Haruomi Hosono

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