A totally wonderful compilation – and a fantastic way to dip into the world of Japanese city pop – a genre that most of us missed back in the day, in large part because most of these records never made it to the record racks in the US! As fans know, the movement was a huge crest of creative activity in Japanese music – a way of refining some of the best modes begun in the 70s by artists like Haruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto (both of whom have a hand in some of the tracks here) – and mixing in some of the long love of American soul, funk, and jazz that had been brewing up for years. There's definitely a lot of soul inspiration on these cuts, even though lyrics are in Japanese – and the music also has some nice electric fusion moments too – although more of the sounds are from beats, keyboards, and basslines. Titles include an early cut by Pizzicato Five, "Boy Meets Girl" – plus "Love Sick" by Mari Iijima, "Pub Casablanca" by Osamu Shoji, "Tropical Love" by Teresa Noda, "Scandal Night" by Miharu Koshi, "Heartbeat" by Miho Fujiwara, "Tonkachi" by Atsuko Nina, "Bewitched" by Naomi Akimoto, "A Soka" by Susan, "Suiyoubi Madeni Shinitaino" by Yukako Hayase, and "Business Man (part 1)" by Makoto Matsushia. CD

A totally wonderful compilation – and a fantastic way to dip into the world of Japanese city pop – a genre that most of us missed back in the day, in large part because most of these records never made it to the record racks in the US! As fans know, the movement was a huge crest of creative activity in Japanese music – a way of refining some of the best modes begun in the 70s by artists like Haruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto (both of whom have a hand in some of the tracks here) – and mixing in some of the long love of American soul, funk, and jazz that had been brewing up for years. There's definitely a lot of soul inspiration on these cuts, even though lyrics are in Japanese – and the music also has some nice electric fusion moments too – although more of the sounds are from beats, keyboards, and basslines. Titles include an early cut by Pizzicato Five, "Boy Meets Girl" – plus "Love Sick" by Mari Iijima, "Pub Casablanca" by Osamu Shoji, "Tropical Love" by Teresa Noda, "Scandal Night" by Miharu Koshi, "Heartbeat" by Miho Fujiwara, "Tonkachi" by Atsuko Nina, "Bewitched" by Naomi Akimoto, "A Soka" by Susan, "Suiyoubi Madeni Shinitaino" by Yukako Hayase, and "Business Man (part 1)" by Makoto Matsushia. LP, Vinyl record album

A totally wonderful compilation – and a fantastic way to dip into the world of Japanese city pop – a genre that most of us missed back in the day, in large part because most of these records never made it to the record racks in the US! As fans know, the movement was a huge crest of creative activity in Japanese music – a way of refining some of the best modes begun in the 70s by artists like Haruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto (both of whom have a hand in some of the tracks here) – and mixing in some of the long love of American soul, funk, and jazz that had been brewing up for years. There's definitely a lot of soul inspiration on these cuts, even though lyrics are in Japanese – and the music also has some nice electric fusion moments too – although more of the sounds are from beats, keyboards, and basslines. Titles include an early cut by Pizzicato Five, "Boy Meets Girl" – plus "Love Sick" by Mari Iijima, "Pub Casablanca" by Osamu Shoji, "Tropical Love" by Teresa Noda, "Scandal Night" by Miharu Koshi, "Heartbeat" by Miho Fujiwara, "Tonkachi" by Atsuko Nina, "Bewitched" by Naomi Akimoto, "A Soka" by Susan, "Suiyoubi Madeni Shinitaino" by Yukako Hayase, and "Business Man (part 1)" by Makoto Matsushia. LP, Vinyl record album