Chihei Hatakeyama - Forgotten Hill [Room 40 Promo]

Released via Australia's ever active Room40-imprint on September 20th, 2k19 is "Forgotten Hill", the new album by Japanese Ambient composer Chihei Hatakeyama who was inspired to create this nine track piece by a visit to his home countries Asuka region - a region once highly populated and important but now seemingly forgotten and of agricultural use only although it is home to a vast array of burial mounds, most importantly the one known as Ishibutai Kofun. Still under the impression of what the area, especially the named burial mound and also the Asuka Temple and its large Buddha statue, felt like Chihei Hatakeyama created a soft spoken, misty and all over organic journey into the lands of classic, calming Ambient music, hovering, floating and ever evolving, garnished with slightly blurred crystalline motifs, nebulous, time dissolving layers of harmonic atmospheres and even soft guitar playing in tunes like "Staring At The Mountain" or "Fugitive From Wisteria Field". And although this album doesn't add anything new or unheard of to the Ambient realm it might be another welcome addition to the collections of die-hard Ambient headz and avid collectors of Japanese electronic music anyway.