Masaki Batoh - Smile Jesus Loves You LP
On his new album "Nowhere", Masaki Batoh, the leader of The Silence, and before that, of Japan's legendary Ghost, goes DEEP with folk and blues traditions. Weaving a delicate, yet heavy web, winding acoustic patterns around undulating psychedelic choruses while charting an existential trip through life after death, Batoh seeks and finds transcendence in the music. Spiritual and tranquil, with a gorgeously intimate analog sound, "Nowhere" projects laid-back modes that might remind you of Swedish neo-classicists Dungen and Goat, projecting amber-hued, old-school melodies and a master hand on 6 and 12-string guitars.