“A mix of Japanese pop songs, most of them with a synth funk backbone”

October 25, 2015 10:42 AM

Jen Monroe and Brian Sweeny, the curators of the Listen To This! album blog, have collaborated with Self-Titled Magazine on an eclectic mix of Japanese synth pop that will go perfectly with your personal end-of-Summer / Fall weather: OMG JAPAN (Track list and liner notes)
posted by Going To Maine (6 comments total)

Awesome! I spent months going down the YMO rabbit hole a couple of years back, so this should hit the spot nicely. It's always astounded me that a tight, super-listenable group like YMO never got much traction here in the States. (I mean, get a load of this '80s video music fabulousness over here.) In any case, they're definitely due for a rediscovery by the current indie synth scene.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:11 AM on October 25, 2015

Many thanks for posting. I spent part of the summer learning about acts such as Haruomi Hosono (included here), Geinoh and Mamoru Fujieda from this great jumping-off point on the blue, so this is excellent and fortuitous.
posted by the sobsister at 11:33 AM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

Totally missed that last post! Most excellent.
posted by Going To Maine at 2:04 PM on October 25, 2015

Oh heck yes. I also went way down the YMO rabbit hole (I made a MeFi swap mix about all of the YMO members non-YMO careers) so this is right up my alley.
posted by zsazsa at 2:27 PM on October 25, 2015

Japanese gentlemen stand up, please, indeed...
posted by y2karl at 2:58 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

+1 for the inclusion of Sandii's "Zoot Kook." Her work with YMO, Hosono, and the Sunsetz is extensive and worth the attention. Superior Viaduct or Light in the Attic, please consider reissuing Sandii's records! I missed the earlier Fairlights post, but both of those mixes are excellent and I play them constantly. DJ Notoya's "Tokyo 1980's mix" and this "Melancholy of Suburbia mix" are two other faves. And Hosono makes an appearance on Hatchback's "Unimpressed By Your Fairlight," another superb synthy mix (albeit not entirely Japanese).
posted by octobersurprise at 6:19 AM on October 26, 2015 [4 favorites]