Chihei Hatakeyama

Chihei Hatakeyama, a Tokyo-based ambient musician and mastering engineer, shapes resonant, luminous environments by blending acoustic sources such as guitar, vibraphone, and piano with laptop treatments. His pieces frequently draw imagery from the natural world and therefore integrate plentiful field recordings together with other organic elements. After the favorable response to his first album, Minima Moralia, issued by Kranky in 2006, he has generated an extensive body of work both alone and in tandem with others while sustaining a steady level of excellence.

He first played in hardcore and metal ensembles before his focus moved toward experimental rock and classical music. In 2002 he formed the duo Opitope with Tomoyoshi Date. Kranky released his solo debut in 2006, and Opitope followed with their initial long-player, Hau, on Spekk the next year. His second solo album, Dedication, came out on Magic Book Records in 2008.

From 2009 his schedule grew nonstop, yielding The River on Hibernate, Saunter and Mirror on Room40, A Long Journey on Home Normal, and further titles across numerous ambient and experimental labels. Beginning in 2010 he issued material digitally on his White Paddy Mountain imprint, among them installments of the live Void series; the label later added CDs by artists including Celer, Machinefabriek, and Aaron Martin, which Hatakeyama mixed and mastered. He continued releasing on Rural Colours, Small Fragments, and Airplane Label while collaborating with Asuna, Hakobune, and Federico Durand.

Six albums appeared under his name in 2015, among them the joint Frozen Silence with Sakana Hosomi plus the solo sets Mist, Five Dreams, and his third Room40 title, Moon Light Reflecting Over Mountains. He returned to Room40 in 2017 with Mirage, assembled over five years and centered on links between architecture and sound; additional releases that year comprised Far from the Atmosphere on Hiss Noise Records and further joint work with Durand and Tamaru.

In 2018 he issued Solitary Universe alongside Eraldo Bernocchi and the 12-inch EP FTS002 with Vida Vojić. Solo efforts included the Constellation Tatsu cassette Scene and the White Paddy Mountain CDs Butterfly's Summer and Vanished and Afterimage. Early the following year Otooto released Erroribus Humanis et Antimony, a collaboration with Ken Ikeda and Tetuzi Akiyama; Jodo, recorded with Stijn Hüwels, and Ghost Woods both appeared on White Paddy Mountain, while Room40 put out Forgotten Hill.