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PRICE:
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IN STOCK
01. Gratin Carnival - 冬 (Winter)
02. Gratin Carnival - 換気扇 (Ventilation Fan)
03. Gratin Carnival - 銀と水色の街 (City of Silver and Blue)
04. Gratin Carnival - シャッターチャンスは五年前 (Just Watching)
05. Gratin Carnival - ミラージュソング (Mirage Song)
06. Gratin Carnival - 灯台 (Lighthouse)
07. Gratin Carnival - 火星の教育 (Education from Mars)
08. Gratin Carnival - みずたまり (Puddle)
09. Gratin Carnival - 本当の夢 (Dreaming)
10. Gratin Carnival - 待ち合わせ (On the Train)
ARTIST
TITLE
Such December
FORMAT
LP

LABEL
CATALOG #
N 088LP N 088LP
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
11/10/2023

Alien Transistor announces a reissue of Such December, the fourth album by Japanese indie folk-pop artist, Gratin Carnival. Listeners might already know Gratin Carnival from their appearance on the Alien Parade Japan compilation of indie pop groups working with brass and woodwind. Gratin Carnival's "Just Watching" was one of the many highlights of that compilation, and its gentle bossa-folk glide reappears on Such December. Originally released in 2020, Such December captures beautifully the happy-sad charm of Gratin Carnival. The project of Koreyuki Mitsunaga, Gratin Carnival started in 2011; Mitsunaga had been home recording for some time and decided on the name as an umbrella for his music-making. Mitsunaga's main instruments are guitar, which he uses to great effect throughout, his gorgeous acoustic playing reminiscent of players like Ueno Takashi of Tenniscoats or João Gilberto, and alto saxophone and clarinet. Those three instruments make up the core of Gratin Carnival's sound, along with Mitsunaga's charmingly doleful singing. Recording at his parents' home, with a four-track cassette recorder and a MacBook, Mitsunaga created Such December during 2020, though the songs on it stretch back to 2016. As with plenty of musicians from the Japanese underground, Mitsunaga is involved in other music, too -- he's been working with The Otoasobi Project, which performs music in collaboration with individuals with learning disabilities, and their families; and he's also involved in improvised music. With Such December, though, you get to hear Mitsunaga's music at its most personal and individual, ten songs of still, gorgeously poised indie folk-pop, where the swooning clang of six strings meets the breathy bliss of woodwind and brass.