Ethereal producer Ground delivers latest album 'Niu' from Koyasan's sacred temples & shrines

Known for his nomadic sound that is tinted with psychedelia and otherworldly influences, DJ Ground’s latest album, ‘Niu’ dropped earlier this month on his self-run label Chill Mountain — a label that was founded from the Chill Mountain Collective that includes the group’s Chill Mountain Camping Festival, which he co-founded back in 2005.

Tracking the Osaka native and experimental producer on his 2021 travels between Spring and Autumn, we’re taken from Okukawachi through the Kimi Pass, and down south to Koyasan, Wakayama, where his latest album ‘Niu’ was conceived.

For this album, Ground tells us Mixmag Asia, “This time, I stayed in the Koyasan area of Japan, and made this album, where I went a bit deeper with my ambient and experimental side.”

The 13-track long player is akin to Ground’s interpretation of spring, touching on ambient, downtempo and experimental modes, all stylised by his signature slo-mo house beats that often make use of heady kicks and groovy acid basslines.

Inspired by a local folklore story, ‘Niu’ is the creative result of Ground’s time in the highlands of Koyasan in the Wakayama prefecture, also known as Mount Koya, a sacred place of pilgrimage and a listed UNESCO World Heritage site. The sacred and Buddhist-influenced town is clad with temples, shrines and pagodas that date back to 816 AD, an ideal and spiritual space for an ethereal artist like Ground to work on ‘Niu’, and deliver 13 cosmic grooves nuanced by dharma and the Shinto shrine.

Ground ‘Niu’ is out now on Chill Mountain Records, pick up your copy here.

[Image via Passion Passport]