Years before releasing her seminal solo work Through the Looking Glass, Japanese percussionist Midori Takada led an ensemble of percussionists exploring African drum traditions, environmental music, and minimalism. […]
Japan
Partially recorded in Los Angeles, Izumi “Mimi” Kobayashi’s Coconuts High is a perfect tropical fusion album featuring American studio legends Abraham Laboriel (Quincy Jones), Paul Jackson (Patrice Rushen), […]
Japanese traditional music meets jazz, prog, and psych rock on this masterpiece by Osamu Kitajima on Island Records sub-label Antilles. Released during a time when a majority of […]
Released on JVC’s excellent Music Interior series, Lisa is the first solo effort from revered Japanese musician/producer Masahide Sakuma. Sakuma started his career playing bass in B-52s-inspired new […]
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, […]
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 […]
Safe Trip once again unearths recordings from Japanese brothers Satoshi & Makoto’s archive of experiments with the Casio CZ-5000. From the first few notes of A1 Closer, the […]
The 1982 self-titled debut by Japanese synth-pop quartet Pegmo is a little hard to place sonically. Off-kilter new wave, synthesizer doo-wop, electronic cabaret or Jacques Brel chanson meets […]
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 […]
Before releasing Awakening in 1980, Hiroshi Sato was already one of the most respected keyboardists/session players in Tokyo, appearing on countless classics while also building his own indelible […]
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 […]
Some albums are like a dropper full of CBD – you ingest the content and your muscles start to relax, your face softens, the tension leaves your body, […]
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 […]
Go Hirano’s 2004 Corridor of Daylights sees a first time vinyl reissue thanks to Los Angeles label Black Editions. An outlier in Tokyo’s P.S.F. catalogue, a label known […]
Released in 2017 and built to stand the test of time, Async was Japanese master musician and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto’s first solo album in eight years, following his […]
Welcome to the spirited, enchanting world of Japanese musical visionary Yasuaki Shimizu. You may know him from his work with Ryuichi Sakamoto, or as the innovative bandleader of […]
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 […]
A highly sought after release in digging circles, the sole release by the mysterious Aragon was finally reissued in 2016 by the great Chee Shimizu on his Japanism […]
“Kankyō ongaku,” Japanese for “environmental music,” was a popular genre of functional ambient music in Japan in the 80’s led by electronic artists Hiroshi Yoshimura, Takashi Kokubo, Joe […]
