Shiho Yabuki
Good morning.
Today we’re listening to Shiho Yabuki, a Japanese pianist and ambient music producer from Okayama. We first recommended her music back in September 2021. Shiho started to study classical piano at age 5, and inspired by natural scenes outside her childhood home and her Tendai Buddhist teachings she composed minimalist “healing music” with synths.1 She created her own label, Esthetic Music, to get out her ideas. Her 1987 debut LP, The Body is a Message of the Universe, is a collection of gentle meditations. We concur with Undercurrents’ assessment that the occasional dramatic flair evokes Angelo Badalamenti’s Twin Peaks soundtrack (especially the track “Samadhi”). We’re also playing Shiho’s 1990 album, New Meditation, whose warm digital synths sound like the score to a meditation video game.
The Body is a Message of the Universe - Shiho Yabuki (50m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Bandcamp / Tidal
New Meditation - Shiho Yabuki (60m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal
We wish you a great start to your week.
