Various – Nippon Acid Folk 1970-1980 2LP
Amazing Japanese acid folk music from the scene that Haruomi Hosono got his start in. Includes one of the best Happy End songs along with Hiroki Tamaki’s “Kawa,” a beautiful take on Brian Wilson vocal harmonies.
A counterculture movement united by an expansive, experimental and deeply soulful sensibility, Japan’s rebel protest music challenged the status quo and changed the country’s music industry in the process.
Charting the decade from 1970 to 1980 as the dreams of political and spiritual liberation seeded in the ‘60s turned to dust, ‘Nippon Acid Folk’ surveys a little explored corner of Japanese music history, but one which ultimately laid the foundations for an independent music industry, launching the careers of Hosono and others in the process.