Great Japanese Pop

i think takahashi did it first, def his roxy music track -- so good.

re: finding aragon in the US...probably like 4 or 5 years ago i found a copy in the collection of a weird reclusive ex-EBM DJ from florida that used to be a buyer at princeton record exchange back in the day. still had the store-made hype sticker from (i'm assuming) the 80s, which immediately had me pretty stoked:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b39/spencerd63/IMG_6603_zps37d828c7.jpg

not sure how to post pictures here, hopefully that worked. but yeah, remarkable album. there's a really weird "making-of" type LP called "the studio works" that was issued the same year made up of studio demos and outtakes, worth seeking out if you're a fan. nishimatsu kazuhiro (the vocalist) has a solo album form the same time too, though it's titled a little too far into schmaltz territory for my taste.

you're the same spencer d that did the "fairlights mallets and bamboo" mixes, yeah?

yup.

and oops, i meant tilted, not titled.

sweet, love those mixes and play them often

yeah those mixes are the best, i bow to you spencer.

btw the aragon vocals are sometimes "in japanese" per the sticker but i think a lot of them are just wordless oohs and aaahs etc.

there's a really weird "making-of" type LP called "the studio works" that was issued the same year made up of studio demos and outtakes, worth seeking out if you're a fan.

ha, i'm not likely to find this anywhere. YSI?

the album i've been listening to the last few days is satoshi ashikawa's "wave notation 2: still way" which is pretty purely ambient, and yet like some of hosono's ambient work (or eno's for that matter) there's a subliminal catchiness to it. i believe you can download the whole thing on root blog, just google around and you'll find it.

what else? there's the mallet-heavy yet (yet?) awesome mkawju ensemble LP from 1981, most of it written/produced by future film-score god joe hsaishi. can't seem to find a clip on youtube.

<3 still way so much. is it really the only thing ashikawa did? was never able to find any info about other recordings.

can we talk abt how great miharu koshi's "boy soprano" is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8EPTE41c5Q

Lost that one in a crash. Only have one song now from it. Rice Music from Ippu Do also.

Digging the second volume of Fairlights, Mallets and Bamboo.

"sur la terra" - super beautiful hosono production

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKUcR2Z9DYY

starts ~4mins in

New music from Furukawa Miki:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KS1qzueR90

I pretty much consider this the perfect pop song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tdMHZRiGd8

this city pop mix is p tight overall but mariya takeuchi "plastic love" at 31:20 is a monster:
https://soundcloud.com/bawxxx/melancholy-of-suburbia#t=31:20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14RxICxtM5Q

So good. Been listening to Miharu Koshi all across youtube. Lots of cool stuff.

And yes it does have a Led Zeppelin reference in the lyrics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsPXl-OxW28

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEZSpj5R5L4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIVGQ-B9G38&list=PL36B51C25BBF3B00B

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2wW--l1OHk

electro prom in the foggy forest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSYWR6jKjpA

The intro to this is straight out of a Final Fantasy boss.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u393a9VJo2Y

Mariah Carey cover

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTOfH3Sjb9U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73e-gV50SKk

The piano necktie on a miniature red piano is amazing. So 80s.

RIP

Yumi Ito
1941 - 2016

Death of Yumi Ito of twin pop duo The Peanuts confirmed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX0rrArs46A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR7GAvKBIO4

man I could tell in the first 5 seconds that was Hosono

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Arg36CZvHA

Not 80s but Nihonjin:
https://open.spotify.com/track/4mrih3yZgEBes83YSy3WXM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KKCt_Ur2ik

i've been listening to Salon Music's "My Girl Friday" (1983). i absolutely love the opener song "Muscle Daughter". kind of reminds me of The Vaselines.

was surprised when they apparently got robert fripp in to do the guitar solo

yeah that solo rules

also that must be an early mix (i think for a vinyl release) on the album, she sings first. can't get enough of this song lol. every time i hear it sounds more and more like an alien version of Roxy Music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzLi5M7iQhE

i downloaded this from youtube a few years ago, it's not online anymore so i re-uploaded it. wish i had the full thing but it's not easy to find this stuff.

the video for "muscle daughter" by salon music has been taken down and i can't find much of their music available legally or illegally in the u.s. if anyone has any leads on how i can get that song specifically or their albums in general, i would appreciate the info. i asked my one friend who has lived in japan for years and is into indie/punk/shoegaze music and she had never even heard of them.

i ended up buying two Salon Music LPs off ebay, "My Girl Friday" (which opens w "Muscle Daughter") and "La Paloma Show". both really cool records. "Muscle Daughter" feels like the intersection of Roxy Music and Beat Happening. they have a kind of amateur DIY sound at times but clearly have a lot of good influences (they cover "See Emily Play" and a lot of songs seem to ape Brian Eno's pop albums (Frippertronic guitars throughout)). "Din of Love" is cool, it has a Bollywood style to it. "Hunting on Paris" was a guitar-and-organ indie hit single and is a really cool New Wave pop song. they did a remake of it for a wonderful Trattoria compilation called "Bend It! Japan '98". the "La Paloma Show" album has a more synth pop feel to it, "Voyager of the Beagle" is a trippy early stab at exotica revival, "Paradise Lost" is pretty cool cold war synthpop ("Too much doubt/in America/Too little trust/in Russia"). overall i really love these two albums and recommend picking them up on vinyl. they can be had for under $25 w shipping.

XP - sent you a mail NA

What? Give the drummer some

https://we.tl/IMAu8QFWSU

thanks dudes

ty listening to "Chew It In A Bite" right now "Paper Doll" this is some solid 90s alternative rock right here w Japanese punk flavor. love it.

"Paper Dog" rather

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLZ8ddRbQ5o

Salon Music good at shoegaze

Nice one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhetXL7KmZA

this is some really sick 80s dance pop. that snare is pure cocaine.

yes! all late 80s toshiki is fucking awesome ("sea is a lady" is my favorite)

oh this one, yeah, i have this comp called "made in the eighties" that has this and some other great stuff, dee-dee-phone by the ab's, dress down by kaoru akimoto, free way 5 to south by fujimal yoshino...