MUSIC

"The origin of techno. The original crystallization of the artists who created the era as big names, immortal monuments beyond the masterpieces." Limited vinyl version reissued in heavy vinyl. The heavy-duty vinyl version in the original jacket supervised by Ryuichi Sakamoto is available in a completely limited edition.

Techno, Mondo, Lo-Fi - they anticipated the entire universe of these genres in 1978.

Recorded on a 4-channel tape recorder before their debut and released as a CD in 1996 to great acclaim, the legendary sound collection "1978" is finally being released as an LP for the first time after 30 years. It includes three previously unreleased tracks, including "Confusion," which had a different version on a fan club-exclusive flexi-disc.

A year before releasing their debut album from Toshiba EMI, Hikashu was already creating their own fascinating music. In a house off a narrow alley leading to the train tracks from the intersection at 6-chome, Toyotamakita, Tokyo, with the shutters closed and blankets hung, they reverberated sounds to intense rhythm machines. —Koichi Makigami

Coming in October. A groundbreaking compilation album showcasing Japanese techno-pop for a new era—『TECHNO KAYŌ VOL. 1 - JAPANESE TECHNO POP 1981–1989』—compiled by none other than Dubby, one of Japan’s most renowned record diggers and the mastermind behind the influential record shop ONDAS (a key force in the post-obscure revival alongside Organic Music and Revelation Time), and Antal, head of Rush Hour. From the neo-classical/mutant funk gem “Last Battle” by Kazuo Ōtani (of SHOGUN fame), originally featured on the obscure film soundtrack Koiko no Mainichi, to the balearic house anthem “MicroWave” by Kyōko Koizumi—culled from the now-revered cult LP KOIZUMI IN THE HOUSE—this album masterfully weaves post-balearic and obscure city pop perspectives. A curated deep dive into the rich and underrated legacy of Japanese techno-pop, brought vividly to life in the context of 2025.

エレクトロニック・ミュージックの先駆者として、テクノの生みの親として、結成から54年が経過した今なお愛され続ける伝説的なドイツのグループであるKraftwerk。カスタムメイドの電子楽器を製作し、最先端の機器を使用して独自のサウンドを生み出し、アルバム『アウトバーン』などで世界的に高い評価を得た彼らが1970年から1981年にかけて放送していた音源を一挙収録したCD5枚組ボックス！

“Après-midi” by TESTPATTERN is a refined slice of early 1980s Japanese synthpop and technopop, produced by Haruomi Hosono. Blending minimal electronics with urban sophistication, it captures the experimental spirit of the YEN label era. A cult favorite among fans of YMO and avant-pop aesthetics.

Celebrated new wave compilation from Japan reissued for the first time on vinyl. A much-cherished gem from the 1980s underground Japanese music scene returns as Soft Selection 84 is reissued by Glossy Mistakes for its 40th anniversary. Originally released on DIY label Soft, the compilation sees 13 tracks from nine acts spanning minimal, ambient, zolo and more for a beguiling listen. The result is a charming time capsule of eclectic creativity in which nothing sounds dated. Take La Sellrose Can Can, whose two party jams predate Kero Kero Bonito's hyperpop by decades. In addition, an impeccable remastering from the original master tapes adds to the "could have been recorded yesterday" feel of the collection. Soft Selection 84 also includes the eccentric Picky Picnic. One of the few featured artists with recordings beyond the anthology, the trio is an essential act for those curious about Japanese art pop of the era. There is also new wave introspection from Name, whose "Do We All Need Love" plays out as a sensual nod to John Lennon. In a similar vein is Clä-Sick, the recording name of Goro Some, the compilation's original producer and founder of Soft. The record's rerelease comes with Some's blessing, along with his original artwork and photography. Ultimately, the listener is left tantalised by his selection and its bold excursions into no wave, synth pop, radioplay and bizzaro house. Most of the artists on this release would fade into obscurity, but the transient nature of the potential showcased has helped cement the compilation's reputation over the years. Soft Selection will be released on vinyl LP by Glossy Mistakes on March 2024, with a remastering from the original master tapes. Notice: SC Ruch on unit 25 are thinking noise. You don't care, please. Note II: Artwork was restored from a folder copy that had a gorgeous blue grading/fading, we kept it that way on the reissue.

Official reissue supervised by the artist Sourced from the original masters A rare and sought-after item among collectors and enthusiasts of early Japanese electronic music Never released on vinyl before Club is a stunning and timeless collection of avant-garde electronica, proto-techno, mecha-ambient, and ear-pleasing experimentations from the master behind Music for Spiral and producer of Hiroshi Yoshimura’s Pier & Loft, Motohiko Hamase’s #Notes of Forestry, and Satsuki Shibano's iconic Rendez-Vous Experience the roots of Japanese electronica

Morio Agata's incidental masterpiece from 1980. The important work "The Vehicle Book", which later influenced Jim O'Rourke and the rest of the world, has been officially re-released on CD and LP in the U.S., and the LP has been distributed exclusively in Japan. [Completely limited edition

1977 "I Love You." Morio Agata, who had disappeared from the stage for about two years after his major work "Eien no Toukoku" (Eternal Faraway Country), which he had been working on since its release, was approached by Yuzuru Agi, editor-in-chief of Rock Magazine, the sharpest cultural music magazine in Osaka and the leader of Vanity Records, and in November 1979, in order to reset the music for the coming 80's, he created the album in two days. In November 1979, he created the "Vehicle Pictorial Book" in two days in order to reset the course for the coming 80s. This was an important work that became the basis for Morio Agata, who soon became a child of A, formed Virgin VS, and once again enjoyed success in the first half of the 80s.

 

The unreleased 1984 follow-up to the groundbreaking albums Kakashi and Mariah's Utakata No Hibi, Kiren is Yasuaki Shimizu's work for experimental dance music. Employing cutting edge production to create lush new wave soundscapes, it bridges the gap between his early 80s recordings and his later work with the Saxophonettes, filling a key lost chapter in his discography. Full liner notes in English and Japanese by Chee Shimizu.

Analog reissue of his fourth solo album, released on Midi Records in October 1984. The album was produced over a period of one year and eight months, and has a beautiful, stateless atmosphere and elegance. Cutting by Bernie Grundman Mastering, U.S.A. Japanese pressing, limited edition. Participating musicians: Yukihiro Takahashi, Haruomi Hosono, Kenji Omura, Toshinori Kondo, Tatsuro Yamashita, Yasuaki Shimizu, Yoshiaki Shirai and Masahiro Takekawa of Moonriders, etc.

Irrepressible, off-the-wall and utterly unique - the late ‘70s/early ‘80s Latin jazz-funk and leftfield electronic boogie of Japanese composer and pianist Izumi ‘Mimi’ Kobayashi collected for the first time. (🇯🇵👇) A luminous soul with an indefatigable love for music, few artists have had careers as varied and successful as Izumi ‘Mimi’ Kobayashi. One of Japan’s leading jazz-funk pianists, she wrote and recorded cult albums with fusion legends at home and abroad. Obsessed with new electronic instruments, she penned some of the country’s most well-known TV themes and pioneered the use of drum machines in anime soundtracks. 💫 A star in Japan, she moved to Europe to record global hits with Depeche Mode and Swing Out Sister, toured the world with the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra and made beats with Attica Blues’ Tony Nwachukwu. Now based in London, Mimi currently fronts Tokyo Riddim Band - the intergenerational live Japanese Reggae outfit born from Time Capsule’s acclaimed 2023 compilation of the same name - playing live shows and releasing a trio of recordings made at Prince Fatty’s studio. Choice Cuts 1978-1983 collects eight recordings from four of Mimi’s first five albums – Sea Flight (1978) recorded with her group Flying Mimi Band, and Coconuts High (1981), Nuts Nuts Nuts (1982) and Tropicana (1983) under her own name. The compilation opens with a syncopated electro-funk cover of Sergio Mendes’ iconic ‘Mas Que Nada’ (Tropicana) and the crisp and stripped back techno-pop of ‘Coffee Rumba’ (Nuts Nuts Nuts) with a keyboard bass line that would have made Stevie Wonder weep. Alongside the off-beat synth jam ‘Quiet Explosion’ (Nuts Nuts Nuts) and piano samba of ‘Espresso’ (Tropicana), there’s space for two low slung soul-jazz numbers, ‘Naze’ and ‘Angel Sky’, from Sea Flight (1978) that recall the collaborations between Herbie Hancock and Kimiko Kasai. But it is around the two tracks from Mimi’s 1981 album Coconuts High that this compilation revolves (and from whose cover shoot it borrows). Released on legendary guitarist Takanaka’s Kitty Records label, Coconuts High was recorded in LA with a backing band of jazz fusion icons, including Alex Acuña, Abraham Laborial, Harvey Mason and the Tower of Power horns. A riot of playful Latin-tinged jazz, funk and fusion with the off-beat spirit of Kid Creole & and the Coconuts, the album became a cult hit, attracting huge sums on the resale market. Here it’s the sultry, Minnie Riperton-esque ‘Crazy Love’, with its addictive groove and bittersweet melodies that makes the cut, alongside the steel drum-infused carnivalesque bounce of ‘Palm St’. Capturing a highly creative and prolific moment in Mimi’s career, Choice Cuts 1978-1983 will introduce the idiosyncratic energy and playful verve of this under-the-radar pioneer to a wider audience for the first time. Welcome to the world of Izumi ‘Mimi’ Kobayashi. Once you enter, you won’t want to leave.

After leading the Flying Mimi Band, Izumi Kobayashi, who gained attention for her keyboard work with the Masayoshi Takanaka Band and music for the anime “Urusei Yatsura,” reissued her funky, tropical solo debut released in 1981 on LP!

Dark Entries returns to Mexico with Back Up Dos: Mexican Tecno Pop 1982-1989. Following 2021’s Back Up compilation, Back Up Dos delivers 10 more tracks of synth-pop and New Beat, 7 of which have never before appeared on vinyl. From mutant drum machine beats to irresistible synthesizer hooks, fans of the fringes of the 80s will find songs to stir their cold, dark hearts. But Back Up Dos does more than mine retro kitsch; it documents the development of a rich DIY music scene that is still underexplored. As affordable samplers and digital synths spread throughout the decade, post-punk and new wave gave way to more aggressive EBM and cyberpunk sounds. The scene also developed in opposition to the political climate of the times: the rise of the drug cartels and a reactionary turn in national politics. Using home recording techniques, these bands took cues from the electronic wizardry of the Human League and Wax Trax Records while reflecting the vibrant and chaotic Mexican cultural landscape of the era. On Back Up Dos, impeccable pop anthems from Casino Shanghai and Los Agentes Secretos sit alongside gnarled obscurities from Ford Proco and María Bonita, showcasing a decade of sly deviance and enthusiastic experimentation. This album comes housed in an 80s-inflected neon sleeve designed by Gwenael Rattke and includes a 12-page booklet with photographs, lyrics, and notes. Back Up Dos compiles synthetic music produced in Mexico at the crossroads from Tecno Pop to Post-Industrial, nourished by culture shock and stories of dystopian worlds.

Milan's Palalido, 1981 crackles with Kraftwerk's Computer World tour. Robotic rhythms, neon lights, anthems like "The Model" and "Numbers" ignite. A time capsule of synthpop mastery, future sounds live.

Phonox Nights is the last album completed by Andrew Weatherall with Nina Walsh at her Facility 4 studio before the much-missed DJ producer passed away in February 2020. Introducing the set's exquisitely crafted electronic diamonds with a bubbling starburst of 21st century acid house, the title track's deep sweeping majesty is graced by ethereal synth lines from Weatherall himself, joining the percolating squelch of Walsh's Roland TB-303 in a heady blend of melancholic reflection and pulsing dancefloor wallop. Like a raft of other recordings the duo made through this time, Phonox Nights carries a spiritual and musical connection with Nina's late partner Erick Legrand, whose fathomless hard-drive archive she plundered with Andrew to the extent he can qualify as W.R.F.'s invisible third member. Legrand's presence shines brightest underpinning the translucent weightless flight of "Church Of Burnt Offerings", his rolling drums from the archive originally earmarked for a Barbican event that sadly never happened.

Kate NV’s WOW offers listeners a prismatic shift in perspective and scale, a parallel dimension in which the mundane becomes funny, unfamiliar, and altogether sensational. Turning the contents of her 2020 album Room for the Moon upside down and spilling it across a floor checkered with intrigue and surprise, Kate places sound, object, and ritual under the microscope to magnify the delight hidden in plain sight of everyday life.

Light in the Attic’s Pacific Breeze series has supplied the world’s growing legions of Japanese music fans with an expertly curated selection of the most sought-after City Pop recordings—the mesmerizing and nebulous genre of Japanese bubble-era music of the ‘70s-’80s that encompasses AOR, R&B, jazz fusion, funk, boogie and disco. These familiar sounds are spun through the unique lens of optimistic, cosmopolitan fantasy colored by Japan’s affluence at the time. Much of the music has previously been nearly impossible to acquire outside of Japan and continues to captivate listeners with its unique blend of groove-laden escapism, even birthing wholly new genres such as Vaporwave. Pacific Breeze 3: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1975-1987 marks the latest chapter in the famed series and features holy grails plus under-the-radar rarities. The collection bursts at the seams to reveal some of the greatest Japanese tracks ever laid to tape, pushing towards the edge of City Pop to reveal glimmers of the next waves of styles to spring forth from the country’s creative minds. The appearance of Pizzicato Five hint at the emergence of Shibuya-kei while the influence of hip hop and electro as an emerging global trend are also evident here through the prevalence of heavier programmed drum beats on tracks such as “Heartbeat” by Miho Fujiwara. This volume of Pacific Breeze, like its predecessors, is a female-forward offering with many tracks being voiced by women who would become household names in Japan as actresses and pop idols. Their songs here subvert the norm and brim with an innovative spirit that shatters gender roles in favor of sonic transcendence. Techno-pop classics from Susan, Miharu Koshi and Chiemi Manabe sit alongside sublime funk from Atsuko Nina and Naomi Akimoto while Teresa Noda slides into the mix with a sultry reggae jam. The genre span is stretched wider with hypnotic jazz fusion by Parachute and Hiroyuki Namba, a synthesizer fantasy from Osamu Shoji, and magnetic pop by Makoto Matsushita and Chu Kosaka. Although not front and center, the visionary members of Yellow Magic Orchestra are still very present on Pacific Breeze 3, with Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Yukihiro Takahashi taking up producer and musician roles on many of these tracks. Pacific Breeze 3 serves up a captivating musical journey that adds an essential chapter to the iconic compilation series.

Light in the Attic’s Pacific Breeze series has supplied the world’s growing legions of Japanese music fans with an expertly curated selection of the most sought-after City Pop recordings—the mesmerizing and nebulous genre of Japanese bubble-era music of the ‘70s-’80s that encompasses AOR, R&B, jazz fusion, funk, boogie and disco. These familiar sounds are spun through the unique lens of optimistic, cosmopolitan fantasy colored by Japan’s affluence at the time. Much of the music has previously been nearly impossible to acquire outside of Japan and continues to captivate listeners with its unique blend of groove-laden escapism, even birthing wholly new genres such as Vaporwave. Pacific Breeze 3: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1975-1987 marks the latest chapter in the famed series and features holy grails plus under-the-radar rarities. The collection bursts at the seams to reveal some of the greatest Japanese tracks ever laid to tape, pushing towards the edge of City Pop to reveal glimmers of the next waves of styles to spring forth from the country’s creative minds. The appearance of Pizzicato Five hint at the emergence of Shibuya-kei while the influence of hip hop and electro as an emerging global trend are also evident here through the prevalence of heavier programmed drum beats on tracks such as “Heartbeat” by Miho Fujiwara. This volume of Pacific Breeze, like its predecessors, is a female-forward offering with many tracks being voiced by women who would become household names in Japan as actresses and pop idols. Their songs here subvert the norm and brim with an innovative spirit that shatters gender roles in favor of sonic transcendence. Techno-pop classics from Susan, Miharu Koshi and Chiemi Manabe sit alongside sublime funk from Atsuko Nina and Naomi Akimoto while Teresa Noda slides into the mix with a sultry reggae jam. The genre span is stretched wider with hypnotic jazz fusion by Parachute and Hiroyuki Namba, a synthesizer fantasy from Osamu Shoji, and magnetic pop by Makoto Matsushita and Chu Kosaka. Although not front and center, the visionary members of Yellow Magic Orchestra are still very present on Pacific Breeze 3, with Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Yukihiro Takahashi taking up producer and musician roles on many of these tracks. Pacific Breeze 3 serves up a captivating musical journey that adds an essential chapter to the iconic compilation series.

First official reissue, remastered from master tapes. VINYL ONLY, NO DIGITAL. Recorded in 1981, Dance by Earthling is a cornerstone seminal album of Nippon new wave and synth-pop. The group called their first album DANCE to express the fullest flowers of rhythmic movement, attending to both physical and spiritual needs. Earthling consisted of the couple: lead vocalist/guitarist John, bass guitarist Yoko Fujiwara, plus keyboard/sythesizer player Jin Haijama. The group was formed in Tokyo in 1979 when John and Yoko, who had been fashion and textile designers, felt the desire to give the music they'd written a more permanent environment. The sound of Earthling reinforces the subtle and sensitive connections which link modern music to dance to, with hints of synth-pop, top notch new wave and heavy punkish vocals. Fun fact: "You go on Natural" became a well-known banger in the late 80s in La Ruta Destroy in Valencia, championed by local djs back then. Please note that the artwork was produced at a local Madrid-based printing house to maintain the same aesthetics as the original copies, maintaining the die-cut with the iconic six holes, displaying the blue color from the inner sleeve.

Ever since he made his first trip to Japan to DJ, Optimo Music founder JD Twitch has been bewitched by Japanese music, and particularly the vibrant, imaginative, and often far-sighted sounds which emerged from the island nation during the 1980s. Now he’s put years of digging in Japanese record shops to good use on Polyphonic Cosmos, the latest release on his compilation-focused Cease & Desist imprint. Subtitled ‘A Beginners Guide to Japan In The ‘80s’, the collection offers a personal selection of Japanese gems recorded and released between 1981 and ’86 – a period when advances in recording and musical technology offered the nation’s artists and producers a whole new tool kit to employ. When combined with the unique musical culture of Japan, where local traditions are frequently fused with Western styles to create timeless, off-kilter aural fusions, this embrace of locally pioneered music technology had spectacular, often unusual results. Eight years in the making, Polyphonic Cosmos provides an endlessly entertaining musical snapshot of Japanese music of the early-to-mid ‘80s with all of the open-minded eclecticism and sonic twists that you would expect from the Glasgow-based DJ. Compare and contrast, for example, the gently breezy, morning-fresh folk-plus-electronics bliss of ‘ばら二曲 Baranikyoku (Fellini&Rota)’ by World Standard – the most familiar alias of long-serving musician/producer Sohichiro Suzuki – and the hallucinatory, slow-motion tribal rhythms, post-punk rhythms and tape delay-laden electronics of Imitation’s ‘Exotic Dance’. Or, for that matter, the tipsy mid-‘80s electronic reggae of Pecker’s ‘Sha La La’, the grungy but melodic post-punk strut of ‘You Go On Natural’ by Earthling (a track Twitch accurately describes as “sheer unrelenting groove”), and the unearthly, swirling sonics, new age instrumentation and flotation tank vocals of prolific (and seemingly mysterious) act Geinoh Yamashirogumi’s ‘Rimme Kohkyogaku Meiki’. It’s a credit to JD Twitch’s curatorial skills that the quality never dips, and sonic surprises lurk around every corner. Consider for a moment the hard to describe, far-sighted audio immersion of D-Day’s ‘Ki-Ra’ – all languid post-pop guitar, enveloping chords, spoken word vocals, shuffling 808 beats and marimba melodies – and the two contributions from video games soundtrack specialist (and driving instrumental synth-pop specialist) Hiroyuki Namba. The collection naturally includes some selections that have long been favourites in Twitch’s DJ sets – see Masumi Hara’s ‘Your Dream’ – as well as a handful of tracks from artists who may be more recognisable to those with only rudimentary knowledge of Japanese musical culture. The great Yasuaki Shimizu, whose work as Mariah has become far better known in recent years thanks to reissues of some of his most magical albums, is represented via ‘The Crow’, a picturesque chunk of horizontal, hard-to-define jazz-not-jazz smokiness, while the collection fittingly concludes with a sublimely funky, oddball electronic workout from Yellow Magic Orchestra legend Ryuichi Sakamoto (the frankly incredible ‘Wongga Dance Song’). Optimo’s JD Twitch extends a guided tour of his Japanese record collection, acquired on DJ jaunts to the Far East and spanning obscurities by Yasuaki Shimizu, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Normal Brain, a.o. The second release on Twitch’s Cease & Desist label, which delivered the ace Sheffield bleep & bass retrospective in 2020, ‘Sonic Innovations in Japan (1980-1986)’ dives deep into a pivotal era of Japanese music around its ‘80s economic boom time, when leaps in musical technology and recording brought the future into much sharper focus. The selection effectively takes Twitch’s ‘Polyphonic Cosmos’ mixtape (one of many exquisite selections along with Belgian new beat, Jamaican dub, and mooching goth) as jump off point into the rarified realms of ‘80s Japanese music, spelled out in full fat, legit licensed cuts that work equally well as a mixtape in their own right, or component joints to fetishise and send heads scurrying down discogs wormholes. Fans of YouTube algorithms will no doubt be enticed by yasuaki Shimizu’s opening gambit, the sultry lounge stroller ‘Crow’, while the DJs, dancers and Kraftwerk fiends will plug right into the speak ’n spell electro-pop of ‘M.U.S.I.C.’ by Normal Brain, the glittering uptempo disco energy of Hiroyuki Namba’s ‘Who Done It? (Part 2)’ and likewise their Pet Shop Boys-on-holiday viber ‘Tropical Exposition’. There’s also a super juicy cut of bendy-limbed post-punk from Pecker and EP-4, and, for the wee small hours, sexier turns of dry-iced electro boogie glyde on ‘Your Dream’ from Masumi Hara and the breezy beauty ‘Ki-Ra-I’ by D-Day.

Soundway's telescope to forgotten and lesser known musical realms extends to Argentina on a brand new, triple vinyl compilation, Síntesis Moderna: An Alternative Vision Of Argentinian Music 1980-1990. A digital rewilding of computer and synth powered music, dripping with an impressive variety of influence, from Italo disco, electro-funk, post punk, tango, ambience, jazz-fusion, Afro-folk and techno pop, the record is a cultural document of a musical decade transformed after the lifting of restrictions of English language music post Malvinas War (Falklands), and the end of Argentina's military dictatorship. Síntesis Moderna: An Alternative Vision Of Argentinian Music 1980-1990 is set for release on Soundway Records this October 21st. Painstakingly crafted by record collectors, DJs and producers Ric Piccolo and Ariel Harari and conceived over 5 years ago, the duo have selected an eccentric selection, some avant garde cult obscurities, long-lost B sides and experimental versions of once-famous tracks from an array of artists, some of whom disappeared as quickly as they appeared whilst others by household names in Argentina. Ric and Ariel also weigh in with two edits, subtle rewirings, geared towards the dance-floor and a compliment to their careful curation. “They’ve come through really good on this one…” - Gilles Peterson “The latest compilation from Soundway Records, captures a kaleidoscopic landscape of Italo disco, proto-techno, and loungy ambient sounds” - Bandcamp “Fun survey of quirky punk-funk and weirdo synth-pop from the era of Maradona and Sabatini.” - UNCUT “A mix of avant-garde sounds, cult obscurities and proto-styles that predate the emergence of house and disco.” - DJ Mag “A wealth of wonderful strangeness.” - The Wire “Like mutated versions of what was happening in Europe – Kraftwerk and ZTT records chewed up and spat out with an irresistible Argentinian twist.” - Electronic Sound Mag

Morio Agata cuts "Submarine" and "Airplane" as singles from his 1980 incidental masterpiece and world-important work "Norimono Zukan"! 7" Analog Limited Edition!

A Japanese synth curio? A lost techno-pop classic? So might run the standard view of the electronic album 'Boku・Neko・Platanus', recorded in 1984 by Shinichi Omata. The facts point that way. The futuristic 'Platonische Liebe' and Omata’s technodelic take on the traditional Greek folk track 'Omorfoula' (here titled 'Egyptische Knabe') are timeless electro tracks with a radically simple pop concept and robotic flavour that closely echo Japan’s most recognisable exports from the era - sounds and styles which rose to international prominence immediately following the economic boom that was taking shape in contemporary Japanese culture. But, focusing only on such fragments misses the greater charms of the album – an argument made more convincing by the inclusion in this expanded edition of an archive of unreleased material from the original recording period. The music spans an unusually broad and contrasting range of influences, exploring the possibilities of mood music, imaginary soundtracks and pop dissonance, while also borrowing widely from films and contemporary arts. How Omata transformed this vast range of influences into synth-pop is the real magic here. The original cassette edition was released by the Tokyo-based Indian grocery store, Ganso Nakaya Mugendo, located in the Koenji district of the city. During the early 1980s, interest in experimental music began to grow among a small group of committed local music fans and musicians. Small independent shops started playing a pivotal role in this nascent scene. First, they imported many of the obscure rarities that were gradually being reissued or bootlegged in the West. Later, as some of the regular customers and employees formed their own groups, many shop owners started establishing their own labels. Even then, 'Boku・Neko・Platanus' was issued in extremely limited numbers – so much so that it’s incredible it ever came to light at all. The album is perhaps best understood as an outsider one-off, adrift from place, style, market and audience. Omata was already garnering a reputation as a formidable musician before the days of 'Boku・Neko・Platanus'. An early follower of European classical, Latin and Western styles, he was an accomplished keyboardist and sitar player who formed close relationships with artists and musicians in the burgeoning Tokyo avant-garde scene of the early 1980s. He was fascinated by electronic music and used an array of synthesizers and rhythm machines early on in his career. He closely analysed the way rhythms emerged in a transitional period of music – such as the shift from four-beat to eight-beat used in much popular music of the 1960s – and that feeling of ambivalence and lag in both time and space is a recurring motif in his music. He uses these rhythmic techniques to magically fuse music from different backgrounds. In Japan, Omata is largely known only to electronic music enthusiasts and connoisseurs as a member of the cult synth-pop outfit DEA, whose 'Metaphysical Pop' was released in 1985 on LLE, a sub-label of Marquee Moon Records, itself an offshoot of the notable experimental music magazine of the same name. Yet he is the mastermind behind a daring techno-pop sound that has remained almost entirely hidden for nearly 40 years. What we can hear across the expanded edition of 'Boku・Neko・Platanus' is not only a highly skilful instrumentalist at the peak of his powers, but also a daring experimentalist, who employed emerging computer and synth technology in innovative ways, and revitalised old school music by adapting it into contemporary settings. Here, Omata’s excitement at playing with cutting-edge toys is palpable and what better use for the sparkling tech of the future than to cover 'Omorfoula', a 19th century folkloric song emanating from Florina, a small town in the West Macedonian district of Greece, written for dancing and typically performed in separate circles by men and women every Sunday after church? 'Idola Fora' is space-age pancultural pop that exudes charm, chutzpah and chops, while 'Natsu No Koibitotachi E' is a glittering fantasia on synths and rhythm machine. Whistle-along pop classic 'Modern Ballet II' is also here, but much of 'Boku・Neko・Platanus' is a beguiling experiment. “This was the kind of music I had always wanted to try”, he recalls in our sleevenote interview. Omata’s angle was that he was writing modern music, informed by contemporary developments elsewhere but without the stiffness of the formal academic scene. It’s all pop as far as he’s concerned. Available for the first time on vinyl, including over fifty minutes of unreleased music not featured on the original cassette release and produced in cooperation with Shinichi Omata for chOOn!!, a label specialising in obscure, archival and forgotten releases.

Classic album from 1977, the sixth Kraftwerk album, originally issued by Kling Klang. This is the English-language, U.S.-cover art version. One of the inspired electronically-based pop records of all time. Performed by the quartet of Hütter, Schneider, Flür & Karl Bartos, this is the quintessential Kraftwerk sound recording experience. Tracklist: Side One: A1. Europe Endless; A2. The Hall Of Mirrors; A3. Showroom Dummies. Side Two: B1. Trans-Europe Express; B2. Metal On Metal; B3. Franz Schubert; B4. Endless Endless.