Akiko Yano

Looks like there is a more affordable CD version as well, with the same liner notes but not all the session photos and whatnot that come with the vinyl.

she has a lot of records I would totally buy if they were like...20% less expensive. I don't know if I like this one enough. I did import a copy of Oesu Oesu though, that one's incredible start to finish

her new album is very good if you like her jazzier singer/songwriter type stuff. amazing how she still looks and sounds pretty much the same as she did 25 years ago

spotted the dolphin album at a Chicago shop! of course I had to grab it. it's better than I remembered. "Ike Yanagida" is so great. I never realized it's just keyboards and drums. also didn't catch that one of the tunes is a full version of that little instrumental at the end of Hosono House

I'm blown away by Gohan ga Dekitayo, my first exposure to her music. I see why she gets compared to Kate Bush so much - the similarity in their voices and songwriting - but she stands apart enough. And I think this album might be more consistent than any of Kate's?? Maybe I'm crazy to think that. So looking forward to listening through the rest of her output

the long track with that crazy electronic breakdown is so stunning. as is that piano track that sounds like a samba. her vocals are so good on it.

I see Love Life was just reissued, I may pick it up. there's a cover of "The Letter" which is really great. she does such amazing covers.

there's such a breadth to the tracks, hard to pick favorites, but I love both the ones you mentioned. I listened to Tadaima and I'm not as blown away, but she moves into tons of new sounds and styles. like "ROSE GARDEN"?? must have been listening to Remain in Light but it's an excellent, unique track in its own right

I was looking at his Discogs just the other day as a friend had hipped me to this Chris Mosdell record from 1982 called 'Equasian' that he played on, it's a really odd racket.

I've just been listening to this album, the cover seems designed to make you think it's a Visage album or something... but it's mostly definitely not a Visage album! Anyway, I don't really know what else to compare it with so I'll let Chris himself, er, describe it...

https://chrismosdell.com/equasian/

Excellent new discography guide: https://simulacreage.com/akiko-yano-guide

amazing

yeah that is really excellent... the most extensive thing i've seen written about her in english and it's good to see that they've covered everything, not just her 70s/early 80s stuff.

as i was reading i was thinking they've skipped the live albums, they've skipped the piano albums... and then there they were.

Time to get the giant 'Honto no Kimochi ichiban' foam finger out again, but good to see it getting the props it deserves.

Oh that's excellent and useful, thanks for sharing. I now fully agree with their assessment that Gohan ga Dekitayo is one of the finest pop albums ever - not a weak moment imo. I listened to Japanese Boy and OSOS more recently, and liked the former but loved the latter. I'll probably end up listening to everything eventually

haven't listened back to it yet but apparently she was the guest of gilles peterson's show this weekend...

https://www.instagram.com/p/C2pJKPvNwoJ/

show is here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001vj7k

Yeah, checked if this meant any UK shows but not afaict?