Haruomi Hosono

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Before he was in YMO, he made some solo records. Is there any that you'd especially recommend?

― Daniel, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (seventeen years ago) Permalink

― bob, Wednesday, 21 November 2001 01:00 (seventeen years ago) Permalink

hey don't get us bobs mixed up now. i'd be interested to know about hosono & his happy end (not that godawful female beass band who went by the same name). fuck what that alan minter-face lopez woman has done to "firecracker" by YMO , though, i mean MOST pointless woman with a fat arse and a boxer's face in the world or what. faecal smearge on her part. whay can't she stay home instead of going to the studio with her lackeys?

― bob snoom, Saturday, 24 November 2001 01:00 (seventeen years ago) Permalink

three years pass...

Of his '70s albums, Bon Voyage Co., Tropical Dandy, Pacific, and Cochin Moon are all pretty great exotic pop albums. 'Hosono House,' his first album from 1973 is the only one that isn't very interesting. Overall, my favorite album of his is 'Omni Sight Seeing' from 1989, which Miharu Koshi plays on. It has a great Eastern (like Arab) vibe.

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Thursday, 12 May 2005 03:50 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

Miharu Koshi—a Hosono protege—is fantastic, I love all her 80s albums. Autoportrait is a good compilation.

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.

― Momus (Momus), Thursday, 12 May 2005 17:42 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

I have Bon Voyage and Tropical Dandy and love them to death. (a friend of mine pointed out that a few tunes on these are practically randy newman progressions, which I never noticed). are the "tin pan alley" ones on par with those?

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.

― b'angelo, Thursday, 12 May 2005 17:56 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

I want to hear these albums very badly, especially Cochin Moon. They're close to impossible to find here.

'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.

― milton parker (Jon L), Thursday, 12 May 2005 18:01 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

As a big YMO fan, who indeed hasn't indeed gotten to the bottom of their own back catalogue, are there any websites or articles that explains the YMO family tree and recommends any further listening?

― mzui (mzui), Thursday, 12 May 2005 18:48 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

Most of Hosono's albums are very easy to find in Japan, especially his '70s ones. The only one I own, though, is 'S-F-X'. But your best bet is www.cdjapan.co.jp I make a lot of orders from there.

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.

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Thursday, 12 May 2005 19:13 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

And, addressing that last question, these two sites are by far the best out there on Japanese synth-pop.

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

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

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

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Thursday, 12 May 2005 19:16 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

I just listend to Cochin Moon today!

― Dominique (dleone), Thursday, 12 May 2005 19:25 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

Hey Leone, I was going to send you an email earlier about how I appreciated you Wha-ha-ha review. In the review you said the singer goes by Mishio...well that's Mishio Ogawa that I was talking about up there. Check out Chakra! You should dig them. I much prefer them to Wha-ha-ha, who are a bit too off the wall for my tastes.

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Thursday, 12 May 2005 19:42 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

By the way, if anybody wants any of the stuff I recommended (or any other J synth-pop that I might have) just send me an email and I can hook you up.

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Thursday, 12 May 2005 19:46 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

I think I must do that

I love Wha-ha-ha

― milton parker (Jon L), Thursday, 12 May 2005 20:27 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

I still can't get over how those Wha-ha-ha albums are getting this much (though minute in the scheme of things) attention. I mean they're good, but they're just so obscure. I can think of so many things that should logically receive attention before those. I'm not criticizing anything, I just find it odd. Is there some connection to this band that I'm missing? Any non-Japanese players on it?

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Friday, 13 May 2005 04:33 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

ReR put out a Wha-ha-ha compilation in the 80s that exposed them to Westerners (albeit ones into avant-prog and experimental music). I haven't really seen a lot of other reviews for them, but I'm guessing that some people just remember that LP.

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

― Dominique (dleone), Friday, 13 May 2005 11:09 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

Ah okay.

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

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Friday, 13 May 2005 11:38 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

There's also an album by Love, Peace & Trance from the '90s. Mishio is "Trance," two women I'm unfamiliar with are the "Love" and "Peace" and Haruomi Hosono is the "&". The cover is kind of funny in that way. It's from '94 I think and kind of worldy...a bit more ambient too. Worth checking out.

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Friday, 13 May 2005 11:45 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

Bon Voyage and Tropical Dandy thirded or whatever. yes the Randy Newman progressions, but they also remind me of James Taylor or something equally soft. which may be a compliment since Don Cornelius called him the funkiest white man ever.
and yes to Cochin Moon (placed it on my Pitchfork list of the 70s), but it's completely different. never familiarized myself with YMO though.

― Beta (abeta), Friday, 13 May 2005 15:14 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

yeah, there is definitely a strange smooth singer/songwriter vibe to them- for some reason I kept thinking Van Morrison, but that might be more vocal style/phrasing than anything else. How would you characterize Cochin Moon as different? curious because it is one of the few things hypothetically US-available, albeit w/a $40+ price tag

― b'angelo, Friday, 13 May 2005 15:32 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

Cochin Moon is about the furthest possible thing from a singer-songwriter vibe: imagine a tropical space world where all matter flows in and out of states, and everyone uses Tangerine Dream's keyboards. "It's a trip."

― Dominique (dleone), Friday, 13 May 2005 15:54 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

sounds like a good place to be, then. Is that the one that tadanori yokoo had some sort of involvement with?

― b'angelo, Friday, 13 May 2005 16:05 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

yes, apparently the cover design was yokoo's. Check it out:

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

― Dominique (dleone), Friday, 13 May 2005 16:11 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

where do you find it for $40?

― Beta (abeta), Friday, 13 May 2005 19:16 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

making out a yesasia order for Cochin Moon todays. not sure whether to order the 2nd or 3rd album or a copy of S-F-X... are the 2nd and 3rd albums very similar to the first?

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.

― milton parker (Jon L), Friday, 13 May 2005 19:37 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

Milton, I NEED those Haniwa albums!! Is there any way I can get a hold of those from you? Please let me know. I can hook you up with the Chakra albums or whatever else you need.

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Friday, 13 May 2005 23:19 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

milton.parker@gmail.com -- I've got all four of them and would love to trade for Chakra, solo Mishio, anything else

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

― milton parker (Jon L), Friday, 13 May 2005 23:23 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

Yes, I have that one. Though it's probably not as "bizarre" as you'd think. Moon Riders are fairly accessible by our standards. Their earlier albums are superior in my opinion. I'm a huge fan, and have most of their albums ('Amateur Academy' from 1984 is the one I really need). I'll email you.

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).

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Friday, 13 May 2005 23:36 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

Basically, the ideal music for me is early '80s exotic Japanese synth-pop with fretless bass and steel drums.

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Friday, 13 May 2005 23:50 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

Cochin Moon recently has been reissued on CD in Japan. When I was in Tokyo in April, Tower had at least a half dozen copies. Don't sleep--this is an all-time classic of next-level exotica, abounding with bizarre synth tones and textures.

― Dave Segal (Da ve Segal), Saturday, 14 May 2005 00:04 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

one month passes...

Has he done any more stuff along the lines of SFX? I enjoyed that very much...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Friday, 17 June 2005 17:58 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

Reissue of Cochin Moon sounds great btw.

― Dominique (dleone), Friday, 17 June 2005 18:52 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

still need to hear SFX, but thanks again to patrick for setting me up with that massive trade.

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.

― milton parker (Jon L), Friday, 17 June 2005 20:18 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

five months pass...

Cochin Moon is very enjoyable -- if not particularly immediate, which makes it perhaps a little odd how universally admired it appears to be (Best of the 70's lists and all). I confess it only really impacted me when I went through a heavy analog phase. Also, I'm only hearing the early Cluster '71 in the "Malabar Hotel" sections, really -- I do enjoy how mutilated all the vocals are, however...

Am I correct that this has Sakamoto on it?

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Monday, 21 November 2005 03:11 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

yes

― Dominique (dleone), Monday, 21 November 2005 15:58 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

I did eventually get S-F-X, and I like it okay -- side one is his tin-pan-alley songwriting poured into super clunky mid-80's j-electro, and side two are abstract quiet instrumentals. 'Alternative 3' is a very disjointed cut-up track that sounds like where Holger Hiller ended up on As Is about six years later, and 'Androgena' is a duet with Miharu Koshi and I heart Miharu Koshi.

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.

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

First time I heard Cochin Moon was while tripping on acid with members of Vas Deferens Organization. I wish I could freeze that moment in time forever; it was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. I owe those guys a huge debt of gratitude for introducing me to that album and many other obscure psychedelic classics.

― original plagiarist, Tuesday, 22 November 2005 01:47 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

hey dominique

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)

― milton parker (Jon L), Monday, 28 November 2005 01:43 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

oh hell they deserve their own thread anyways

Kiyohiko Senba and his Haniwa All Stars

― milton parker (Jon L), Monday, 28 November 2005 02:19 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

SFX has some fantastic Fairlight stuff on it, though. And enough listens to Cochin Moon have at least motivated me to think he's every bit as advanced/sophisticated/whatever as Sakamoto.

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

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Monday, 28 November 2005 02:34 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

definitely the rhythm guitar on "6 o'clock News", and there are other little plucks & screeches on other tracks that could be him, maybe. If you listen to the Mr. Partridge Take Away solo album from around the same time you can hear his basic vocabulary of weird guitar sounds

I dunno Matthew, you heard Esperanto?

― milton parker (Jon L), Monday, 28 November 2005 03:02 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

r. stevie moore's 1980 review of take away

― milton parker (Jon L), Monday, 28 November 2005 03:09 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

definitely the rhythm guitar on "6 o'clock News"

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.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Monday, 28 November 2005 16:58 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

First time I heard Cochin Moon was while tripping on acid with members of Vas Deferens Organization

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

― Dominique (dleone), Monday, 28 November 2005 18:51 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

track 1 of Esperanto should be called "a WONGGA dance song" and it's anything but ambient...

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.

― milton parker (Jon L), Monday, 28 November 2005 19:30 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

brought me over etc. & I know you're not like that Matthew, I'm just feeling ancient

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

― milton parker (Jon L), Monday, 28 November 2005 19:35 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

First time I heard Cochin Moon was while tripping on acid with members of Vas Deferens Organization

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?

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Monday, 28 November 2005 20:26 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

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

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.

― original plagiarist (Da ve Segal), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 04:50 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

BTW, Jon -- since it was on a separate EP that was only added to CD issues of SFX, have you heard the Hosono track "Non-Standard Mixture"? Just askin', b/c it's a great little Fairlight jam, me thinks -- not the clunky electro to which you referred above...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Wednesday, 30 November 2005 01:16 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

to the YSI machine then!

― Beta (abeta), Wednesday, 30 November 2005 02:21 (thirteen years ago) Permalink

Skipping 270 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

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.

― millmeister, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 16:09 (seven months ago) Permalink

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.

― frogbs, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 18:04 (seven months ago) Permalink

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.

― kitchen person, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 18:09 (seven months ago) Permalink

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

― ufo, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 18:11 (seven months ago) Permalink

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

― stirmonster, Saturday, 22 September 2018 11:52 (six months ago) Permalink

'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 ; )

― Soundslike, Saturday, 22 September 2018 13:46 (six months ago) Permalink

one month passes...

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

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

― Herb Achelors (NickB), Monday, 29 October 2018 14:15 (five months ago) Permalink

What are these for, a new TV special?

― bamboohouses, Monday, 29 October 2018 14:20 (five months ago) Permalink

i wish i knew!

― Herb Achelors (NickB), Monday, 29 October 2018 14:22 (five months ago) Permalink

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)

― bamboohouses, Wednesday, 31 October 2018 11:44 (five months ago) Permalink

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.

― MaresNest, Wednesday, 31 October 2018 11:51 (five months ago) Permalink

one month passes...

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

― frogbs, Saturday, 8 December 2018 22:40 (four months ago) Permalink

the cds are plentiful and cheap and have pretty extensive booklets

― adam, Sunday, 9 December 2018 01:38 (four months ago) Permalink

lol what the hell is this

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

― frogbs, Friday, 21 December 2018 15:36 (three months ago) Permalink

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

this is the context

― ufo, Friday, 21 December 2018 15:43 (three months ago) Permalink

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

― frogbs, Friday, 21 December 2018 15:48 (three months ago) Permalink

three weeks pass...

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

― bamboohouses, Wednesday, 16 January 2019 17:33 (three months ago) Permalink

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

― MaresNest, Wednesday, 16 January 2019 17:59 (three months ago) Permalink

Awesome.

― So, This Leaked (Capitaine Jay Vee), Wednesday, 16 January 2019 18:06 (three months ago) Permalink

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

― frogbs, Wednesday, 16 January 2019 19:51 (three months ago) Permalink

two weeks pass...

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.

― frogbs, Thursday, 31 January 2019 21:14 (two months ago) Permalink

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

― MaresNest, Thursday, 31 January 2019 21:28 (two months ago) Permalink

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

― frogbs, Thursday, 31 January 2019 21:37 (two months ago) Permalink

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

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

― MaresNest, Thursday, 31 January 2019 21:37 (two months ago) Permalink

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

― MaresNest, Thursday, 31 January 2019 21:45 (two months ago) Permalink

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?

― frogbs, Monday, 4 February 2019 22:10 (two months ago) Permalink

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?

― bamboohouses, Tuesday, 5 February 2019 11:49 (two months ago) Permalink

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

― bamboohouses, Tuesday, 5 February 2019 12:27 (two months ago) Permalink

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

― brimstead, Tuesday, 5 February 2019 19:50 (two months ago) Permalink

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

― frogbs, Tuesday, 5 February 2019 20:06 (two months ago) Permalink

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

― bamboohouses, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 09:35 (two months ago) Permalink

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

― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 6 February 2019 09:59 (two months ago) Permalink

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

― MaresNest, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 12:24 (two months ago) Permalink

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

― MaresNest, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 12:25 (two months ago) Permalink

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

― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 6 February 2019 12:28 (two months ago) Permalink

are those the original vocals?

― frogbs, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 14:34 (two months ago) Permalink

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

― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 6 February 2019 14:48 (two months ago) Permalink

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

― Karl Malone, Sunday, 10 February 2019 06:28 (two months ago) Permalink

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

― Karl Malone, Sunday, 10 February 2019 06:37 (two months ago) Permalink

two weeks pass...

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!!

― frogbs, Wednesday, 27 February 2019 03:58 (one month ago) Permalink

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

― frogbs, Thursday, 7 March 2019 23:06 (one month ago) Permalink

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!

― (⊙_⊙?) (original bgm), Saturday, 9 March 2019 21:18 (one month ago) Permalink

Love the "Shoplifters" OST very much despite its brevity

― Carly Jae Vespen (Capitaine Jay Vee), Sunday, 10 March 2019 01:42 (one month ago) Permalink

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.

― frogbs, Wednesday, 13 March 2019 14:07 (one month ago) Permalink

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?

― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 13 March 2019 14:29 (one month ago) Permalink

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

― but i'm there are fuckups (Karl Malone), Friday, 15 March 2019 00:33 (one month ago) Permalink

^^ which is AMAZING.

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

― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Friday, 15 March 2019 00:58 (one month ago) Permalink

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...

― (⊙_⊙?) (original bgm), Friday, 15 March 2019 03:33 (one month ago) Permalink

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

― 57mg/20floz, Saturday, 16 March 2019 10:49 (one month ago) Permalink

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

― MaresNest, Saturday, 16 March 2019 13:18 (one month ago) Permalink

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