Project Description

Gaijin Blues III

CNC010

Release date: 16.11.2021

Gaijin Blues III is a story about looking for understanding. With yourself, others, and the ecosystem that we are destroying every day. When making the record, musicians were inspired by classic Japanese animations like Gundam, Knights Of Sidonia, or Neon Genesis Evangelion. But also the legacy of a culture not so far from their own – compositions of soviet electronic musicians, and the prose of Stanislaw Lem and Strugacki’s brothers. Abandoning the sampling almost entirely, the band reached for more robust instrumentation. Typical instruments of Gaijin Blues: electric guitars, drum kit, percussion, synths, and drum machines are combined with virtual gear. The sounds of harp, koto, or brass section are the elements that fill this musical landscape, which is organic, yet built on strong electronic fundamentals.

The album was conceived during the pandemic, which is reflected in the drafts of a lot of the compositions which were completed remotely. Interestingly enough, a new take on video games – a very central feature in previous releases by Gaijin Blues – was employed on the new album. Some of the tracks were built around previously unused drafts of soundtracks for video games.

Throughout the whole Gaijin Blues III album there is only one sample from Japanese music. Japanese connection wasn’t abandoned but elevated to a new level. In „Ai Wo Kudasai”, the opening track, we can hear the voice of Kiki Hitomi from the amazing band WaqWaq Kingdom. There is a certain kinship running through both of the bands – WaqWaq Kingdom is a Japanese project who create their music in Berlin, people who also feel alien in their country of choice – Gaijins. Fusion and confrontation between unknown and familiar is the conceptual backbone of Gaijin Blues III and the story that accompanies it.
Humanity is coming back to Earth in huge mechanical suits. Discovering intelligent beings that not only rebuilt the Earth’s ecosystem but coexist with it in perfect symbiosis at the same time. Who or what are those creatures and how that encounter will end?

Written & performed by Gaijin Blues
except track 1.: Kiki Hitomi & Gaijin Blues
Mixed & produced by Gaijin Blues
Additional mix by Marcin Szulc
Mastered at Plugaudiomastering by Marcin Cichy
Lacquer cut at Scape Mastering by Pole
Artwork by Bo Hun
Cover & inlay design by Wojtek Słabuszewski
Translation & proof reading by Jakub Czernieski & Krzysztof Kliszcz
Limited posters screen-printing at tuBAZA by ~morze
Limited posters manual folding by Anna Maria Czaja
Executive production by Tomek Hoax

Gaijin Blues are Paweł Klimczak & Michał Szczepaniec

Supported by: Miasto Wrocław
Media Partner: GameMusic.pl

© 2021 Coastline Northern Cuts

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There’s also a limited edition LP with a screen printed poster.

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