New Release!!!
Takuro Okada - Konoma
Label: ISC Hi-Fi Selects, Temporal Drift @ischifirecords@insheepsclothinghifi@temporal_drift
Catalog Number: DRFT21 / ISCHF-006
My new record was released today!!!
“Konoma” is a work that gives form to an idea I've held onto for many years. With the help of many friends and pioneers, I was able to make this record. This work embodies my thoughts on the invisible connections formed through music with people born into different cultures, backgrounds, and eras. With respect to everyone who helped make this record!
~ Featuring Kei Matsumaru (@kmatsumaru ), Shoei Ikeda (@shoeikeda ), Marty Holoubek (@martyhbass ), Yuma Koda (@yuma_kooda ), Shun Ishiwaka (@shun_ishiwaka ), and Kazuhiko Masumura (@breadblues )
~ Recorded & Mixed by OKD & Toshihiko Kasai (@casxtx ),
OKD
~ Mastered by Dave Cooley (@elysianmasters )
~ Design and layout by Toru Kase (@kasetoru )
~ Photographs and video by Satomi Sugiyama (@my_cats_on_film )
~ Press release written by Randall Roberts (@liledit )
𝘈𝘍𝘙𝘖-𝘔𝘐𝘕𝘎𝘌𝘐: When Takuro Okada began shaping his new album Konoma, he returned to a question that had followed him since childhood: How can a Japanese musician engage with the legacy of African American music without simply echoing it? He found a framework in visual artist Theaster Gates’ concept of Afro-Mingei, which links Black aesthetics and Japan’s folk craft movement through shared ideas of resilience and everyday creation.
“I’ve often reflected on the painful history behind the music that’s nourished me,” Okada says. “There are moments when I pick up my guitar and hear a voice whispering: ‘Should someone Japanese like you really be playing the blues?’ — and I find myself unable to move my fingers.” With Konoma, he says, “that influence is finally brought to the forefront in musical form.”
Across six originals and two covers, Okada draws from Sun Ra’s electric meditations with his Arkestra, trip-hop’s late-night pulse, and the patient phrasing of Japanese fusion. Working with a small circle of collaborators to create a huge sound, he lets tone and breathing room define the album’s shape. “Music as true communication — beyond language and cultural background — that’s something truly beautiful,” he says.
Read an interview between @liledit@okd_tkr with translation by @mosukedog , pre-order the album, and join us for a listening party with @temporal_drift this Friday @jaccc_la ~ link in bio ~
One of our last year’s fav back in stock!
Last time we had it, it flew away, so for those who didn’t make it at the first round here it is…
Takuro Okada’s Konoma is a beautifully fragile drift of guitar, tape-worn ambience, and charged silence. Rather than composing in themes, Okada sculpts delicate atmospheres, dust-lit rooms. Guitar figures surface briefly before dissolving into tape-blur and environmental hum, suggesting presence only through its disappearance. TIP
Last week, Takuro Okada performed with his group at @www_shibuya in Tokyo. The evening celebrated Konoma, Takuro’s latest album, co-released by Temporal Drift and @insheepsclothinghifi .
Swipe through for some incredible photographs by @rayotabe .
Takuro Okada 「Konoma」 Release Live
2026 1/28 Tokyo WWW
Featuring:
Takuro Okada (Guitars) @okd_tkr
Shoei Ikeda (Sax) @shoeikeda
Yuma Koda (Keys) @yuma_kooda
Yuka Konishi (Bass) @yk.bass
So Ebihara (Drums) @chitotong
Kazuhiko Masumura (Perc.) @breadblues