Around 2019 in 12 Weeks: Label / End of the Year Mix by Muzan Editions

End of the Year Favorite Albums Label Mixes

Muzan Editions is a small label from Nara, Japan, focusing on ambient and experimental sound.

Like a foreign plant species traveling to distant shores by way of burr, gut, wave, or breeze, Muzan is a label led by a trio of non-native humanities enthusiasts who each found their varied way to Japan. Andreas Holderbach previously organized experimental music shows in Germany where he pursued degrees in Japanese Studies and Sociology. When not teaching English and German in Osaka, Andreas manages Muzan’s accounting, tape duplication, and order fulfillment. Christopher Olson, who has a background in photography and design, handles the creative aspects of Muzan. He lives in Nara and makes sound work under the name Standard Grey. And Joshua Stefane, the label’s manager of artist relations, studied philosophy in Toronto, doing graduate work in Kyoto—focusing his thesis on the ontology of apologies. By day he works in a bioethics laboratory in Osaka, focusing on ethical and legal issues relating to genetic sequencing. – A Closer Listen

We had all kinds of labels submitting mixes to us so far, but Japan-based Muzan (not to be confused with Muzai Records) stands out as having one the most unusual backgrounds of all. As stated by ACL, ME is run by a trio of non-natives, one of which (Andreas) was kind enough to share his favorite cuts from 2019 with us.

Looking over their roster on Bandcamp, we couldn’t help but notice that much of it consists of artists scattered all over the world. Same can be said about the mix that Andreas made – think music from Denmark (Astrid Sonne), Finland (Lau Nau), Spain (David Cordero/Pepo Galan) and US (Daniel Schmidt). Dive in!