There are those times that we spend thinking about the fun we had when we visited someplace we had never been before. The music of this album brings back all the fond memories from the trip my brother and I took to Japan in 2008. Japan is one of the most amazing places I have ever visited, where you can see buildings, monuments, and culture of centuries past, surviving amongst the Japan of present and future. There is nothing else like it. You soon realize how young the US is when you see a country with history that pre-dates anything that you have ever read about in high school. This album — for me at least — is a collection of audio-based textures that become the soundtrack for the photos and video that I took while I was there. The conversations that were had that led to making new friends... Meeting a friend I had made over the Internet five years prior to my trip for the first time… Using the Japanese I had been teaching myself to blend in, and get around… I advise those who have ever had the thought in their mind about what it would actually be like to visit Japan, to find a friend who wants to see it too, decide what you want to see while you’re there, save your money for a two week stay, and go. You will be amazed at what you’ll see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. You’ll see that there is more to Japan than just what’s exported to the rest of the world. Blog your trip and take a photo of everything that you’re allowed to. I guarantee that you’ll be inspired to — if nothing else — become a better you. This album, is one step out of many in that direction. Enjoy. Sincerely, Brian K. James / The Engineer