Deluxe bundles feature tri-colour vinyl, a printed beach towel and a custom die-cut obi card.
Reissue specialists Light In The Attic are readying the release of a new compilation entitled Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976-1986.
Set for arrival on May 3rd, the 16-track collection chronicles songs from the city pop musical movement that accompanied Japan’s economic boom predominantly throughout the 1980s.
The label acknowledges the release to be the “first-ever fully authorised overview of Japan’s ‘city pop’ genre outside of Japan”, and further elaborates that listeners should expect “choice cuts that range from silky smooth grooves to innovative techno pop bangers and everything in between”.
Among the artists included on the expansive release are Minako Yoshida, Yukihiro Takahashi, Haruomi Hosono, Hitomi Tohyama and Yasuko Agawa, of which all have prominently featured in our vinyl-only mix series Laundry To Do Music To.
Newly commissioned visual art was provided for the compilation’s cover by Tokyo-based artist Hiroshi Nagai, whose work featured on many of the genre’s defining albums throughout the 1970s and 80s.
Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976-1986 marks the third release in the label’s Japanese archival series, following Even A Tree Can Shed Tears: Japanese Folk & Rock 1969-1973 and Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental, & New Age Music 1980-1990. Last year also saw the label embark upon an extensive reissue campaign of works from Haruomi Hosono’s solo career.
Other notable releases from the label’s discography include reissues of albums by Donnie & Joe Emerson, Pastor T.L. Barrett, Rodriguez and neo-soul luminary D’Angelo.
View the compilation’s cover art and track listing below.
Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976-1986:
01 Tomoko Soryo – ‘I Say Who’
02 Taeko Ohnuki – ‘Kusuri Wo Takusan’
03 Minako Yoshida – ‘Midnight Driver’
04 Nanako Sato – ‘Subterranean Futari Bocci’
05 Haruomi Hosono – ‘Sports Men’
06 Izumi Kobayashi – ‘Coffee Rumba’
07 F.O.E. – ‘In My Jungle’
08 Akira Inoue, Hiroshi Sato, Masataka Matsutoya – ‘Sun Bathing’
09 Hiroshi Satoh – ‘Say Goodbye’
10 Yukihiro Takahashi – ‘Drip Dry Eyes’
11 Masayoshi Takanaka – ‘Bamboo Vender’
12 Shigeru Suzuki – ‘Lady Pink Panther’
13 Haruomi Hosono, Takahiko Ishikawa, Masataka Matsutoya – ‘Mykonos No Hanayome’
14 Yasuko Agawa – ‘L.A. Night’
15 Hitomi Tohyama – ‘Exotic Yokogao’
16 Tazumi Toyoshima – ‘Machibouke’
Pre-order Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976-1986 here. Vinyl pressings include black and “tri-colour” options, and deluxe bundles of the compilation will include a printed beach towel, liner notes and a custom die-cut obi card.
Words by Sam Wilkinson.
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