Kota Motomura Foreign Wind EP

Canada's percussive house label, Breathing Room Records, looks to Japan for its third release. The Foreign Wind EP comes from Tokyo's Kota Motomura, a trained composer who has an ear for unconventional sounds. Previously only releasing a 12" on Kung Foo Records in 2012, Kota has recently lined up a second EP for Edinburgh's Hobbes Music which has already garnered support from the likes of Laurent Garnier, Tim Sweeney and Bill Brewster, to name a few.
As someone who lists such diverse influences as Arthur Russell, Carl Craig and Adriana Calcanhotto, it is no wonder the four tracks on Foreign Wind approach you from a more left-field direction. "Melody" takes influence from a Kenyan instrument called the nyatiti. Alongside an electric guitar and a relaxed groove, this quirky piece will help warm up any dancefloor. "Aqua" combines latin percussion with squelchy analog synths and fluttering keyboard flourishes to transport you southward. The driving rhythm of "Sumire" is meant to make you dance, alongside the rising synth work, it's a strictly peak-time tool. Closing out the EP is "Light & Darkness", a hypnotizing composition full of bird song, mallet percussion and peculiar ambiences that really do help form a contrasting mood.