Fantastic sounds from this early 70s Japanese folk-rock combo that featured Harumi Hosono, years before his more electronic work! The collection includes 12 songs from the groups first three albums, with vocals that are mostly in Japanese, but sung in a mode that's so compelling, it hardly matters what they're saying – and the tunes themselves are catchy as heck! (Rock, Japanese) CD

A really great take on the sound of the Pacific – a set that mixes together the growing electro instrumental world of Japan in the late 70s, with some of the breezier styles put forth in older Hawaiian and island music too! The music is a nice instrumental extrapolation of ideas that Haruomi Hosono had been exploring on his own solo albums – but is more open and spare overall, with a strong focus on keyboard bits, guitar lines, and the dreamier overall sound of the record. Effects are used alongside Fender Rhodes, Korg Polyphonic, and other keyboards – and the record has a very dreamy sound overall. LP, Vinyl record album

A really cool album from the Japanese scene of the 80s – one that's much more experimental and creative than some of the city pop material of the time – with a shifting style of music that really keeps things interesting! Ryuichi Sakamoto helped with the first track on the set, which also rounds out the end of side one – and there's definitely elements of the YMO-era electro pop on the record, but mixed with more instrumental material that partly echoes the ambient sounds of the era – but also with more experimental material that's sometimes playful, sometimes a bit dark – almost echoing some of the hipper New York downtown experiments of the Laurie Anderson generation. Koharu Kisaragi handles most of the work herself - through a variety of keyboards, samples, and electronics next to her vocals – but there's also some live percussion, piano, bells, and recorder on the record too. Titles include "Neo Plant" in two versions – plus "Paraffin", "Bon Voyage", and "Traumerei". LP, Vinyl record album

A set that's definitely all woman – thanks to the sexy sounds of Monica Lassen on vocals! The singer works at a wordless level here – breezily scatting alongside these slinky, jazzy lines from The Sounds – a Japanese group who've clearly drunk deep from the well of bossa nova and European soundtrack influences of the 60s – and find a way to create their own small combo variation of those styles! The music has bits of organ, guitar, flute, and even what feels like electronics at points – and Monica's often more than content to step back, and let the group groove, then come in for a sigh, a moan, or a lighter vocalized passage. Titles are as sexy as the image on the cover – and include "Three Woman", "Love Touch", "Whimper", "Incitation", and "Happiness" – plus the long "Tie In/Double Bed/Enjoy Time". (Vocalists, Japanese) LP, Vinyl record album

A really beautiful record from the Japanese electro scene at the start of the 80s – a record that's got some of the catchy synth modes of the period, but which also has a fair bit of other elements going on too! Logic System features keyboards from Hideki Matsutake – best known for his keyboard programming with YMO – and here, his style expands into some wider modes that almost remind us of our favorite French soundtrack styles of the period – slight currents of sentiment, and a richness of expression that goes way past the more familiar simpler forms of the keyboards. There's definitely some catchier tunes too, and the balance is very nice – on a set that's mostly instrumental, save for some occasional vocoded bits. Titles inlcude "Metamorphism", "Equivalent", "Be Yourself", "Prophet", "Morpheus", and "Venus". LP, Vinyl record album

A really wonderful little record – and some of our favorite work ever from Japanese pop maestro Ryuichi Sakamoto! Sakamoto really surprised folks with this set – not just because it accompanied his strong performance (with David Bowie) in the film, but also because it opened up the way to some of the wonderful film and sound scoring work he'd do in years to come – music that was often as simple and maybe electronic as his work with Yellow Magic Orchestra, but able to create a stunning amount of feeling and depth with just a few simple elements. The music is sublime – a masterpiece in understatement – and a series of instrumental selections ends up with the fantastic song "Forbidden Colours", which features vocals by David Sylvian – on a number that was one of his first great solo moments. Other titles include "The Seed", "Father Christmas", "Dismissed", "The Fight", "Batavia", and "Germination". CD features a number of bonus tracks, too! (Soundtracks, Japanese) CD

A really wonderful little record – and some of our favorite work ever from Japanese pop maestro Ryuichi Sakamoto! Sakamoto really surprised folks with this set – not just because it accompanied his strong performance (with David Bowie) in the film, but also because it opened up the way to some of the wonderful film and sound scoring work he'd do in years to come – music that was often as simple and maybe electronic as his work with Yellow Magic Orchestra, but able to create a stunning amount of feeling and depth with just a few simple elements. The music is sublime – a masterpiece in understatement – and a series of instrumental selections ends up with the fantastic song "Forbidden Colours", which features vocals by David Sylvian – on a number that was one of his first great solo moments. Other titles include "The Seed", "Father Christmas", "Dismissed", "The Fight", "Batavia", and "Germination". (Soundtracks, Japanese) LP, Vinyl record album

Really wonderful work from Towa Tei – an artist who's lost none of the charms that first made us fall in love with him when he was a member of Deee Lite! As with his earlier solo material, this set's got a wonderful combination of sounds, samples, and styles – that quality that has Towa maybe bringing forward some of the best spirits of the initial Japanese electro pop generation, but fused with a more dynamic sense of rhythm that he picked up while part of the scene in New York in the early 90s! All the elements crash together with non-stop action and a real sense of sonic delight – and titles include "Beautiful", "My Baby", "Sea Change", "Immunitas", "Ear Candy", "Hold On", and "OPA". (New Grooves, Japanese) LP, Vinyl record album