Passivité (2025 Reissue) You Ishihara

Passivité is the entrancingly beautiful debut solo album from You Ishihara, the founder of Japan's legendary White Heaven. On its first release, on CD in 1997, it received scant attention. Since then, it has steadily gathered adherents, who, like P.S.F. Records founder Hideo Ikeezumi, have praised its tremendous depth and discovered that they experience something new each time they listen.

The album draws from rock and psychedelic music, the sounds of 60's America as well as elements of jazz, bossa nova, soul, and even electronic music. Joined by a choice group players including Michio Kurihara (White Heaven) on guitar, Chiyo Kemekawa (Yura Yura Teikoku) on bass, and Koji Shimura (Acid Mothers Temple), Ishihara creates an enigmatic late-night meditation that unfolds in a cool darkness pierced by scattered flashes of light and heat.

Listening back today, Passivité sounds timeless and encapsulates the concepts and brilliance that have marked Ishihara's near 50-year career and made him a key figure in the history of Japanese underground music.

Black Editions presents Passivité for the first time on vinyl in a meticulously remastered deluxe edition with notes by Masato Matsumura (Studio Voice, Tokion) and by Shinji Shibayama (Nagisa Ni Te, Org Records).