An album with a very striking cover, but which features music done for the more warm-tinged program Mu – a 70s drama represented here by a really great range of different themes! The mix of modes is great – one tune might have a playful Fender Rhodes solo, another a more serious koto line, and another might have groovy use of sitar, or slide guitar, or other inventive instrumentation – all to illustrate the different scenes and characters in the show! There are slight moments of sentiment, but the music is never sappy at all – and in a way, the whole thing really reflects the way that the Japanese listening scene was so strongly influenced by Euro soundtrack styles of the late 60s and very start of the 70s. All titles are in Japanese, and the set is instrumental throughout! (Soundtracks, Japanese) LP, Vinyl record album

A really unusual album from the Japanese scene of the 80s – a set that was unissued at the time, but which is right in line with the other groundbreaking music of Yazuaki Shimizu! At some level, there's echoes of the instrumental experiments of Ryuichi Sakamoto going on here – but at another level, there's a feel that's colder, and more stark – almost like some of the cold wave elements of the European scene – which, when blended with a few occasional warmer aspects of the record, really makes for a sound that's wonderful! All tracks are instrumental, although it does feel like there's some processed vocals in the blend – and titles include "Ore No Umi", "Shiasate", "Peruvian Pink", "Ashita", "Asate", and "Kagerofu". LP, Vinyl record album