For a genre of music that I don’t really like all that much and barely even constitutes as a genre of music in the first place, I sure do find myself writing about “city pop” a lot. Continue reading →

Pioneering Japanese electronic act Yellow Magic Orchestra turns 40 this year, and Sony Music Japan is celebrating with a massive re-issue campaign set to kick off in full next month. In the meantime, they’ve also put out this new compilation, curated by superstar Japanese DJ Towa Tei, designed to focus on YMO’s more eclectic and minimal output.

A lot of effort obviously went into this release. In addition to getting Towa Tei’s name on it, the album also features art by well-known artist Tomoo Gokita, and the tracks were newly remastered by ex-Denki Groove member Yoshinori Sunahara. Anyone into Japanese electronic music who already wasn’t interested in picking this up will no doubt see their names and be tempted even more to pick it up.

And they probably shouldn’t. Continue reading →

I’ve been taking a deep dive into some weird music lately. I don’t know why. Usually I would share this stuff on Lost Turntable, but since that blog is only for music that is out-of-print (support the musicians you like!) I can’t really do that.

So apropos of nothing, a series of mini-reviews of avant-garde, progressive, leftfeild, new wave, ambient, drone, industrial records that I bought last week. Some are new pressings, all are new to me. And all of them are easily available on iTunes!

Blackouts – Ashra (Manuel Göttsching)

I’d seen Göttsching’s name before and have browsed over his records in the past, but this was the first time I’d picked one up. But I think I’ll be grabbing more in the future, because this album is really special. It’s loop and sequencer based, but it also has strong melodies and hooks on top of all that. Imagine Fripp/Eno but catchy. Really amazing guitar sound on this record, I cannot recommend it enough. If you like Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream or any of the wonky shit I post at Lost Turntable, you’ll probably dig on this. Continue reading →

Record Store Day has been going strong in Japan for a few years now. First, they were content to only carry imports of the UK and US releases, but more recently Japanese artists have started to release their own RSD titles as well. I was able to get a few of them, as well as some other recent re-releases of note, and I thought I’d run through them here for those curious but hesitant to pay the import fees without knowing a bit more first.

Mioko Yamaguchi – Anju

When Mioko Yamaguchi’s studio albums were finally given a CD release a few months back, her “greatest hits” compilation Anju didn’t make the cut. This 7″ single collects the two songs that were recorded for that compilation, and thankfully also includes a CD with them as well. Continue reading →

I write about Japanese music a lot, but I’ve been motivated to write about it even more as of late. I’ve recently covered the whole “city pop” thing a few times now, mostly to the extent that I just don’t get it. It’s fine, and there are some artists in that scene that I definitely do dig, but to me it just seems like such an odd subgenre of J-pop for people to be interested in, mostly because there’s just so much more interesting stuff out there, especially in terms of Japanese synthpop (or, as they call it, “technopop”).

And no, I’m not just talking about YMO and their related acts (although, for fuck’s sake listen to YMO and their related acts) but other artists too. The early-80s was simply jam-packed with amazing Japanese synthpop, and now, finally, a lot of the better stuff that was lost to time is being re-isssued, many for the first time on CD. So I thought I would take a quick look at three amazing artist worth checking out whose albums have recently gone back into circulation.  Continue reading →

This Record Store Day saw two “exclusive” David Bowie releases. One is a five-sided, three LP live album entitled Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles ’74), while the other is Bowpromo, a re-issue of a promo-only LP from 1971.

Both of these are releases are limited editions. The live album got a pressing of 17,000 worldwide, while Bowpromo received a one-time pressing of 15,000. This will no doubt lead to them commanding a hefty price on the secondary market. As I write this in Tokyo, the record stores are just opening their doors in the UK, with the US soon to follow. Copies of both records are already flooding eBay, and I expect even more to show up on the site very soon. And if the stock at my local Tokyo stores was any indication, those who didn’t snag one in the stores within the first hour of doors opening will probably have to go to eBay if they want one.

But should you even bother? Continue reading →

Someone out there decided that there weren’t enough labels going after the (apparently surprisingly lucrative) vinyl horror soundtrack collector market, because adding to the already crowded field that features labels like Death Waltz, Mondo (who bought Death Waltz), Waxworks, Silva Screen, One Way Static, Invada and probably a few more labels that I’m forgetting at the moment comes Night Fever Music with their debut release, the soundtrack to the cult-classic 80s horror comedy Fright Night. Continue reading →