Akiko Yano

As recently discussed on another thread, Yano deserves her own thread, she's a marvellous musician with a distinctive voice and a rich discography/history of collaboration that greatly rewards a deep dive, so let's share the love.

My absolute favourite song of hers is a from a later record, 'Honto Ni Kimochi', the whole thing bangs, but the first track especially, 'Ika naide', so lovely -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHDUZMjnvs8

Her entire discography is worthy of diving into. Even when she's ventured into US session-muso heavy waters throughout her career the results are excellent. I'm a big fan of her '78 through '83/'84 run. There's absolutely nothing else like it out there including YMO.

The album of hers I really enjoy is 峠のわが家 from 1986. It’s pretty much just plain slick studio rock but the songwriting is outstanding and there’s some cool off kilter moments. “Daniel” is amazing.

She got a bit ECM in the late eighties/nineties, I really like this concert, there's a couple of misfires, including a deconstructed 'Walk On By' but when it's all poised and ambient and Bill Frisell is doing his thing, I dig that greatly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_ZPn0WN8JI

Anyone heard this CD she's on with Kronos Quartet? I'd like to listen to that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oNsG_5j6zI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np987aVZxyU

Ahh, Akiko Yano is ace but I've often felt like I should do more of a deep dive, thanks for this thread and links!

And a decent interview from 2018 -

http://www.listentothis.info/2018/10/interview-akiko-yano/

a couple of audio interviews:
https://www.mixcloud.com/dublab/suneye-wakiko-yano-in-conversation-032019/
https://soundcloud.com/petercatradio/a-conversation-w-akiko-yano-november-29th-2018

https://images.roughtrade.com/product/images/files/000/185/303/hero/600x600bb.jpg

Well that's a coincidence. The reissue of 'Iroha Ni Konpeitou' literally popped through my letterbox last Friday.

What I've heard so far is promising and the cover is of course legendary. Hosono plays on some of it. Look forward to hearing some further recommendations.

Patrick South...didn't he used to post here? that's a great interview, rare to see someone who knows the subject's catalogue so well

I really love her stuff up to Oesu Oesu, still dig the albums afterwards though she did move in a slicker, New York-influenced jazz pop direction that sometimes feels sterile to me. Seems at some point she moved back into a more experimental & technopop-influenced direction but I haven't heard those albums yet. She's got a huge catalogue. You can easily spend an hour on YouTube watching live stuff, she's such a great live performer and she makes everything come off as so much fun. The videos where she duets with Hiromi Uehara are great, crazy that she's able to keep up with her

Asteroid and Butteryfly came out this week--her collaboration with Hiromitsu Agatsuma. Apparently the packaging has some glow-in-the-dark elements:

🪐『Asteroid and Butterfly』発売中🦋#やのとあがつま 1st Album『Asteroid and Butterfly』
耳だけでなく目でも楽しめるジャケットにも注目👀
強い光に当ててから、暗闇の中に入れると、タイポグラフィが浮き出るデザインになっております！是非お手に取って試してみて下さい♪#矢野顕子 #上妻宏光 pic.twitter.com/7kf4evS3Mt

— 矢野顕子 Staff (@akikoyano_staff) March 5, 2020

Vinyl and CD are available on CDJapan. I'll have to save my allowance.

And then out just today, I think--a nice little tune that she wrote for an anime airing on Japanese TV this week, "Oyasan to boku", "The Landlady and I". On Spotify and iTunes.

https://jvcmusic.lnk.to/oyasantoboku

Butteryfly!

Asteroid and Butterfly is on Spotify too, at least in the UK: https://open.spotify.com/album/1SUr7AjanY3MIrA5GsXv2U?si=aQ2jR6IIRACi4VZR3sTuog

I loved that first single, so really looking forward to listening to this.

really love this...anyone know what it is?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPQ44DL3ztc

The song is Bara no hana from Quruli's 2001 album "Team Rock," produced by Jim O'Rourke, no less. Rei Harakami did a remix of it, which brought him to Akiko Yano's attention, and they subsequently formed the duo Yanokami. This article has some of that history: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2008/04/11/music/jazz-icon-akiko-yano-finds-her-electronic-muse/

Harakami's version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmWqyrCanoM

has anyone looked up the lyrics to Vet?

vet vet
i like to be a vet, i vet
wanna be a vet
i like to be a vet, i vet
wanna be a vet

crocodile’s got stomach cancer
hippo’s t–th are all decayed
cow’s got a swollen liver
lion’s got pneumonia
elephant’s got athlete’s foot
dog’s got a fractured hind leg
and your heart’s been broken by yet another girl

vet vet
i like to be a vet, i vet
wanna be a vet
i like to be a vet, i vet
wanna be a vet

dolphins with diarrhoea
bats with broken radar
overweight hawaiian girls eating too much chocolate
piranhas with constipation
telephone line is on the blink
your brother-in-law has got no money
and your wife has turned to drink
siamese cat’s got a bloodshot left eye
horse won’t run another step
polar bear’s miscarried
now gorilla’s got a bleeding nose
goat’s gone hysterical and eaten through the pen
everybody come to me
i’m gonna make you well again

the photo in the inner sleeve of Gohan Ga Dekitayo is great:

https://thevinylfactory.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AkikoYano-Gohan-Ga-Dekitayo-LP.jpg

Is that Kenji Omura on the right?

its gotta be, he's the only other person who appears on more than one track

I was looking at his Discogs just the other day as a friend had hipped me to this Chris Mosdell record from 1982 called 'Equasian' that he played on, it's a really odd racket.

Dude cannot sing at all but there is some interesting Talking Heads/Fourth World cosplay going on, it comes across like when you see some arty New Wave band performing in an 80s film or something.

That's a pretty weird record. I picked it up in Japan last time, the packaging is quite elaborate, slip-in gatefold sleeve with booklet.

The guy left the UK for Japan in the late 70's and is mainly known as a Lyricist. He wrote the lyrics to Behind the Mask for YMO.

YMO's English lyrics are endlessly fascinating to me. they're not as choppy as something just run through a translator but I feel like they still have a sentiment that doesn't really translate properly. like the first line on YT's "Drip Dry Eyes" - "Feels like I've been through a washing machine"...I don't think a native English speaker would ever say something like that

I think Mosdell wrote quite a few lyrics for YMO, no?

I know Peter Barakan worked with them during the BGM era and with Yuki's solo material.

Mosdell did everything up to SSS, then Barakan after that. he also did a number of YT solo songs (mostly on Murdered by the Music). Barakan was the translator for the stuff after that, including YT's What Me Worry and HH's Philharmony

kinda wonder how those songs were done. I have to assume they were translated from something though a few of the Mosdell tracks feel pretty natural. though Sakamoto's English I think was actually quite good

The washing machine line feels à la Bowie to me.

Anyone have any inside info on whether We Want Sounds is going to reissue the album with the cow on the cover? 'Cos I want that one.

that and Iroha ni Konpeitō I want more for the cover than the actual music. nothing against the music but they're two of my favorite album covers ever. from a musical perspective I'd be more into Tokimeki

she has a recent album called Welcome to Jupiter which I've been digging a lot lately. copies of it are real expensive though

xp

Thanks for the heads-up re: Chris Mosdell's Equasian album--that B1 quasi-instrumental (at least in the intro) "C₂H₅Emystery" is indeed a 4th W. treat, and great use of acoustic piano with the synths/FX:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2aNvX-sEEE

Anyone have any inside info on whether We Want Sounds is going to reissue the album with the cow on the cover? 'Cos I want that one.

― eatandoph (Neue Jesse Schule)

I hit We Want Sounds up on Instagram the other day and they confirmed that they would be re-releasing 'Ai Ga Nakucha Ne' imminently. Didn't say when though. Probably my favourite of hers. Been blasting it in the car recently.

that Mosdell record is genuinely confusing! 'The Archers of Ardour' has not left my pop music phone playlist for a few years now, inexplicably good

I hit We Want Sounds up on Instagram the other day and they confirmed that they would be re-releasing 'Ai Ga Nakucha Ne' imminently. Didn't say when though. Probably my favourite of hers. Been blasting it in the car recently.

I've linked to this before so pardon me if you've heard this already, this is a short interview I did with Peter Barakan four years ago about his background with YMO -

https://www.mixcloud.com/JapanAlternativeSessions/japan-alternative-sessions-edition-22-ymo-special-peter-barakan-interview/

Up for a limited time, if I'm understanding the translation correctly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjlogaQZisA

she seems to be impervious to age, could've easily convinced me this was from 20 years ago. though I guess you could argue her voice was kind of suited for an older person right from the start.

from last year but still lol

Man, don’t! But thank you😝 https://t.co/ywporY7Q9k

— 矢野顕子 Akiko Yano (@Yano_Akiko) May 4, 2020

New Album "Music is a Gift"

The single is good! Has a slight Laura Nyro thing going on.

I hit We Want Sounds up on Instagram the other day and they confirmed that they would be re-releasing 'Ai Ga Nakucha Ne' imminently. Didn't say when though. Probably my favourite of hers. Been blasting it in the car recently.

Looks like there is a more affordable CD version as well, with the same liner notes but not all the session photos and whatnot that come with the vinyl.

she has a lot of records I would totally buy if they were like...20% less expensive. I don't know if I like this one enough. I did import a copy of Oesu Oesu though, that one's incredible start to finish

her new album is very good if you like her jazzier singer/songwriter type stuff. amazing how she still looks and sounds pretty much the same as she did 25 years ago

spotted the dolphin album at a Chicago shop! of course I had to grab it. it's better than I remembered. "Ike Yanagida" is so great. I never realized it's just keyboards and drums. also didn't catch that one of the tunes is a full version of that little instrumental at the end of Hosono House

I'm blown away by Gohan ga Dekitayo, my first exposure to her music. I see why she gets compared to Kate Bush so much - the similarity in their voices and songwriting - but she stands apart enough. And I think this album might be more consistent than any of Kate's?? Maybe I'm crazy to think that. So looking forward to listening through the rest of her output

the long track with that crazy electronic breakdown is so stunning. as is that piano track that sounds like a samba. her vocals are so good on it.

I see Love Life was just reissued, I may pick it up. there's a cover of "The Letter" which is really great. she does such amazing covers.

there's such a breadth to the tracks, hard to pick favorites, but I love both the ones you mentioned. I listened to Tadaima and I'm not as blown away, but she moves into tons of new sounds and styles. like "ROSE GARDEN"?? must have been listening to Remain in Light but it's an excellent, unique track in its own right

I was looking at his Discogs just the other day as a friend had hipped me to this Chris Mosdell record from 1982 called 'Equasian' that he played on, it's a really odd racket.

I've just been listening to this album, the cover seems designed to make you think it's a Visage album or something... but it's mostly definitely not a Visage album! Anyway, I don't really know what else to compare it with so I'll let Chris himself, er, describe it...

https://chrismosdell.com/equasian/

Excellent new discography guide: https://simulacreage.com/akiko-yano-guide

amazing

yeah that is really excellent... the most extensive thing i've seen written about her in english and it's good to see that they've covered everything, not just her 70s/early 80s stuff.

as i was reading i was thinking they've skipped the live albums, they've skipped the piano albums... and then there they were.

Time to get the giant 'Honto no Kimochi ichiban' foam finger out again, but good to see it getting the props it deserves.

Oh that's excellent and useful, thanks for sharing. I now fully agree with their assessment that Gohan ga Dekitayo is one of the finest pop albums ever - not a weak moment imo. I listened to Japanese Boy and OSOS more recently, and liked the former but loved the latter. I'll probably end up listening to everything eventually

haven't listened back to it yet but apparently she was the guest of gilles peterson's show this weekend...

https://www.instagram.com/p/C2pJKPvNwoJ/

show is here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001vj7k

Yeah, checked if this meant any UK shows but not afaict?

As someone who has been a fan of Japan and Sakamoto since the mid 80s it is embarassing that I had never heard of Akiko before. Somehow, I stumbled upon the re release notes for Ai Ga Nakucha Ne and I am loving it. It is kinda like a lost Japan album in some ways! The title track, with Mick Karn doing really sweet backing vocals, is a candy earworm.

Oh and I bought the album off the WeWantSounds bandcamp page right away, though had to relent and get the CD - the vinyl version was too pricey and shipping of vinyl from France fills me with dread.

Love those Wewantsounds reissues. She's a major talent.

Sometimes does the odd concert but only around NYC alas.

Trayce, if you haven't heard of them already you might like the band Ippu Do, who sound, in my humble, like Japan's answer to Japan (the band)

Main guy in Ippu Do (Masami Tsuchiya) was also the live guitarist for Japan later on iirc, theres definitely videos of them where you can spot him

He's on the Oil on Canvas live album / video release. David Rhodes played guitar on the Gentlemen Take Polaroids tour btw, you can see him on an OGWT appearance from that era.

Yeah I know of Masami from Japan's last tour/Oil on Canvas etc, and I think Ive heard a few Ippu Do songs, but I should give them a revisit!

His solo albums are great, too

Rose Garden truly is a fallen shard of astral paradise, isn't it? - Tadaima growing a lot on me lately. I love that there was a period when Ryuichi Sakamoto was regularly writing songs like I Sing.

Ha I just discovered “rose garden” a couple months ago myself and did a ctrl-f “rose garden” on this thread when I saw it … anyway yea I love that sound

How beautiful is the bridge in this song?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmOnnuxkhRM

Ai ga Nakucha ne gets overshadowed by the two albums before it, but it shouldn't, it's wonderful.

Have you heard the RS version on his Summer Nerves album?

Yes! Love it! Summer Nerves is my favorite Sakamoto release this side of Wings of Honneamise, in spite of the frequent protests staged by Left Handed Dream.

I love the way songs recur across the YMO universe. The Hosono-produced Linda Carriere/city pop superstars album that came out recently has an early vocal version of Neuronian Network.

I think Ai Ga Nakucha Ne is actually my favourite of hers. It flows so nicely.

I prefer the proggy excess of Gohan Ga Dekitayo but that run of albums from '80 to '84 is amazing.

that's actually the one album in that run I never got much into, guess I have to rectify that

picked up the Love Life reissue. always thought of this album as having good songs but being kind of bloated in both the arrangements and the song lengths. but now I'm listening on a good system and on wax and it really sounds great. these arrangements rule. they're thick but she stays in command of them. it really speaks to her talent that she put out a great solo piano album right after.

if you dig her weirder stuff the track to listen to is "Angler's Summer". you can easily imagine how the YMO guys would've handled that track. it might've been like "Dogs Awaiting".