Coffee and music have a lot in common. Both are consumed, sometimes mindlessly and for another purpose, coffee for its caffeine content and music as background noise while the focus lies elsewhere. But when given their proper space, both open up, revealing their subtleties to the concerted seeker. And they are both best experienced in the analog.
And at the analog nexus of coffee and music sits a new collaboration from Standart. The quarterly print magazine that is a perennial nominee and four-time winner of the Sprudgie Awards for Best Coffee Book/Magazine has teamed up with Japanese electronic duo Satoshi & Makoto for Mirage Cafe, a new EP inspired by coffee and the cafe.
Standart has been hinting at the release on Instagram, and it was made official yesterday, May 6th. Mirage Cafe is the first album in six years from Satoshi & Makoto, but it isn’t the first time identical twins from Kanagawa have worked with Standart. They were featured in Issue 34 two years ago, where they discussed “what a sonic expression of coffee might sound like.”
Recorded in Tokyo and produced in Porto, “reflects an international dialogue between sound, place, and daily ritual” and is a blend of “ambient electronica and understated groove [that] unfolds like a day shaped by coffee rituals.” From the band’s website:
The title evokes an “imaginary café,” a conceptual space where contemplation, connection, and inspiration intersect. This vision is further enriched by the partnership with Standart Magazine, bridging the worlds of music and coffee culture into a narrative that is at once intimate and international. The result is an album that unfolds like a “slow ritual”—warm, enveloping, and meticulously detailed.
Coinciding with the release, Standart is releasing a limited vinyl pressing of Mirage Cafe. A total of 500 green vinyl copies will be created and are available exclusively through the Standart website for $30. But if records aren’t your thing, digital versions of Mirage Cafe are available on Bandcamp, Spotify, and Apple Music.
For more information or to purchased the limited edition green vinyl pressing of Mirage Cafe, visit Standart’s official website.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
