A really deep dig into the Japanese scene of the 90s – a unique discography that brings together key records in a variety of different styles – from tuneful to noisy, soulful to electronic! The book's a more contemporary variation of the sort of Japanese discographies we normally stock for jazz and soul music – and like those, it's got listings for titles with a full color reproduction of the cover, some details in English, and more text in Japanese. The feel is a bit like flipping through the record racks in Tokyo – where you can understand the context and the nature of the records, even if you can't understand the language. The book features sections on a wide range of styles – including Japanese house, Japanese hip hop, club jazz, Japanese dub, techno, Japanese lounge, J Rock, avant noise, alternative, and even sections on labels like Crue-L and Sokkyo. There's shorter features along the way – all in Japanese – and the book is softcover, full color, and almost 200 pages. (Books, Japanese) Book

One of the rarest Japanese hard rock albums of the 70s – and one of the heaviest too – a record that's definitely got plenty of the "too much" promised by the title and group! Juni Rush handles lead vocals, but the guitar work of Tutomu Ogawa may well be the equally strong main attraction – a searing, burning approach that really adds a lot to Juni's surprisingly soulful vocals, sometimes a bit freewheeling, other times with plenty of influence from blues and soul, and sung in English too! The group clearly have an influence from blues rock, but open up to much harder, heavier territory – on titles that include "Song For My Lady", "Gonna Take You", "Grease It Out", "Love That Binds Me", "Love Is You", and "Reminiscence". LP, Vinyl record album

Really wonderful sounds from Meiko Kaji – an actress as well as a singer, one who was famous for her Nikkatsu work at the start of the 70s – and who delivers the songs here with a similar sense of darkly moody drama! The music often mixes rock touches with larger arrangements – and the recording quality is completely sublime – so that Meiko's voice is right out front in the mix, really commanding the proceedings with a vibe that's expressive, but in ways that are very different than Japanese female vocals from the decade before. You might recognize her voice from use of her music by Quentin Tarantino – but you hardly need that reference to enjoy this set – a wonderful album full of gems that include "Wara No Ue", "Onna Somuki Uta", "Onna Hagure Uta", "Nigori Onna", "Urami Bushi", "Betuni Doutte Koto Demo Nishi", "Hitora Kaze", and "Onna Kawaki Uta". CD

Really wonderful sounds from Meiko Kaji – an actress as well as a singer, one who was famous for her Nikkatsu work at the start of the 70s – and who delivers the songs here with a similar sense of darkly moody drama! The music often mixes rock touches with larger arrangements – and the recording quality is completely sublime – so that Meiko's voice is right out front in the mix, really commanding the proceedings with a vibe that's expressive, but in ways that are very different than Japanese female vocals from the decade before. You might recognize her voice from use of her music by Quentin Tarantino – but you hardly need that reference to enjoy this set – a wonderful album full of gems that include "Wara No Ue", "Onna Somuki Uta", "Onna Hagure Uta", "Nigori Onna", "Urami Bushi", "Betuni Doutte Koto Demo Nishi", "Hitora Kaze", and "Onna Kawaki Uta". LP, Vinyl record album