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.

Yeah that's exactly what happened to me with Paraiso this time around, except it was "Worry Beads" that was my "gateway."

I'll second the OSS recommendation... It's the one album I've suggest to anyone who wants to get a good overview of Hosono's work.

what are the top two sakamotos?

that's the one i struggled with the most

and OSS only recently made it on spotify (well, it maybe have been years. i am still in the year 2020, in some ways), i haven't really listened it all the way through yet! i should do that this afternoon

that's a great list karl! i would only add sakamoto's esperanto which for me is not only among sakamoto's best but one of the most special and confounding and inimitable records ever made

― missingNO

and likewise, thank you missingNO and i have only listened to esperanto once! so i will put that on the playlist after OSS

Ongaku Zukan (S)

fuck, yet again i'm an idiot. i meant Hidariude no Yume (Left Handed Dream) from 1981. this one:

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

if my ymo lore is correct, it was recorded during a time of internal tension between the core 3, and it always seems like the vibe is that sakamoto was taking a bit of a pretentious turn and trying to elevate himself into a global art star or something? i have no idea. but this album was made in the height of that (there's no definitive YMO bio that i know of so i'm not sure i have the right take on the vibe, but i thought that takahashi/hosono were both kinda irritated by sakamoto or vice versa), and it's amazing. the amount of musical territory it covers is pretty amazing, and it goes all the way from ambient bliss to legit shots at pop hits to avant-garde/experimento zone

OSS is really good :) it's pop track is buried at the back, love it :)

its

from what I've read the tension was always between Sakamoto and Hosono, both of whom came from very different backgrounds - Sakamoto was from a high class family while Hosono was more working class. which is why RS's early work was classical & more art school while HH started in folk and got really into Martin Denny. seems like this led the two of them to argue a lot about the "aim" of YMO's music. indeed I think Sakamoto did have his sights set on becoming famous worldwide (which he kinda achieved?) and wanted his music to sound state-of-the-art while Hosono was more whimsical and goofy (and perhaps a bit more "spiritual"?). I think if you compare Left-Handed Dream to Philharmony you can hear the difference in approach; in the liner notes to LHD he talks about how he wanted synths that mimicked "worldly" sounds to give the album an authentic and timeless feel while on Philharmony HH is just like "I really had fun playing with this sampler". ironically Philharmony is the one that sounds more relevant today.

afaik Takahashi was just the guy in the middle convincing the other two to stay together...from what I've heard he's an exceedingly friendly and sociable dude

takahashi's contribution to the dynamic was surely having the strongest & most straight-forward pop instincts?

fwiw I do think Ongaku Zukan is essential as well...it's not really much like YMO but the original album is stellar and may have predicted vaporwave to some degree (it's basically Weather Channel music. but really gorgeous and groovy Weather Channel music. entirely instrumental iirc). there are two wildly different versions of this album - one from 1984 (Ongaku Zukan) that's 9 tracks plus a bonus 12" or 7" (the difference being an extra version of "Tibetan Dance") and one from 1986 that's the American version, which contains 6 tracks from the original plus two with vocals, "Field Work" (with Thomas Dolby) and "Steppin' Into Asia" (with Akiko Yano). both good tracks but the original works much better, particularly "Replica" on the bonus LP which is one of my favorites tunes of his. Great Tracks actually did reissue this album last year but it's missing the bonus so I'm trying to find an original. I am pretty curious about this version, though:

https://www.discogs.com/release/6830161-Ryuichi-Sakamoto-%E9%9F%B3%E6%A5%BD%E5%9B%B3%E9%91%91-Ongaku-Zukan-2015-Edition

And yeah I think you could argue that YT had the strongest overall influence on YMOs sound, his solo albums at the time were pretty similar

idk about overall but very much so on naughty boys at least

hadn't heard the beatniks album before but it's cool, predominantly in-line with takahashi's solo work but a few tracks that are clearly primarily composed by suzuki (e.g. "le sang du poete") & his touches elsewhere are occasionally apparent

takahashi's contribution to the dynamic was surely having the strongest & most straight-forward pop instincts?

― ufo, Sunday, 17 October 2021 06:59 (sixteen hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is debatable, both hosono and sakamoto were much more active in the early 80s as songwriters and producers for more conventional chart-bound pop artists than takahashi was, who seemed to model himself more on the art rock / sophistipop archetype of bryan ferry, bowie, et al

two different recordings of one of my favourite hosono songs (again featuring lyrics by shigesato itoi). probably alone here but i genuinely think this is one of the strongest straight-forward pop songs he ever wrote ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIVpYm0p3UA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jnqiesaa44

Xp Yeah Hosono wrote for chart pop acts more extensively than both RS and YT.

I love sakamoto’s 80s work he did for tv commercials and stuff

I'm only really just catching on over the past few years, with the Light In The Attic (and others) compilations and reissues and all that, so really appreciating this discussion.

Did Hosono do a lot of production where he wasn't a (credited) writer? I was going through a bunch of Pizzicato 5 a while ago and finding I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as way back... except I was loving the very first single, "The Audrey Hepburn Complex". I look it up and whatdoyouknow, produced by Hosono! This guy eh.

He's produced plenty without a writing credit -- much of Miharu Koshi's stuff for example.

surprised that hosono's mercuric dance and coincidental music haven't gotten a mention yet. those are big time personal favorites. "windy land" in particular. so beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlXX-Bhzhrg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVIsjpcn2ew

re: takahashi i just mean he appeared to be the one pushing ymo the strongest in that direction. the others certainly had strong pop instincts too, but it wasn't as much of a focus for them, especially with ymo

I've probably posted this observation on the YT thread but his concurrent solo albums are always quite similar to what YMO was doing at the time. Murdered by the Music is like a companion piece to Xoo Multiplies, Neuromantic is sonically similar to BGM, Exitentialism has Technodelic-esque rhythms and experimentation, What, Me Worry? is more sophisticated pop like Service. So I've always figured he was the one most responsible for what their albums actually sounded like

in case the two auto-generated vids i posted above are blocked outside of japan, here they are again. song is "hashire usagi" ("run rabbit") recorded by yuko kanai and miharu koshi respectively

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq-PMH_Zjxw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o75lWNaRkik

i was unaware of the yuko kanai version... it's great.

still think sandii's "zoot kook" is hosono's most impressive outside production job. so advanced with that sinuous, proto-acid synth sequence ... such a ridiculously lush chorus to boot

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

love the amorphous synth clouds that levitate the final chorus ... so glorious. he's listed in the credits so i'm guessing this part was played by sakamoto on the prophet 5 as it has that dense, detuned ensemble chorus quality he was fond of at the time

Has anyone heard the unreleased album he produced for Dynasty singer Linda Carriere in 1977? I just found out this exists, and it's kind of blowing my mind. Songs by Hosono, Tatsuro Yamashita, Minako Yoshida, Akiko Yano, and Hiroshi Sato. I can only find three full songs from it on YouTube and nothing on Soulseek, so if anyone has a rip of this let me know.

The songs I've heard sound a lot like the city pop of that period (e.g. Yamashita's SPACY and Go Ahead), though the marimba on "Laid Back Mad Or Mellow" nods to Hosono's exotica stuff. Apparently it wasn't released because the record execs thought the vocals were weak, and it looks like a demo copy was sold once on Discogs for $2,000. It's true the vocals aren't the greatest I've heard, but the production is sick.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsqMAHX29e8

if you're interested in HH's work writing and producing other artists, this massive boxset compiles a ton of it:

https://www.discogs.com/release/11508013-Haruomi-Hosono-%E7%B4%B0%E9%87%8E%E6%99%B4%E8%87%A3%E3%81%AE%E6%AD%8C%E8%AC%A1%E6%9B%B220%E4%B8%96%E7%B4%80%E3%83%9C%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9-%E7%B4%B0%E9%87%8E%E6%99%B4%E8%87%A3%E6%8F%90%E4%BE%9B%E6%A5%BD%E6%9B%B2%E9%9B%86-20th-Century

it's not comprehensive - there are some Jun Togawa tracks he wrote that don't appear here, and god knows what else. it is a near-endless source of treasure though. several of these tracks I've encountered in the wild and thought "it's gotta be him", idk what it is exactly but both his melodic and rhythmic sense are very recognizable to me

god knows what else

Includes 144 page book with additional info including a list of all(most?) songs written by Haruomi Hosono prior to 2009.

I’m surprised no sandii albums have been reissued recently afaik

co-signing "Zoot Kook", hard to believe that predates Computer World even

afaik the "lost" YMO track "Indo" also surfaces on that Sandii album, can't remember what it is though

feels like an album that ought to be re-evaluated soon

Zoot Kook is song of the day, pass the word

i can't get to the rest of the album because i keep listening to Zoot Kook, the song of the day, on repeat

hah, I've had the same experience

found this idol knock off of it recently, it's pretty blatant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecqegd3wW-o

spinning Medicine Comp tonight, such an incredible and chill record. its music for the sensory deprivation tank. it sounds quite unique as this New Age/Enigma stuff is the one electronica movement that's never really had a resurgence - it's always been so terminally uncool - so when someone does it well, it almost feels like unexplored territory. that said the more you listen the more you hear Hosono's fingerprints, in fact it was probably the most natural direction for him to go in at that time

that one took off for me recently, beautiful stuff

i can't get to the rest of the album because i keep listening to Zoot Kook, the song of the day, on repeat

― typo hell 13: crypto in insidious, though (Karl Malone), Tuesday, 19 October 2021 05:52 (eight hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

honestly the rest of the album is just ... ok. it has a nice version of yukihiro takahashi's "drip dry eyes"! idk i feel like many of the ymo affiliated albums usually have one or two really stand out tracks and then a lot of filler, likely an unavoidable consequence of being so prolific at the time. like masami tsuchiya's rice music for example, it has sakamoto's incredible "kafka" but the rest of the album is disappointing given the calibre of the supporting musicians (night mirage by ippu-do [tsuchiya's main project] fares a bit better in this regard)

frogbs, supposedly the tracks "shantith" and "oinori" are versions/interpolations of "indo"

underrated masterpiece of early-80s outside ymo productions: mari iijima's rosé, produced by sakamoto in 1983. it's pure, unadulterated, exuberant city pop / boogie (of the kind that's not necessarily to every ymo fan's taste) but the chord sequences and arrangements are so good

Yeah Rosé is a good album.

back to hosono, i love this live tv footage from 1983 of him performing w/ seiko matsuda, briefly demonstrating his linn drum, mc-8 and prophet 5 setup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lumt37Fz0ok

I don't think Medicine Comp is his best album, but it's the one I come back to most often I think. It just "fits" into so many listening situations.

I'm currently fascinated by his late-90s/early-00s "electronica" period - where he moved to laptop production and basically sounded as contemporary as any other glitch producers. Obviously there's the Sketch Show albums, but there's a whole string of collabs/compilations I don't really know anything about. I adore his super glitched-out Coldcut remix, shame that one isn't more widely available.

yea everything gets pretty messy after Medicine Comp. I remember there was one called Good Sport which was like a 90's version of Coincidental Music. should really revisit that one since I recall it being quite good. it was a soundtrack he did to some sporting event.

both Sketch Show albums are wonderful but I really like Loophole. its got such a vivid "staring at the stars on a warm day" sort of feeling to it. I actually think Takahashi is more responsible for the sound & songwriting but Harry's trademarks are totally there.

one more thing - I decided to try to track down some of the Kankyo Ongaku artists and found this (quite good!) LP for very cheap. lo and behold, look who's credited as producer.

https://www.discogs.com/release/1251889-Interior-Interior

yeah that interior album is definitely worth a listen, originally released on hosono and takahashi's yen records imprint in 1982. i especially love the first track "technobose"

inoyama land's danzindan-pojidon is another good hosono produced instrumental/ambient album from that period (also published on yen records)

also testpattern's après-midi, another hosono produced yen record's release from the same period, is wonderful, a bit more straight-up techno-pop but certainly with some hosono-esque ambient elements

as an aside, i never checked until now but resellers are really having a laugh with some of the prices of this stuff on discogs huh

(ugh please disregard the errant apostrophe in yen records above)

Those two Yen box sets (Yen Box 1&2) are pretty essential as a way to plot a path through the YMO Extended Universe, they take in both the Kankyu Ongaku stuff through the more pop and new wavey albums.

I really like the Interior album. The Windham Hill reissue (which has a slightly different track list) was quite cheap, at least up until recently.

My Swing Slow arrived today. It took 3 days to get from Tokyo to Glasgow (5700 miles). Recently mail has been taking longer than that to get from Ediburgh to Glasgow (50 miles).

Anyway, that is by the by.

No obi on the Swing Slow but packaging, sleeve quality and vinyl pressing are exemplary. I've seen a few grumblings over the fact that it has been remixed but i'm enjoying it just as much in this (subtle new) mix as the original.

Edinburgh!