Haruomi Hosono

I'd highly recommend Hosono's Monad Box, a collection of three of his instrumental and ambient records from the early 80s. My favourite of the discs included is Coincidental Music, which is short pieces made for advertising and promotional films. Sort of electronic Satie. Rather more delicate and strange than Sakamoto's work of the period.

Hosono's best solo song album is S-F-X, a Fairlight-heavy opus from 1984. There's a clip of one track here. And here are some pictures of Hosono, who's now a bit fatter, plays in Sketch Show, and runs the Daisyworld label.

Unfortunately, getting any of this in the US is near impossible. the only other thing i've managed to track down (through dusty groove) was this bizarre early 80's record that he was apparently only partially involved with, which was a strange "top of the pops" sort of medley of about 15 60's-70's pop/disco standards and a few mediocre jazz-fusion originals.

'More delicate and strange' than early 80's Sakamoto is quite a teaser. Sakamoto's B-2 Unit and Esperanto are already fairly strange (if not delicate) records, but those were the odd ones out.

I agree with Momus--Miharu Koshi is one of the greatest, most underrated Japanese artists of the '80s. She evolved from an insiginifant pop idol in the late '70s to a completely original synth-pop artist. Since the late '80s she's become a bit too idiosyncratic for my tastes ('Chanson Solaire' from '95 is probably her best from that era), but her albums are still beautifuI and I have the highest respect for her. She's due for a new album soon. I think 'Boy Soprano' from '85 is her best album--a perfect combination of her early synth-pop work and later chanson stuff. Unfortunately, her stuff is very hard to find, even in Japan. Her albums pop up on ebay, but they're always quite expensive. 'Boy Soprano' is probably the easiest to find.

One of my favorite Hosono-related bands is Chakra. They put out only three albums in the early '80s, and Hosono produced their second. They're all utterly essential exotic pop albums. Makoto Yano (Akiko Yano's first husband) produced their first album. The singer, Mishio Ogawa, put out four solo albums too, and they're also essential (especially her s/t). The last three were just reissued a few weeks ago actually, and I had never heard them beforehand. So I'm excited about those...they're very good.

Now that I'm talking about Japanese synth-pop, I'll make a few more recommendations. I recently discovered Taeko Onuki (or Ohnuki) and am completely in love. She started in the mid '70s, making more fusion-oriented pop albums, and then she teamed up with Ryuichi Sakamoto in the late '70s and started churning out one amazing pop album after the next. 'Adventure' (1981) is probably my favorite, but I have a lot that I've yet to hear!

Moon Riders are another of my favorites. They've been around since the '70s as well and, in my opinion, reached their peak in the early '80s with 'Mania Maniera' and 'Tokyo wa...'. They've spanned a lot of different style, but never put out a bad album.

Perhaps my favorite is Masami Tsuchiya's 'Rice Music' album (1982) and his follwing Ippu-Do album 'Night Mirage' (1983). Members of the band Japan assist on those two albums, as well as the fretless great Percy Jones. Bowie-esque vocals, experimental, angular guitar work (plus Bill Nelson doing his e-bow thing), completely out of control bass playing, steel drums, layers of synths, etc. Basically it's a hilariously awesome rhythm section with great songs too. I couldn't recommend these two albums more. It's too bad that 'Night Mirage' was never released on CD and 'Rice Music' is impossible to find on CD.....

Oh, and P-Model is another synth-pop great.

http://park10.wakwak.com/~techno/

http://www.artcontext.com/music/artskool/jem

That second one appears to be currently down for some reason....

I love Wha-ha-ha

Also, apparently Mishio was in Killing Time, so I need to check her out.

Yes, I've been looking for Killing Time for a long time. Please let me know if you get a hold of their stuff.

http://www.sonymusicshop.jp/smdr/sms/img/goods/L/KICS-1139.jpg

Patrick; Dleone's correct about the ReR connection, I grew up as a Recommended Records fanboy, buying anything they'd put out... Though I didn't finally hear Wha-Ha-Ha until researching backwards from the first Haniwa All-Stars record, which blew my mind in the early 90's. My interest in Senba's early Haniwa records & Wha-Ha-Ha is precisely because they're so eccentric & hard to figure out. I don't imagine they're particularly representative of early 80's JPop.

the yesasia site is listing this album in hosono searches, the title is killing me... have you heard it?

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=FHCF-2344

The easiest way for me to get this stuff to you is through Soulseek. My name on their is Magazine, so message me if you use that program. The only other way I can think of is YSI, which will take a little while (though it's not too much trouble really).

B'angelo has some requests too. Whatever you guys request, I'll get it to you some time this weekend (or now if you have slsk).

Cochin Moon, way closer to mid-70's Cluster than I would have ever expected (though I do prefer Cluster). A surprise, even given Dominque's Tangerine Dream reference -- definitely in the 70's trance/synth records pantheon.

Bon Voyage & Tropical Dandy much more tin-pan-alley than electronic, but Paraiso is off-kilter, lays the way out for the first YMO. Omni Sight Seeing, thumbs up if you like late YMO. I like Hosono's solo mainstream pop records much more than Sakamoto's, no contest.

Miharu Koshi's Boy Soprano, wow.

And the Mishio Ogawa & Chakra stuff is eye-opening after a lifetime of Haniwa fandom. Chakra's much more straightforward / less quirky, but I'm very happy just to be able to place Haniwa in context with, well, _anything_.

Boy Soprano, the Mishio Ogawa debut, & Cochin Moon are the three I ordered online after hearing the mp3's.

Am I correct that this has Sakamoto on it?

I dunno though... even though his pop is weirder than Sakamoto's, Sakamoto's pure experimental albums (B-2 Unit & Esperanto) are 1000% more bizarre and advanced than Hosono's, those albums are timeless.

http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/pid-1004088657/code-j/section-videos/

(this should probably go on the noise board's wha-ha-ha thread but too late)

Kiyohiko Senba and his Haniwa All Stars

BTW, what exactly did Andy Partridge do on B-2 Unit?

I dunno Matthew, you heard Esperanto?

You mean that electric guitar in the right-channel that's barely audible and sounds as if it's unplugged? If so, that's...odd.

I dunno Matthew, you heard Esperanto?

Most of it — I just re-listened again this morning (have about 6 tracks downloaded). Assuming they aren't remixes, I'd say it's good but no B-2 Unit — lots mallet-y textures and ambience. But if you think I'm missing something, maybe I should re-download to verify that I'm listening to the right tracks.

ha, I first heard it with "members of the Vas Deferens Organization" too. My member was Eric

news you can use: japanese CDs are too damned expensive

I am beginning to miss the days when people were relatively certain they were talking about the same record. A few days ago at a dinner party someone put on something interesting, and when I asked what it was he said it was the new Boards of Canada. He didn't believe me when I told him that it wasn't, he just brought over to his iPod to show me the tags.

I put on Omni Sight Seeing last night, that is definitely my favorite Hosono pop album, every song...

And I first read that as "tripping on acid with members of Van Der Graaf Generator.

I am beginning to miss the days when people were relatively certain they were talking about the same record.

No kidding — but I think Dom's "news you can use" is the culprit in this instance. And actually, that's one of the 2 tracks I don't have. Still, p2p's are great for finding rarities...

Is there a good Hosono comp, btw?

I had both Matt and Eric in the room, with running commentary and interpretive facial expressions. THAT is a proper introduction to Cochin Moon, let me tell you.

http://s33.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2CE5XMURV2R7N2CTJUHM631DW7

The MONAD Albums: These 4 ambient-like albums came out around the same time in 1986 and form a sort of set. They were reissued as a boxed in 2002

Coincidental Music
1985 Monad cd: 30CH-143, TECN-18037, TECN-15337

A sampler of un-released music for movies, TV, commercials and installation 1982-85. This is a good album to hear Hosono's vastly different styles of compositions, though the content is so varried it makes incoherent listening as a whole without programming your CD player.

1. Lichtenstein's 0.31 (recorded 11 Oct 1984)
2. Pietro Germi (re-recording version) 5.30 (recorded 7 July 1983)
3. Normandia 2.36 (recorded 11 July 1984)
4. The Man of China 1.50 (recorded 24 April 1985)
5. Sayokoskatti 4.45 (recorded 8 May 1982)
6. Mazinger "H" 3.14 (recorded 10 March 1984)
7. The Plan 0.31 (recorded 20 June 1985)
8. Nokto de la Galaksia Fervojo (re-recording version) 1.31 (recorded 22 Dec 1984)
9. George Don 1.01 (recorded 7 May 1984)
10. Bio Philosophy 4.40 (recorded 8 May 1984)
11. Memphis, Milano (re-recording version)10.27 (recorded 10 Aug 1982)

Mercuric Dance
1985 Monad cd: 30CH-144, TECN-18038, TECN-15338

All synth with a bit of percussion, though rather monochromatic. Recorded 1983-4. For a modern dance ensemble. A video version was once availablet. (Emotion BEB-33)

1. Sunnyside of the Water
2. Mercuric Dance
3. Formation of the Venus
4. Down to the Earth
5. Fossil of Flame - Fifty Bell-Trees
6. Prepared Quartz
7. Sea of tau
8. Windy Land
9. To the Air

Paradise View (Soundtrack)
1985 Monad cd: 30CH-145, TECN-18039, TECN-15339

An album of very interesting, sampled and re-assembled Okinawan music with an emphasis on gamelan-like sounds. I got a chuckle when a Village Voice film critic commented on the wonderful, authentic Okinawan score ("authentic" Hosono and his K250 that is). In the film, Hosono plays a supporting role as a sensitive, but out of his element Japanese grade school teacher transplanted to Okinawa. The big in-joke is that one of the teenage girls in the story has a YMO shrine in her room and seems quite infatuated, yet has no apparent interest in her school teacher and his resembalance to a YMO member. This was the first Okinawan language feature film and according to the IMDB co-stars Jun Togawa though when I saw the film quite some time ago I didn't know what she looked like or had a translation of the cast list.

1. The Image of a Paradise
2. The Image of a View
3. Mabui Dance
4. Yuta's Pray
5. Atti
6. Wheels on Fire
7. The Truck on the Sea
8. Roochoo Jazz
9. The Paradise View

The Endless Talking
1986 Monad cd: 30CH-159, TECN-18040, TECN-15340

If you can't stand repetition, then "Endless" is the operating word here. This was for an Italian art installation. 13 bright, quirky and repetetive synth pieces. Recorded 25 April 1985.

1. Mercuryfall
2. The Animal's Opinion
3. Insects Insists Insecurity
4. The Long Story of a Humankind
5. The First One in Heaven
6. Sequential Opera Circuit
7. Trembling #1
8. The Endless Talking
9. Scratched
10. Szymanowsky Bird
11. Digitally Sampled Etnography
12. La Pliocena/Birdoj
13. Trembling #2

If you enjoy Hosono's SFX album, seek out the F.O.E. (Friends of Earth) "Friend or Foe" 12" or the CD "The World of F.O.E." which feature remixes of SFX album tracks plus two other tracks which are completely killer and even floor-friendly. The Exterminated Mix of "Body Snatchers" in particular has a devastating razor-blade edit ending that's almost Apparat-like, or at least as good as Cab Voltaire stuff of similar vintage.

i'm making my way through the monad box tonight. so far paradise view (soundtrack from a film of the same name) sounded great, lots of unusual (dx7?) synth-bell melodies and some looped gamelan samples. very pristine and atmospheric

anyone heard philaharmony his 1982 album? 'cos i'm listening to "platonic" for the first time (incredible tripped-out echo chamber electro track) and wanna know if the rest of the album is in the same vein

("platonic" is on this btw: http://www.discogs.com/Various-Electrounique-Vol-5/release/1683109, the only place to get die dominas on vinyl for under 200 euros?)

philharmony is excellent btw. a mix of his wacked out symphonic fairlight stuff, BGM style electro, and melodic j-pop.

as for hosono produced lop-sided exotic j-pop, this album is essential: http://www.discogs.com/Miharu-Koshi-Tutu/release/665681

[X-post from 9/21/05]

Big feature on Hosono in issue 162 of The Wire from 1997, by Clive Bell. Good thing I'm a pack rat -- I still have that issue! It's sitting open on my couch as I speak (I'm at work right now though, so I haven't finished rereading it). It only took me 8 years to track the damn albums down! I remember thinking it sounded a lot like Discover America era Van Dyke Parks. And as I skimmed the beginning of the article, Hosono mentions how Parks produced one of the albums of his early 70s psychedelic band Happy End.

The albums are:

Tropical Dandy 1975
Bon Voyage Co. 1976
Paraiso 1978

The last one features the awesome cover of "Fujiyama Mama," and was credited to Haruomi Hosono and the Yellow Magic Band, a Beefheart reference. This evolved into the Yellow Magic Orchestra, which I recommend to anyone who would care to hear a whimsical Japanese Kraftwerk. When the mood strikes I'll dig for some of that Happy End.

Not that anyone is even talking about it in this thread anymore, but 'Cochin Moon' is probably the single best "Japanese import in a faux-LP sleeve" purchase I've ever made. If it were a YMO album, it might be my favorite. Giddy, messy, strange, intoxicating, brilliant stuff.

Sakamoto's pure experimental albums (B-2 Unit & Esperanto) are 1000% more bizarre and advanced than Hosono's, those albums are timeless.

― milton parker (Jon L), Monday, 21 November 2005 23:06 (3 years ago)

having finally heard cochin moon, i'd argue that this and the monad records are way more bizarre and advanced than anything sakamoto has done. hosono is on another level

both Cochin Moon and Esperanto do great things with world music collage, one with 70's analog electronics and one with disjointed Fairlight sampling / cut-ups. they're both great, for different tastes. My long interest in sampling music has me partial to Esperanto, but that album is a wild exception for him, in general I'd probably agree with you

need to hear the Monad box. & thanks for waking thread, it got my favorite Miharu Koshi songs back on my iPod

I love the Sakamoto albums you mention, Jon L (three years ago). But 'Cochin Moon' is definitely beyond either of them, and carries amazing themes and sounds through its duration. It feels like a journey.

What else of his sounds like this? seriously dig this song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zu8QMgbYhU&feature=related

great song! the album it's taken from, philharmony, is a straight classic imo. a mix of melodic techno pop and very very strange fairlight experiments. i see i said that already but it bears repeating.

includes a deranged (and extremely catchy) cover of "funiculi funicala":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7BhE3yY-7s

the last two classic era ymo albums, naughty boys and service are both pop song orientated. both classics, just don't expect the lounge disco hybrid of early ymo nor the far-out ethno-tronic sound of bgm/technodelic. also check some yukihiro takahashi solo albums for more song orientated ymo sounding stuff

i haven't heard SFX, hosono's next pop record after philharmony, maybe others can recommend.

then start searching his more outwardly pop productions throughout the 80s, miharu koshi and jun togawa being his main collaborators.

the closest he gets to "sportsmen" later on is the single as apogee & perigee, amazing sentimental pop music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0E1N2EJVhg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXaT5bg0YMc

should've proof read that before i posted. anyway, my current favourite hosono jam is 夏なんです by happy end, his early 70s folk rock group. so beautiful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMSfi0CrQL4

this happy end album has some great moments.

such as the entirety of kaze wo atsumete

is it just hosono, or maybe just me, or are japanese pop artists allowed (or allow themselves) a great lassitude...? he seems to range across so many genres, without any compunctions. the idea of switching modes so frequently doesn't seem to trouble him in the slightest.

My favorite current Hosono album is Paraiso, however I have discovered one that I have been quite impressed with. It's called "Nokto de la Galaskia Fervojo", a soundtrack to some abstract animated film from the mid-80's. As far as I know his soundtrack wasn't even used (I wouldn't know as I've never seen the movie) but the soundtrack album is very good. It's not really outwardly scary or anything, just very harrowing and cold. Really portrays a feeling of loneliness and uses some really creepy keyboard noises. At the same time it's playful and kind of cheery. It's the sort of thing that only Hosono could have pulled off. There is one absolutely gorgeous piano piece on it ("La Travida Malgojo de Giovanni") that IMO tops any of Sakamoto's similar efforts. I get chills just thinking about it.

^ crazy, i was just about to revive this thread. recently heard 'cochin moon' and 'philharmonic' for the first time and i'm kinda floored tbh

All YMO related threads are seriously some of my favorite on ILM.

^^^

here's where r1o natsume would have been chiming in had he not gone batshit and got his ass banned.

weird, that happened? would not have predicted that.

and yeah, hosono is the best. medicine compilation, NDE, and philharmonic are my faves.

What happened with r1o?

this is what my investigation turned up:

he image bombed the wdyll thread with various types of porn & got bant

― J0rdan S., Thursday, September 30, 2010 11:24 PM (5 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

also made homophobic slurs

― Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile (dayo), Thursday, September 30, 2010 11:25 PM (5 days ago) Bookmark

i guess r1o had some tricks up his sleeve

yipes!

Going through the Monad albums now; this is what I always hoped Brian Eno's ambient stuff sounded like. Very oddly sentimental, has parts that sort of hint at pop melodies and parts where a chord sounds intentionally "off". Great stuff!!!

Hey guy, r1o messaged me to let you know that he's fine, he just needed a permaban so he could quit ILX cold turkey and finish schoolwork, and also that he's not a homophobe.

He also wanted me to post the rest of the Monad box he had meant to post:

mercuric dance

http://www.sendspace.com/file/xiuhge

coincidental music

http://www.sendspace.com/file/agijq6

paradise view

http://www.sendspace.com/file/hr6alw

Also: Sakamoto/Robin Scott - The Arrangement

http://www.sendspace.com/file/pj0ddj

hey *guys, I mean

r10 is a homophobe fwiw.

I don't know, I'm only saying what he told me.

somehow i'm both a huge fan of hosono but wholly clueless about this monad box. which disc should i download first?

Coincidental Music is great — little short character pieces he did for TV ads IIRC. Highly melodic and memorable.

Mercuric Dance is his ambient album. His sort of gauzy, hazy sleepiness seems to take off from the last track of Music for Airports (even Eno never really did anything else like that track).

Paradise View is a soundtrack to an obscure Japanese film set in Okinawa (I think). Lots of Fairlights and tropical moods (like Sakamoto's Esperanto) with some Okinawan-sounding vocals.

I liked this description:

"An album of very interesting, sampled and re-assembled Okinawan music with an emphasis on gamelan-like sounds. I got a chuckle when a Village Voice film critic commented on the wonderful, authentic Okinawan score ("authentic" Hosono and his K250 that is). In the film, Hosono plays a supporting role as a sensitive, but out of his element Japanese grade school teacher transplanted to Okinawa. The big in-joke is that one of the teenage girls in the story has a YMO shrine in her room and seems quite infatuated, yet has no apparent interest in her school teacher and his resembalance to a YMO member. This was the first Okinawan language feature film and according to the IMDB co-stars Jun Togawa though when I saw the film quite some time ago I didn't know what she looked like or had a translation of the cast list."

New album "HoSoNoVa" due April 20th? Anyone have any idea what this is? It appears to be a new solo album (his first in a long time) with guests and a few covers, but that's all I could discern through Google translate

http://lottapieces.com/images/products/jayz/hova.jpg

so not a lot of info overall

yeah hopefully we get something on this in the coming days/weeks

I'm thinking of doing a Hosono albums poll but honestly I have no idea where to draw the line...plus you can't exactly compare Tropical Dandy to Coincidental Music

Speaking of - if you have Coincidental Music, go listen to the last track (the 11+ minute one); it's such a gorgeous piece of music that I think does a good job representing what Hosono was really all about. I love how it gradually segues into a Philharmony-type vocal experiment track for a while. Could easily be longer. Can't believe I never have it a fair shake until now.

damn, the last song on "Omni Sight Seeing" is so beautiful, how I wish he made more albums that were just straightforward techno-pop

been listening to tropical dandy a lot recently, liking it a lot

yeah, that lullaby-type instrumental at the end is amazing. but really Bon Voyage Co. and ESPECIALLY Paraiso are even better.

Man, 'Cochin Moon.' It's astonishing that they were using the relatively new musical form (electronic pop music) with such total control, making it sound effortless and alive in ways electronic pop made with a further couple decades rarely match. I'd say it almost makes 'E=MC2' sound a little clunky. And the production is just unbelievable--not sure what method is employed, but it has moments that create a surround-sound effect--beyond stereo, sounds around the listening point, or moving far away or nearby in front of you.

It's like Dockstader or Parmegianni or Henry--making fully-realized, emotional electronic and electro-acoustic music a decade or two earlier, while most people were just barely managing to twiddle knobs and make "UFO sound effects". So far ahead of the game, I'd be bowled over if it were released today--because it's just so good, it's decidedly secondary that it's visionary.

good description, just wanted to point out that "Hum Ghar Sajan" blows me away every damn time, I wish there were more songs like that one

I'm starting to get into his Omni Sight Seeing/Medicine Comp/NDE period and it's pretty good; essentially a mix of the different styles he's attempted, plus some very Indian-style techno, again ahead of its time. Strongly recommended, it turns out there is life after YMO

"birthday" is so cool

"happy birthday", i mean. sounds so far ahead of its time.

One last time. "birthday party"

only song i've ever uploaded to youtube is a killer cover of "sports man"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gi8futLRbM

hey that's neat! love the different vocals that occur midway through.

I always wondered what Sportsmen was about...my guess was it's about being from a family of athletes, but kind of sucking at everything?

I don't know if I can call "Birthday Party" ahead of its time; who else makes music like that??

i love how Sportsmen has this endearingly outsider/emasculated point of view as he considers fitness, it always makes me think of retro illustrations of athletes as a sort of utopian ideal.

just wanna paste these lyrics, it sounds like he's having a near-death experience (and then again, it could just be about nothing)

My car radio's playing a song
That makes me feel very strange
It's taken so long
Through the gradation of the grey scale
A landscape like I've never seen
As far as my eyes can see
Out on the road
I've seen so many shades, shades of grey
Now I'm back in the tunnel again
Every minute, every second
I can feel it getting closer
Speeding ahead
To where grey meets white

thematically, the lyrics of "sportsmen" remind me of "pride" by robert palmer (except the dude in "pride" is a total prick and the dude in "sportsmen" is humble and introspective).

i just made a ~75 minute mix of Hosono tracks, mostly from his post-YMO era (topping out at 1993 since I haven't heard anything after), focusing on the more surreal/gorgeous stuff. anyone interested?

y'huh

and yes, please, and thank you!

Hells yes frogbs, post that thing!

been spinning the monad stuff a lot lately, so this sounds right up my alley. v much interested!

Alright, here she is. Nearly every Hosono album I've heard has two or three tunes on it that hit me in a weird way, or make me want to listen to them over and over again, so I basically just put a bunch of them into one playlist and I've been listening to it nonstop. It focuses on the electronic stuff, though there are a few solo piano tracks here. I kept everything from the (numerous) collaborations out as well as his pre-Cochin Moon material since it doesn't really fit in here. Enjoy!

http://www.sendspace.com/file/r4b8ud

into this, thank you.

just discovered the tale of genji ost this week. incredible.

those shimmering, reverb-drenched percussion sounds. man.

I always hosono every day

the percussion is my favorite part of many of these tracks. listening to them all in a row it's kind of neat how consistant he is with that, even with the ten-year gap the drum loops on "Hum Ghar Sajan" and his cover of "Caravan" are very similar, ditto "Sayokoskatti"

one thing I really dig about Hosono is that there's a real sense of location to a lot of his music. it doesn't really feel like it was created in a studio. the tale of genji ost is a good example of this but really everything he does kind of transports you to a strange place.

"sayokoskatti" is so awesome

yep

http://i.imgur.com/i0eBG.jpg

i'd put that on my car

"sayokoskatti" is so awesome

Thirded. All time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yB2sxzq4TE&playnext=1&list=PL56FFF887D6F3EE79

really like how chill old Harry is. great rendition

and here we have him dancing around the studio. didnt know he had another new album out (this time, all covers, from Dylan to Tiny Tim to Kraftwerk)

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

um this is the greatest thing i've ever heard

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

wrote a bit about why I love Paraiso so much here

http://critterjams.wordpress.com/2013/12/11/haruomi-hosono-paraiso-1978/

Anyone heard the album he did with Miharu Koshi called Swing Slow? It's one of those rare albums I wound up playing 3x the first time I got it, dunno how to really describe it well but there's something about this. It's mostly poppy in the Shibuya-kei sense but not overly cheery or anything, and a lot of the songs have a 50's or 60's vibe to them. But there is some rather modern-sounding production, through neat ambient interludes or sudden electronic beats. Kinda jokey and it can be a little sparse but it's very high-quality, maybe the best 90's Hosono release I've heard so far. It does contain a cover of "I'm Leavin' it up to You", which was a hit for the Osmonds I believe, and "Good Morning, Mr. Echo", which I hadn't heard before:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPAt0J-e0yU&noredirect=1

yeah! I really like this one. interesting production choices all around and it gives the straight material a slightly peculiar character I'm into. it really gets cooking with the last couple tracks. big fan of "capybara":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d22PIXGVP9w

but I think my favorite 90s hosono thing is still love, peace, & trance. that one is top tier imo or pretty damn close anyway (tough to say with someone with so many classics in his catalog).

Frogbs, is there any chance you could repost that Hosono mix you did? I missed it first time round.

I lost it too. But, I can make a new and better one!

That'd be great!

I've never gotten to grips with his solo work, especially 80's onward, same goes for Sakamoto.

Yuki's solo stuff that I have heard, I've not been very impressed with even though he's undeniably an interesting dude.

Here's a mix I did a year or so back of YMO and related stuff including Hosono and Sakamoto

Kicks off with "Gradated Gray", my favorite YMO tune...very nice!!!

Alright, here we go. This time I cheated by using some of Hosono's productions, though I tried to keep it to the stuff that sounds most like his solo work. Mostly, I was trying to pull the tracks I liked best. Maybe cheating a bit but I think they all fit together quite well. Already I feel I whiffed on this by not including any Happy End, but its too late to change now. I have yet to hear all his albums and I'm sure I missed a great pick or five but I've been listening to these mixes today and they seem real solid so far!

I divided this roughly into the more ambient tracks and the more techno or pop oriented ones, both about 70 minutes long so they'll fit on a CD-R. I know that's a lot but this is a 4-decade, dozen-band career we're talking here! Enjoy!

Hosono Technopop

1. Chaos Panic - Yellow Magic Orchestra B-Side, 1983 (???)
2. Living-Dining-Kitchen - Philharmony, 1982
3. Image - Miharu Koshi Parallelisme, 1984
4. Return of Body Snatchers - F.O.E. Friend or FOE?, 1985 (I believe this is a Hosono solo track)
5. Right Place Wrong Time - F.O.E. Sex, Energy and Star, 1986 (Dr. John cover!)
6. Sayokoskatti - Coincidental Music, 1985
7. Tokyo Shyness Boy - Bon Voyage Co., 1976
8. Capybara - Swing Slow, 1996
9. [japanese title] - World Standard, 1985 (Hosono produced this album and this is the track that most bears his touch)
10. Caravan - Omni Sight Seeing, 1989
11. Asatoya Yunta - Paraiso, 1978
12. I'm Leaving It All Up to You - Swing Slow, 1996
13. Good Morning, Mr. Echo - Swing Slow, 1996
14. Hush-a Mandala Ni Pali - Love, Peace, and Trance, 1995
15. Flying George - Sketch Show Audio Sponge, 2002
16. Memphis, Milano - Coincedental Music, 1985

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ydlcvi

Hosono Ambient Mix

1. Shimendoka - Paraiso, 1978
2. Gradated Gray - Yellow Magic Orchestra Technodelic, 1981
3. Kokoro Da - Love, Peace, and Trance, 1995
4. Wakamurasaki - The Tale of Genji soundtrack, 1987
5. La Gojo - Nokto de la Galaksia Fervojo soundtrack, 1985. Miharu Koshi on vocals.
6. Birdoj - The Endless Talking, 1987
7. Mass - Yellow Magic Orchestra BGM, 1981
8. La Travida Malgojo de Giovanni - Nokto de la Galaksia Fervojo, 1985
9. Hum Ghar Sajan - Cochin Moon, 1978
10. Bio Philosophy - Coincidental Music, 1985
10. Bamboo Wave - Good Sport, 1995
11. Fly me to the River - Sketch Show Loophole, 2003
12. Hasu Kriya - Love, Peace, and Trance, 1995
13. Ohotzka - Sketch Show Tronika, 2003
14. Ekot (Cornelius Mix) - Sketch Show Loophole, 2003
15. Pleocene - Omni Sight Seeing, 1989

http://www.sendspace.com/file/bf1hc9

these look awesome!

but

...no "windy land"??? ;-)

thanks, frogbs

whoa these look great, frogbs! Thanks!

I'm really enjoying the ambient one, well most of it anyway. Thank you very much, frogbs.

Here's a mix I did a year or so back of YMO and related stuff including Hosono and Sakamoto

― That elusive North American wood-ape (Capitaine Jay Vee), Wednesday, March 12, 2014 11:35 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

any chance you could post a tracklist?

seconded - there were some tunes in there that I didn't recognize and I'm curious what they were. YEN records stuff maybe?

Thank you very much Frogbs and Capitaine!

A few weeks back a friend requested a mix of 'some of that Japanese stuff you like' so in the spirit of sharing here is a link.

It's a mish-mash of Shibuya Kei, some older new wave and some things in-between.

http://we.tl/pZbLNC13e8

1. Clammbon - Rock Climbing
2. Kahime Karie - Mike Alway's Diary
3. Akiko Yano - Ikanaide
4. Comoesta Yaegashi - Bossa With Madam Rosa
5. Fantastic Plastic Machine - L'Aventure Fantastique
6. Ikuko Harada - Kodama
7. Cubismo Grafico - Obrigado Obrigada
8. Hikashu - The Model
9. Our Hour - Panda Riot
10. Shione Yukawa - 風よ吹かないで
11. Mariah - そこから
12. Capsule - Sweet Time Replay (feat. Dahlia)
13. Midori Hirano - Ancient Story In The Room
14. Nagisa Cosmetic - Cosmetic Happy
15. Happy End - Ghosts Of Flying Squirrels At Kuriyamizaka
16. Hazel Nuts Chocolate - Kaze Hiite Batankyuu
17. Macdonald Duck Eclair - Many Many Sweets
18. Buffalo Daughter - Ivory
19. The Folk Crusaders - Harenchi

Hey guys sorry but never made a tracklist. There's stuff off bootleg demos and rehearsals floating around on there if I recall
but it's all mainly released stuff.

np, just thought I'd ask in case you had it handy

live ver of "thousand knives" the mix closes with rules

Technopop momix is excellent. Artwork is outstanding!

momix = mix

i saw hosono-san and koshi miharu live, doing kinda loungey acoustic stuff. was p good. miharu has an amazing singing voice

a hosono related thing i've been digging recently is the first yumin record from... 1973 i think. she kinda set the stage for the idol/シティーポップ boom in the 80s. she's the idol, really, japan's most loved pop star. it's mellow folky singer-songwriter type stuff, slick 70s studio sheen. hosono plays bass alongside some of the other tin pan alley dudes (under their caramel mama guise), and does some arrangements and what not

http://www.geocities.jp/d58es_vr2/img/tanpopo7.JPG

love him. my preferences: http://www.last.fm/user/jakobdorof/library/music/%E7%B4%B0%E9%87%8E%E6%99%B4%E8%87%A3

Anyone got "Archives, Vol. 1"? I think it's mostly stuff taken from soundtracks to various things. Though the notes say the tracks span from 1987 to 2008 it seems like the majority is from his Monad period, so if you like the ambient side of Hosono you'll probably dig a lot of this. Parts of it remind me of the quieter bits of his Omni Sight Seeing album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9KasFWBKGg&feature=youtu.be

x-post

I was excited to hear it but ultimately found that archives release to be a little underwhelming. not bad or anything, but not really on part with any of the monad releases. :-/

N.D.E. is really great -- kinda sorta dolphin-y 1995 era ambient techno with lots of gamelan samples. cool to hear him being influenced by 808 state, the orb, orbital et al as he was a huge influence on all of them.

i also play "pliocene" at least a few times a week

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

Never got much into NDE - thought the beats were cool but it misses the melody aspect that I like so much from him. Love "Heliotherapy" and "Aero", but overall I think his other, more ambient mid-90's albums are better.

I've been big into Miharu Koshi's Boy Soprano; Hosono features heavily on it (along with her prior two), but this one in particular feels like a really great Hosono album with some terrific singing on it. There's a big nod to Cochin Moon and a really haunting "Ave Maria" which is amongst the most beautiful versions of the song I've ever heard.

going over his discog again today as i have to resort it on a new computer. i know this thread isn't a formal S/D, but just for fun....remarkably, it seems like if i ever had Cochin Moon, i don't have it now. if anyone notices other glaring omissions, do lmk...

Search: NDE, the Paraiso collab album (!), Bon Voyage Co. (!), Good Sport, Hosono House (! i remember perusing some LITA-type compilation of '70s 'country funk' from the american south; this album negotiates that blend so much more naturally), HoSoNoVa (! similar deal, but folk fit to early 20th century pop templates), Medicine Compilation (!), Mercuric Dance (! a few of the best ambient pieces i've ever heard), Naga: Music for Monsoon (! despite titles like "Sherpa" and "Taj-mahal," it's not silly in the way Sakamoto's 'Indian'/'Himalayan"-inspired music occasionally was), Omni Sight Seeing ("Korendor" and especially "Pleocene" are essential, though I do think the rest is among his least coherent work), Pacific (! great exotica/muzak), Philharmony (! first couplet tracks are a bit goofy even for my tastes, but rest is great and "Sports Men" is easily a top ten track for the entire YMO universe), Tale of Genji (like a darker, more sustained Naga), The Aegean Sea (a really nice, more upbeat/fusion companion to Pacific), The Endless Talking (! his starkest, least sociable album that i've heard, but amazing sounds and composition), Tropical Dandy (down the tracklist more and more of a Randy Newman influence shines through, which refracts really nicely through Haruomi's lens)
Consider: Making of Non-Standard Music (neat but inessential), Nokto de la Galaksia Fervojo (ditto), Paradise View (totally solid, but he has so much music in this vein and a lot of it is better)
Destroy: Video Game Music compilation (interesting that he did so many early games soundtracks -- Pac-Man included! -- but as standalone music, it's mostly insufferable)

his work as a songwriter is so distinctive that it can be easy to forget he's a god-tier ambient artist, up there with eno.

anyone else appreciate the not-quite-on-the-beat cymbal work buried deep in the mix of "sports men?" goes a long way in counterbalancing all the song's repetition.

any clear precursors/influences one might name for "Pleocene?" might just be a blindspot in my listening, but i really don't think i've ever heard another song like this one.

reading a thoughtful amazon review for Philharmony, and it notes, "Keep in mind that this album was originally recorded all the way back in 1982 (coincidentally the same year compact disc technology began revolutionizing the recording industry), and represents the first time digital sampling was ever used to construct an entire musical album." anyone know if there is truth to this claim? first ever?

lastly, i wouldn't have guessed it, but given i've yet to find any truly crap (or even sub-good) albums in his discography, i might say i prefer his body of solo work to ryuichi's. ryuichi may have better highs, or at least more of them, but he's definitely got some real blunder albums under his belt (and more than his share of so-so).

ALSO noticed upthread many references to YMO/ryuichi/haruomi bootlegs, rehearsal recordings, etc. where/how can i hear???

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMhUfASCW4g

http://i60.tinypic.com/2qa1vkj.jpg

rad

If I could somehow live inside a song, it would be Pleocene

^^ pretty much, so fucking beautiful

Is it because of the cats?

Peacocks, silly

singing "ooh la la la"

Hey? Did you know that Hosono’s grandpa was the only Japanese passenger on the Titanic? And that he survived?

http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/masabumi-hosono.html

http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20125020,00.html

Amazing! Thanks for that!

He made a record with Steely Dan at some point, in the vein of Steely Dan almost. A quite random record.

https://thump.vice.com/en_us/article/prins-thomas-dug-deep-into-his-crates-and-found-his-7-favorite-ambient-records-of-all-time?utm_Soruce=thumptwitterus

um, any idea what he's talking about here? can't imagine this is true.

lol yeah i don't think that's true

prins thomas would get roasted alive on ilm!!

hahaha yea I can't even think of a hosono record that even kinda sounds like the dan

a hosono + dan collab would make me piss my pants

Me too, there's a few JP bands that are Dan like (Kirinji or Tomita Lab) but I can't think of any Hosono tracks that sound like them either.

Still alive. Good.

could he be thinking of World Standard? man, I have no clue

Still alive. Good.

I'm gonna start rip threads for live dudes if you knuckleheads keep this up

Bet he meant Little Feat

He meant Little Feat.

who played with Happy End right? that's probably it

Got it.

And they were the backing band for the first Akiko Yano record too.

ah yes, that must be what he meant

how did hosono hook up w/ little feat btw? there must be a good story there.

Maybe happy end opened up for them in Japan? Wasn't' happy end the early 70s folky group hosono was in?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_End_(1973_album)#Background_and_recording

World Standard

going through big Hosono kick right now, and just discovered this band. I kind of can't believe I like it, but this first record is really nice

their 3rd record (confusing called "world standard 2") is even better - on hosono's FOA label & also produced by him. 2nd record "allo" lacks hosono involvement and is kind of a outliner in their catalog (as there's not much of the minimalist francophile vibes / overt nina rota references / etc) but there's a couple really amazing abstracted pop songs. also the everything play albums (which was another alias sohichiro suzuki used) are worth checking out - especially "posh" from '91...

suzuki can at times come off a little precious or maudlin but there's a certain kind of precision in his approach (very japanese, of course) that i can always appreciate. the inverted gaze of his pan-culturalism (itself present in a bunch of hosono's work as well) is also quite fascinating

pacific is so relaxing atm

this blog has a post on (with download link) music hosono did for the housewares brand muji in the early 80s -- it sounds most like mercuric dance but the tracks are more longform and minimalistic. had no idea this even existed.

http://glob.daniel-letson.com/posts/haruomi-hosono-watering-a-flower/

yes! also featured on the first muji bgm disc:
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUJI_BGM1980-2000

so beautiful & so addictive. I listen to this almost every day. it's a part of my life's routine at this point, making coffee, feeding my cats, listening to hosono's bgm.

ps the 'found muji' store in shibuya plays this stuff on loop!

Heaven is Hosono's first Muji BGM track on infinite loop.

this one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW6XDU96KI0

excellent revive, this is great!

Yup, that's the one. *chills down the spine*

<3

Fantastic.

(Is that a Juno 60 we're here?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN7UE4uGIwE

This didn't seem to be on Youtube so I ripped it from vinyl and stuck it up there. I really like this micro-edit era of his work, shame there's not a little more of it out there.

superb.
hey, it's got the John McLaughlin opening guitar note sample from 'Miles Runs the Voodoo Down' that Jon Hassell used too (on 'Mati' from 'Dressing for Pleasure')!

Happy Birthday!!! (well for yesterday, gomenasai)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_93SrREKkE

New album out in Japan this week, and sound samples up here: http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/hosono/

Still in his folk/lounge phase, but sounds great...

I kinda love that he's going back to the start of his career, in a way. I'm assuming these are mostly covers, correct?

mentioned this in the vaporwave thread but Internet Club's Vanishing Vision album has a very distinct and deliberate Hosono vibe - this track feels like it could have been directly lifted from Coincidental Music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26vJlGSUDnU&feature=youtu.be&t=15m53s

it was probably directly lifted from Shenmue

hah, right...maybe not the guy himself but whatever he lifted it from

New album is two discs - covers on disc 1, originals on disc 2 (including I think some reworkings of earlier Hosono songs?).

I love how is approaches this period of American music from an almost anthropological perspective - far from just assuming it's the default mode of rock and roll and replicating it, he treats it to the same kind of ethnographic/exotic study as, say, Hassell was doing with non-Western music.

* how HE approaches

huh I never thought of it that way

after some research it looks like the songs on Disc 2 span from 84 to the present day, though much of it re-recorded.

Of all the places where I expected to see an English-language review of the new album, the Economist homepage was not one of them.
https://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2017/12/story-synthesiser

whoever wrote that is a real hero

Crapped my pants today, Harry is playing his first ever gig in the UK in June, public tickets on sale tomorrow.

https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2018/event/light-in-the-attic-haruomi-hosono-acetone

Noticed that in my email box today.

any idea what he's playing these days? "material across his career" is kind of a funny thing to say about Hosono...imagine saying that about Brian Eno

Dunno, but gawd, what a wellspring to draw from.

If he even plays Kaze Wo Atsumete, I'd lose my mind. Pleocene and I'd die altogether.

oooh! thanks for the heads up. just need to find a pal who likes him enough to accompmany me now.

Booked! Can't quite believe this...

i sprung for this too! :D

it's a shame it's a bit of a weird combination of acts though. not that i dislike acetone but i can't really see any connection to hosono other than the record label

wait, i typed the above without really thinking through what i was saying (just for a change)

hosono is on LITA's 'Even A Tree Can Shed Tears' comp, but that's it. wonder if we can read anything more into him appearing at a LITA night? they did say there were "dozens of releases" due in their japan archival series after all:

http://blog.lightintheattic.net/introducing-our-japan-archival-series/

jealous of you guys

I almost pulled the trigger on flying to San Fran for that one-off YMO reunion show

any idea what he's playing these days? "material across his career" is kind of a funny thing to say about Hosono...imagine saying that about Brian Eno

I'd be really surprised if he does anything electronic. in his RBMA academy interview from a few years ago, he spoke of his more recent 'boogie woogie' style in a way that made it sound something like the culmination of a life's work. like it took him a long time to arrive there & he seemed to be really comfortable & happy making music in this style. so, maybe covers in this mode?

unfortunately, I have little interest in this music myself. I heard what sounded like his new album in a record store a few months ago and it seemed to confirm that this music is not for me. hard to complain when someone has touched so much that I love already tho.

anyway, don't wanna be a debbie downer! I'd absolutely go in a heartbeat if the show were closer!

hes got to be one of the only artists whose musical output ventures from 15 years ahead of its time to 80 years behind

I've only heard Hosonova of his most recent stuff. Its fairly pleasant and has a couple really great tracks on it. But yeah, I don't think I'll be listening to it much.

An affordable reissue of Paraiso would be most welcome, I'm all for anything that helps that along

LITA putting Haruomi on the cover of their magazine:
https://instagram.com/p/BhxCfILl6kR/

They’ve gotta be up to something right? The Hosono article is a piece by Van Dyke Parks btw and apparently the zine is free at selected indie records shops, but you can read some of it on that insta post in the meantime

As suspected, IT'S ON.

https://lightintheattic.net/artists/2475-haruomi-hosono

I think this might be Omni Sight Seeing's first time on vinyl? I'll be getting that & Paraiso. I've got an original pressing of Philharmony, and the recent Japan-only vinyl reissues of Cochin Moon and Hosono House. But fantastic to see these records back out there.

very cool! im going to have to pick up Philharmony, i almost pulled the gun on an original release of that a few times. ended up getting (and loving) "Pacific".

also that label as a nice selection of stuff! i want to get Lee Hazlewood's "A Cowboy in Sweden" but apparently it's sold out.

tempted to get the 3xLP bundle (Paraiso, Philharmony, and Omni)!

Philharmony also has, of course, one of the very best covers of all time.

check the high res version here, along with lots of other cool hosono-relevant pics: http://lightintheattic.net/artist_press_images/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&artist_id=2475-haruomi-hosono

Fantastic news!

not a huge fan of Hosono House but I think I'll be picking up the other 4 on vinyl. he's too important of an artist to me, this is such a big void I have to fill. does anyone know what the 3xLPs are???

boom! so happy Omni Sight Seeing is coming on vinyl.

does anyone know what the 3xLPs are???

tempted to get the 3xLP bundle (Paraiso, Philharmony, and Omni)!

I listened to both Philharmony and Paraiso over the last week - so good. I still haven't heard Omni!

aha I get it now. the site doesn't really say what they are, I almost thought they were expanded versions. yeah I'll be getting that

had totally missed the fact that he's also going to be playing in brighton a couple of nights after the london show, except this time he's the main act:

http://theoldmarket.com/shows/haruomi-hosono/

so i guess i'm seeing him twice next month (sorry)

I listened to both Philharmony and Paraiso over the last week - so good. I still haven't heard Omni!

Oh man! Such a great record and Pleocene is one of the greatest songs from his post-YMO period.

https://youtu.be/-22NysUDulc?t=41m45s

Playing in London next month:

http://33-33.co/mode/

23.06
HARUOMI HOSONO + ACETONE
BARBICAN CENTRE
LONDON

Money's tight so I've been trying to talk myself out of buying these reissues. I decided to listen to the four albums in the reissue campaign I wasn't as familiar with (Cochin Moon is buy-on-sight for me and has been for years, no way I'm passing up a reissue). I haven't listened to Omni, Philharmony, or Paraiso since I discovered and downloaded them a few years ago, and have never heard Hosono House at all.

Paraiso holds up great, as do the great songs on Omni Sight Seeing (which justify the purchase of the album imo). But not sure what I ever saw in Philharmony. It's by no means a bad record, and is in some places actually quite good (I like "Luminescent / Hotaru" and "Sports Men"), but a lot of this just floats right by me. There are also a few obnoxious ones I could live without ever hearing again ("Platonic"), and stuff like "Birthday Party" and "In Limbo" just remind me why I don't listen to The Residents. That said, I'm a sucker for this stuff, so I know deep down I will probably buy 'em all. LITA always does such a great job on packaging. I don't care a lick about Lee Hazlewood, but I was actually tempted by how nice those reissues looked in the shop.

Am I the only one who really likes Pacific? Wonder if that will ever get a reissue.

i love Pacific

Omni Sight Seeing is wonderful. Prob my favorite of this trio of albums. I can do with just a little bit of HH's Nino Rota homages, though. I hope someone will reissue "The Tale Of Genji" and "Naga" soon!

key track on Philharmony for me is "LDK". such a catchy tune, plus the synth solo is just wild

if you haven't heard it, there's a duo called Kimonos whose cover of "Sportsmen" is absolutely perfect

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gi8futLRbM

I'm hoping all the Monads get a reissue. I have literally worn my copies out from over playing / over use in dj sets. Also hoping these aren't only being granted a US license for reissue as pre-order is not available outside US.

Also hoping these aren't only being granted a US license for reissue as pre-order is not available outside US.

Oh fuck you're right and I hadn't spotted that - Paraioso, Philharmony and Omni Sight Seeing are all saying "Not Available to Customers Outside U.S." - ughhhhhh.....

Cochin Moon and Hosono House are though:

https://lightintheattic.net/releases/4192-cochin-moon-uk-eu-version
https://lightintheattic.net/releases/4191-hosono-house-shipping-for-uk-eu-residents

Lol pic.twitter.com/qMAZ0uQqOj

— Sam 🧢 (@fuiud) March 26, 2018

One of life’s little surprises

that would suck to have been soooo close to collaborating on a legendary album, and the reason you didn't was diarrhea, plain and simple

London this eve, so excited for this.

Fantastic! Enjoy and report back, please :)

TROPICAL DANDY WHEN

got mixed up and thought it was tomorrow. only twigged a couple hours ago thanks to an fb alert, or else I’d have travelled up to the barbican tomorrow instead. but yes, excited!

I realise Acetone must have their fans who are probably just as excited but idg the running order, it's like going to see Joni Mitchell supporting Built To Spill or something.

holyyyy shiiiit!!

way too excited after that to watch acetone, i only lasted one song

full report, please.

okay so five piece band including upright bass player, haruomi on acoustic guitar. start off pretty loungey, not really what I was truly hoping for but it was very charming and nice. then they started swinging with some ‘boogie-oogie-oogie’ and it all started to get quite rock’n’roll and you realised just how good his band was. was getting super into it by that stage, just a really nice vibe. lounge cover of ‘radioactivity’! a great rock’n’roll version of ‘sportsmen’! and then at the end, hosono asks for the house lights to be switched on and he calls for his friend takahashi to join him from the audience. and then they start playing a rock’n’roll ‘absolute ego dance’ (correct me if I’m wrong there maresnest). and then halfway through, ryuichi wanders on stage and seizes partial control of the keyboards. absolutely start banging through the song, screech to a halt, crowd go fucking batshit, then off the go, no encore or anything and everyone’s just rubbing their eyes wondering wtf just happened

they all look in great shape btw, yukihiro was looking particularly suave in a suit and v dapper hat

wow, just wow! thanks.

Photo here (not my account)

Midway through a bit of YMO the man himself Ryuichi Sakamoto walks on stage to goose the keyboardist, crowd explodes. pic.twitter.com/DKm70CKFba

— JAM (@JAMXCORE) June 23, 2018

and then at the end, hosono asks for the house lights to be switched on and he calls for his friend takahashi to join him from the audience. and then they start playing a rock’n’roll ‘absolute ego dance’

wtf!? no! that's amazing!

and then halfway through, ryuichi wanders on stage and seizes partial control of the keyboards. absolutely start banging through the song, screech to a halt, crowd go fucking batshit, then off the go, no encore or anything and everyone’s just rubbing their eyes wondering wtf just happened

wtf?!?! no!! that's amazing!!

that must have been a dream, holy shit

so thrilling! I’m still a gibbering wreck

poor quality clip here:

YMO再々再?生！！！！！！！！ in London #YMO #yellowmagicorchestra #細野晴臣 #坂本龍一 #高橋幸宏 #barbicancentre #london #hosonoharuomi #ryuichsakamoto #yukihirotakahashi pic.twitter.com/EJxBNkZl8X

— Andrei Tarkovsky (@TarkovskyJP_bot) June 23, 2018

Fuuuuck I’m jealous

Everything NickB said basically, plus we got Keigo Oyamada on guitar for the last song, gotta admit it took me a few seconds to realise it was Absolute Ego Dance, I thought it was Cosmic Surfing at first.

The music was very much in the vein of the last two HH records, fifties rock n' roll, rockabilly feel, with his versions of Sports Men and Radioactivity, a great band indeed, young guys.

I think Light In The Attic saying in the blurb to the concert that he was going to be playing music from throughout his career was somewhat disingenuous, but it was great to see the man and of course, the last song was lush. Watching Yuki walk down the Barbican steps right towards me was a real giddy moment.

Yesterday I saw a pic taken from Instagram of the three of them allegedly in a London restaurant (Sakamoto played here a few days ago with Alvo Noto) so I was hoping that something was gonna go down.

One last thing, my mate's friend that we bumped into works in a record shop, he told us Oyamamda dropped in there and bought loads of Madness 7 inches :)

that's amazing!

finding it hsrd to comprehend how acetone managed to follow on from that!

Hosono: https://i.imgur.com/ydBgTfA.jpg

Couldn't believe it when he asked the house lights to come up, and Takahashi and Cornelius stood up from the audience and starting coming down the steps towards the stage.

That rockabilly / boogie-woogie version of Sportsmen really worked. Not sure if there any of clips on it online. The Kraftwerk cover too.

As others have said, it felt too soon for Acetone to be starting after just a 15 minute break or so. Everyone was very excited after that ending to Hosono. Only about 30 - 40% of the crowd came back in for Acetone unfortunately, and some more left after a song or too. The band commented on how quiet it was on stage. Their performance was great, it's a pity the running order meant the place was less than half full.

Hosono band was:

Haruomi Hosono (vocals, guitar)
Ren Takada (guitar, mandolin, banjo)
Wataru Iga (bass)
Daichi Ito (drums)
Takuji Nomura (keyboards, piano, accordian)

where I was sitting there were quite a few japanese people, including families with kids, and a lot of them didn’t stick around for acetone.

trying to remember some of the things that harry said: ‘I used to make techno music, but now...’ *launches into another boogie-woogie number*; the Kraftwerk cover was introduced by some words about 3/11, 2011, which was of course the date of the tohoku earthquake and tsunami

am immensely lucky to be seeing him again in Brighton tonight btw. headlining this time, but another ymo get together would be way too much to hope for

Maybe he'll bust out some older numbers given that he has a bigger window to play in.

from the running times it looks like he's on for two hours, so i guess it depends on how bad he needs to boogie-woogie-oogie

wow this is amazing!!

Just noticed Takahashi is in Brighton! Did you get a replay of Saturday Nick?

yes, takahashi was in the audience again last night but sadly he didn't join hosono on stage this time round. set was a similar mix of lounge/brazilian/jump blues/boogie woogie type stuff, think i enjoyed it even more this time round though - was nice to see that music being played in a much more intimate setting, i think it suited the scale of the music better. also it was a really lovely warm night by the seaside, made me think of how some of the older songs would have originally been taken round the world by boat, from one noisy port to another. hosono seemed to be enjoying himself despite some minor crackily guitar issues, was joking around saying stuff like 'i'm old... i'm boring...' *crowd make sounds of gentle protestation* '...leave me alone'. 'radio activity' cover was really great, done slowly with this eerie, creeping sense of unease, which got ratcheted up to slint-esque levels of tension towards the end. encore was a version of 'tokio rush' featuring two girls on vocals that apparently he'd only just met earlier that day - they did an amazing job but all the same it was no 'absolute ego dance'. a great night though!

here's the setlist btw:

From aya_bebop on Instagram pic.twitter.com/skgGVMjkDN

— callie magic orchestra (@konchugun) June 26, 2018

Amazing! Tokyo Rush too!

It's been really curious having these legendary old gentlemen, whom I admire so much, in our relative airspace for a few days, to me at least, they seem to exist in another plane the rest of the time. Seeing things like Takahashi wandering around London and Brighton via FB has been lovely.

indeed, a thrill to briefly exchange respiratory gases with them!

that 'house of blue lights' was fire btw, that's the one where the band took solos - a few bars of brilliant splashy fireworks from the drummer, the bass player forced to go deep when hosono pulled up a chair and sat and watched him work. good excuse to revisit this clip:

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

I love that clip, talk about someone who has figured out how to live.

kinda love how Keigo Oyamada has been palling around with these guys for over a decade now. that's one cool thing about Japan, it's such a small country geographically so all these people kinda know each other. I recognize some of those names upthread as having played with YT in a different group.

I've heard that there are some plans for YMO's 40th anniversary year, including perhaps a HH documentary. apparently some of the concertgoers were being interviewed outside the venue. couldn't buy that fast enough.

The Barbican gig was being filmed, very discreetly but there were notices saying so.

Happy 71st Birthday!

Lookit!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QtNpj_n82o

Haha that's even shonkier than I remember it

Not sure which is the best thread to post this on as there's a few YMO ones to choose from. Anyway, I just listened to Parallelisme by Miharu Koshi for the first time and I am blown away. One of the best albums I've heard with a connection to the YMO family. My heart is breaking checking the prices for it on Discogs.

From time to time copies of the Dutch version surface at a less painful price. It's an incredible album; some of the synth sounds still sound like they come from the future. IMO, one of thee greatest techno pop albums of all time. "Tutu" is eternal too.

I'll keep an eye out for it. I bought Tutu a long time ago and really enjoyed it, but weirdly I never listened to any of her other albums until a few days ago.

I think Boy Soprano is the best of those. The version of Ave Maria gives me chills.

Just sold all my Koshi stuff on Discogs. I hope the person(s) who get them will appreciate how amazing those records are.

Her cover of "l'amour toujours" is one of my favorite tracks ever. Pretty sure the telex guys guest on it too!

Y'all probably know Good Morning Mr Echo, but the whole record is lovely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06HcFuiHWZ4

Toop piece on Hosono:

https://thevinylfactory.com/features/david-toop-on-haruomi-hosono/

great interview. I don't think I've ever read one with him. he seems like a very thoughtful person, not that I would expect anything less. really looking forward to those vinyl reissues - there's not a whole lot of artists where I feel I *have* to own something on vinyl by them but Hosono is definitely one of them

Speaking of the Swing Slow album, anyone heard this '95 one-off by a group called LOVE, PEACE, & TRANCE? its a group consisting of Hosono, a member of dip in the pool, one from Wha-Ha-Ha, and another I haven't heard of. It sounds to me like Quiet Lodge, but with singing of course. It's very ethereal and otherworldly in a way that only Hosono can really pull off. The whole thing is worth listening to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQEX3E_VJQc

also I must point out that their visual aesthetic is the sort of thing that someone on the Orange Milk roster would kill for, these days. ahead of their time I guess ;)

love that record, it's so new age. I wish they did more!

the artwork has each member represented by "love," "peace," and so on. hosono is "&" lol

there's a red bull music academy video interview from a few years ago out there. it's def kinda awkward tho.

https://litapodcast.simplecast.fm/haruomi-hosono

LITA Podcast with a short interview with the man during his UK visit, it bothers me that one of the guys who is putting so much time and effort and money into reissuing his catalogue in the west hasn't yet taken two minutes to figure out how to say his name correctly.

When asked if he had any personal favourites from his back catalogue he replied Philharmony and Omni Sight Seeing, yes!

...it bothers me that one of the guys who is putting so much time and effort and money into reissuing his catalogue in the west hasn't yet taken two minutes to figure out how to say his name correctly.

Typical.

That's awesome he chose those two.

Looking forward to reading this piece by Andy B
https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/3287

Not sure when this happened, but the Monad albums plus SFX and Nokto have just popped up on Spotify in the UK. As far as I can tell, they're not on any of the other streaming services, at least not outside Japan. Everyone in this thread probably has them, but thought it was worth noting!

Also, on the reissues, it looks like only Hosono House and Cochin Moon are getting released internationally. Paraiso, Philharmony and Omni-Sightseeing are all US only. Any leads as to where I can get Paraiso and Omni in the UK without paying eye-watering postage fees from the US most welcome!

Quick heads up - Juno have the US-only titles available in the UK. Nowhere else over here seems to yet!
https://www.juno.co.uk/labels/LITA

if only that had gone up the other day before i splurged $50 on vinyl of omni sight seeing from US!

as i type this the coffee shop i am in is playing swing slow!

actually, with current exchange rate it is probably more or less the same amount buying plus postage from juno. i'd have it much quicker though!

Loads more Hosono on Spotify in the UK this week. Naga, that Good Sport album (which I've never actually listened to), Archives vol 1: Beyond Good And Evil, along with Swing Slow, all the F.O.E. stuff, the HAT DSP Holiday album and the first two Sketch Show records. Someone's finally cottoned onto the fact that there's an international demand for this stuff.

hell yes, that's all good stuff

the sudden international popularity of Hosono is encouraging...I wonder what's contributing to that? or was it there all along?

I think it's a lot of trends intersecting. There's been a real slow-burn of interest in Japanese music from that period ever since Spencer Doran did his Fairlights/Mallets/Bamboo mixes at the start of the decade. I think it's reissue culture + Japanese pop culture being v on-trend at the minute + the vaporwave set all taking us to this point. (And the fact that that the music really holds up to scrutiny.)

hah, that could be. I remember an interview where Vektroid said that Ryuichi Sakamoto invented vaporwave on Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia and immediately checking r/vaporwave to see people posting YouTubes of that album like, "uhh guys, have you HEARD this?"

I have noticed a bunch of people messaging me on Slsk with a bunch of interest in groups like Moonriders or P-Model or Denki Groove. never really saw that 5-6 years ago. feels like the Cardiacs thing all over again. better late than never!!

Perhaps some of the renewed interest can be contributed to Light in the Attic, starting with their 'Even A Tree Can Shed Tears' comp? That one went down really well.

I love that quote about Vektroid! Vaporwave has to do with some of it for sure.

(the comp didn't include Hosono obv but it may have kickstarted the new reissues of Hosono House and Cochin Moon)

yea its kind of funny b/c the first time I heard that album I thought "oh it's like Weather Channel music, but it's actually pretty good". little did I know that would become an entire genre...

and of course Hosono is sort of a godfather to the whole Orange Milk vibe - something like Bataille Solaire or Giant Claw sounds like the sort of music Hosono would be making if he was born in say, 1986

To be honest my question would be more why it's taken so long - global digger culture has lead to plenty of career renaissances for far more obscure artists from around the globe, and Japanese pop culture has been wildly popular for decades.

Kanji is pretty much the answer to that question, I would venture.

I'm sure it contributes, though if you take a look at anime and video games fandoms ppl have become very adept at not considering that a stumbling block.

There's also a sort of obliviousness in Japan about international demand for Japanese music - I think it was one of the LITA dudes who talked about having to convince Japanese record execs that comps of Japanese music could sell at all.

Japan, like France, looks inward culturally, seeks to engage the outside world on its own terms, and its music has enough of an internal market that little need is felt to promote outward. If you want to get to know its culture, as an outsider, you will have to go to it yourself.

Anime and Gaming are hugely popular by comparison, with scores of people willing to back-translate or write detailed threads/articles about any technical or creative aspect of those spheres, there are next to no people writing in English about the history and nuances of Japanese music and what does exist is largely speculation (like Cope's book, which is bit of a joke)

Not being able to properly translate Kanji yet by automated means, pretty much precludes any occidental person from going from back over it's written history, unless they are prepared to pay or spend years learning it.

You're totally right about Japanese not believing or understanding that Westerners may appreciate their music, even Hosono kinda apologised from the Barbican stage before he sung a song in Japanese.

I once asked the guy behind the counter at Disk Union's bookstore if he knew of any books about Japanese Music in Eigo, he shook his head sadly and looked at me as if I was the biggest, sorriest nerd in the universe.

Is Quit Your Band by Ian Martin any good? I leafed through it in a Kinokuniya in Shibuya earlier this year and it seemed interesting but not in enough depth to be worth a purchase, but that was a quick impression from someone worried about how heavy a suitcase I'd have to bring back.

Ian is a really strong writer yeah, he has good taste, lives for the minutiae of the live house scene in Kichijoji and writes really well about Japanese music, you can get it on kindle I think.

i am pretty shocked that moonriders are as unknown as they are considering the tremendous love people (including people here!) have for the earthbound soundtrack.

Yeah definitely, or the Beatniks, or P-Model or a bunch of others.

my japanese teachers were mostly amused that i knew so much old japanese music but one of my professors introduced me to rc succession which was her favorite band back in the day and thought it was cool i was interested

https://pitchfork.com/news/mac-demarco-covers-haruomi-hosonos-honey-moon-listen/

i can't figure out what people love about Pacific. apart from the closing track, i just can't get into it at all. it's muzak lounge exotica, something that sounds interesting to me, conceptually. but in practice it sounds like generic background music for old advertisements? i keep re-listening to it every few months, thinking i'm missing a buried gem. i want to believe

I like it, but I'm sated with the mp3s I downloaded off slsk years ago, it's one of the two reissues I've decided I don't need to buy (House is the other). I also like muzak lounge exotica, and also Pat Metheny, so ymmv

On a more positive note, I had forgotten until listening earlier this week how utterly amazing Omni Sight Seeing is and I think it may replace Cochin Moon as my favorite. Always remembered it as "'Pleocene' and some other cool songs," but "Laugh-Gas," holy shit

I actually love all of Pacific except for the closing track which sounds like it should belong on the Austin Powers soundtrack. It took me a while but amidst the cheese there are some great songs on there... plus the musicianship is sublime. My wife still remains unconvinced however.

I really like his cover of "Caravan". I know this is a dumb cliché but his music really does sound wrong in all the right ways.

It's too bad his solo career effectively ended in '96. I mean hard to fault the dude for spending the last 20 years reconnecting with old friends and covering songs from his childhood but I can't help but wonder what would happen if he'd kept active and up to date the way the other YMO guys did.

We got a couple of those Light In The Attic reissues at work last week. They look fantastic. They also sent us a few promo CDs to check out. For some reason I'd never got round to Cochin Moon before. What a great album. I'll definitely be picking that one up when it comes in later this month.

I adore Pacific but Cosmic Surfin is certainly out of place and I definitely prefer the YMO version of it. the album is advertisement background music, but really great background music! Passion Flower is just filled with hook upon hook upon hook

http://4columns.org/dayal-geeta/haruomi-hosono

'Cochin Moon' is probably my favorite thing from the extended YMO oeuvre, and one of my very favorite electronic records of all time. Given its total mastery in 1978 of electronics into a distinctively electronic but nearly organic in depth/texture worth (and yet completely purposeful whole, i.e. not just weird bleeps and blorps a la earlier electronic experimentation) I'm surprised it doesn't get more love. The addition of Hosono's enduring trans/pan-cultural exchange--which seeming has a near mainstream currency today--would seem to make it ripe for rediscovery on a slightly scale than whoever bought it at the time + geeks like me who shelled out for Japanese imports over the ensuing decades. To me, it's a really ageless record, and I don't think many would necessarily date it to its point of origin.

Hopefully Pitchfork or some such with large cachet does an ecstatic breathless write-up and gets it a lot more ears ; )

the pictures on this instagram post <3<3<3

https://www.instagram.com/p/BphN6rigS2i/

What are these for, a new TV special?

i wish i knew!

Some context!

Haruomi Hosono new album out in January also when Yellow Magic Show 2 will be broadcast on NHK.. https://t.co/eoY1JxnmEo

— Far Side Music (@farsidemusic) October 30, 2018

(apparently, Hosono has a new album in January and the pics are from a TV special broadcasting in Japan on 2nd January)

Thanks, been trying to figure this out as well, you'd think YMO (and related) FB pages would have some sort of an English translation also.

the Light in the Attic vinyls look to be all sold out, damn. wonder if they'll repress them.

the cds are plentiful and cheap and have pretty extensive booklets

lol what the hell is this

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/mac-demarco-haruomi-hosono/honey-moon/

https://thevinylfactory.com/news/mac-demarco-haruomi-hosono-honey-moon-cover/

this is the context

ah - was thinking of the '93 track from Medicine Lodge

Hochono House (a new re-recording of Hosono House) is out 6th March:
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/international/8493278/haruomi-hosono-classic-1973-new-album-Hochono-House

A Hosono TV special was broadcast 2nd Jan on NHK in Japan - a few clips have surfaced on Youtube of the YMO performances (see below - with Gen Hoshino!). Anyone got any clues / invites to Asian TV t0rr3nt trackers / links to where one might be able to watch the whole thing?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpf0uehEJlM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_EnF3xN3CA

Bless yer! I just checked Jpopsuki, nothing come up as yet, will keep an eye out.

Awesome.

lmao those clips rule. amazing how in line this is with YMO's sense of humor circa Xoo Multiplies or "Kimi ni Mune Kyun"

just took out Nokto de la Galaksia Fervojo (something about exceptionally cold days makes me want to listen to it) and holy hell, this music is absolutely haunted. it's got to be the loneliest-sounding record I've ever heard.

I like the version of Pleocene, it's so beautiful

hah incredible, I remember thinking "he's used this melody before" but didn't catch what it was, obviously the clue was in the title

this track gets me every time, it's quite simply one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard. I've never thought of him as a solo piano composer but this is just amazing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDoOSJnNxn4

You can watch the whole thing here too, dubbed obviously...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_3SvpTH_pk

The main title theme is also astoundingly beautiful, I even like the crunchy 8-bit percussion samples.

btw I have been listening to his latest album (Vu Ja De) and it's pretty cool. first disc is more boogie-woogie covers (fun, but whatever), while the second is a pretty interesting trawl through the archives, taking a lot of his old stuff and re-doing them in this new/old style. most of it is from collabs and commercials, some of it is either new or just stuff that was in the vaults ("Pecora" sounds like a Endless Talking track). there's a version of "Retort" from Omni Sight Seeing with vocals, you almost don't recognize it at first.

I'm kind of lukewarm on this latest stuff, but this one is very nice. I wonder if he's going to write new music again soon?

Have we talked about the Shoplifters soundtrack? It's on Spotify. It's brief (18 mins) but there's shades of his Monad era sound palette. (And the film is an absolute blinder.)

I was a little resistant to the boogie-woogie stuff at first, but it all clicks into place when you start thinking of it as an anthropological study on a non-native music. It's exactly what he was doing with folk music in the 70s - breaking apart trad American forms to study how they work.

Judging by the single, the new Hosono House re-recording sounds like it'll be quite electronic?

Also, the new two disc version of Nokto de la Galaksia Fervojo is now on Spotify - CD2 is I believe unreleased stuff from the period?

Disc 1: https://open.spotify.com/album/0jonjaeaCQqbwtDXM8T4v3?si=oZg8uRGAQqiM7JmEOSWmFw
Disc 2: https://open.spotify.com/album/7d9h6mAPGTNp8VJrAoDMc7?si=YbnKg1XNQJCZnaY9P31gXQ

re: the boogie-woogie stuff, yeah i see it as part of their overarching omnivorous stylistic synthesis.. in the same way that many of their tunes (sakamoto's especially) bring to mind actual early 20th century tin pan alley stuff

just by browsing the 30 sec samples the second disc sounds like a bunch of alternate versions of pieces from the original soundtrack, plus some Endless Talking remixes (track 10 is "Birdoj")

obviously, I have to have it (I don't use Spotify), but I'm not really sure how

Not sure where you're based, frogbs, but Farside are selling the CDs in the UK:
http://www.farsidemusic.com/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=hosono%20nokto&PN=CD%2ehtml#SID=257?a1_21FSD7454

Hey thanks! My search for the 2cd turned up empty yesterday.

I'm seeing something about a new album and US dates too?

Oh, a re-recording of Hosono House? Weird!

https://pitchfork.com/news/haruomi-hosono-announces-us-tour-dates-new-hochono-house-album/?fbclid=IwAR1NyUe_UB3bgRAXCI-tM93_000RrWaw1gFNyVx0arjq4dYYR9nsGE0CA74

Ha yeah that is pretty odd. That new version of 薔薇と野獣 sounds pretty neat though. So clean and loungy.

are those the original vocals?

Exclaim says:

The newly imagined album will feature Hosono rearranging, recording and restructuring the songs of his '73 solo effort, with the musician playing all the instruments himself, as well as producing, engineering and mixing the record.

For a taste of that, you can hear "Bara To Yaju (new ver.)" down below, which takes the familiar track in some very newfound directions.

This is the new cover apparently:

https://exclaim.ca//images/hosono_3.jpg

we discussed this a few years ago (lol), but this deserves to be discussed some more. this is still my favorite thing i've heard from hosono (although i know i've only scratched the surface):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34UutDrXV2Q

the first two of the three tracks (up to about 30 minutes) is music commissioned to be played in Muji stores in Japan in the mid-80s, although apparently they never played it in-store. the third track, is from a muji compilation.

more here: http://filmstatic.blogspot.com/2017/09/rediscovering-haruomi-hosonos-watering.html

i was reminded of it because i one of the new vampire weekend songs samples it heavily

the original cassette can be yours for only $450!

https://www.discogs.com/%E7%B4%B0%E9%87%8E%E6%99%B4%E8%87%A3-%E8%8A%B1%E3%81%AB%E6%B0%B4/release/7890029

apparently it came with an 80-page book!!

https://i.imgur.com/psckQjz.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQSzyhfd9dI

sorry to bump this thread again but Hosono's cover of "Asatoya Yunta" is some of the most magical shit I've ever heard. Hosono sounds like he's singing backwards!!

just discovered the Vampire Weekend sample, that is incredible. props to them for that.

by the way KM - that vid you linked (the "Watering a Flower" album) has probably the best comment section I've ever seen on YouTube

heh, I took it more like an act of personal violence against me!

surprised the new record hasn't been discussed yet. I'll admit I'm grading on a curve here but it's better than I was expecting. (hosono house was never one of my favorites, I'm not too into hosono's "boogie woogie" era in general, it's been a while since his peak era, etc.) some of it has a real uncool old man groove to it that reminds me of late donald fagen solo albums or something. not bad.

the shoplifters OST otoh, that initially struck me as quite slight, esp while watching the movie, like it was barely there. but there is some gorgeous stuff on here even if it's often frustratingly short. I love "going to the sea." the whole album sounds a bit like a small ensemble playing bits of monad era compositions live to me.

also -

the first two of the three tracks (up to about 30 minutes) is music commissioned to be played in Muji stores in Japan in the mid-80s, although apparently they never played it in-store.

I think that the "found muji" stores do play hosono's bgm. the one I went to did, anyway. it works well!

Love the "Shoplifters" OST very much despite its brevity

new/old record "Hochono House" is a delight. its a lot more interesting than the original - the arrangements here are so clever. it sort of matches the cover art - "coloring over" an old work of art, bringing it up to date, though not quite.

It's great isn't it? Good call on the 'colouring over', that's exactly what it sounds like.

I wonder what it must have felt like to go over it again like this after so many years. Anyone seen any recent interviews around?

the first two of the three tracks (up to about 30 minutes) is music commissioned to be played in Muji stores in Japan in the mid-80s, although apparently they never played it in-store.

I think that the "found muji" stores do play hosono's bgm. the one I went to did, anyway. it works well!

― (⊙_⊙?) (original bgm), Saturday, March 9, 2019 3:18 PM (five days ago)

you're right! my copy of the new Kankyō Ongaku comp from Light in the Attic just came in the mail, and it closes with original bgm! it's so nice to be able to put it on the record player and let it play for 16 minutes. the liner notes mention someone hearing it in a Muji store back in 1983, so you must be right! the liner notes also mentioned that Hosono later reworked the piano melody into this song from his 1984 album S-F-X:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-wtudBuq3g

^^ which is AMAZING.

Waiting patiently (...) for my copy of Kankyō Ongaku to arrive!

ah, nice to hear they were played out in the 80s. those muji tracks are almost too perfect to be ambient music to shop to... but them being ambient music to shop to makes them even more perfect. I picture supermarket aisles myself. (muji started as a supermarket or something, right?)

no mention of the US shows? NY and LA! I'm keeping my expectations grounded in the boogie woogie zone but sakamoto joining for the NY set seems within the realm of possibility...

why does ryuchi trend in the indie art miasma but not hosono. Is it the hair?

Much less obvious connections to western artists, tended towards nurturing and collaborating with Japanese artists.

Is this the place to discuss this new LITA comp?

https://www.discogs.com/Various-Pacific-Breeze-Japanese-City-Pop-AOR-Boogie-1976-1986/master/1539822

The city pop thread doesn't seem to get a lot of traffic.

Sounds fantastic so far. If nothing else I'm very happy to finally have an affordable copy of Hiroshi Sato's "Say Goodbye" (though I still wish someone would reissue that This Boy comp)

Revelation for me so far: Minako Yoshida's "Midnight Driver." Such a jam!

yoshida's monochrome album is really great.

Just ordered this last night. I only know Drip Dry Eyes and Sports Men which are both absolutely perfect. Very excited to hear the rest.

Excited for this

been wanting a copy of LA Night for ages, best song ever

yea I'm in the same boat as KP, if anything on the comp is as good as either of those I'll consider it money well spent

I'm familiar with maybe half that compilation, agree that Sports Men is perfect

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9M-F2WB6nI

the Seaside Lovers album that "Sun Bathing" is from is really lovely - it's cheesy but i adore this sort of smooth beach music

oh 'i thought it was you' is on it too - love that one as well, those drums kill me

oh wait i'm getting confused by the LITA 'Pacific Breeze' spotify playlist which has a bunch of different tracks on it
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1MuAHiy0n7158rCXN2hHjm

FYI - LITA actually is pressing more copies of Paraiso, remastered by Yoshinori Sunahara (of Denki Groove fame)

https://lightintheattic.net/releases/4913-paraiso

the price is steep but as they say, "fuck it"

oh shit i'd forgotten just how majestic the drums vs. vocoder blaze-up is at the end of 'i thought it was you'. godlike!

that thing that funk records do where they just jam on for 3-4 minutes after the song's over is the coolest thing, I wish more genres would try stuff like that

ha yes!

i really need to get on those friends of earth records don't i?

At $45 it's stretching what I'd normally pay for a single lp, but I had to order the 'Seaside Lovers' LP as well ;_;

it's one of the three or so albums I'd actually pay that much for

https://www.forcedexposure.com/App_Themes/Default/Images/product_images/close_up/w/WWSCD018CD_CU.jpg

Akiko Yano's brilliant 'Irohani-Konpeitou' is being reissued! Always think of this record - though not her debut - as her 'The Kick Inside'. It's so brazen and playful, with melodies to melt away to.

And speaking of: that article mentioned the reissue of 'Tadaima' last year, and that completely passed me by. Anyone bought it? Is it good?

This album, Tadaima, Gohan Ga Deki Tayo and Ai Ga Nakuchane are all of them great, Great records. Buy 'em all.

there's some merit to that LBI - as far as I know, the songs on I-K were written before those on Japanese Girl

always felt this one was a bit weaker than the surrounding albums (though I love track 5 "Ike Yanagida"), still will probably buy it for the sleeve alone, one of my favorite album covers ever

btw Oesu Oesu is another good one - it took a bit to sink in but I've come to see it as one of her best and most representative albums. after that she kinda got mired in that cycle of dated production/back-to-basics, though shes always a joy to listen to

I actually like this album from 1986 best: https://www.discogs.com/Akiko-Yano-峠のわが家/master/254757

Definitely slick mid 80s rock production there. Steve Ferrone on drums!

I bought the Tadaima reissue. I'm really happy with it as the artwork and sound quality are spot on. I saw they did Japanese Girl a couple of months ago. I should pick that up.

I still have hope that someone will reissue some of the Miharu Koshi albums at some point. I saw a copy of Parallelisme come up on Discogs for $75 and I really was tempted.

particularly Boy Soprano, which I think is about as good as anything else mentioned in this thread. the version of "Ave Maria" is such a stunner, I can't do anything while it's playing

I'm a huge fan of 'Honto No Kimochi', a latter-day Akiko Yano rekkid, very beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHDUZMjnvs8

there's some merit to that LBI - as far as I know, the songs on I-K were written before those on Japanese Girl

I did not know that.

Thanks for that vid MaresNest, I'm still to discover her latter day records, this sounds great.

yeah this is really nice. I'm currently digging her '92 solo piano record "Super Folk Song", though I think a lot of those songs are covers. at least one of 'em I swear is a Moonriders tune, though Akiko sorta makes everything her own so it's hard to tell

poking around YT...she definitely returned to weirdo technopop at some point. I think is from 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlYe-p_XChU&list=RDXAbjxBtESs0

Listen, I like creative design and all, but LITA can fuck right off with this:

http://i.imgur.com/IND19Uj.jpg

Trying to read that circle one is anger inducing.

I frequently realize that what I love about YMO+ is slightly adjacent to what you all love. You might find this record interesting:

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

I ran the description through Google Translate and it says that Hosono was an 'advisor' (mistranslation?) on this album. It has the mark of Hosono.

Hideki Matsutake, the 'unofficial' (crucial) 4th member of YMO, deserves his own S&D thread. That's a DEEP rabbit hole.

BTW the above record is from '82, not '84, putting it closer to YMO's glory days.

I frequently realize that what I love about YMO+ is slightly adjacent to what you all love

would be curious for your elaboration on this!

also, i really like that last track

I bought the first YMO record, on yellow vinyl, 25 years ago. I was 14 and that record changed my life. I knew, right away, the impact YMO had on Japanese music because I could hear it in SNES and Sega soundtracks.

Part of they key to that early YMO sound is extensive programming of the Roland Microcomposer, the first digital, programmable sequencer. So while YMO weren't the first electronic pop band, they were the first to release computer-programmed pop. They're not 'loopy' or repetitive like Kraftwerk or other contemporaries.

The YMO sound I love is loungy, self-referentially Japanese, and predates MIDI and sample-based drum machines. When ILX goes into YMO deep-dives, they tend to go further into the 80s, but all the great material, YMO and related, happens from '77 to '81.

A couple of years back some friends and myself made a little internet radio show of Japanese Music for a little internet station for a few years, we did almost 70 editions, went pretty deep down some rabbit holes during that period and I'm pretty sure there wasn't one episode that passed without having a member of YMO (including Yanno and Matsutake) having a hand in some track, particularly Hosono, it fast became a running joke.

A couple of years back some friends and myself made a little internet radio show of Japanese Music for a little internet station for a few years

there are no little internet radio shows, only little internet people

Yep, lol, Maresnest + Monkey 47 Gin + ILM access = redundancy

that show was pretty great...discovered a lot of neat stuff through there

I remember a question on some message board about who would be the "Kevin Bacon" in the music biz, the one person you could connect to virtually any artist via a few steps...my answer was Ryuichi Sakamoto

amusingly, P-Model (Japan's OTHER great technopop band) appears to have no connection whatsoever

No connection to YMO, at all? Hmmm damn

unless you wanna get really tenuous - the producer of In a Model Room was the keyboard player for Plastics, which later splintered into Melon, who did an album with Snakeman Show, which appeared on Xoo Multiplies

what have I been doing with my life

I remember a question on some message board about who would be the "Kevin Bacon" in the music biz, the one person you could connect to virtually any artist via a few steps...my answer was Ryuichi Sakamoto

i always thought this might be brian eno. in sakamoto's case it would be

eno ----> bowie <---- sakamoto

A couple of years back some friends and myself made a little internet radio show of Japanese Music for a little internet station for a few years

The interview you did with Chris Mosdell (YMO lyricist) was most revealing iirc.

I'm the dummy here probably but I need to ask: what show was it?!

Matt it was Peter Barakan! I should have tracked down Mosdell too actually

Not at all LBI, it's all here - https://www.mixcloud.com/japanalternativesessions/

Oh yeah sorry, anyway I enjoyed his YMO-arguing-in-the-studio stories very much!

Thanks MaresNest, that looks amazing! I've got 69 episodes to enjoy :)

Ah, yr welcome, if there's anything in there you like but have trouble tracking down hmu.

Not sure if this has been mentioned previously, but Hosono still has a weekly radio show called Daisy Holiday every Sunday on Tokyo's InterFM. It's quite chatty (not so good for non-Japanese speakers like me) but it's pretty cheerful.

I've finally managed to jump through the various VPN hoops needed to stream Japanese radio outside Japan (most of the big stations stream through one site, Radiko, which is locked down unbelievably strongly) and have started recorded episodes and putting them into a Google Drive folder. I'm also recording Towa Tei's show on J-Wave, and will be recording Sakamoto's bi-monthly show there too.

If anyone wants access, send me an email through the board and I'll add you to the folder.

Also, would it be worth starting a new thread specifically for reissues of Japanese records and compilations? There's been a ton of them in the last year or so, with a load more on the way...

daisy holiday playlists

Oh fantastic, thanks for this!

Also, would it be worth starting a new thread specifically for reissues of Japanese records and compilations? There's been a ton of them in the last year or so, with a load more on the way...

― bamboohouses

Seems warranted. RA have been repping yet another J-reissue today: Yutaka Hirose's "ambient cult classic", Soundscape 2: Nova

I'd be up for a Japanese reissue thread!

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ywyx9x/haruomi-hosono-interview-hochono-house?utM_source=noiseyfbus&fbclid=IwAR2nE789niYK0st5S5kZEQEwIyv4VFowTWSj2HvRfDXkkHs357XtsQPBQoI

Are you still interested in experimenting with new technology? It does seem like this new album manages to inject these old-fashioned songs with a more modern edge.
Yeah, there are all kinds of things I want to do. With boogie-woogie now, I've been doing it for about 10 years. But I want to do something new again now, and I'm currently lining up the equipment for it.

Looking back on all the different kinds of music you’ve worked on over the years, what do you think you’re the most proud of?
Let's see, among my solo albums, I like Philharmony and omni Sight Seeing, and...let's see…I forgot the rest [laughs]. I've done too many things. I've been doing this for 50 years, so I don't think about my own work that much.

"doing something new again" is a pretty exciting phrase isn't it

Very exciting indeed!!

Thirded! Nice interview, he comes across as such a sweet man.

I clicked through on the YT link for 'Pacific' in that interview, and it's got more than 1m views! That's quite a lot isn't it? How did that one get to these numbers? (Philharmony is at 390.000-ish, Omni not even 200.000)

Japanese views, I guess, they were huge weren't they?

Well, yeah :) Suppose it's probably just that, was wondering it it had been used for something or other.

Sorry yeah, stating the obvious really :) I'd bet there are millions of middle-aged, natsukashii salarymen for whom YMO and its components are still completely beloved.

Pacific has 1100+ ratings on RYM, far more than any other album he was involved with. I think its sort of a "Plastic Love" situation (one comment even calls it "YouTube-core").

I'm surprised that Pacific wasn't one of the albums that Light In The Attic chose to reissue last year. It does seem to be his most well known album.

well, its a split LP - Hosono only wrote 3 tracks for it. from the interview:

I have no recollection of it [laughs]. It was an album project by Sony that gathered a bunch of different people—I was only called in to do it. But I've never listened to it much after making it.

I really hope LITA gets around to reissuing Tropical Dandy, imo the best of his exotica-era records.

I prefer Bon Voyage Co., if only for the ending of "Tokyo Shyness Boy" - Hosono's scat singing is one of the most (unintentionally?) hilarious things I've ever heard on an LP

https://youtu.be/F4bQLRO7WF4?t=1m50s

https://i.imgur.com/HOYCUSG.jpg

finally got my hands on this guy

they must've remastered it. it's louder and crisper. sounds great on the hi-fi. cranked it up and let the synth craziness on the title track rattle the walls...totally worth the most-I've-ever-paid-for-an-LP price

beautiful cover too

72 years old today

I uh "celebrated" by getting the second disc of the Nokto de la Galaskia Fervojo soundtrack on Japan iTunes. mostly remixes of the first disc but whatever, I love it anyway

Is it weird I prefer Hochono House to Hosono House?

nah, that was kind of the point of him making it

I do too

Alternative 3 is quite something isn't it. This guy!

The main theme of Nokto de la Galaskia Fervojo is so wonderful.

the whole album makes me feel like I got left on the moon or something. there are more moments on it that give me chills than any other album I can think of.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d5/b1/ab/d5b1abde40634df42380ca11f93a154f.jpg

Happy birthday, Mr. Hosono!

How are those remixes frogbs?

I thought the second CD was more cues and variations on the title, no?

I do love the Pleocene adapted theme too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdybb52ejd8

caught one of the NYC shows a month or two ago. I'm not a huge fan of the boogie woogie stuff, but I must say, he really sold it live. total pros, great vibe. and akiko yano came out for one of the encores! that ruled.

second disc is basically alternate versions of most of the album's themes - faster tempos, different instruments, stuff like that. one of them is a take on "Birdoj" from Endless Talking which confirms my suspicion that it was written for the soundtrack. the last 4 tracks are previously unheard compositions I think, one of which has a choir. last track is sort of a disco thing, it's hilariously weird

you can get Cochin Moon on LP for the relatively low price of $22 + shipping, this thing will probably sound incredible on my hi-fi

all I need is Omni Sight Seeing now and I'll be happy

Just picked up the Seaside Lovers album which was mentioned on here a couple of months ago. Such a gorgeous sound.

I've been going back to the Pacific Breeze compilation a lot. My only (very old school) complaint is that it doesn't come with a download code. I'd like to have it on my iTunes as that's still what I use when I'm out and about. Light In The Attic could have thrown one in as it's not like the record was exactly cheap!

If you love Seaside Lovers (which is perfect), do try and track down the whole series, there were six SIR albums (easy to find on youtube):

Sound Image Series:

[1978.06.21] Pacific
[1978.11.21] NEW YORK
[1979.06.01] the AEGEAN SEA (エーゲ海)
[1983.xx.xx] ISLAND MUSIC
[1983.xx.xx] OFF SHORE
[1983.05.21] SEASIDE LOVERS 〜 MEMORIES IN BEACH HOUSE

KM - have you heard The Endless Talking & Coincidental Music yet? it just occurred to me that anyone fascinated by the Muji in-store tape should check out both those albums immediately.

no, and no! i know nothing about them! if it's anything like the Muji tape, it would make for excellent working music. I will seek them out today.

I owe you $1 million bux for all YMO-related tips through the years, thank you

the cover of The Endless Talking looks like joan miro, nice

I have PayPal, you know

do you accept space bux?

title track on Endless Talking is what "Talking" was based on

Coincidental Music also has this take on it (different melody but still similar)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT3fFBe-SpE

that said it's "Memphis, Milano" which is probably my favorite here, which I think was also designed as shopping music

and yeah send me your space wallet code

There's going to be a documentary about Hosono called "No Smoking" to be released in Japan (I think) in November.
Trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqD73BPJm7g&feature=youtu.be

No idea where/when/how we'll see this outside of Japan - if there's any chance it would surely be through Light In The Attic I guess, but unlike the Sakamoto doc a couple of years ago I guess his profile still isn't high enough outside of Japan for an international release?

Still haven't seen the Sakamoto doc or its companion "Live At The Armory"(? I think) film. Did they ever make it to home viewing/streaming in the US?

this setlist O.o

Day1「細野さんを歌おう！」みんな集まりました！#細野さん50 pic.twitter.com/EqZtrP6ISC

— 細野さん みんな集まりました！ (@Hosonosan50) October 11, 2019

Fucking hell!

OMG!

whoa, UA! awesome.

man, hope somebody recorded these...

can we talk about how amazing Omni Sight Seeing is for a minute? had a close listen to it last night and now I think it's one of my very favorites of his. I'm trying to piece together what exactly the overarching theme to all this is, it's the one Hosono disc that doesn't seem to follow a particular theme but there does seem to be an attempt at interpreting music from all over the globe and molding it into a strange little Hosono cube. his lyrics tend to be difficult to understand sometimes which obscures what a crazy trip they can be. Here's Orgone Box:

Cloudy!
Make'm go away
Cloudy!
Let Organe clarify
Looming cloud, feeling sad...
At time like this the plague spreads when Mammom comes
Must gotta go
Gaia quivers
the Earth quakes
You can't win, you must lose
and there's no way out of the game
Orgone is a visible, measurable
and applicable energy of a cosmic nature, douzo....
C..CL..LLOOU...DDDY...
the cloud of words
CLOU...LLOOU..DDY
Let Organe clarify
If we do not expect the unexpected, we will never find it...

What ??!?

It *is* amazing and enigmatic!

Pretty straightforward once you get to know about Wilhelm Reich:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgone

There’s another (rather more famous) song inspired by the same subject matter:

https://youtu.be/pllRW9wETzw

man there is nothing straightforward about that article

though lmao @ that Mark Mothersbaugh quote

Haruomi Hosono at home just vibing pic.twitter.com/jCalV6NveH

— NTS Radio (@NTSlive) March 25, 2020

O.M.G. <3333

(it suuuuucks that in this day and age a thread bump like this made me think "oh no, plz no corona")

haha, what a prince

I love that clip so much, it's been pinging around the net for a while, when he does the taiso knee raises it cracks me up.

No end to my love for him. He's the embodiment of people who figured out how to live imo.

yesssss

he leads by example

Nice!

Amazing!

over the last 2 months I have listened to every single Haruomi Hosono album. his catalogue is all over the place and it's not all great but the dude really is on a completely different planet. he has this strange rhythmic sense that you can pick out right away.

any new finds from your listening spree?

frogbs, would totally be into a post about your perspective on HH's catalogue.

^^ Seconded!

it's good!

*reviews post*

it checks out! :D