Pale Cocoon – Mayu

Pale Cocoon’s Mayu (繭) was originally released in 1984 as a cassette box set by Pafe Record in Japan, but sunk into obscurity after its release, only to garner a strong cult following nearly two decades later during the advent of the music blog era. Within the world of Mayu, sounds of the Japanese landscape in summertime parallel swirling synthesizers and noise; shimmering guitar sounds take the shape of a snowflake. The compositions themselves were informed heavily by Belgian symbolist art and Japanese literature - occasionally evoking the likes of Woo, Durutti Column, Picky Picnic, and other 80s Japanese experimental & ambient music - though Mayu’s singular atmosphere was relatively peerless and quite ahead of its time. The album’s symbolist tendencies blur the lines between nature and noise to create something absolutely magical - a world truly of its own.