Ain Soph - A Story Of Mysterious Forest (1980) Japan

Now this album, the first from this japanese quartet is a mixture of Canterbury prog with Fusion/Jazz rock elements and some long improvisations on the keys and guitar.
Although they come from japan, Ain Soph's music seems to be very inspired from the canterbury scene in England during the late 70's and early 80's.
Breathtaking instrumental progressive rock from Japan carrying a nice laid back Canterbury fusion element throughout. This is truely beautiful music with some great jazz-like imagery(jazz piano..), loads of atmospheric synths (aka CAMEL), wonderful guitar accents and superb bass and drum interplay. "A Story of Mysterious Forest" seems to progress seamlessly through its wild musical transformation which moves from the intro of fusion jazz into the lounge-like excursions to its grand finale resting spot, the title 20 mins track which is full of the most wonderful pastoral, space prog you have ever heard. This epic track nicely captures with the use of the mellotron the atmosphere of the fog laden imagination within the mysterious forest... sounds deep eh! Album offers enough mood and tempo swings to satisfy every progressive rock fan for years to come. Without a doubt this is an essential jem and would most certainly be one of my personal fav from Japan.
I truly recommend this one for fans of Kenso, Hatfield & the North, National Health and that type of canterbury style.

Studio Album, released in 1980

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Crossfire (2:54)
2. Interlude I (1:30)
3. Natural Selection (8:10)
4. Variations on a Theme by Brian Smith (9:44)
5. A Story of Mysterious Forest (18:47)
a) Awakening
b) Longing-Whith the Wind
c) Mysterious Forest
d) Passion
e) Deep Sleep
f) Darkness
g) Dance
h) Misfortune
i) Mysterious Forest
j) Awakening
6. Interlude II (0:33)

Total Time: 41:50

Line-up / Musicians

- Masey Hattori / acoustic & electric pianos,
celeste, Hammond organ, clavinet, synthesizers, strings, vocoder, mellotron
- Hiroshi Natori / drums, percussion, crystal gong
- Masahiro Torigaki / bass
- Yozox Yamamoto / acoustic & electric guitars

Download

listen to Natural Selection