No doubt you will be familiar with Kawabata Makoto from his indefatigable ‘speed guru’ guitar heroics in Acid Mothers Temple, and perhaps for his endless stream of collaborations and one-off live sets too, but solo studio recordings under his own name have proved both rarer and more unique propositions in recent years. (I believe that ‘We're One-Sided Lovers Each Other’ from 2013 was his last one?)

Like most Kawabata solo joints to see release on ‘proper’ record labels, ‘Astro Love & Infinite Kisses’ continues to explore the sensei’s propensity for crafting blessed out, devotional cosmic drones of exceptional beauty, and in my opinion in contains some of the best such material he has produced to date.

Stretching out across the first two sides, ‘Dos Nurages’ begins by building up short, harmonising guitar phrases and eerie sustained note drones into a Terry Riley-esque web of organic sound, densely woven as a psychedelic fairisle jumper, then expands into a vast open plain of extremely enjoyable meditational drift before succumbing slightly to the temptations of Leyland Kirby/’Carnival of Souls’ style shimmery organ paranoia through it’s second half.

On the second disc meanwhile, the title track proves absolutely gorgeous, building from a cyclical acoustic riff that could be a distant cousin of AMT’s ‘Pink Lady Lemonade’ and a nest of buzzing electric tamboura and chaotic string-scraping to create an extraordinarily potent stew of atmos, like a set of temple curtains eternally parting to reveal some unspeakably vast and ancient altar chamber of shimmering, golden dreams.

Closing proceedings, ‘Woman from Dream Island’ proves the darkest and least immediately intoxicating piece on the album, but still provides a winning twenty minutes of slow-burning sitar / shruti box hypnosis, sympathetic strings winding and grinding to the gates of infinity.

In conclusion, throwing around further superlatives about a release like this seems surplus to requirements really. I don’t feel a great burning need to try to sell you on it or anything, beyond merely reminding you that it exists. This kind of music plays an important and beneficial role in my life, and ‘Astro-Love & Infinite Kisses’ provides a particularly wonderful example of it that I know will remain in frequent rotation for a long time to come.

Available to buy or stream from VHF in the U.S.. Consult local dealers for hard copies elsewhere.

Labels: best of 2015, Kawabata Makoto