A great take on the sweet style of the lovely Lisa Ono – a record that combines two great musical passions of the Japanese scene – bossa nova and Hawaiian grooves! And although Lisa's recording in a vaguely Hawaiian mode, the style's nicely different too – mixing her usual bossa approach with a slightly sunshine-drenched style, less Hawaiian than work by Don Ho, more in a "dream" vision of Hawaii, as you might hear in some of the 60s production work by Brian Wilson. The floating lyrics of the Hawaiian tunes work well with the bossa backing – and the sweetness of the album's a perfect fit for Lisa's voice! Titles include "Manoa", "Swing Time In Honolulu", "Sway It, Hula Girl", "Nani Wai'ale'ale", and "Kaimana Hila". (Brazil, Japanese) LP, Vinyl record album

A Japanese electro pop masterpiece from Akiko Yano – done with lots of help on production from Ryuichi Sakamoto, and lots of musical help from other members of YMO too! Yet the set's got a very different vibe than Sakmoto's music and that of his group – maybe more tuneful, at a level that really takes advantage of the fantastic vocal range of Akiko – which sometimes stretches and inflects at a level that might rival Kate Bush at the time, although in a much more electronic setting overall. Titles include "Tadaima", "Vet", "Iranaimon", "Sensei", "Otosan", "Taiyo No Onara", and "Okasan No Ohige". LP, Vinyl record album