The Japan Earthquake and the Nuclear Disaster following it seem to have vanished from the media radar completely.
Which is strange enough, since the effects of the latter will be felt for decades (at the very least), and it’s unlikely that the people that were directly affected bu the earthquake have recovered from the disaster by now.
There have been some heartwarming beneficial releases by ambient/experimental artists until now, most notably the “Kanshin” and “For Nihon” albums. But for causes like this, there’s never ‘enough’ that can be raised for those that have suffered.
So, Harry ‘Spheruleus‘ Towell teamed up with Bartosz ‘Pleq‘ Dziadosz to curate another compilation in support of those affected by the Japan March disaster.
“Just a Moment” is released through the Audio Gourmet label, originally specialized in the short 15 minute ‘coffee/tea break’ EP editions.
With a playing time of over one hour, this album is way too long for your coffee/tea break or your lunch break even. But the special thing about this album is that it contains contributions by 60 artists, thus limiting their contribution to about one minute length – which means that a selection of this album will fit any break you like!
The diverse selection of artists and music cannot, strictly spoken, be called “ambient” in genre. But for most of the artists included, ‘ambient’ is basically not the right genre definition at all. This might as well be called the “new acoustic experimentals“, the “slow movement“, or the “nouveaux impressionistes” – whatever you prefer.
I’m not even beginning to name-drop here, if you check the contributors you’ll find many familiar names on the list, and hopefully some new names too.
Their music on this contribution is diverse but fits together very well.
It’s a pleasure to listen to these tracks playing randomly. And, because of the short time span of the tracks, this album also may succeed as a soundtrack library for future film directors.
PLEASE do me (and of course not only me) a favour when downloading this album: pay more than the 2.99 GBP minimum requested.
Your donation will go to those that were victim of the Japan earthquake, via Ian Hawgood (of Home Normal fame), who’s wife is currently working directly with some of the people affected.
With 60 artists on a single album, it’s impossible to choose one single example…so just browse through the Bandcamp sound samples below: