Chorus.fm Record of the Week Club • Page 79

This is somehow true while also unlike everything else coming out at the time. She did not follow conventions on this thing. Someone on RYM has said it feels like being transported to a liminal, alternate-80’s dimension where something was wrong with the time machine and you’ve landed in an upside-down world where it rains all the time. A bit of a precursor to the vaporwave genre in that way.

 

City-pop rules, I wish the Pacific Breeze collection that I have on vinyl was on streaming. Excited to check this out while I work tonight

 

So obsessed with city-pop right now. So much great stuff that ranges in sound. Akina is a fav but she is one of many.

 

Oh yea, that’s was not meant to be derogatory. Really enjoyed my first listen. One thing that really stood out on my first listen is the way the vocals are mixed. They are pretty low for the most part, but every once in a while, she really belts it and they break through. It really works to create an atmosphere that I can’t quite describe at the moment.

 

FYI this comp you mentioned seems to be available as a playlist since most of the tracks are available on streaming on their intended albums.

I also have a big playlist of my own that I can share later this week. It’s city-pop heavy but also touches on a lot of other stuff. Will share after peeps check out Akina.

 

Hey friends, if you enjoyed this album and want to check out Akina’s other stuff, I definitely recommend it. I’m still digging through her enormous discography which ranges a ton in sound. Aside from Fushigi, I really enjoy these albums as well by her:

Bitter and Sweet
D404ME
Crimson
Stock
Femme Fatale
Cruise

Also, as promised, here is my big playlist of Japanese (non-ambient) music. City-pop is the big genre represented here, but there’s also a fair amount of Japanese post-punk, art-rock, synth-pop, dreampop, jazz-fusion, and more—all primarily from the 70’s to early 2000’s. Throw it on shuffle and enjoy the sprawl. FYI I still add to it pretty often; so if you have a recommendation, please share.

 

Enjoyed the Akina record this afternoon. Lots of cool '80s textures like others have said. I do feel like a hot bright midwestern day is not the ideal environment for it, and I want to try it again on a winter night in the city.

 

Thanks for listening, guys

@Wharf Rat your turn!

 

Okay folks first of all I'm very sorry I've been very bad at keeping up with this but I have a banger for you and it's not even jam bands.

We're going with Binker & Moses - Alive in the East? which is a 45 minute unedited live tape from the London jazz scene that has largely defined contemporary jazz in the last decade or so. I can fairly confidently say it is my favorite contemporary jazz record full stop.

Binker on sax and Moses on drums are obviously the core of it, and their collab is probably each of theirs' defining projects so far. They are joined by Yussef Dayes who you might know from his What Kinda Music record with Tom Misch from 2020 or as the non-cancelled half of Yussef Kamal whose Black Focus was also seminal in the scene. Yes that's two drummers on this, and it's tighter than any of the (many) jam bands that have attempted that.

What makes it the most unique though, other than the wild fusion of afrobeat danciness and spiritual jazz euphoria, is Tori Handsley on harp. There is a long tradition of jazz harp but Tori doesn't sound anything like Alice Coltrane or Brandee Younger, she plays the thing like a rhythm guitar.

They are rounded out by Byron Wallen on trumpet and Evan Parker (a bona fide free jazz legend) on saxophone, who play the coolest two-horn jam I've ever heard in my life on "Children of the Ultrablacks." The riff they find that starts at ~4:40 on that one is one of my favorite moments in all of music

 

Hell yeah, Binker and Moses are great but I don’t think I’ve heard this one.

 

Listening to Akina now - love the instrumentation immediately, the funk/slap bass and the vibraphone sounds mixed with all the wooshing production flairs is a real unique vibe. Reminds me of Casiopea if they weren't so happy all the time. Really cool how she uses pretty much the exact same sounds as any city pop record but creates such varied moods

 

Alive In the East? is so good. The playing is just amazing, and the way it builds and releases is spectacular. Every time I hear a live jazz record like this, I simultaneously wish I had put more effort into playing jazz and also know that I'd never be even 1% as good as they are.

 

Hittin' Binker now

 

V much enjoyed Binker and Moses. Need to give it further listens to really mine out the details. I really love the way the harp is played on this though. Drums are also insane all the way through. Children of the Ultra Blacks and Mishkaku’s Tale are my favorites on first listen.

 

Glad yall have enjoyed!! Really love this thing, a big staple for me

 

Finally got around to checking out the Akina Nakamori record. Fucking excellent. Sounds so massive and vibrant. I need to listen to everything she has released now haha

 

@Albe your turn!

 

so… i was going to pick a denali album but thought that might be too mainstream. instead i went for something i assume none of y’all will have heard. this is a side project from gavin castleton. he was in gruvis malt in the late 90s, and most recently has been playing with bad rabbits and the dear hunter. i saw one of the few shows he did with this band. it’s got that weird olneyville providence lightning bolt thing going for it. hope you dig it.

 

sounds fun, def haven't heard of it

 

Never heard of that either! Excited to listen

 

Thank you albe

 

Not banning Albe finally paying off

 

Some of the synths on this are straight up Doctor Who intro music, and I mean that as a compliment. Really cool mix of proggy influences too. It's a long album but since it's mostly short songs it flies by.

 

i haven’t listened to this album in almost twenty years but it honestly hits better now than it did. it’s nice being instrumental, we were playing it in the kitchen yesterday and the whole family was vibing.

gruvis malt might appeal to a lot of y’all. super groovy. i was researching ebu more, and all the members were in gruvis at one point.

 

The Binker and Moses record is pretty great. Jazz is something I never really seek out but I was vibing. These guys have so much talent.

Ebu Gogo was cool. Could easily pass as a score for a video game imo