I am no psychic, but without ever meeting you, I will bet 99% that somewhere in your next five years there is a trip to Japan pencilled in. Because it is cool. Because it is clean, safe, endlessly aesthetic. Because... I just know.
So, whether or not you believe in affirmations, consider this playlist a small one for that future trip. Best case: Japan happens. Worst case: you discover Mule Musiq, a Tokyo-based independent electronic music label founded and run by Japanese promoter and curator Toshiya Kawasaki. Not a bad outcome either way.
So, what is actually inside the playlist?
Focus on Mule Musiq is a journey through the label's sound, featuring artists who have been part of its world for more than 20 years. And that is probably the nicest thing to know going in: Mule Musiq doesn't really behave like a genre label. It drifts through deep house, minimal, ambient, dubby electronics, techno and jazz-inflected electronic music — never quite settling, never boxed in.
It is also, funnily enough, a very international Japanese label, bringing together artists from Japan, the United States, Romania, New Zealand, Germany, Russia and beyond. What connects them isn't nationality, or even genre, but atmosphere — deep, warm, hypnotic, sophisticated and often quietly dreamy. Music for the dancefloor, but equally for listening alone.
So stay silent and dance. Sink into nostalgia. Dream, laugh, cry. And, of course, keep affirming that trip to Japan.
More to listen
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Focus On: Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen, from the final chapters back to the beginning
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Meet Sneaker Talk: The Podcast Exploring the Culture Behind the Shoes
Eight episodes on how sneakers became cultural symbols, status objects and very serious business
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Focus On: Dream Pop
A quick guide to the genre that makes everything feel softer, hazier and slightly more cinematic
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David Harks: Amity Agora, Blush Response
Music exploring where machines end and human feeling begins
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STR x TECHFUI: Wareika
TECHFUI and Wareika take the long way to the dance floor
