#tamao koike

[c-40]

A-T-3 105 Algorithm & Blues Pt.3

いち、に、さん、し

Image by Walter Velez from when Japanese cars were entering the American market

'According to DJ Chintam—the co-author of Wamono A To Z records guide, and co-curator of last year’s Japanese jazz funk and rare groove comp—the concept of wamono didn’t exist before the mid-’90s: “Playing Japanese music in DJ sets was almost taboo,” he once told Resident Advisor. But the UK rare groove scene, which sent evangelists hunting after obscure funk, soul, and disco, prompted him to start scouring for domestic records at the turn of the century' - Pitchfork. These are the same diggers that went out hunting for Northern Soul records, they same that compiled the compilations of the late 1980s and 1990s (A-T-3 079 A-T-3 080 A-T-3 081)

My Truth

My personal interest in Japan is, I assume, similar to many people growing up in the UK in the 1980s. Japanese cartoons on TV like Battle Of The Planets and Ulysses 31 (I bought a bootleg of the soundtrack it in the early 2000s), sci-fi characters like Godzilla and Ultraman, and arcade games from Space Invaders to Out Run to Street Fighter II (Red Bull’s excellent Diggin The Carts web series is worth a shout). Japanese arcade games were a massive influence on me, not just the graphics but the cabinet artwork, the sound and gameplay too like BurgerTime, Bomberman, or Bubble Bobble. They felt like a small window into Japan

My experience of Japan and music when I was young, like many others in the UK, suffers from multiple personality disorder. I was born when Biddu/Carl Douglas's Kung Fu Fighting reached number 1 on the UK singles chart. Growing up there was the music in anime (although we just called them cartoons) and video games, period dramas that often use oriental folk music or a pastiche of (as I've said I became aware of Ryuichi Sakamoto through his film music), then their was the imitation of Japanese culture by western pop acts like Turning Japanese by The Vapours and Japanese Boy by Aneka, this was when advertising and the presence of Japanese imports on shop shelves and in showrooms began calling for attention to Japan. By the time I was a teenager I was listening to John Peel who would play bands like Shonen Knife and Pizzicato Five

Throughout the 80s there was a fashion for ‘Japanisme’ on record sleeves. Sheffield design studio Designers Republic began incorporation elements of Japanese graphics into their artwork for the group Pop Will Eat Itself, this developed into one of the styles tDR are known for, in the 1990 tDR created an imaginary Japanese corporation called Pho-Ku. In their way tDR were trying to subvert marketing slogans, Japanese iconography and characters were incorporated into the designs not only for their own charm but as symbols of what is sometimes called hyper-capitalism. From the late 1980s I'd pick up bits of Japanese artwork wherever I could, this might be reproductions of high art or ephemera. In 1991 Akira got a theatrical release in the UK, as an art student I was watching Tetsuo: The Iron Man and it's sequel. I enjoyed Anime and manga (I think Ranma ½ was the first series I got into) and I'm a fan of Superflat

The video for Madonna' released's single Rain (written with Shep Pettibone) was released in 1993, and appeared to have sleek and minimal contemporary Japanese aesthetic to it which I loved. Ryuichi Sakamoto plays the video director in it. This aesthetic is made explicit in Chris Cunningham's 1997 techno orientalist Ghost In The Shell inspired video for the Bjork single All Is Full Of Love

I remember seeing all the CDs on display in Japanese shops and knowing there was gold hidden in there. I will buy anything that looks interesting. YMO, Ryo Kawasaki, Logic System were probably the first older Japanese artists I went looking for

Interest in 'City Pop' and Japanese ambient music in America is written about as if it has happened over night but, it's nothing new, it goes all the way back Ue o Muite Arukō (or Sukiyaki) a Japanese record sung by Kyu Sakamoto that American veterans took to number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1963. Slick Rick takes the melody and incorporates it into the Doug E Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew classic La Di Da Di

Tracks like YMO's Firecracker was popular with Black American audiences, Bboys were into Riot In Lagos, and in Planet Rock G.L.O.B.E, Pow Wow, and Mr Biggs get the house to repeat "ich me sun chi" [ichi ni san shi]. Bambaataa's love of Kraftwerk is well documented so this is probably definitely lifted from Numbers by Kraftwerk

My attraction to Japanese culture was the science fiction and fantasy. Wu-Tang: An American Saga tells the story of RZA and Ghostface Killah's love of martial arts movies and RZA's genius move to sample those films and their sound effects, and boo-yaa the rest as they say is history with Japanese samples and references cropping up in hip hop, R&B, jungle and all their derivatives until the end of time. Wu-Tang were the first hip hop act to go all in, it wasn't subtle was it, in many ways you could compare Wu-Tang to UK synth pop like Japan, Wang Chung, the rock group Asia and other 1980s groups that referenced elements of Japanese culture. Over the last decade or so anime and manga have become mainstream in the US and rock and pop acts are also paying attention to Japanese culture

Tamao Koike - Automne Dans Un Miroir produced by YMO, slower and translated into French b side of Kagami No Naka No Jugatsu which is also great

Go Misawa- Jigoku Kara no Shisma and some nice anime soundtrack popular with hip hop producers. It's from the anime Devilman

Go Misawa - 悪魔人間 (デビルマン) - 不動明

[gachael]

Complete Yen Years / Tamao Koike

鏡の中の十月

[tasnuvai]

The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike

When a death marks the beginning of a forbidden relationship, then even innocents pay the price. On the surface, Teppei and Misao are a typical urban couple living in Japan. They have a little daughter, Tamao and two pets, Cookie (a dog) and Pyoko (a bird). After saving up money for many years, Teppei and Misao move out of their dingy apartment and find a modern dwelling in the city’s heart at a…

[multitudecontainer420]

thumm hnc esvenroc browny circus teeny frahoop milkees speena taisho 9nenn meg epiqurean sucrette cecil 5th garden havana exotica mansfield kenji aira saori sawa nagisa ami suzuki joanna shizuka mizca maa mini usagi-chang beautiful electro yukari takako miu amu spoon+ jaccapop cyborg 80s pal@pop melting holidays chocolat citrus kyoko togawa nippon girls bridge venus peter spank happy motocompo p5 hi posi mihomihomakoto tomoe shinohara rie tomosaka spaghetti vabune! akane hosoka orangenoise shortcut marino karia nomoto orange lounge tomosuke marshmallow kisses instant cytron kokusyoku sumire vanilla beans sonicberry favour micro mach machine yuu kofta pecombo losfeld hairsalon fpm tetrapletrap the caraway utrecht miniflex happy end kuno shinji boys & girls together photo jenny mummy the peepshow rocket or chiritori dahlia ex girl red go cart kuchiroro marys 9th cut tiroleantape chapter 4 nicely nice aprils bice bitter cherry jam ayuse kozue uinona tomoya harada pupa pastelshot chat chat humming parlour kiiiiiii collette genki rockets ram rider cinnamon toast crunch flower bellcow on button down panda 1/2 johnny dee childish tones 住所不定無職 (jusho futei mushoku) c want you soleil tweedees b flower honey skoolmates coba u 壱岐尾彩花 (ayaka ikio) strawberry mud pie! katamari pastel music abcd*efg softly! 3f=c apogee & perigee tarte tatin ナンバタタン 小池玉緒 (tamao koike) the apricots harqua nokko nelories ether22 p&rt sasanoooha funny little dream little lounge * little twinkle bluenö sunnychar three-weeks-old lovesick puppy chapi chapo ammakasie noka arcorhyme t.v. jesus murr*murr cyclon 86 pianetta instant cafe records camera works chupi*chupi tropico q comoestas sugi & reo cacoy kazmi with rickies syoko スーザン soda fountains balloon skirt noodles maki asakawa trico! マサ子さん margarets hope* marigold leaf twinkle jack the shinno love tambourines monsieur de foursaings eletronico spoochy chiemi manabe applecider lil 松井優子 (yuko matsui) pastel pants cosmetic robot the electronic tomato rajie mademoiselle yulia gekkan probowler portable - ハジメサセナイ chix chicks 平田香織 (kaori hirata) 稲森寿世 (hisayo inamori) starbow kilala & ulala yukako hayase yusei mints jellyfish (technopop academy) jet pool jullan comtron plus - cross power flower the tables - tablemania aimei cioccolata トランジスタ気楽 /トランジスタきらる 8-bitchin'tendo modern choki chokies ８分のバニラ (vanilla/8) 有機生命体 (yukiseimeitai) elisabeth arais toni basil lab life keiichi ohta shi-shonen urban dance yoshié - idoratria hiromix rocketman tom atom comoestas iwamura manabu testpattern interior akiko wada mikado urban dance everything play - loulou mon amour tamao koike - 鏡の中の十月 jess franco jun togawa kahimi karie dahlia kyary - ghibli set shonen knife joni mitchell lydia lunch dorian goodburger vanity 6 kt spit the pink panda

[dramyhsturgis]

Halloween 2020, Day 6

(Art is “The Innocent Abandoned” by ExDolore.)

For today’s spooky reading recommendation list, check out “Five Haunted House Books Written By Women” by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson for Tor.com. 

Here is an eerie snippet from one of the novels in the list, The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike (U.S. edition 2016).

It’s pretty close to perfect, Misao thought. What more could anyone want? Two LDK (real-estate shorthand for two bedrooms, living room, dining area, and kitchen); nearly a thousand square feet, including the balcony; a building that was only eight months old; full-time resident managers, right on the premises. For a family in search of a wholesome, peaceful life, it was really quite ideal. Not bothering with a tablecloth, Misao laid out two coffee cups on the bare dining table, along with Tamao’s mug, which was adorned with a picture of a cartoon bear. When she happened to glance toward the balcony, a fleeting wave of misgivings about the location washed over her. Shaking it off, she made a conscious effort to focus on the positives. Beyond the sliding-glass doors, the verdant-smelling March air was whipping around, and there were no buildings nearby to obstruct her field of vision. If only the sublime greenery belonged to a park, and not a graveyard …

Misao gave her head a quick, purposeful toss, as if to banish such futile thoughts, then laughed out loud. There she went again, fretting about minor drawbacks and useless hypotheticals. As if she had time to waste on that kind of nonsense! Cut it out, she told herself sternly.

The percolating coffee began to fill the room with a delicious aroma. Misao grabbed a frying pan that had just been unpacked a few moments earlier and gave it a quick rinse under the tap. She heated the pan on the stove and added a splash of cooking oil. When the oil began to sizzle, she dropped in three of the eggs she had brought from their previous place—painstakingly packed to make sure they wouldn’t get broken in transit.

As she worked, Misao couldn’t keep her eyes from wandering to the living-room windows. The nearly perfect apartment was partially surrounded, from the south to the west side, by a vast graveyard that belonged to an ancient Buddhist temple. To the north were some uninhabited houses, long since fallen into ruin and engulfed in weeds, while on the east side there was a patch of vacant land. Beyond that empty field the smokestack of a crematorium was clearly visible, and from time to time the tall, cylindrical brick chimney would belch out a billow of thick black smoke. Depending on which way the wind was blowing, it wasn’t inconceivable that some of that mortal smoke might waft in through the apartment’s open windows from time to time.

A longer excerpt is available online from Macmillan here.

[burlveneer-music]

Studio Mule - BGM - “reworked obscure japanese gems” (mulemusiq/endless flight)

Mule musiq's sub label studio mule has formed a group of shifting members and now release a debut album with 8 tracks of reworked obscure japanese gems. The album contains the three singles the group released so far, featuring Miyako Koda of the ex-perimental pop band Dip In The Pool -- whose "on retinae" was reissued by music from memory to great acclaim -- on vocals and mule musiq staple Kuniyuki on production with direction by label head Toshiya Kawasaki. One of them, "carnaval," is a cover of the japanese dance classic by Taeko Ohnuki, produced by YMO. "Shinzo No Tobira" is a remake of the track by Mariah, a band led by sax player Yasuaki Shimizu, from their album Utakata No Hibi -- which was one of the reissues that sparked the global interest in obscure japanese music in the last few years. Studio mule's version features japanese lyrics rewritten by Miyako Koda. "face to face" is a cover of the ambient pop gem from the ultra rare album Desire by Yumi Murata of Mariah -- an album Visible Cloaks are fans of. Also included is a rework of "Kagami No Naka No Jugatsu," a song by Tamao Koike produced by YMO, turned into a dubby Balearic pop track -- dubbier than the version included on the yen label compilation -- sang by Nanako Sato, one of the artists enjoying some newfound success following a string of reissues stemming from the "city pop" revival craze. The oriental ambient pop "Yugao" by singer songwriter Mioko Yamaguchi is covered by vocalist Saho Terao, whom some describe as this generation's Taeko Ohnuki. "The April Fools" is a rework of Yukihiro Takahashi's track, which itself was also a cover of the original song by Burt Bacharach. This new version boasts a more experimental arrangement with Nanako Sato handling the vocals. YMO's "Ballet," originally with vocals by Yukihiro Takahashi, was reconstructed into a dance floor-ready instrumental by Kuniyuki. Many say Yoshiyuki Ohsawa's "soshite bokuwa Toho Ni Kureru" is one of the greatest songs of the '80s. The 12" dance version is reshaped here into a melancholic Balearic house track. The album cover is by the increasingly popular hotshot photographer Kota Shouji, ensuring you get the full package of sonic and visual delight.

[radiojiro]

Radio Jiro - Hosono & Friends special - 26.11.17

-

Haruomi Hosono - Esashi

Ryuichi Sakamoto - Tibetan Dance

Sandii - Zoot Kook

Testpattern - Techno Age

Haruomi Hosono, Takahiko Ishikawa, Masataka Matsutohya - Day Break

F.O.E. - Strange Love (Fonk Mix)

Chiemi Manabe - Untotooku

Yukihiro Takahashi - Flashback

F.O.E. - Lunar Gloom

Koharu Kisaragi - Neo-Plant (12" Version)

Yukihiro Takahashi - Metaphysical Jerks

Haruomi Hosono - Sports Men

Miharu Koshi - Scandal Night

F.O.E. - In My Jungle

Super Eccentric Theater - Oh Les Beaux Japonais!

F.O.E. - Agricult

Ryuichi Sakamoto - 日本生命

Hajime Tachibana - Rock

Yellow Magic Orchestra - Be A Superman

Hosono Haruomi, Suzuki Shigeru, Tatsuro Yamashita - Cosmic Surfin'

Yellow Magic Orchestra - Wild Ambitions

Testpattern - Ryugu

World Standard - Pasio

Tamao Koike - Kagami no Nakano Jugatsu (Remix Version)

Interior - Hot Beach

Haruomi Hosono - Asatoya Yunta

Chu Kosaka - Bon Voyage Hatoba

[baredmirror]

The door from the interior stairwell opened easily onto the roof. Letting go of Tamao's hand, Misao charged over to the iron railing. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the sun was shining so brightly that the rays seemed to pierce her skin like superheated needles. Beyond the expansive graveyard, now fully green, the clustered buildings of the Takaino area were clearly visible. The crematorium's tall, cylindrical chimney was emitting the usual thick billows of smoke. Saying a silent, secular prayer, Misao took a timid peek at the ground below.

Mariko Koike, The Graveyard Apartment (trans. Deborah Boliver Boehm)

[erineyesore-blog]

NEO PLANT POSI Ribbon Around a Bomb

Full guest DJ set from UK author Giacomo Lee. All female-fronted electronic/post-punk music from Japan. Produced and edited in London, broadcast live from San Francisco, and available for download everywhere now. Check out more from him at https://giacomolee.net/. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- D-Day - The Sweet Sultan (1986) Akina Nakamori - Blazing Fire (1986) Himegozen - Doll (1985) Saeko Suzuki - Kaspar's Statement (1985) Tamao Koike - Automne Dans Un Miroir (1983) Taeko Ohnuki - Inori (1983) Aragon - Polaris (1985) Ichiko Hashimoto - Naja Naja (1984) Portable Rock - Big Turtle (1990) Dip in the Poll - View (1986) Chakra - You Need Me (1981) Syoko - Erewhon (1986) Mariko Fuji - どんな春が (1982) Sandii - Zoot Kook (1980) Miharu Koshi - Bara No Yakai (1984) Tolerance - Boku Wa Zurui Robot (Stolen From Kad) (1981) Koharu Kisaragi - Department Store (1986) Buffalo Daughter - Baby Amoeba Goes South (1996) Takako Minekawa - Flow in a Tide (1999) Kahimi Karie - Paris, Texas (1997) G-Schmitt - ES (1988) D-Day - Dust (1986) Ichiko Hashimoto - Pachamac (1984) Aragon - Horridula (1985) Tamao Ijima - Dusk 'til Dawn (1992) Koharu Kisaragi - Neo Plant Posi (1986) Akiko Yano - Rose Garden (1982) Ichiko Hashimoto - Kitsune (1984)

Image: Syoko 

[hontokana]

小池玉緒 - Automne dans un miroir / 鏡の中の十月

[baredmirror]

On top of the headaches, there was the constant anxiety that went with trying to find a new place to live, along with the cumulative stress of feeling compelled to say a prayer—Please, let me find Misao and Tamao waiting in our apartment, safe and sound—every time he climbed into the elevator on his way home from work. The bottom line was that there was never a single moment when his mind was at ease and he could simply relax.

Mariko Koike, The Graveyard Apartment (trans. Deborah Boliver Boehm)

[maggiemayhan]

‘The Essential Yellow Magic Orchestra’ mixed by Mikey IQ Jones

for accompanying write up to the YMO mix, click on this factmag link: ‘The Essential Yellow Magic Orchestra’ by Mikey IQ Jones in factmag - 22 Jan 2015

‘Few artists hold as firm an influence on electronic and technology-based musics as Japan’s Yellow Magic Orchestra.Their reach spreads from the charts to the deepest corners of the underground, influencing hip-hop, numerous strains of dance music culture, and even the world’s shiniest pop tunes. Formed in 1978 by songwriter, bassist, and singer Haruomi Hosono, the original aim of YMO was to release a one-off album of technological exotica which spoofed the West’s archaic and offensive fetishization of the “oriental” while simultaneously paying tribute to the musical talents of Martin Denny and Les Baxter, two American bandleaders whose instrumental albums took the post-World War II fascination with tribal primitivism and tropical calm to vibrant extremes.’

Tracklist for ‘The Essential Yellow Magic Orchestra’ - Mikey IQ Jones (2015):

Polyphonics 'Cosmic Surfin'' (1978) Haruomi Hosono 'Femme Fatale' (1978) Hosono & Yokoo 'Hepatitis' (1978) Yellow Magic Orchestra 'Computer Game/Theme From The Circus/Firecracker' (1978) Yellow Magic Orchestra 'Behind The Mask' (1979) Susan 'Modern Flowers In A Boot' (1980) Ryuichi Sakamoto 'Riot In Lagos' (1980) Akiko Yano 'Tong Poo' (1980) Yellow Magic Orchestra '1000 Knives' (1981) Yukihiro Takahashi 'Extra-Ordinary' (1981) Yellow Magic Orchestra 'Seoul Music' (1981) Haruomi Hosono 'Birthday Party' (1982) Ryuichi Sakamoto 'Merry Chistmas Mr. Lawrence' (1983) Yellow Magic Orchestra 'Perspective' (1983) Miharu Koshi 'Parallélisme' (1984) Tamao Koike 'Kagami No Naka No Jugatsu' (1983) Haruomi Hosono 'Air-Condition' (1982)   Tracklist) Haruomi Hosono 'Femme Fatale' (1978) Hosono & Yokoo 'Hepatitis' (1978) Yellow Magic Orchestra 'Computer Game/Theme From The Circus/Firecracker' (1978) Yellow Magic Orchestra 'Behind The Mask' (1979) Susan 'Modern Flowers In A Boot' (1980) Ryuichi Sakamoto 'Riot In Lagos' (1980) Akiko Yano 'Tong Poo' (1980) Yellow Magic Orchestra '1000 Knives' (1981) Yukihiro Takahashi 'Extra-Ordinary' (1981) Yellow Magic Orchestra 'Seoul Music' (1981) Haruomi Hosono 'Birthday Party' (1982) Ryuichi Sakamoto 'Merry Chistmas Mr. Lawrence' (1983) Yellow Magic Orchestra 'Perspective' (1983) Miharu Koshi 'Parallélisme' (1984) Tamao Koike 'Kagami No Naka No Jugatsu' (1983)

for more works including live performances,  by yellow magic orchestra (ymo) and associated acts including yukihiro takahashi, ryuichi sakamoto, haruomi 'harry' hosono, hideki matsutake, human audio sponge (HAS), sadistic mika band and more, check out my soundcloud playlist here.

[keisoidenshi]

小池玉緒 - 鏡の中の十月

[baredmirror]

On the surface of the glass door, a large quantity of ghostly white handprints had appeared. They looked as if they were being made by rubber stamps. While the little group in the lobby watched, aghast, the handprints rapidly multiplied before their disbelieving eyes. Slap, slap, slap... The sound of damp flesh meeting glass reverberated through the lobby with every new handprint. Mitsue let out a shrill cry. The children began to sob. Cookie seemed to have been transformed into a rabid beast, barking her head off, with fangs bared and flecks of white foam flying out of her mouth. The scenario unfolding before them was, unmistakably, not of this world. Misao recoiled, then bent down to comfort Tamao and Kaori with a hug. Sueo Tabata collapsed in a wilted heap on the floor near the entrance, breathing heavily and clutching the left side of his chest while his wife hovered over him in concern. On closer inspection, the handprints weren't identical. Some were large; some were small; some had the fingers spread wide apart, while on others the digits were close together. All the prints were white, but it wasn't the white of house paint or of milk. It was a more ephemeral kind of whiteness, almost like the effect you sometimes see when children slap their sticky hands all over the front windshield of a car, and then the sun shines through those marks: a gummy, translucent white.

Mariko Koike, The Graveyard Apartment (trans. Deborah Boliver Boehm)