I've always felt that the Chi reissue kinda got slept on. OK so it's been through a few pressings but you don't hear people talk about it as they should--it's a killer record. Chi founder Hanyo van Oosterom is someone who has been making incredible music in all kinds of groups since the 1980s and is still at it. His Discogs credits will provide plenty of nuggets for the needy; I can hardly think of a better way of whiling away an afternoon.

In 2016 Ario Farahani's Astral Industries imprint splashed eight of the Dutch band's stunning ambient/Fourth World tracks (originally issued on cassette in 1986) across two LPs. All are timeless mood pieces that stylistically sit alongside John Hassell (with whom van Oosterom has worked), Eno/Byrne, and Finis Africae, the product of an experimental electro-acoustic flowering in a farmhouse near Rotterdam. Astral Industries has gone on to put out several LPs by Hanyo's successor collective Chi Factory and all are worth your time. Gamelan and nature sounds move into deep ambient dubscapes. How fitting that it was a tip from Rod Modell/Deepchord that apparently led Astral Industries to reissue Chi's music.

Now we have some new music from Hanyo and longtime collaborator Omar Ka on the ever-essential Music From Memory. Son of Chi presents "We Carry Eden", a kind of ambient suite or rather life-force narrated in various stages by Omar, whose artistry is rooted in West African storytelling traditions. Inspiration for the record (and much of van Oosterom's work) apparently comes from the Greek island of Patmos as well as indigenous Hopi traditions and philosophy.
Water ebbs and flows. Marimba-propelled tempos quicken. Gentle bass reassures. Electronically-processed trumpet bends and shapes the setting. Various voices come and go but the whole enterprise is underpinned by Omar's narrative. Life comes into focus.

‘We Carry Eden’ will be released on LP and digitally on May 16th 2025 on Music From Memory. Sleeve art and design by Michael Willis.