Haruomi Hosono

I'd highly recommend Hosono's Monad Box, a collection of three of his instrumental and ambient records from the early 80s. My favourite of the discs included is Coincidental Music, which is short pieces made for advertising and promotional films. Sort of electronic Satie. Rather more delicate and strange than Sakamoto's work of the period.

Hosono's best solo song album is S-F-X, a Fairlight-heavy opus from 1984. There's a clip of one track here. And here are some pictures of Hosono, who's now a bit fatter, plays in Sketch Show, and runs the Daisyworld label.

Unfortunately, getting any of this in the US is near impossible. the only other thing i've managed to track down (through dusty groove) was this bizarre early 80's record that he was apparently only partially involved with, which was a strange "top of the pops" sort of medley of about 15 60's-70's pop/disco standards and a few mediocre jazz-fusion originals.

'More delicate and strange' than early 80's Sakamoto is quite a teaser. Sakamoto's B-2 Unit and Esperanto are already fairly strange (if not delicate) records, but those were the odd ones out.

I agree with Momus--Miharu Koshi is one of the greatest, most underrated Japanese artists of the '80s. She evolved from an insiginifant pop idol in the late '70s to a completely original synth-pop artist. Since the late '80s she's become a bit too idiosyncratic for my tastes ('Chanson Solaire' from '95 is probably her best from that era), but her albums are still beautifuI and I have the highest respect for her. She's due for a new album soon. I think 'Boy Soprano' from '85 is her best album--a perfect combination of her early synth-pop work and later chanson stuff. Unfortunately, her stuff is very hard to find, even in Japan. Her albums pop up on ebay, but they're always quite expensive. 'Boy Soprano' is probably the easiest to find.

One of my favorite Hosono-related bands is Chakra. They put out only three albums in the early '80s, and Hosono produced their second. They're all utterly essential exotic pop albums. Makoto Yano (Akiko Yano's first husband) produced their first album. The singer, Mishio Ogawa, put out four solo albums too, and they're also essential (especially her s/t). The last three were just reissued a few weeks ago actually, and I had never heard them beforehand. So I'm excited about those...they're very good.

Now that I'm talking about Japanese synth-pop, I'll make a few more recommendations. I recently discovered Taeko Onuki (or Ohnuki) and am completely in love. She started in the mid '70s, making more fusion-oriented pop albums, and then she teamed up with Ryuichi Sakamoto in the late '70s and started churning out one amazing pop album after the next. 'Adventure' (1981) is probably my favorite, but I have a lot that I've yet to hear!

Moon Riders are another of my favorites. They've been around since the '70s as well and, in my opinion, reached their peak in the early '80s with 'Mania Maniera' and 'Tokyo wa...'. They've spanned a lot of different style, but never put out a bad album.

Perhaps my favorite is Masami Tsuchiya's 'Rice Music' album (1982) and his follwing Ippu-Do album 'Night Mirage' (1983). Members of the band Japan assist on those two albums, as well as the fretless great Percy Jones. Bowie-esque vocals, experimental, angular guitar work (plus Bill Nelson doing his e-bow thing), completely out of control bass playing, steel drums, layers of synths, etc. Basically it's a hilariously awesome rhythm section with great songs too. I couldn't recommend these two albums more. It's too bad that 'Night Mirage' was never released on CD and 'Rice Music' is impossible to find on CD.....

Oh, and P-Model is another synth-pop great.

http://park10.wakwak.com/~techno/

http://www.artcontext.com/music/artskool/jem

That second one appears to be currently down for some reason....

I love Wha-ha-ha

Also, apparently Mishio was in Killing Time, so I need to check her out.

Yes, I've been looking for Killing Time for a long time. Please let me know if you get a hold of their stuff.

http://www.sonymusicshop.jp/smdr/sms/img/goods/L/KICS-1139.jpg

Patrick; Dleone's correct about the ReR connection, I grew up as a Recommended Records fanboy, buying anything they'd put out... Though I didn't finally hear Wha-Ha-Ha until researching backwards from the first Haniwa All-Stars record, which blew my mind in the early 90's. My interest in Senba's early Haniwa records & Wha-Ha-Ha is precisely because they're so eccentric & hard to figure out. I don't imagine they're particularly representative of early 80's JPop.

the yesasia site is listing this album in hosono searches, the title is killing me... have you heard it?

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=FHCF-2344

The easiest way for me to get this stuff to you is through Soulseek. My name on their is Magazine, so message me if you use that program. The only other way I can think of is YSI, which will take a little while (though it's not too much trouble really).

B'angelo has some requests too. Whatever you guys request, I'll get it to you some time this weekend (or now if you have slsk).

Cochin Moon, way closer to mid-70's Cluster than I would have ever expected (though I do prefer Cluster). A surprise, even given Dominque's Tangerine Dream reference -- definitely in the 70's trance/synth records pantheon.

Bon Voyage & Tropical Dandy much more tin-pan-alley than electronic, but Paraiso is off-kilter, lays the way out for the first YMO. Omni Sight Seeing, thumbs up if you like late YMO. I like Hosono's solo mainstream pop records much more than Sakamoto's, no contest.

Miharu Koshi's Boy Soprano, wow.

And the Mishio Ogawa & Chakra stuff is eye-opening after a lifetime of Haniwa fandom. Chakra's much more straightforward / less quirky, but I'm very happy just to be able to place Haniwa in context with, well, _anything_.

Boy Soprano, the Mishio Ogawa debut, & Cochin Moon are the three I ordered online after hearing the mp3's.

Am I correct that this has Sakamoto on it?

I dunno though... even though his pop is weirder than Sakamoto's, Sakamoto's pure experimental albums (B-2 Unit & Esperanto) are 1000% more bizarre and advanced than Hosono's, those albums are timeless.

http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/pid-1004088657/code-j/section-videos/

(this should probably go on the noise board's wha-ha-ha thread but too late)

Kiyohiko Senba and his Haniwa All Stars

BTW, what exactly did Andy Partridge do on B-2 Unit?

I dunno Matthew, you heard Esperanto?

You mean that electric guitar in the right-channel that's barely audible and sounds as if it's unplugged? If so, that's...odd.

I dunno Matthew, you heard Esperanto?

Most of it — I just re-listened again this morning (have about 6 tracks downloaded). Assuming they aren't remixes, I'd say it's good but no B-2 Unit — lots mallet-y textures and ambience. But if you think I'm missing something, maybe I should re-download to verify that I'm listening to the right tracks.

ha, I first heard it with "members of the Vas Deferens Organization" too. My member was Eric

news you can use: japanese CDs are too damned expensive

I am beginning to miss the days when people were relatively certain they were talking about the same record. A few days ago at a dinner party someone put on something interesting, and when I asked what it was he said it was the new Boards of Canada. He didn't believe me when I told him that it wasn't, he just brought over to his iPod to show me the tags.

I put on Omni Sight Seeing last night, that is definitely my favorite Hosono pop album, every song...

And I first read that as "tripping on acid with members of Van Der Graaf Generator.

I am beginning to miss the days when people were relatively certain they were talking about the same record.

No kidding — but I think Dom's "news you can use" is the culprit in this instance. And actually, that's one of the 2 tracks I don't have. Still, p2p's are great for finding rarities...

Is there a good Hosono comp, btw?

I had both Matt and Eric in the room, with running commentary and interpretive facial expressions. THAT is a proper introduction to Cochin Moon, let me tell you.

I don't know either! I saw it on the SteveHoffman forums.

La Masto de Tenkirin is sublime.

Did folks get their Dandies?

Some kind soul uploaded a few good quality scans of the reissue to Discogs. I love Hosono's rambling essay.

"When I was a child, I experienced many accidents like falling into ponds or falling from the pier and hitting my head on the side of a boat. So I've always had a deep connection with water and I love port towns."

"So everyone, let's embark on this journey together before the Japanese archipelago sinks into the ocean."

not yet but thanks for the reminder! nice to see this in fairly wide distribution, hope it's a good sign for more reissues to come

This is a genuine question:

That thing that happens at 7:09 into Laugh Gas -- does anybody else do that?

It's a sonic move I've heard on RPG soundtracks from the '90s, but those are shoots that grew out from the toppled trunk of Yellow Magic Orchestra. Do artists exist that *weren't* influenced by Hosono, who make similarly unapologetic moves in such a bold way? For that matter, are there acolytes of Hosono who are keeping that flame of badass and utterly confident silliness burning?

I don't have an answer to your questions but I have always wondered what HH might have been listening to in coming up with that track in 1989.

I mean, that track strikes me as being pretty cutting edge for its time, and all the more impressive for a guy 20 years into his career.

My first listen to Cochin Moon today and I'm struck by how like 90s Mouse on Mars it sounds ... in 1978.

"Hepatitis" is a track that really deserves a different title.

Cochin Moon is one of the albums my mind jumps to whenever I encounter the phrase "perfect album"

Several students of mine in the YMO elective a while back agreed that Hepatitis sounds like a virus running rampant inside its human host.

along those lines if you haven't heard the original version of "Cosmic Surfin" (it's on the Pacific album), seek it out immediately - absolutely wild synth work

Looks like there's gonna be another "reimagined" Hosono album, this time Tropical Dandy! The video for the first single/cover just went up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbgAEUdmRBs

yeah okay those bouncy noises about 5-6 minutes into Side 1 do feel like a Mouse on Mars thing, I think they've talked about this record before so that's probably where they got that from

another bit that might've been influential is the beginning of "Revel Attack". it's like something Aphex Twin might've come up with. until it suddenly bursts into something like OPN's Replica

Sometimes it hits me all over again that the Final Fantasy main/crystal theme is a Nokto de la Galaksia Fervojo tribute track. In such moments, the beauty and sweetness of life are replenished.

What are Hosono's saddest songs?

I'm not sure if "sad" is the best word but the first thing that came to mind was when "sea of tau" transitions into "windy land"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ_oKKzdYdk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlXX-Bhzhrg

very moving imo

I'd have to leave it up to someone who actually translates the lyrics!

but, one song that I think is a big emotional void is "Dark Side of the Star"

Touche ^__^

That's the thing, though -- Hosono's music, as I hear it, is all intrepid light and hope. His lyrics circle around moments of poise, longing, community, gratitude -- I've still to investigate HoSoNoVa properly but I don't think there's anything sorrowful on there either. His music is eerie or disconcerting pretty often, but it's the kind of eerie that makes me think about how beautiful and mysterious life is. I was listening to (the fantastic!) Good Sport the other day, and soaking in that "God, it's great to be alive" vibe, and started wondering -- how often has Hosono made music that's purely *sad* ?

I love the two suggestions above. I'd add Normandia to the list... I was thinking also of La Travida Malgojo de Giovanni, but that one is so fragile, it doesn't seem to quite qualify as "sad" either -- I think maybe just like BGM's transition into Windy Land.

Fuuuuuck, Dark Side of the Star is really as good as music gets, huh. SFX could be my stealth favorite Hosono record.

Every time shuffle turns up something off of Echo de Miharu, my mind gets blown. Radical album.

Also also -- so my "walkman" (portable player of digital music files) with the broken screen is still going strong. I'll sometimes throw a bunch of stuff into Audacity, turn it into a single-file playlist, and then upload it onto the walkman. I did this last week with all-Hosono (or Hosono-produced) material, but I didn't let myself curate, I just opened a bunch of album folders and tossed stuff in, intending to forget what was on there before I even hit "Export audio". Well, so, fast forward a week, I'm listening to this "mystery mixtape" in the morning, and there is a song on here that is drop-dead gorgeous, and I have no memory of ever hearing it before. It's all-instrumental (so I have no way of ID'ing it). It's got the Hosono touch alright. And it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard...? Where on earth is this from???? It sounds like it could be a centerpiece on Omni Sight Seeing. Clearly it's SOMEWHERE on my hard drive, but...... and it's marked Hosono, but........ all I have is a 30-minute file called "Hosono mixtape 260109".

I'm not complaining, mind! This is just..... so Hosono!!! Leave it to him to put a twinkling-dreamstar masterpiece onto some obscure release somewhere...

Awwww, Normandia is on this mixtape too. Melting

This is really very, very nice. Accidental glory. Not hard when everything is Harry-made/overseen, granted. Here's a link. The magnificence I wrote about xpost is..... no! No indeed, I shall not timestamp it! At least, not yet! Your task is to enjoy the whole mixtape first.

xxp can you hit it with Shazam or similar while playing it back?

all-instrumental? I clearly hear Miharu Koshi's voice on the 2nd track...what is this exactly? It doesn't even sound like a Hosono track until that crazy middle part...

if you're talking about the track around 11:30, I am pretty sure that is something from the Love, Peace, and Trance album.

or is the next track at 15:20 the one you're talking about? I'd have to relisten to be sure but that's from the first World Standard LP? one of those which Hosono was involved with but isn't the main artist? coincidentally I just got the reissue of it in the mail last week - it's a great album, sounds like Japanese environmental music meets Penguin Cafe Orchestra.

can't ID the track after that either, but it's clearly him :)

i love this thread

thanks for the mix

<3 @ maf you

The Koshi is from Echo de Miharu, the 1986 Miharuomi album with Hosono on "treatments".

Oh, is that Love Peace & Trance at 11:30? I'd been thinking it was Good Sport, another contemporaneous dose of ambient bliss -- I don't know those two well enough yet to distinguish! The two songs I couldn't place are the 15:15 and the 18:48. Are they perhaps *both* from the World Standard debut, then? I thought the 18:48 could be World Standard, but was totally stumped by the 15:15. There was a spell when I listened to that debut record a lot, but -- blessed forgetfulness, I suppose it's time to revisit!

and there is a song on here that is drop-dead gorgeous, and I have no memory of ever hearing it before. It's all-instrumental (so I have no way of ID'ing it). It's got the Hosono touch alright. And it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard...? Where on earth is this from???? It sounds like it could be a centerpiece on Omni Sight Seeing. Clearly it's SOMEWHERE on my hard drive, but...... and it's marked Hosono, but........ all I have is a 30-minute file called "Hosono mixtape 260109".

I'm not complaining, mind! This is just..... so Hosono!!! Leave it to him to put a twinkling-dreamstar masterpiece onto some obscure release somewhere...

(To be clear, this was about the song that starts at 15:15.)

oh yeah, that's off of philharmony ("luminescent/hotaru"). its wonderful.

er, oops! misunderstood and that's just what kicks off the mix haha

Luminescent/Hotaru is SO wonderful. I've spent the whole day in awe of those alarm sirens that rise, rise, and turn into pings of synth.

<3

ok, so, I had to cheat and use shazaam but the other one IS shazaam-able. feel like I shouldn't spoil the fun but... it's from 1985

which, given his output back then, prob narrows it down to hundreds of tracks

okay, figured out all three:

11:30 is "Dreamtime Lovers" by Love, Peace, and Trance
15:15 and 18:48 are tracks 5 and 6 off the World Standard debut.

both albums well worth a listen by the way. I've been hoping for a LP&T reissue for *years*. maybe some day.

So it WAS World Standard! Soiichiro Suzuki was on some wavelength back then -- I would've sworn that was a Hosono melody. Can now rephrase to "a melody worthy of Hosono", which may be the first time I've used the phrase

Thank you for the shazzaming + digging, you two.

its a bit similar to Inoyamaland's Danzindan-Pojidon in that it does have Hosono's general vibe to it to the extent that you suspect he was involved with some of the writing. amazing how many times a song has come up on shuffle where I won't know what it is but I'll figure out that Hosono had to be involved with it in some way.

I've been hoping for a LP&T reissue for *years*

the cd has been pretty common on the used market for a long time… just checked on discogs and prices have gone up but… not tooooooo bad. was expecting worse given prices in general and the hosonossaince the last few years.

the album is musically 90s as hell if you ask me but the booklet and packaging are, like, objectively 90s… its a good cd listen, i think

cant believe "Hasu Kriya" didn't make Pure Moods

OOohh, "the Hosonossaince".

Thought of the evening: Capricious Salad gives Sports Men a run for its "greatest pop song ever recorded" money.

Also, I've been making myself more of those "mystery mixes". The hardest thing is waiting a week to play them back, haha. Nothing I couldn't ID on this one, but it's good. Folksier than the last.

It's amazing how well both of these mixes have flowed, even though I gave exactly zero thought to order! I was tossing things into Audacity through squinted eyes, to make sure I wouldn't register the song titles... I suppose that's what comes of making "omni sight seeing" not just the name of one album, but an entire career animating spirit.

Also also, mindblowing discovery of the week: Morio Agata is a member of the back-up vocal choir on Worry Beads. I know perfectly well which Agata tracks have Harry on them, but it never occurred to me that Agata might appear on a Harry song.

Capricious Salad gives Sports Men a run for its "greatest pop song ever recorded" money.

Hosono's production on this certainly is incredible.

Hosono's basslines rule so hard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahY07g4Qnwk

when I hear the live takes on "Tong Poo" circa 1979 or so I think he could've made it as a fusion bassist

I think today might actually be the 33rd birthday of Medicine Compilation From the Quiet Lodge, if you're in a meditative mood. That record holds up beautifully. Hosono was very much at the forefront of electronic music still. It's such a fantastically produced album front to back, such an easy album to get enveloped in

Made myself another of those blind Hosono mixtapes, and been playing it a ton this week. I woud like to say it's weird that I can select several random Hosono songs, toss them into Audacity in a random order, and come out with something which sounds as full of forethought, and as carefully sequenced, and also -- bizarrely, you'd really think! -- as cohesive any record in his official discography. But then I remind myself that this is the man whose finest solo album is probably the geographically and generically restless Omni Sight Seeing. So: no surprise, really. And yet it's incredible.

I'm finally listening properly to Sketch Show. Audio Sponge was merely okay on first two listens, but now I'm listening for the third time and it sounds totally fantastic. YMO lives again!

It did take me a while to fully appreciate that one. I still think a song or two could've been trimmed in the middle. But it's got such a warm and welcoming sound to it, it's deconstructive but doesn't feel bare, I think in 2002 it must've totally felt like where electronic pop might be going but it just wasn't. Still like Loophole a lot more - I think I heard it pretty close to when it came out, thinking it was great but something that might not hold up. It really does though...again, glitch pop didn't really take off the way I thought it might, so records like this sound pretty unique still