This is a mostly unknown early '80s record from Japan and has been absent for the past 30 years. When Mariah first got together in the late 1970s, their sound was largely indebted to the popular jazz fusion and synth pop of the time, but Utakata no Hibi seems to open the door to a wonderful dreamland where genres no longer exist. Sung half in Japanese and half in Armenian, the record melds East Asian and Middle Eastern tonalities, folklorish melodies with synthetic futurism, upbeat dance rhythms with meditative ambient textures, wonky New Wave, jazz structures and blissful pop ditties.
Released on the relaxation music tape label Mu-Psych Music on 1986, this is the dreamiest and definitely the rarest recording from modular synth guru Charles Cohen and musician Jeff Cain. Filled with sparse beauty, the album only really becomes “active” halfway through on the pentatonic swirler “Rococco Rondo”– then right back to ambient with “Slow Blue in Horizontal.” The last track, “Botticelli Rewind” is also very full sounding, with some driving percussion and baby grand twirling. Really love this one! A cassette! not even a vinyl release.
Roberto Di Gioia, the musical force behind Marsmobil was born in Milan in 1965. He began playing piano at age 4. In 1975 he began his studies at the musicial highschool in Eichstaett and after graduating in 1984 moved to Munich where he began his career as a professional musician. Jointly signed to Kruder & Dorfmeister’s label G-Stone, and Compost recordings, Marsmobil won the 2006 contract for a theme song to the FIFA World cup games in Munich.
