Noah is the first release of Jun who records under the moniker "Yawning" on Fluttery Records. His previous release Selected Works, his band Gargle and their contributions to Draff Krimmy project made the label to track this gifted artist. He offers instrumental music especially influenced by ambient, modern classical and post-rock. Enjoy the tranquillity.

Matt Finney (poet / musician)
I received an email from Jun asking me to write a bit about his new EP “Noah” for Fluttery. He's been a dear friend of mine since I met about a year or so ago. He's one of the nicest and gentlest people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. One of my few true heroes. He also happens to be one of my all time favorite musicians. I remember listening to his Heat Death Records album Selected Works and being completely and utterly blown away. It was all I listened to for a year. No fooling. I have so many great and painful memories attached to them and those are just the demos of his! Noah shows Jun moving into more mature territory. More heartbreaking and tender territory while we're at it.

It's been quite a ride watching him craft these songs. The idea came about when I lost someone that was so dear to me and I never even had the chance to see him. I was devastated for so long. All I had left to turn to were my records and Yawning was always there for me. That's about as cliche as it gets but I'll be damned if it isn't the truth. I remember telling Jun about the rough time I was having and he became a confidant in many ways. I hope I was one to him as well. He was going through his own battles at the time. He told me that he was unsure if he'd make another solo album. I begged him to keep recording, even if they were rough sketches that only I could hear. I told him how much his music meant to me and how I needed something to lean on. I can tell you right now that this become a crutch to me.

This is the best ep of 2010. One of the best in general if my opinion is worth anything. I doubt you're gonna find a record that will shake you like this. The moments of hurt and joy are displayed in ways I've never heard before. All of my attachments to it aside, this should be required listening for everyone. You're not gonna find too many composers on Jun level and when he's working with emotions that we've all felt at some point, there's very little to feel alone about. Thank you so much to Jun for making this album. I think I've rambled on long enough. It's time for you to listen and to buy it. I dare you not to be moved.

REVIEWS

Caleidoscoop / Jan Willem Broek

While the reviewing season slowly proceeds towards the winter break, sometimes suddenly a big surprise is delivered by the mailman. I received, for example. the mini 'Noah' by the Japanese project 'Yawning'. It is a project by Jun Minowa, who also is half of the ambient duo 'Gargle'. Aside from that, he also participates in the fantastic international project 'Draff Krimmy'. His first CDr release as Yawning, 'Selected Works', has been sold out already. Now he releases his new work on the increasingly interesting label Fluttery Records. Despite the project name, this is absolutely not music that makes you yawn, it is more awe inspiring instead. He delivers 4 tracks that are together just above 21 minutes, and that are influences by genres such as post-rock, neoclassical, and ambient. One gets deliciously soft piano sounds, which form a breath-taking whole with (electronic) neoclassical and symphonic elements, dark ambient, and soft post-rock guitars. By its overwhelming beauty, the music absorbs one completely. It is music about loss, mourning, longing, and thoughts of unattainable love. The feelings affected by this are really intense, very melancholic, and very moving. He plays in a well-balanced way with different styles, and because of that sometimes one is more dominant than the other. In fact, the music became a sum total of the calmer parts of Mono wirh Richard Skelton, Deaf Center, Dakota Suite, Celer, Nils Frahm and Ólafur Arnalds. A very special jewel, never to let go again. 'Yawning' is a great new name at the melancholic firmament.

Cyclic Defrost

Succinct EP from Japanese post-classical musician Jun, guitarist from Gargle who also records under the name Yawning- Noah his solo project on Fluttery Records. Whereas polish was the missing factor in terms of some clumsiness affecting his earlier Selected Works, Jun’s exploration of sentiment driven by the bittersweet and reflective is continued on the Noah EP. Support from new label Fluttery has resulted in more realised complexity and less forced composition, the added production values allowing highly emotional pieces timing improvements not executed as capably on Selected Works.

That immense yet delicate juxtaposition Japanese artists have honed through the ages is certainly evident on Noah. The arrangements suggest soaring through vivid landscape, armies descending from the clouds or a single flower petal the only colour in a snowstorm. This is a decidedly measured work; every piano note every string every pause. Impressively this is managed without sounding overly calculated. The music still flows.

But it can’t be said that Jun is truly extending the edgier listener’s appetite, however those new age aficionados who like a cup of tea and some mental veg-out will probably not be hankering for anything more than the melancholy bliss delivered. Personally I couldn’t help but think Kitaro upon hearing Yawning’s Noah and for me that entails memories of shattered car journeys as a child with Silk Road winding terminally in the cassette player. / Yukkoff

Stereoworld.gr

Yawning is the solo project of Japanese musician Jun Minowa, who recently released an EP called Noah. This is his second release (following his Selected Works in 2009). The music of the Minowa is hardly in a class; he creates an ambient atmosphere without being restricted there. His orchestrations reveal influences from classical music, while communicating with the post rock ( the influence of his countrymen Mono).The EP contains four tracks, starting with Noah, which is also the title of the EP, is a wonderful composition built on a repeating melody. The Mourning is a melancholic piano dominant song, as opposed to The One I Cherish, a brilliant synthesis of the first cello and electric guitar while the Blessed Moment’s melody evolves over a layer noise. The downtempo rhythms of the Yawning EP creates a movie soundtrack atmosphere that draws images and landscapes for listeners as the artwork on the cover. The EP is 21 minutes and it can serve as an album length. It captures the listener interest and not fails to be predictable or repetitive.