC (DELUXE EDITION 2018)

                            

One of the best albums of all time and revolutionary for electronic music. John Foxx deservers more

credit and attention for sure! One of the must have albums for early electronic music. Forget Midge Ure and the latter Ultravox, it is Foxx that is the true genius of that time, in this particular genre of electronic music.
                 

              
Foxx's solo debut after leaving Ultravox!, Metamatic, achieves the same emotional transcendence as his

previous group's early highlight, Systems of Romance, despite a new reliance not just on synthesizers, but on a musical framework dependent on them. On Metamatic, Foxx cultivates a curious air of disinterest that never seems truly bored, but is much more extreme than even his unarguably distant vocal style for Ultravox!. It holds up as one of the peaks of the early-'80s fascination with emotionless, Kraftwerk-inspired synth pop.
                      

John Foxx – Metamatic
Label: Metamatic – META63BX
Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Box Set, Deluxe Edition May 30, 2018
Country: UK & Europe
Released: 1980
Genre: Electronic
Style: New Wave, Electro, Synth-pop

CD1.

                     

01. Plaza    3:56
02. He's A Liquid    3:02
03. Underpass    3:57
04. Metal Beat    3:01
05. No-One Driving    3:50
06. A New Kind Of Man    3:41
07. Blurred Girl    4:19
08. 030    3:18
09. Tidal Wave    4:17
10. Touch And Go    5:44

Flac Size: 252 MB

CD2.

              

01. Film One    4:03
02. This City    3:10
03. To Be With You    4:23
04. Cinemascope    3:27
05. Burning Car    3:16
06. Glimmer    3:39
07. Mr. No    3:19
08. Young Love    3:10
09. 20th Century    3:08
10. My Face    3:21
11. Underpass (Radio Edit)    2:49
12. No-One Driving (Single Version)    3:47
13. Like A Miracle (Alternative Version)    3:56
14. A New Kind Of Man (Alternative Version)    4:32
15. He's A Liquid (Alternative Version)    3:00
16. Plaza (Extended Version)    4:48
17. Underpass (Extended Version)    4:24
18. Blurred Girl (Longer Fade Version)    4:42

Flac Size: 410 MB

CD3.

             

01. A Frozen Moment    1:28
02. He's A Liquid (Instrumental Dub)    2:06
03. Mr. No (Alternative Version)    3:23
04. The Uranium Committee    2:17
05. A Man Alone    2:59
06. Over Tokyo    2:10
07. Terminal Zone    2:33
08. Urban Code    0:40
09. A Version Of You    1:30
10. Glimmer (Alternative Version)    3:42
11. Fragmentary City    2:31
12. Metamorphosis    2:22
13. Approaching The Monument    3:50
14. Critical Mass    4:36
15. Alamogordo Logic    1:04
16. Touch And Go (Early Version)    5:34
17. Miss Machinery    3:28
18. No-One Driving (Early Version)    3:57
19. Burning Car (Early Version)    2:45
20. Like A Miracle (Early Version)    4:00
21. No-One Driving (Alternative Version)    3:59

Flac Size: 300 MB

LINE - UP

John Foxx – vocals, rhythm machines (mainly Roland CR-78), synthesizers and keyboards
John Wesley Barker – additional synthesizers and keyboards
Jake Durant – bass guitar
Gareth Jones – engineer

Keyboards used on the album include the Minimoog, ARP Odyssey, clavinet, Elka Rhapsody 610, piano, Farfisa string synth, and Hammond organ.

JOHN FOXX - THE GARDEN 1981 (1993)

                            

John Foxx is somewhat of an underdog in both the Post-Punk and Synth-Pop scenes. After dropping

from his duties in Ultravox, Foxx felt completely comfortable to indulge himself in the emerging Electronic scene that was sweeping England. Metamatic was closer to what Gary Numan and Cabaret Voltaire were doing, than more Pop oriented groups. But after the robotic futurism of Metamatic, Foxx took his talents and created an album that was just as much as a dystopia as his solo debut, but enveloped New Romantic and Neo-Classical influences.
                          

John Foxx – The Garden
Label: Virgin – 07777 87778 23, Virgin – CDV 2194, Virgin – 263 368
Format: CD, Album, Reissue Apr 19, 1993
Country: Europe
Released: 1981
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Synth-pop

TRAXS

                          

01. Europe After The Rain    4:02
02. Systems Of Romance    4:06
03. When I Was A Man And You Were A Woman    3:39
04. Dancing Like A Gun    4:12
05. Pater Noster    2:35
06. Night Suit    4:26
07. You Were There    3:53
08. Fusion / Fission    3:50
09. Walk Away    3:57
10. The Garden    7:11

BONUS TRAXS

11. Young Man    2:55
12. Dance With Me    3:33
13. A Woman On A Stairway    4:30
14. The Lifting Sky    4:46
15. Annexe    3:07
16. Wings And A Wind    5:19

LINE - UP

Duncan Bridgeman – synthesizer, bass, percussion, bongos, cymbals, tom-toms, sequencer, brass, piano, the Human Host
Jake Durant – bass
Jo Dworniak – bass
John Foxx – synthesizer, piano, guitar, vocals, drum programming, tom-toms, the Human Host
Gareth Jones – percussion
Philip Roberts – drums
Robin Simon – guitar

NOTES

Producer – Gareth Jones (tracks: 11 & 12), John Foxx (tracks: 1 to 11, 13 to 16), Zeus B. Held (tracks: 12, 13 to 15)
Written-By – John Foxx
Tracks 11 to 16 are bonus tracks (although the rear artwork states tracks 12 to 16) and differ from the 2001 remastered edition The Garden.

Flac Size: 635 MB