Mute Beat

Mute Beat was an influential dub reggae band from Japan. They are often considered a precursor to acid jazz, ambient and trip hop having performed similar-sounding music before those genres emerged. The band was formed by Kazufumi Kodama, who grew up enjoying marching band music and later discovered reggae in the late 70s. In 1981 he formed Mute Beat with the aim to make dub music that would go boldly into unexplored music territories, including the use of marching band techniques.