Water Melon – Out of Body Experience

In 1984, Water Melon aka Toshio Nakanishi and Yann Tomita released a modern exotica classic on Alfa Records titled Cool Music that sounded a bit like an experimental Tin Pan Alley with a Japanese environmental music edge. Over ten years later, the group would re-emerge with Out of Body, this time taking on trip-hop and downtempo with the same sort of wildly creative approach. The lounge and exotica vibe is still present in the group’s sound, but everything has been turned upside down with synthesizers, 808 kicks, grooveboxes, and loads of effects processing. Produced by Sade’s Andrew Hale, the album is perfectly trippy with sitars meeting dubwise reggae drums, Moroccan percussion with drippy “5th Dimentional” guitar, and even bits of nonchalant Suzanne Vega “Toms Diner” style vocals.

Recommended – Full Listen