Yasushi Ide - Cosmic Suite 2 - New Beginning (2022)

Maverick Japanese producer Yasushi Ide is back with a sequel to his ac-claimed 2020 album Cosmic Suite. This time Ide-san has expanded his vi-sion, producing a fascinating album that features a riveting array of interna-tional artists including Don Letts (aka Rebel Dread), Josh Milan (Blaze), Ja-panese diva UA, Afrika Bambaataa and many, many more. This captivating melting pot of songs in a wide range of musical styles encompasses house, dub, Afrobeat, freeform, jazz, post-punk & beyond. Maybe only a producer in Japan could bring together such a wide range of talent and styles all on the same release, all masterminded and conducted by Ide from his Grand Gallery HQ in Tokyo.

In the midst of the pandemic, creatively reinvigorated, Yasushi Ide decided to produce his first album in eight years, a brand-new project called Cosmic Suite. Released in November 2020, this 36-minute excur-sion into new waters encapsulated a rainbow array of genres and featured artists from Japan and beyond including Jeff Mills. It garnered critical ac-claim but Ide realized he had a lot more to say, so soon after its release, he quickly called upon his partner (and often, co-producer in cri-me), Watusi (Coldfeet) to start production on its sequel which is the rec-ord you have here today.

For Cosmic Suite 2, Ide once again assembled an intriguing line-up of art-ists that he respects dearly - both from Japan and around the world. Famed Japanese artists such as rising female songstress UA, living Japa-nese rock & post-punk legend RECK (Friction), DJ Krush, Kan Takagi (Major Force Productions), Kaoru Inoue, Calm, Watusi (Coldfeet), join with New York house music legend Josh Milan (Blaze), Techno innova-tor Jeff Mills, post-punk New Yorker James Chance, legendary drum-mers Tony Allen (Fela Kuti) and Style Scott (Roots Radics) and living leg-ends of modern music - Afrika Bambaataa and Don Letts who both came to contribute and help set off his Cosmic Suite 2 project on a new trip into another dimension.

Yasushi also re-enlisted his favorite creator right now to design the art-work for the project - the head honcho of celebrated ultra-popular fashion brand GALLERY DEPT. - Josué Thomas who has been taking the world by storm by actively synthesizing fashion, music and art in captivating ways. Thomas drew inspiration for the artwork from his friend, the la-te Virgil Abloh, Yasushi thrilled with his work also asked Josué to read po-etry to help kick off this album. Of course we have to note Ide himself is no slouch in the fashion / style worlds - read more below about his much re-spected Tokyo gallery and stores.

Yasushi Ide's Cosmic Suite 2 is a fascinating piece of work that conjures up and explores a deep, cross cultural, universal music kinship. Cosmic Suite 2 is an album created during a challenging time but its one that brings us a new message of hope.