Akiko Yano’s wild vocal style, adventurous compositions on the synthesizer, and integration of global music traditions set her apart from her contemporaries. Her third album, Iroha Ni Nonperitou, […]
Haruomi Hosono
The album that started it all for the great Haruomi Hosono, Apryl Fool’s self-titled debut is an extraordinary and influential album from the late 60’s “Group Sounds” era […]
It’s hard to pick a favorite out of the many classic albums by the “king of city pop” Tatsuro Yamashita, but if we absolutely had to, we’d probably […]
Entering the world of 80’s Japanese synth-pop can be a little overwhelming. The amount of music seems infinite with thousands of offshoots, sub-genres, and artists. If you’re just […]
In 1969, four young, ambitious musicians—Haruomi Hosono (bass, vocals), Eiichi Ohtaki (guitars, vocals), Shigeru Suzuki (guitars) and Takashi Matsumoto (drums, lyrics)—found each other in Tokyo. They bonded over […]
Commissioned by Japanese toy maker Bandai in 1984, the Hosono-composed Mercuric Dance is the soundtrack for a contemporary ballet piece of the same name. Each track is inspired by […]
