“Next Millennium Vibrations” drifts through warped tape loops, ambient zones and sampled oriental percussion with comical electronics, conjuring a surreal, meditative and disorienting atmosphere.
Mako weaves fractured beats with ethereal melodies, blending kosmische, lo-fi psychedelia, and avant-garde experimentation.
This release is especially meaningful to us as we celebrate the legacy of Magical Power Mako, who passed away unexpectedly on February 7, 2025.
The reissue release was planned and approved with Mako just a few months before his passing, and we now hope to shine more light on his work and share his unique musical legacy
Magical Power Mako – Biography
Born on January 15, 1956 in Izu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, Mako started to attract attention around 1972.
In May of the same year, at the young age of 16, he was in charge of music for an NHK documentary and was hailed as a musical genius.
It is during that time that the late composer Toru Takemitsu got to know Mako and enamored with his mixture of traditional, psychedelic rock and progressive music, decided to introduce him to Polydor.
In 1974, Polydor released Makoʼs debut album, Magical Power, which features Keiji Haino on vocals with whom he had developed a creative and close friendship.
Music as ritual has been a central motif in Makoʼs work.
With his playful aesthetic and his arcane approach to live performances, often taking the form of channeling rituals, incorporating and mixing a wide panel of elements, from alien communications, psychic networking to Buddhist symbolism, Mako perpetuated a shadowy personal mythology.
Over the years, Mako built up an intense and unpredictable musical activity and after half a century, he remains, to this day, a key figure in the Japanese underground scene.
From his early recordings, his exercises in freeform psychedelia still sound uncompromisingly futuristic today.
