Haruomi Hosono

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