it hits you with that "Yellow Mario" right away
― frogbs, Wednesday, 22 June 2022 17:12 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZhDXBXw0mQ
― MaresNest, Monday, 11 July 2022 09:23 (one year ago) link
I’ve never spent much time with Hosono House before. Man, Choo Choo Gatagoto sounds like a dead ringer for Van Dyke Parks’ cover of Toussaint’s Ocapella from Discover America – from the groove to the languid vocal to (almost) the melody. Wild.
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 14 November 2022 12:47 (one year ago) link
(And I know they worked together on the relatively contemporaneous Happy End, it still just doesn’t 100% register until I hear this)
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 14 November 2022 12:59 (one year ago) link
not familiar with much else but Hosono House rules
― corrs unplugged, Monday, 14 November 2022 14:43 (one year ago) link
It does. And honestly, it's weird that it wasn't produced by VDP because, well, it sounds exactly like the Japanese version of him. And the Happy End album doesn't really?
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 14 November 2022 15:17 (one year ago) link
he did do an interview about this:
TODD BURNSWith Happy End, you ended up recording an album in America. Can you talk about that experience? Was that the first time you had been to America?HARUOMI HOSONORight. It was 1973, or perhaps 1972. I don’t exactly recall when. In LA, California, there is a famous studio called Sunset Sound where we recorded Happy End’s third album. I don’t know how we got there. Someone arranged it for us, I guess. Suddenly Van Dyke Parks visited the studio. He’s a great musician. He was with Lowell George, the guitarist from group Little Feat. They came in, and we got caught up in their pace. That was a really new experience for us. For example, their recording method was very western. It was very layered, let’s say. We learned that method. Before that our style was flat, like Japanese picture scrolls. We hadn’t thought about depth. We learned that from Parks.TODD BURNSVan Dyke Parks, you’ve spoken about his impact on you and in meeting him. It seems like he is quite a character.HARUOMI HOSONOHe was really a crazy man. He was high when we first met. I wanted to stay away from him. I didn’t like him. He first gave a speech in the middle of the studio, like a monologue. It was about the Japanese emperor. We were so puzzled – who is this guy? That was about when we first met. I met him again when he was sober. He was nice. We are still friends. I like him a lot.
With Happy End, you ended up recording an album in America. Can you talk about that experience? Was that the first time you had been to America?
HARUOMI HOSONO
Right. It was 1973, or perhaps 1972. I don’t exactly recall when. In LA, California, there is a famous studio called Sunset Sound where we recorded Happy End’s third album. I don’t know how we got there. Someone arranged it for us, I guess. Suddenly Van Dyke Parks visited the studio. He’s a great musician. He was with Lowell George, the guitarist from group Little Feat. They came in, and we got caught up in their pace. That was a really new experience for us. For example, their recording method was very western. It was very layered, let’s say. We learned that method. Before that our style was flat, like Japanese picture scrolls. We hadn’t thought about depth. We learned that from Parks.
TODD BURNS
Van Dyke Parks, you’ve spoken about his impact on you and in meeting him. It seems like he is quite a character.
He was really a crazy man. He was high when we first met. I wanted to stay away from him. I didn’t like him. He first gave a speech in the middle of the studio, like a monologue. It was about the Japanese emperor. We were so puzzled – who is this guy? That was about when we first met. I met him again when he was sober. He was nice. We are still friends. I like him a lot.
― frogbs, Monday, 14 November 2022 15:38 (one year ago) link
finally got the Swing Slow reissue. it's an excellent album and I love that it too seems to have been given a new life by the YouTube algorithm. it's kind of the ultimate Hosono album. it's folky, it's electronic, it's gorgeous, it's kind of minimal, it's vintage yet cutting edge, it has weird unexpected dance breakdowns, and it's steeped largely in (and covers songs from) a genre that the vast majority of his audience wasn't around for. and it's really confounding, so many little "why did you do it this way" moments. and it has an ambient interlude that's so pretty it hurts.
― frogbs, Thursday, 19 January 2023 03:50 (one year ago) link
bonus tracks are great too! check this out, maybe the creepiest thing I've ever heard him do. no way this is from '96, right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmF6WASwPcw
also includes another, much slower cover of "Caravan", which sounds less electronic but still as mechanical. also something unsettling about that one...
― frogbs, Thursday, 19 January 2023 04:21 (one year ago) link
the vinyl version is so beautifully done and is maybe the best sounding record i bought last year. has become one of my very favourite hosono releases.
― stirmonster, Thursday, 19 January 2023 11:45 (one year ago) link
the reissues last year of Omni Sight Seeing & Medicine Comp also sound incredible, kinda restored my faith in the idea that a well-done pressing can blow away even a well-encoded MP3
curious why people don't seem to like the remix though (at least based on random Discogs comments) - I feel like most of the differences are subtle and the 'upgrade' to the beats makes it sound a bit less 90's which I think is probably a good thing. it's got sort of a 3-D sound to it but not in a hollowed out way. I think it's really good.
― frogbs, Thursday, 19 January 2023 14:49 (one year ago) link
i just read those discogs comments and wholeheartedly disagree. the remixing is very subtle and yes does indeed, 'upgrade' the beats, especially during that incredible percussion part of disappeared.
― stirmonster, Thursday, 19 January 2023 18:56 (one year ago) link
I'm a late arrival but YMO and Hosono have hit me over the last year or so. They simultaneously scratch and create an itch. Anyway I looked in the NTS archives bcz why not and there's a 15 hour Hosono day from 2017 that I haven't seen mentioned here, so that's what I've been doing while/instead of working this week.
― woof, Thursday, 19 January 2023 22:14 (one year ago) link
One for frogbs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUB9yqPmgJA
― MaresNest, Tuesday, 31 January 2023 15:26 (one year ago) link
Oh wow that is interesting!! so as you probably know I absolutely love the Nokto de la Galaskia Fervojo soundtrack and have always wondered whether Harry is actually playing piano on it or if it's Miharu Koshi. I've actually never seen him play piano before. I'm still not sure if it's him, his playing here seems stilted a bit though maybe he's just putting a spin on it. There isn't much video of Koshi playing either but the little bits I found she certainly seems more nimble, so I assume it's probably her on that album, and then Hosono on the Coincidental Music version?
― frogbs, Tuesday, 31 January 2023 15:36 (one year ago) link
It says in the info something like this was the first time he played solo piano on TV and he was nervous, he's certainly picking up and putting down the beat a lot.
― MaresNest, Tuesday, 31 January 2023 15:43 (one year ago) link
And this was '85 when Coincidental Music came out, so I guess it was him. No idea about Koshi playing on the soundtrack version.
― MaresNest, Tuesday, 31 January 2023 15:46 (one year ago) link
N.D.E. at last.
https://lightintheattic.net/releases/9402-n-d-e?mc_cid=62a27bbcea&mc_eid=982f43dfd8
― stirmonster, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 00:32 (one year ago) link
Hell yeah, love that this era of Hosono is getting some attention. Wonder if a reissue of Love, Peace, and Trance is in the cards???
― frogbs, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 01:18 (one year ago) link
Well he’s by far my favorite member of 1D now
Harry Styles came to visit Hosono House.ハリー・スタイルズさんが、ホソノハウスに遊びに来てくれました。#HarryStyles #HaruomiHosono #ハリースタイルズ #細野晴臣 #HarrysHouse #HosonoHouse pic.twitter.com/B38anvQgTx— 細野晴臣_info (@hosonoharuomi_) March 29, 2023
― frogbs, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 18:17 (eleven months ago) link
oh my!
― stirmonster, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 18:25 (eleven months ago) link
have never been jealous of harry styles before but
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Wednesday, 29 March 2023 19:49 (eleven months ago) link
harry is good now, i take back calling his music boring. it is boring, but that doesnt matter, hes one of us.
― slai gorgeous-alexander (m bison), Thursday, 30 March 2023 00:46 (eleven months ago) link
Harry's House is a reference to Hosono House, is it not? Styles also said the album was inspired by city-pop, though I don't really hear it
― Vinnie, Thursday, 30 March 2023 02:58 (eleven months ago) link
Did they play that otamatone?
― StanM, Thursday, 30 March 2023 03:19 (eleven months ago) link
SORRY TO BUMP THIS THREAD RIGHT NOW BUT
the production on this is insane. Hosono would probably be universally recognized as an electrofunk god if he was like...25% less weird
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsPXl-OxW28
― frogbs, Saturday, 15 April 2023 02:17 (eleven months ago) link
yes i love that one!
― rincton monkspoon (NickB), Saturday, 15 April 2023 06:48 (eleven months ago) link
someone got Pacific Breeze 3? it's pretty great!
― maf you one two (maffew12), Saturday, 15 April 2023 11:49 (eleven months ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAhF7c0IxGI
finally found it!! it's a famous Punjabi song and there are a zillion versions out there, for a while I thought the one Hosono sampled/colored over was just a recording lost to time
― frogbs, Wednesday, 24 May 2023 18:11 (ten months ago) link
oh and here's a fun Hosono fact
today, tomorrow, and the next day will be the:
40th anniversary of Naughty Boys50th anniversary of Hosono House30th anniversary of Technodon
― frogbs, Thursday, 25 May 2023 03:19 (ten months ago) link
reissue time again...
https://rushhourmusic.bandcamp.com/merch/haruomi-hosono-n-d-e-2-lp
― NickB, Sunday, 30 July 2023 04:51 (seven months ago) link
just ordered a copy, hopefully it sounds as great as the Medicine Comp reissue does. nice to see some attention paid to Hosono's ponytail phase. kinda wonder if/when those Monad albums are ever gonna get reissued. two years ago there were open preorders for them but I guess they never actually got made. you'd think Bon Voyage and Tropical Dandy would get reissued too since the demand for those seems pretty high right now. but who knows what goes on in the minds of these obscure labels.
― frogbs, Monday, 31 July 2023 15:16 (seven months ago) link
it does sound great. the japanese reissues do all sound just that little but better though, and i never cease to be taken aback by how great the 'Swing Slow' reissue sounds.
― stirmonster, Monday, 31 July 2023 16:06 (seven months ago) link
I have this reissue on Rush Hour and it sounds wonderful.
― SQUIRREL MEAT!! (Capitaine Jay Vee), Monday, 31 July 2023 16:53 (seven months ago) link
the Swing Slow reissue cheats a bit because parts of it were actually re-recorded or remixed. but the Omni Sight Seeing/Medicine Comp reissues are incredible, two of the best sounding albums in my collection really. it's especially impressive since OSS is 48 minutes long
― frogbs, Monday, 31 July 2023 16:57 (seven months ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n6Z6PWXlDY
― MaresNest, Monday, 14 August 2023 23:15 (seven months ago) link
Just had YouTube suggest this video compilation of music from his label Non-Standard to me - has anyone else seen this before?
NON-STANDARD SPECIAL PV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gHiI_MWqkk
00:00 Opening00:36 Strange Love / 細野晴臣06:38 野ばら / コシミハル (Miharu Koshi)09:42 瞳はサンセットグロウ / SHI-SHONEN13:45 細野晴臣 SFX CM15:15 Dr.Diet / URBAN DANCE18:49 オードリィ・ヘプバーン・コンプレックス / ピチカート・ファイヴ (Pizzicato Five)23:39 太陽とダァリヤ / WORLD STANDARD27:40 冬のノフラージュ / MIKADO
― Chewshabadoo, Wednesday, 15 November 2023 05:28 (four months ago) link
^^^ !!!
― blazin' squab (NickB), Friday, 1 December 2023 17:43 (three months ago) link
reissue news:
https://wrwtfww.com/album/quiet-logic
― blazin' squab (NickB), Friday, 1 December 2023 17:44 (three months ago) link
that's quiet logic, a 90s collaboration between hosono, mixmaster morris and jonah sharp
― blazin' squab (NickB), Friday, 1 December 2023 17:47 (three months ago) link
He's grown his hair out again, bless him!
https://tower.jp/article/news/2022/06/28/tg009
He mentioned he was recording -- wonder whether he meant the recent (beautiful!) ambient work Undercurrent or something else that hasn't yet surfaced.
― TheNuNuNu, Sunday, 17 December 2023 08:10 (three months ago) link
Oh man, those descending "mmmmmmm"s in the outro of Funiculi Funicula!
― TheNuNuNu, Friday, 12 January 2024 18:07 (two months ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGBe3Fb6Jco
Here's a neat Hosono composition snuck on to the end of a [Sandi & The] Sunsetz album from 1981. If you wanted to bridge Cochin Moon and Philharmony with a single track, this would be the one.
― TheNuNuNu, Sunday, 14 January 2024 19:00 (two months ago) link
hard to believe there's still 80s Hosono stuff out there I haven't heard
cool track but slightly cursed wouldn't you say
― frogbs, Sunday, 14 January 2024 20:03 (two months ago) link
I like the first track on that album, it sort of reminds me of The Slits or something
― brimstead, Sunday, 14 January 2024 20:25 (two months ago) link
Been digging around in Hosono's 1987 -- things seem to get especially messy for a while, post-Monad, with F.O.E. gaining members (and opening for James Brown in Japan...?). There was the soundtrack to The Tale of Genji, (same director as Night on the Galactic Railroad) and then the thoroughly collaborative (her website: "Absolute simulative works from the original recording by HARUOMI HOSONO and MIHARU KOSHI / Manipulated by HARUOMI HOSONO") Echo de Miharu, finished in December '86 but released in 1987. Between those two, there's enough magnificent music for anyone... you'd think. But as usual, with Hosono, there's more in the corners. Tell me, how can you not adore a man who, in the very same year, made both this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yViRPNNweQ
and this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBUBMDuejM4
― TheNuNuNu, Thursday, 18 January 2024 05:29 (two months ago) link
“The Tale Of Genji” is a lovely soundtrack
― completely suited to the horny decadence (Capitaine Jay Vee), Thursday, 18 January 2024 07:32 (two months ago) link
This thread seems to be where most of the Miharu Koshi action is -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nHP84Tgug4
― MaresNest, Friday, 2 February 2024 17:34 (one month ago) link
Thank you Mare, sampled a bit, gonna need to listen in full.
I've been having too much fun working on these translations. Why stop?
Paraiso has its share of heavy spiritual longing (Shimendoka, Worry Beads, title track, arguably Asatoya Yunta, maybe Shambhala Signal too if you just go by the title) and, as we English speakers know, its equally heavy share of goofball numbers... like Femme Fatale.
...
Here are the ends of the earth.A mysterious oasis hidden in the city.Today, too, I will search for you,and when I find you,the birds in the red sky will clamor.
The sun is in the west.When the moon rises and illuminates the dark,moonburned skin will give off the fragrance of blood, sweat, and tears. It's an omen of death.
Hey, listen!The ground is rumbling.You can hear it shaking in the distance!Come on, quit it with these scary omens -- femme fatale!
You are a demon's daughterand, ah, once again I am your captive.The moon is fulland a dreadful god is coming,swooping down to abduct you!
― TheNuNuNu, Monday, 5 February 2024 06:49 (one month ago) link
Really enjoying your translations and commentary.
― Kim Kimberly, Monday, 5 February 2024 06:51 (one month ago) link