Various Artists - Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976-1986 [Cassette]

Light In The Attic

£16.18

Format: Cassette
Catalogue No.: LITA1638
Barcode: 826853016384
Release Date: 04 Feb 2022
Genre: Japanese City Pop/World Music/Asian

“This compilation of extra smooth, funky, and sometimes very odd songs from the heydey of Japan’s technological boom is a broad yet nuanced introduction to the genre of city pop.” 8.0 PITCHFORK
Pacific Breeze is an expertly compiled collection of choice cuts that range from silky smooth grooves to innovative techno pop bangers and everything in between. Long-revered by crate diggers and adventurous music heads, this music has never been released outside of Japan until now. Including key artists like Taeko Ohnuki and Minako Yoshida, as well as cult favorites Hitomi Tohyama and Hiroshi Sato, the long-awaited release also features newly commissioned cover painting by Tokyo-based artist Hiroshi Nagai, whose iconic images of resort living have graced the covers of many classic City Pop albums of the 1980s.

Many of the key City Pop players evolved from the Japanese New Music scene of the early ’70s, as heard on Light In The Attic’s acclaimed Even a Tree Can Shed Tears: Japanese Folk & Rock 1969-1973, the first release of the ongoing Japan Archival Series. In fact, you could say City Pop set sail with a champagne smash from Happy End, the freakishly talented subversives who included amongst their ranks Haruomi Hosono and Shigeru Suzuki, both featured on this compilation. As Michael K. Bourdaghs noted in his book, Sayonara Amerika, Sayonara Nippon, this music was, “Deconstructing the line between imitation and authenticity.” Some of the best City Pop teeters in this zone—easy listening with mutant exotica, tilted techno-pop, and steamy boogie bubbling beneath the gloss.

Tracklist:
I Say Who - Tomoko Soryo, Kusuri Wo Takusan - Taeko Ohnuki, Midnight Driver - Minako Yoshida, Subterranean Futari Bocci - Nanako Sato, Sports Men - Haruomi Hosono, Coffee Rumba - Izumi Kobayashi, In My Jungle - F.O.E., Sun Bathing - Akira Inoue, Hiroshi Sato, Masataka Matsutoya, Say Goodbye - Hiroshi Satoh, Drip Dry Eyes - Yukihiro Takahashi, Bamboo Vendor - Masayoshi Takanaka, Lady Pink Panther - Shigeru Suzuki, Bride of Mykonos - Haruomi Hosono, Takahiko Ishikawa, Masataka Matsutoya, L.A. Night - Yasuko Agawa, Exotic Yokogao - Hitomi Tohyama, Machibouke - Tazumi Toyoshima