Akiko Yano - Ai Ga Nakucha Ne (1982)

I've got a week break from grad school, so I'll hopefully be able to get a couple of posts up in the next few days. I'm still slowly fixing all the broken links in the archive. Anyway, here's a Technopop classic from Akiko Yano, Ai Ga Nakucha Ne, from 1982. Discogs provides a wealth of credits, especially when you combine the listings found here and here. These are perhaps the most detailed credits I've ever seen, and include "Nurse" and "Transportation".

Yano does it all here, with a lot of help from Sakamoto. The rest of the YMO/Yen gang show up as well, including Kenji Omura. David Sylvain sings the duet lullabye "Good Night" which closes out the album. Steve Jansen and Mick Karn from Japan also play on the album. Prolific session players David Rhodes and Shinichi Tanaka contribute as well. Kazuhiko Kato even shows up in the credits.



INFO:
Akiko Yano– Ai Ga Nakucha Ne
Label: Japan Records – JAL-1801 (LP), MIDI Inc. – MDCL-1252, MIDI Inc. – MDCZ-1227 (CD)
Format: Vinyl and CD
Country: Japan
Released: 1982 (LP), 21 Sep 1993 (CD)
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

TRACKLISTING:
01. Ai Ga Nakucha Ne
02. Kanashikute Yarikirenai
03. What's Got In Your Eyes
04. Oishii Seikatsu
05. Michi De Battari
06. Onnatachiyo Otokotachiyo
07. Aisuru Hito Yo
08. Sleep On My Baby
09. Another Wedding Song
10. Donnatokimo Donnatokimo Donnatokimo
11. Good Night

PERSONNEL:
Akiko Yano: Production, Vocals, Arrangements, Keyboards.
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Production, Arrangements, Keyboards, Vocals.
David Sylvain: Vocals
Haruomi Hosono: Bass
Mick Karn: Bass, Vocals
Steve Jansen: Drums, Vocals
Yukihiro Takahashi: Drums
Shinichi Tanaka: Engineering, Mixing
Steve Nye: Engineering, Mixing
David Rhodes: Guitar
Kenji Omura: Guitar
Robbie Mackintosh: Guitar
Motoya Hamaguchi: Percussion
Hiroki Komazawa: Steel Guitar
Shigesato Itoi: Lyrics
Peter Barakan: Lyrics
Yuji Takahashi: Lyrics, Writing, Production
Masafumi Oka: Lyrics, Writing, Production
Kazuhiko Kato: Writing, Production
Hachiro Sata: Lyrics

Masayuki Takahashi: Artwork
Takashi Nomura: Artwork
Hiroshi Okura: Management
Chiaki Shimada: Make-up
Noriko Yamanaka: Nurse
Hayami Koshiyama: Transportation
Bishin Jumonji: Photography
David Wooley: Tape Operation
Michio Nakagoshi: Tape Operation
Renate Blauel: Tape Operation

DISCOGS
AMAZON
US WIKI
JP WIKI
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Rajie - 真昼の舗道 (1980)

A few days ago I posted Rajie's Quatre. Here's another album from Rajie, 真昼の舗道 from 1980. Alternately titled Pavement at Noon, A Midday Paved Road, or Le Trottoir Dapres-Midi, this album was originally released by CBS-Sony. A lot of the same YMO-family figures from Quatre appear, with the addition of Keiichi Suzuki and others.

01. ラスト・シーン/ Last Scene (Yoshitaka Minami/ Etsuko Kisugi)
02. 真昼の鋪道/ Pavement Midday (Yukihiro Takahashi/ Taeko Onuki)
03. 霧の部屋/ Room Mist (Etsuko Kisugi)
04. 偽りの鐘/ Bell Fake (Yukihiro Takahashi/ Kenji Omura)
05. アパルトマン/ Flat (Taeko Onuki)
06. ラジオと二人/ People and Radio (Sugi/ Shigesato Itoi)
07. ヨジレアン・ツイスト/ Yo Gillet Anne Twist (Keiichi Suzuki/ Shigesato Itoi)
08. みどりの声/ The Voice of Green (Akiko Yano)
09. 秋の嵐/ Storm in Autumn (Keiichi Suzuki/ Taeko Onuki)
10. 忘却/ Oblivion (Taeko Onuki)

Album Personnel (likely incomplete):
Production, drums, string arrangement: Yukihiro Takahashi
Synthesizer, bass: Goto (except 2,3,6,10)
Bass: Haruomi Hosono (2,6)
Guitar: Kenji Omura (except 3)
Keyboards: Toru Okada (except 3)
Synthesizer, keyboards: Ryuichi Sakamoto (2)
Keyboards: Akiko Yano (3,8,10)
Violin: Takashi Toyoda (1)
String arrangement: Nobuyuki Shimizu (3,6,9)



Discogs
YMO Works
Rajie Bio
Japan Wiki
More info
PLEASE ENJOY

Rajie/ ラジ - Quatre (1979)

Here's an eclectic 1979 album from Rajie/ ラジ, alias of Honda Junko, member of Moonriders spin-off group Pony Tail. The album is listed as Quatre (Cattle) in some places. Some really nice early technopop jams here, like track six, "星に乗って", and track eight, "月の光". I'm not as keen on the ballads and fusion songs here, although they're certainly sure-handed representations of form. The final track, "キリンのいる風景", is a really nice conclusion, sounding both cosmic and minimalist, and recalling the opening jam, "キャトル". Junko's classicist vocals float effortlessly through the album, almost defiant of form.

The technopop songs here definitely have the YMO sound, as Yukihiro Takahashi produced the album. YMO Works says Akiko Yano and Sakamoto worked on the album. Discogs and Wiki don't offer much information. Yoshitaka Minami is the second voice on duet "ときと き魔法". Thanks to Youtuber "slimglam", here's some YMO/YEN-heavy information about some of the tracks:

02. "ときとき魔法"
Vocals: Rajie, Yoshitaka Minami
Drums: Yukihiro Takahashi
Bass: Tatsuya Honda
Guitar: Masaki Matsubara, Yuuji Toriyama
Keyboard: Ryuichi Sakamoto
Production: Yukihiro Takahashi

05. "風の道"
Vocals: Rajie
Piano, Synth: Ryuichi Sakamoto
Production: Yukihiro Takahashi

07. "クリスマス"
Vocals: Rajie
Drums: Mikiya Kazama
Bass: Tatsuya Honda
Guitar: Yuji Toriyama
Keyboard: Hiroshi Matsumoto
Keyboard: Ryuichi Sakamoto
Production: Yukihiro Takahashi

09. "一枚のフォトクラフ"
Vocals: Rajie
Lyrics: Kazumi Yasui
Production: Kazuhiko Kato
Production: Yukihiro Takahashi
Production: Ryuichi Sakamoto

If readers have more information I'd be very interested to learn more about Rajie. This biography doesn't cite any sources, but states Rajie worked with Yukihiro Takahashi, Tsugutoshi Goto, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Akiko Yano, Keiichi Suzuki, Yoshitaka Mitami, Taeko Onuki and Masamichi Sugi. You can check out her earlier album Heart to Heart over at Fenikon's Fusion World, where Fenikon claims that her early work was a big influence on fusion-lord Toshiki Kadomatsu.

Discogs
YMO Works
Rajie Bio
Japan Wiki
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Tomita Lab - ラシーボ･セシボン feat. Taeko Onuki and Yukihiro Takahashi

Taeko Onuki 大貫妙子 - Best 1978-1984

Here is one of several Taeko Onuki collections. Hopefully I'll follow this post with her early albums. I don't have personnel for a lot of the tracks, but certainly the members of YMO and Kenji Omura are involved, as well of Onuki's old Sugar Babe band-mate Tatsuro Yamashita. I could likely compile a list of players by cross-referencing the tracks with the albums and singles they originally appeared on, so perhaps I'll do that. For now, enjoy this best-of, which confidently pulls in fusion, technopop and dramatic idol directions.



From Discogs:
"Active since the early 70s, Taeko's first role was as a member of Sugar Babe with Tatsuro Yamashita. In the mid-1970s she began to release solo albums, regularly collaborating with Ryuichi Sakamoto and other members of the Yellow Magic Orchestra. Taeko appeared on Sakamoto's No More Landmine single in 2001 alongside David Sylvian and Cyndi Lauper and in 2010 is releasing an album and touring with Sakamoto."

The tracklisting on Discogs doesn't match the tracklisting on my rip, so I really don't know what's up. Anyway, here is the Discogs tracklist, and here's mine:

01 - 夏に恋する女たち
02 - 海と少年
03 - ピーターラビットとわたし
04 - 黒のクレール
05 - RECIPE (調理法)
06 - 新しいシャツ
07 - 恋人達の明日
08 - じゃじゃ馬娘
09 - 雨の夜明け
10 - 色彩都市
11 - CARNAVAL
12 - グランプリ
13 - 横顔
14 - 夏色の服
15 - 若き日の望楼
16 - 宇宙みつけた
17 - メトロポリタン美術館
18 - 風の道
19 - 突然の贈りもの



Discogs also says:
Label: BMG Japan
Catalog#: BVCR 18007-8
Released: 23 Jun 1999

Backing Vocals: Epo
Bass: Haruomi Hosono
Drums: Yukihiro Takahashi
Guitar: Kenji Omura
Keyboards: Ryuichi Sakamoto



DISCOGS
OFFICIAL SITE
LAST.FM
JP WIKI
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Kenji Omura – Spring Is Nearly Here 春がいっぱい (1981) [REQUEST]

Happy to oblige a request from Blogspot user "theillmasta," Kenji Omura's third solo album Spring is Nearly Here 春がいっぱい from 1981. Fusion-master and YMO's touring guitarist, Omura sadly passed in 1998 of liver failure at the age of 49. Omura's earlier albums are more fusion-specific, but with this record Omura adapts more of an Technopop style, recruiting all of YMO (and associates) for an album more in-line with the Alfa Records sound.

Omura's pals from Yellow Magic Orchestra serve as his backing band, with Takahashi and Sakamoto helping with production and writing on select tracks. YMO/YEN friends Akiko Yano, Toru Okada, Hideki Matsutake (Logic System), Shinya Hayama, and Kazuhiko Kato contribute as well. Mainstay Chris Mosdell provides lyrics.

The album's style rests somewhere between gentle fusion and Technopop, with relaxed, deliberate instrumentation and scattered, textural vocals. Tracks one and three, "Intensive Love Course" and "Seiko Is Always On Time" present fusion whimsy up front with nevertheless still, deliberate synthesizer, with Sakamoto co-producing "Seiko". The second jam, "Under Heavy Hands And Hammers", is more melancholy, with grand, stately vocals and a mild guitar solo (both from Omura). This is the first of several moments that isn't completely successful, risking maudlin over-statement.



The two covers on the album are low-points as well, Omura & co. tackling George Harrison's "Far East Man" and The Shadows' "Spring is Nearly Here" (an odd track to name the album after). To me Omura's cover of Harrison and Ron Wood's "Far East Man" is an unadventurous version of a song I already don't like. This track really communicates the worst of Omura's fusion background, actually sounding like tedious 70s soft rock. Lyrically, it's hard to say if the selection is ironic, given the "white man's burden" message hidden beneath Harrison's good intentions. I'm no Beatles scholar, so if anybody knows more about what Harrison is getting at with this track, let me know. Nice backing vocals from Akiko Yano anyway. Two tracks away is a surprise Shadows cover, morphing the 60s British pop group's proto-surf song into a half-finished sounding jam, nevertheless displaying the same level of underwater stasis as much of Spring is Nearly Here.



"Knife Life" brings the listener back to a proggy, fusion place, but is ultimately all tension and no release, plodding along to its unsatisfying fade-out. "The Prince of Shaba" is more successful, an assertive signature-Omura instrumental. This jam resolves itself nicely, with a lot of reverby, surfy "island-sounds" guitar, whimsical synth chirps and added percussion from Shinya Hayama.



Still, the highlights of the album are the two Takahashi-written tracks, "The Defector" and "Maps" (an YMO original). "Defector" is very Alfa, with Takahashi's signature driving yet pensive rhythm arrangement and decorative, trilling synths and guitar flourishes. Interesting that Peter Barakan wrote the lyrics to this song and not Mosdell. "Maps" is wild, a heavy marriage between Omura's fusion guitar and the YEN/Alfa aesthetic. These two jams have assertive vocals, Omura even doing his best David Byrne impersonation on "Maps".

While I can't give this album a ringing endorsement, there are enough solid jams here to warrant a listen, for sure. Certainly, this fills a gap in the YMO/YEN/Alfa story, and in Omura's more fusion-centric discography, as his most Technopop solo material. Enjoy!



TRACKLISTING
01. Intensive Love Course
02. Under Heavy Hands And Hammers
03. Seiko Is Always On Time
04. Far East Man (George Harrison cover)
05. Knife Life
06. 春がいっぱい (Spring Is Nearly Here) (Shadows cover)
07. The Defector
08. Inaudible
09. Maps
10. The Prince Of Shaba

CREDITS (from Discogs)
Music - Kenji Omura (tracks 01, 02, 03, 05, 08, 10)
- Yukihiro Takahashi (tracks 07, 09)
- Ryuichi Sakamoto (track 03)
Lyrics - Chris Mosdell, Peter Barakan (track 07)
Backing Vocals – Akiko Yano (track 04), Yukihiro Takahashi (track 07)
Bass – Haruomi Hosono
Drums – Yukihiro Takahashi
Guitar – Kazuhiko Kato (track 04), Kenji Omura
Keyboards – Ryuichi Sakamoto, Toru Okada
Percussion – Shinya Hayama (track 10)
Piano – Akiko Yano
Programmed By – Hideki Matsutake
Vocals – Kenji Omura
Track 04 lyrics and music - Ron Wood, George Harrison
Track 06 music by - Brian Bennett, Bruce Welch

Label: Alfa Records
Catalog#: ALR-28013

Discogs
Japan Wiki
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Asami Kado/ 門あさ美 - Anti-Fleur (1987)

Two weeks ago I posted Asami Kado's La Fleur Bleue album from 1988. Here's her LP from the year previous, Anti-Fleur. Both albums are produced by Yukihiro Takahashi. One more Kado record on the way!

Asami Kado/ 門あさ美
Anti-Fleur (1987) (JP)
Toshiba EMI

01. Anti Fleur
02. KOROKU
03. キリンと私
04. 太陽がいっぱい
05. SORADAKI (空薫)
06. みつばちのささやき
07. 魚になりたい
08. 道草
09. ひまわり

Images courtesy of Disclegend
More info on Kado here and here
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Asami Kado/ 門あさ美 - La Fleur Bleue (1988)

It's a beautiful Summer day here in Western Massachusetts. Yet, instead of mowing the lawn or weeding the garden, I'm compelled to put off such chores in order to share integral, underheard Japanese pop music with all of you. I've been saving this fantastic album, and such an idyllic Saturday afternoon as this one seems the perfect opprtunity to post Asami Kado's 1988 full-length, La Fleur Bleue.

I don't have a lot of information about this one. While this is a late-80s EMI release, there are heavy YEN vibes throughout, especially in the later half of the album. Somewhere between Technopop and the more melancholy side of Idol, La Fleur Bleue is unique in that it also indulges in the island-sounds "fusion" obsession of the time, but in a totally creative way. With light Dub movements throughout, the album is marked by ghostly reverb-drenched vocals and patient, deliberate instrumentation. I would compare it to Saeko Suzuki's best work or Dip in the Pool.

Track seven, "退屈と二つの月", is a cover of Tamao Koike's YMO-assisted "Automne Dans Un Miroir". Yukihiro Takahashi produced this album as well as Kado's 1987 album for EMI, Anti-Fleur. Tracks like "Oriental Flash" and "フォマルハウトー南の魚" particularly sound like Takahashi creations. Can anyone confirm any further personnel for this album? Kado's Japanese Wiki page lists frequent collaborators (including Kenji Omura), but doesn't specify who produced or played on what. Speaking of Koike, I've got an album of hers to share soon as well. Until then, enjoy!



門あさ美/Asami Kado
Le Fleur Bleue (1988) (JP)
EMI Japan

01 - ここにいるの
02 - 夢の音
03 - 窓辺の肖像
04 - 青空を抱いていたい
05 - ほとり
06 - Oriental Flash (Instrumental)
07 - 退屈と二つの月
08 - 睦事
09 - 白い花と赤い花
10 - フォマルハウトー南の魚

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JP AMAZON
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