Midori Hirano — Ambient and electronica music blog and mixes — A STRANGELY ISOLATED PLACE

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Midori Hirano

ASIP blog

Since 2008.
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Christian Kleine / Electronic Music From The Lost World: 1998​-​2001 (Vol.2)

 

Christian Kleine continues to unearth long-lost transmissions with Electronic Music From The Lost World: Vol.2 - another batch of pristine artifacts from his personal DAT archive. Much like its predecessor, this release serves as both a time capsule and a reminder of Kleine’s effortless blend of melodic warmth, intricate rhythm programming, punk influences, and a deep-rooted love for the fringes of electronica.

Where Vol.1 felt like an invitation back to the late ‘90s, a time when IDM was still an evolving conversation, this second volume extends the dialogue, revealing more of the sonic experiments and fully-formed pieces that never saw the light of day. Tracks recall specific moments from Kleine’s time living in Berlin, an era of minimal comforts but maximal creativity, where all that really mattered was that the PowerPC, sampler, and synths kept running. This period of introspection, coupled with the musical freedom afforded by cheap rent and late-night school classes, shaped the deeply personal and solitary sound of these recordings.

Visually, Vol 2 shares its origins with the first volume, as Midori Hirano’s stark Berlin photography forms the foundation, and Noah M / Keep Adding pushes the imagery into a brighter, more reflective final space. Final touches remain in familiar hands, with LOOP-O on mastering and lacquer duties, bringing new life to Christian’s OG DAT recordings. 

And much like the classic City Centre Offices era that shaped this sound and Kleine’s early career, this release nods to that legacy. A special limited 7” EP with two bonus tracks, designed in tribute to CCO’s iconic DIY aesthetic, will be available on release day direct from the label’s Bandcamp. 

Electronic Music From The Lost World: 1998​-​2001 (Vol.2), will be available on marbled pink gatefold 2LP on April 18th 2025.

View the release page for all links to buy.

 

Mix - Jenus - The Reverse End

 
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It has been a long time since I’ve featured an unrelated to ASIP mix on the blog. That’s not to say I haven’t been listening, but rather, other than the usual podcasts and mix series I stick to which keep me well and truly fed, I haven’t been drawn away by the kind of passion that used to come from a “blog” -type mix. Mixes that are rare, put together with so much passion and have a personal story behind them are rare to come across nowadays. It’s likely the demise of “blogs” as a whole that contributed to this - but I digress - I stumbled across Jenus’ work this week after someone I follow on twitter shared it.

The Reverse End is not just a mix for mix sake, but as put - “basically something I recorded for myself to listen to on my headphones in private”. The tracklist reads like a true fans obsession over the ambient and electronica genre, featuring artists of new and old, more obscure and more familiar, all put together seamlessly.

Along with it being a highly respectable mix, of course, what struck me was getting halfway through the mix and tracklist, noticing some ASIP tracks included, followed further down the page by a lovely write-up by Jenus. Thank you.

Mix available on Soundcloud with a lovely write-up + download options available here.

Tracklist:

Isolating – Mortification (4GN3S)
Rapoon – Raising Es (V.O.D./Zoharum)
How To Disappear Completely – Mute Verses (self-released)
DJ Paradise – Ssumo (bblisss)
Croation Amor & Varg – Shadows Show Violet (Posh Isolation)
Charlie Campagna – Earth Day Isolation (Touch)
Shirley Collins – Crowlink (Domino)
The Sight Below – Shimmer (Ghostly International)
Rafael Anton Irisarri – Vanishing Points (Dais Records)
Mønic – Field Work (Osiris Music UK/Downwards)
Cosmic Ground – Soil 2 (self-released)
Wanderwelle – Death At The Helm (A Strangely Isolated Place)
Thomas Köner – Cogitation (Decay) (Mille Plateaux)
Field Rotation – Valse Fatale (Denovali Records)
Folder – Plasma (Experiences Ltd.)
Hotel Neon & Blurstem – Language Of Loss (self-released)
KMRU – Haal (self-released)
Mønic – H-NET 4 (Osiris Music UK)
KMRU – Canthenta (Dagoretti)
Gastón Arévalo – Et Soudain La Vallée (A Strangely Isolated Place)
Joachim Spieth – Ultradian (Affin)
Shasta Cults – Prologue (Important Records)
Pub – Summer (Vertical Form)
ELEH – Still, Not Waiting (Touch)
Telefon Tel Aviv – mouth, agape (Ghostly International)
Simon Scott – The Borderlands (Touch)
Midori Hirano – Belong (Sonic Pieces)
Ferial Confine – Eight Bright Cycles (Broken Flag/Siren Records)
Regis – Another Kind Of Love (Downwards)
Geneva Skeen – Dream State (Recurring) (Crystalline Morphologies)
Warmth – Breathe (Archives)
Othon – Meditation 1: Voice Of A Vast Inner Space (Conscious Expansion)
First Tone – Reaction 1 (Spectrum Spools)
B12 – Go With The Hiss (B12/Warp Records)
Rothko – Burns In Film (Trace Recordings)
Being – Hurts (Play/Pause Remix) (Trace Recordings/self-released)
Michael Begg – Down Below (Omnempathy)
Ryo Murakami – Untitled 2 (Depth Of Decay)
Daniel Lopatin – Mohegan Suite (Warp Records)
Gang Gang Dance – ( infirma terrae ) (4AD)
Black Light District/COIL – Cold Dream Of An Earth Star (Eskaton/Dais Records)
Drew Mulholland – A Spectre Of Coils (self-released)
France Jobin – 25-45 (Schwebung)
Moss Covered Technology – Departure Process (Polar Seas Recordings)
Pascal Savy – Lost In A Mesh Of Time
Cosmic Ground – Compact/Space (Studio Fleisch/Deep Distance)
Teleplasmiste – To Kiss Earth Goodbye (House Of Mythology)
Stephan Mathieu – Stasis 5 (Ripley’s Dream) (Schwebung)
Fovea Hex – Light (Steve Wilson Remix) (Headphone Dust/Die Stadt)
Index – Flux (Longform Editions)
Autumn Of Communion – Autumn Of Communion (Fax +49-69/450464)
Global Communication – 14:31 (Dedicated)
Rrose – Organ Study No. 4 (Low-Low) (Eaux)
Monos – The Black Sea (Die Stadt)
Slowdive – Moussaka Chaos (Creation Records)
Rival Consoles – Sudden Awareness Of Now (Erased Tapes Records)
Cindytalk – Circumspekt (Remodel)
Plant43 – Wren & Elder (Plant43 Recordings
Alva Noto – Xerrox Sans Retour (Noton)
Nature And Organisation – To You (2020 Version) (Durtro/self-released)
Jon Brooks – Fonn (Clay Pipe Music)

 

isolatedmix 92 - Midori Hirano

 
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Born in Kyoto, Japan and now residing in Berlin, Midori Hirano’s discography has spanned a wide spectrum of experimental electronic music. From her 2016 album on the esteemed Sonic Pieces, to her latest praised work on Australian label Daisart and her beautiful extended piece for the Longform Editions series, Midori’s work is often recognizable when in play due to her manipulation of the piano.

A talented player from a young age, Midori’s work revolves around these classical elements, often told through soft pieces, with added electronic processing and field recordings. The result draws you in through attachment, as differentiating layers and effects change productions from a simple modern classical score, to an engaging experimental piece. Think Steve Reich, or other minimalist innovators, and you’ll enjoy Midori’s experimentations.

For any electronica fans, take Midori’s work as MimiCof however, and these minimalist productions take on new rhythmic layers, often finding themselves in an even more electronic guise, sitting alongside the finest moments of labels like City Centre Offices and Morr Music, the melodies of a Lusine and the classical manipulation and experimentation of a Ryuichi Sakamoto. A high bar by all accounts, but evident in the pieces captured below, where the extremes of this sound have seen Midori’s most energetic piece to date, Moon Synch, expand with rich experimentations originating from the Buchla synthesizer.

Not only is Midori pushing the boundaries of electronic music as her own name and as MimiCof, Midori has recently signed with Erased Tapes Music, and has contributed remixes for the likes of Sonae, Kid 606 and Liars. And of course, the talent doesn’t stop there - Midori has also helped provide some photography for Christian Kleine’s ASIP release, taking pictures of her newly adopted home in Berlin.

But, back to what you’re here for, the music, and here’s what Midori had to say about her isolatedmix which combines the art evident across both her monikers with recent experimental pioneers that stay true to her sound:

“This mix consists of recent favourite tracks of mine including two of my own songs. A few tracks have voices or field recordings which I often like to use also for my music, as I often want to have a kind of feeling of watching films every time I make a mix. It puts me into a place isolated from a world while I’m listening to it for myself” - MH

Download

Tracklist:

01. Tujiko Noriko - Ride
02. Senking - Ep 4
03. Félicia Atkinson - Valis
04. alva noto + ryuichi sakamoto with ensemble modern - Broken Line
05. MimiCof - Opal
06. Eli Keszler - The Immense Endless Belt Of Faces
07. Caterina Barbieri - Fantas
08. Driftmachine - Shift II
09. Ornate Coldtrain - Powerful Myth
10. Uguisubari - Nanzen-Ji
11. Mark Pritchard - The Blinds Cage (feat. Beans)
12. Amnesia Scanner & Bill Kouligas - II
13. Midori Hirano - Haiyuki
14. Jim O’Rourke - And a 1, 2, 3, 4
15. Yair Elazar Glotman & Mats Erlandsson - Format And Formalize Desire
16. Robert Lippok - Samtal

Midori Hirano / MimiCof | Website | Bandcamp | Soundcloud |