Pacific Breeze 2: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1972-1986

by N/A

Overview

Almost exactly a year after Light in the Attic released Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976-1986, the label followed up with a finer sequel covering a longer timespan and more ground. This volume ventures farther beyond the three styles noted in the title. Take Eiichi Ohtaki's lolling "Yubikiri" (1972), akin to Traffic with a Southern soul slant (and what sounds like a nod to the Zombies' "Time of the Season"), or Yuji Toriyama's "Bay/Sky Provincetown 1977" (1985), a shimmering amalgam of new age and smooth jazz. Even the two selections inspired by the same series of Seishi Yokomizo detective novels are quite distinct, vaulting from the CTI-style slick disco of Mystery Kindaichi Band's "Kindaichi Kosuke No Theme" (1977) to the sophisticated funk of Yu Imai's "Kindaichi Kosuke Nishi E Iku" (1978), a midpoint between Noel Pointer's "Phantazia" and Average White Band's "Stop the Rain." A pair of highlights are from Nippon Columbia's Better Days subsidiary, whose visionary catalog was anthologized in 2016 with the Japan-only compilation More Better Days. Eri Ohno, a singer who once had enough ambition to give a Phyllis Hyman song a shot, is behind "Skyfire" (1981), a dancefloor jazz-funk bolt as energizing as anything by Judy Roberts or Flora Purim. Equally notable is Kyoko Furuya's sparse and live-sounding "Harumifutou" (1982), more on the jagged art-rock end. Given that vaporwave artists have rifled through Japan's commercial electronic pop for their synthetic '80s nostalgia trips, it's a funny coincidence that the cuts ripest for the picking here, Momoko Kikuchi's "Blind Curve" (1984) and Tetsuji Hayashi's "Hidari Mune No Seiza" (1986), were issued on a label called VAP, short for Video Audio Project. A marzipan-sweet tune from the soft-rocking Sadistics (featuring Yukihiro Takahashi) and jazz-pop interzone nuggets by Kimiko Kasai and Junko Ohashi & Minoya Central Station (not to be confused with Larry Graham & Graham Central Station) add to the set's whimsical charm. ~ Andy Kellman

Product Details

Release Date:	08/18/2023
Label:	Light In The Attic Records
UPC:	0826853017916

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Piper   Primary Artist
Momoko Kikuchi   Primary Artist
Kyoko Furuya   Primary Artist
Yumi Murata   Primary Artist
Junko Ohashi & Minoya Central Station   Primary Artist
Eiichi Ohtaki   Primary Artist
Yu Imai   Primary Artist
Tetsuji Hayashi   Primary Artist
Yuji Toriyama   Primary Artist
Bread & Butter   Primary Artist
Eri Ohno   Primary Artist
Anri   Primary Artist
Kimiko Kasai   Primary Artist
Junko Ohashi   Primary Artist
Tomoko Aran   Primary Artist
Minoya Central Station   Primary Artist
Sadistics   Primary Artist
The Mystery Kindaichi Band   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Kyoko Furuya   Composer
Fuyumi Iwasawa   Composer
Francis G. Eddy   Composer
Mark Frosty McNeill   Producer
Kazumi Yasui   Composer
Masatoshi Nishimura   Composer
Eiichi Ohtaki   Composer
Toshiyuki Daitoku   Composer
Matt Sullivan   Executive Producer
Hiroshi Nagai   Artwork,Cover Art
Tetsuji Hayashi   Composer
Tsugutoshi Goto   Composer
Yasushi Akimoto   Composer
Toshiki Kadomatsu   Composer
Darryl Norsen   Design
Patrick McCarthy   Project Manager,Executive Producer
Andy Cabic   Producer
Josh Wright   Executive Producer
Masanori Sasaji   Composer
Yukihiro Takahashi   Composer
Tatsuro Yamashita   Composer
Yuji Toriyama   Composer
Hiromasa Suzuki   Arranger
Dave Cooley   Remastering
Takashi Matsumoto   Composer
Yosuke Kitazawa   Producer,Biographical Notes
Chris Mosdell   Composer
Yu Imai   Composer
Tomoko Aran   Composer
Ryu Machiko   Composer
Keisuke Yamamoto   Composer
Chinfa Kan   Composer
Hiroshi Takada   Composer
Satsuya Iwasawa   Composer
Yumi Murata   Composer