Akira Sakata (坂田明) – a.k.a. Tombo (赤​と​ん​ぼ)

Akira Sakata may be best known internationally for collaborations with guitarist and composer Jim O’Rourke and bassist Bill Laswell, but in Japan and among jazz aficionados, he’s also known as one of Japan’s best purveyors of spiritual jazz.  This album is his latest, and it’s imbued with deepness and humor Continue Reading

Various Artists – Pacific Breeze 2: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1972​-​1986

From Light In The Attic Records, this is perfect Sunday listening: “With Pacific Breeze 2: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1972-1986 we dig deeper into those sounds of bubble-era Japan. From the proto-City Pop funk of Bread & Butter and Eiichi Ohtaki to the crate-digger favorites Eri Ohno and Continue Reading

Ayako Shinozaki – Music Now For Harp

Great news, yet again, has been provided to us by our dear friends at Wewantsounds!  From their Bandcamp site: “Wewantsounds is delighted to announce the first international reissue of Ayako Shinozaki’s hard to find LP “Music Now For Harp” released in 1974 by Nippon Columbia. The LP was released on Continue Reading

Akiko Yano – Iroha Ni Konpeitou – LP Deluxe Edition with 4p insert and OBI strip

The ever-fantastic Wewantsounds is giving the gold-star treatment to Akiko Yano, wife of the recently departed Ryuichi Sakamoto and fine musician in her own right, collaborating with Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi, David Sylvian, Mick Karn, Charlie Haden, Bill Frisell, Thomas Dolby, and a host of others. From the label’s Bandcamp Continue Reading

PoiL Ueda – PoiL Ueda

This is a heavy, near-monstrous release involving Japanese singer and bassis Junko Ueda and the French avant-prog group PoiL.  From their Bandcamp site: “PoiL Ueda is the result of a collaboration between Junko Ueda, a vocalist and satsuma-biwa player from Japan, and PoiL, a French rock/contemporary music band. The creation Continue Reading

Yukihiro Takahashi – Drip Dry Eyes (R.I.P.)

The eyes in this house aren’t very dry at the moment.  We lost yet another legend today.  This time, it was the shocking, though not unexpected, passing of drummer and composer Yuki Takahashi, who made his fame as drummer and singer of the Yellow Magic Orchestra.  He first gained fame Continue Reading

Peter Brötzmann / Keiji Haino Duo – The Intellect Given Birth To Here (Eternity) Is Too Young

Two of the greatest legends in free jazz and psychedelic rock, Keiji Haino and Peter Brötzmann, join forces after a long while in this four-album noise-fest.  My understanding that the vinyl pressing on Black Editions, which includes a 3-inch CD, is long sold out, which is unfortunate, but a standard Continue Reading