Light In The Attic Us 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: U.S label Light In The Attic has previously served up compilations exploring various Japanese takes on Western music, most notably folk, rock, ambient and new age. Here they switch tack, curating a brilliant double-album set that showcases the best Japanese synth-pop, AOR and boogie recorded between 1976 and '86. The quality threshold remains impressively high throughout, from the blue-eyed-soul breeze of Taeko Ohnuki's "Kusuri Wo Takusan" and the Chaz Jankel-meets-Thompson Twins style throb of Haruomi Hosono's "Sports Men", to the talkbox-sporting late night AOR-pop flex's Hiroshi Satoh's "Say Goodbye" and the glistening, Latin-influenced jazz-funk brilliance of Masayoshi Takanaka's steel pan-sporting "Bamboo Vender".

Review: Light In The Attic aren't short of successful reissues and compilations in their catalogue, but the Pacific Breeze trips into Japanese city pop, AOR and boogie must be some of the most widely adored and conceptually solid. There's an allure in these crisp, refined productions which never fails to charm, especially for non-Japanese audiences drawn in by the culture. As ever, this latest volume brings to light some truly stellar music and it's all packaged with the LITA attention to detail. Extended artist bios, new artwork from Hiroshi Nagai are but some of the reasons to snap up this executive package as soon as possible.

Review: U.S label Light In The Attic has hit gold with this hugely popular series. It has done three volumes by now but here comes a welcome reissue of the first from a few years ago. After compilations exploring various Japanese takes on Western music, most notably folk, rock, ambient and new age they switched tack, curating a brilliant double-album set that showcases the best Japanese synth-pop, AOR and boogie recorded between 1976 and '86. The quality threshold remains impressively high throughout, from the blue-eyed-soul breeze of Taeko Ohnuki's 'Kusuri Wo Takusan' and the Chaz Jankel-meets-Thompson Twins style throb of Haruomi Hosono's 'Sports Men', to the talkbox-sporting late night AOR-pop flex's Hiroshi Satoh's 'Say Goodbye' and the glistening, Latin-influenced jazz-funk brilliance of Masayoshi Takanaka.

Review: As the third installment brings attention back on this crucial series, Light In The Attic are running a repress of their second voyage into the plentiful realm of Japanese city pop - another extended cruise through impossibly slick '70s and '80s groovers with that golden studio sound. There's sultry slinkers like Eiichi Ohtaki and sensual funk from Kimiko Kasai on "Vibration (Love Celebration)". Watch out for the heavy bass and subtle synth inflections of Yu Imai's incredible "Kindaichi Kosuke Nishi E Iku" and the impossibly catchy whistlealong 'Hot Sand' by Piper. It's not a competition, but if you crave that US AOR sound, it might just be that the Japanese did it better.

Review: The 'Pacific Breeze' series documents the best of Japanese city pop, the genre that took such metropoli as Kyoto and Osaka by storm in the mid 1970s and from then on. With blistering optimism, the tracks on this third compilation blend funk, surf and R&B elements, forming a heady stew of music, all of which has been remastered in only the most pristine multi-channel quality.