"It is my great pleasure to introduce you to the second volume of the "Japanese Jazz Spectacle" series. Following the first compilation which focused on recordings from the Nippon Columbia catalog, this time we are digging into the King Records archives. It is almost impossible to capture the whole picture of Wa-Jazz in a couple of compilation albums since it is such a broad and deep genre, however, by extracting tracks from the Nippon Columbia and King Records collections - both labels having an extensive archive of jazz music - we may be able to glimpse a part of its allure and essence. This time again, I have made the music selection with this idea in mind. The music in this compilation was recorded between 1962 and 1985 and is a brief history of Japanese jazz on King Records. Listening is believing, so I hope these tracks will capture your heart and that you will enjoy the charms of Japanese jazz." - Yusuke Ogawa

Yusuke Ogawa has been running the Universounds store in Tokyo since 2001, specializing in jazz and second-hand, rare, and collector records. He is also a reissue supervisor, label manager, DJ, and music writer. Known for his vast musical knowledge, eye for detail, and archival skills, Ogawa has worked on more than 250 reissues and compilations – including the highly praised Deep Jazz Reality and Project Re:Vinyl series. He is the co-author of the Wa-Jazz Disc Guide and the Independent Black Jazz of America books.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Another winning set from WaJazz, shining a light on Japan's King Records across two decades. Ranging from wild honk to louche lounge and dazzling jazz-funk; it's a supreme collection for any lover of the genre.

TRACK LISTING

1. Toshiaki Yokota & The Beat Generation - Clair Deluge
2. Tadao Sawai & Toshiyuki Miyama & New Herd Orchestra - Constant Rain
3. Akira Miyazawa - Yamame
4. Various Artists - Ma Mère L'Oye
5. Masao Yagi - Blossom In The Water
6. Masahiko Togashi & Isao Suzuki - A Day Of The Sun
7. Yasuko Nagamine & Yasuaki Shimizu - Summer Wind
8. Hideo Shiraki - Sayonara Blues
9. Masahiko Togashi & His Improvisation Jazz Orchestra - Desireless
10. Takeru Muraoka & His New Group - Lady Boogie
11. Yoshio Ikeda - Down To The Sea
12. George Otsuka Quintet - Loving You

Exorcising Ghosts (1984) is a 16-track 2LP set compiled and produced in consultation with lead singer David Sylvian, two years after Japan dissolved.

This career spanning ‘Best of’ features three recordings from the band’s early career on the Hansa Records label (including 1979’s “Quiet Life”) but mainly focuses on material from their two seminal studio albums on Virgin Records; Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980) and Tin Drum (1981).

TRACK LISTING

Side A
Methods Of Dance
Swing
Gentlemen Take Polaroids
Quiet Life
Side B
A Foreign Place
Nightporter
My New Career
The Other Side Of Life
Side C
Visions Of China
Taking Islands In Africa
Ghosts
Songs Of Pioneers
Side D
Voices Raised In Welcome, Hands Held In Prayer
Life Without Buildings
Talking Drum
The Art Of Parties

Universounds, HMV Record Shop and 180g team up for an exceptional release: from blazing hard bop to free jazz, to introspective saxophone solos and massive big band sounds, renowned Japanese jazz expert Yusuke Ogawa presents an essential 14 track collection of "WaJazz" music taken from the Nippon Columbia vaults. Featuring Jiro Inagaki, Minoru Muraoka, Hiroshi Suzuki, Hozan Yamamoto, Count Buffalo, Takeshi Inomata, and much more!

"Japanese jazz has been recognized and celebrated by music lovers worldwide for decades. The origins of this trend may be traced back to the rare groove movement that flourished in the 1990s, but its current deep and wide popularity seems to be connected to the fact that Japanese people have been reevaluating their own jazz since the mid-2000s, locally referred to as WaJazz ("Wa" meaning Japan but also theShōwa emperor period, from 1926 to 1989). Since the beginning of the 2000s, there has been a growing trend to move away from the DJ-focused perspective and to appreciate jazz with a deeper understanding. Nowadays, there is more and more interest in the background and roots in which jazz has developed in Japan, with Japanese jazz as a whole now considered as its own distinctive genre.

Of course, even if we speak about "WaJazz" as one genre, there is a truly wide variety of styles within it. However, when Japanese musicians play, there is something uniquely Japanese flowing through that creates a kind of synergy. It may be the melody, the rhythm, or even something deeper, like an inexpressible flicker. I would be happy if some of its charms and secrets emerge from the fourteen tracks included in this collection." (Yusuke Ogawa)

Yusuke Ogawa has been running the Universounds store in Tokyo since 2001, specializing in jazz and second-hand, rare, and collector records. He is also a reissue supervisor, label manager, DJ, and music writer. Known for his vast musical knowledge, eye for detail, and archival skills, Ogawa has worked on more than 250 reissues and compilations – including the highly praised Deep Jazz Reality and Project Re:Vinyl series. He is the co-author of the Wa-Jazz Disc Guide and the Independent Black Jazz of America books.

TRACK LISTING

1. Tadaaki Misago & Tokyo Cuban Boys - Sakura Sakura
2. Minoru Muraoka With New Jazz Players - Muraiki
3. Count Buffalo &The Jazz Rock Band - Mago-Uta
4. Kiyoshi Sugimoto Quartet - D-51
5. Toshiyuki Miyama & The New Herd - Adult's Day
6. Soul Media - Breeze
7. George Otsuka - Sea View
8. Hozan Yamamoto, Masahiko Togashi & Yosuke Yamashita - Breath Prologue
9. Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media - Do It!
10. Hiroshi Suzuki - Romance
11. Masahiko Sato - Tochi Mo Kurumi Mo Fukiotose
12. Masahiko Togashi - Fourth Expression
13. Takeshi Inomata & Sound Ltd. - Mustache (Live)
14. Takeo Moriyama - Watarase

Somewhere Between: Mutant Pop, Electronic Minimalism & Shadow Sounds of Japan 1980–1988 hovers vibe–wise between two distinct poles within Light In The Attic’s acclaimed Japan Archival Series—Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980–1990 and Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976–1986. All three albums showcase recordings produced during Japan’s soaring bubble economy of the 1980s, an era in which aesthetic visions and consumerism merged. Music echoed the nation’s prosperity and with financial abundance came the luxury to dream.

Sonically, Somewhere Between mines the midpoint between Kankyō Ongaku’s sparkling atmospherics and Pacific Breeze’s metropolitan boogie. The compilation encompasses ambient pop, underground electronics, liminal minimalism and shadow sounds—all descriptors emphasizing the hazy nature of the nebula. Out–of–focus rhythms wear ethereal accoutrements, ballads are shrouded in static, and angular drums snake skyward on transcendent tones. From the Avant–minimalism of Mkwaju Ensemble and Yoshio Ojima, to the leftfield techno-pop of Mishio Ogawa and Noriko Miyamoto (featuring members of YMO), and highlights from the groundbreaking Osaka underground label Vanity Records, these are blurry constellations defying collective categorization.

These tracks also exist in a space of transition when the major label grip on the Japanese recording market began to give way to the escalation of independents. Thanks to the idyllic economic climate and innovations in domestically–manufactured music gear, creators on the edges were empowered to focus on satisfying their artistic visions in the open headspace of home studios. While labels like Warner Music and Nippon Columbia explored new sounds through traditional channels, it was possible for Vanity, Balcony and other indie labels, not to mention self–released artists like Ojima and Naoki Asai, to publish their work via affordable media such as cassettes, 7" vinyl, and flexi–discs.

Expertly curated by Yosuke Kitazawa and Mark “Frosty” McNeill (dublab), Somewhere Between is a collection of music, much of it released for the first time outside Japan, that is bound more by energetic vibration than shared history, genre or scene. They are the sounds of transition and searching—a celebration of the freedom found in floating.

TRACK LISTING

Noriko Miyamoto - Arrows & Eyes
Mishio Ogawa - Hikari No Ito Kin No Ito
Yoshio Ojima - Days Man
Mkwaju Ensemble - Tira-Rin
R.N.A-ORGANISM - WEIMAR 22
Naoki Asai - Yakan Hikou
Takami Hasegawa - Koneko To Watashi
Mammy - Mizu No Naka No Himitsu
Dip In The Pool - Hasu No Enishi
Wha Ha Ha - Akatere
D-Day - Sweet Sultan
Perfect Mother - Dark Disco-Da·Da·Da·Da·Run
Neo Museum - Area
Sonoko - Wedding With God (À Nijinski)

That Japan’s breakthrough record Quiet Life was released in both 1979 and 1980 is uniquely fitting for a band who were about to step out of the glam rock, post punk shadows of the late 70s and deliver an as yet genre-less record that would come to define the 80s.

Quiet Life was the third, final and most successful release on the Hansa Records label. A forerunner for the alternative/new wave sound of the new decade, the album would become one of the great classic British albums.

The record is now the subject of a major new reissue featuring a brand new Abbey Road half-speed remaster of the original album, alt mixes, b-sides, singles, rarities and live material – including the sought after ‘lost’ Live at Budokan show from March 1980 previously only available as the 4 track EP ‘Live in Japan’.

We are working directly with original band members Steve Jansen and Rob Dean, producer John Punter and with consultant advice from band biographer Anthony Reynolds and the Japanese Shinko archive.

The release features newly restored original album artwork, new liner notes with contributions from band members and original producer, rare and unseen photography and memorabilia.

TRACK LISTING

LP – QUIET LIFE
A1. Quiet Life (2020 Remaster)
A2. Fall In Love With Me (2020 Remaster)
A3. Despair (2020 Remaster)
A4. In Vogue (2020 Remaster)
B1. Halloween (2020 Remaster)
B2. All Tomorrows Parties (2020 Remaster)
B3. Alien (2020 Remaster)
B4. The Other Side Of Life (2020 Remaster)

CD1 – QUIET LIFE
Quiet Life (2020 Remaster)
Fall In Love With Me (2020 Remaster)
Despair (2020 Remaster)
In Vogue (2020 Remaster)
Halloween (2020 Remaster)
All Tomorrows Parties (2020 Remaster)
Alien (2020 Remaster)
The Other Side Of Life (2020 Remaster)

CD2 – A QUIETER LIFE: ALTERNATIVE MIXES & RARITIES
European Son (Steve Nye 7” Remix 1982)* [10/02/21]
Life In Tokyo (Steve Nye 7” Special Remix 1982)
Quiet Life (Original German 7” Mix 1980)*
I Second That Emotion (Steve Nye 7” Remix 1982)*
All Tomorrow’s Parties (Steve Nye 7” Remix Version 1983)
European Son (John Punter 12” Mix 1980)
Life In Tokyo (Steve Nye 12” Special Remix Version 1982)
I Second That Emotion (Steve Nye 12” Remix Version 1982)
All Tomorrow’s Parties (Steve Nye 12” Remix Version 1983)
European Son (Steve Nye 12” Remix Version 1982)
Quiet Life (Japanese 7” Mix 1980)* [18/01/21]
A Foreign Place
All Tomorrow’s Parties (John Punter 7” Mix 1979)
Life In Tokyo (Theme Giorgio Moroder Version 1979)* [05/03/21]
Deviation (Live In Japan)
Obscure Alternatives (Live In Japan)
In Vogue (Live In Japan)
Sometimes I Feel So Low (Live In Japan)

CD3 – LIVE AT THE BUDOKAN 27/03/1980
Intro*
Alien*
...Rhodesia*
Quiet Life*
Fall In Love With Me*
Deviation*
All Tomorrow’s Parties*
Obscure Alternatives*
In Vogue*
Life In Tokyo*
Halloween*
Sometimes I Feel So Low*
Communist China*
Adolescent Sex*
I Second That Emotion*
Automatic Gun*
*rare Or Unreleased

That Japan’s breakthrough record Quiet Life was released in both 1979 and 1980 is uniquely fitting for a band who were about to step out of the glam rock, post punk shadows of the late 70s and deliver an as yet genre-less record that would come to define the 80s.

Quiet Life was the third, final and most successful release on the Hansa Records label. A forerunner for the alternative/new wave sound of the new decade, the album would become one of the great classic British albums.

The record is now the subject of a major new reissue featuring a brand new Abbey Road half-speed remaster of the original album, alt mixes, b-sides, singles, rarities and live material – including the sought after ‘lost’ Live at Budokan show from March 1980 previously only available as the 4 track EP ‘Live in Japan’.

We are working directly with original band members Steve Jansen and Rob Dean, producer John Punter and with consultant advice from band biographer Anthony Reynolds and the Japanese Shinko archive.

The release features newly restored original album artwork, new liner notes with contributions from band members and original producer, rare and unseen photography and memorabilia.

TRACK LISTING

Quiet Life (2020 Remaster)
Fall In Love With Me (2020 Remaster)
Despair (2020 Remaster)
In Vogue (2020 Remaster)
Halloween (2020 Remaster)
All Tomorrows Parties (2020 Remaster)
Alien (2020 Remaster)
The Other Side Of Life (2020 Remaster)

J Jazz volume 3 is the latest in its definitive compilation series exploring the finest modern jazz from Japan. Since the first volume in February 2018, the J Jazz compilation series has showcased some of the most creative, inspired and sought-after jazz recorded in Japan during a golden period spanning the 1960s to the 1980s. Illustrating the richness and versatility of the composers and musicians on this collection, the music spans a wide yet coherent range of styles: samba, funk fusion, modal, spiritual, post-bop and bossa all combine to present an aural portrait of a jazz scene that was constantly moving and shifting its multiple musical centres of gravity. Mastered at the Grammy-nominated Carvery studio in London, many of the tracks featured are reissued for the first time, including mega-rare private press cuts from the Yasuhiro Kohno Trio, Masaru Imada Trio, and Hideyasu Terakawa Quartet. There’s heavy post modal bop by J Jazz legends Kohsuke Mine and Koichi Matsukaze; samba heat from Tatsuya Nakamura, Hideo Shiraki and Seiichi Nakamura; and funky dance floor energy by Hiroshi Murakami, Ryojiro Furusawa Quartet and Shigeharu Mukai. 

TRACK LISTING

Song Of Island
Morning Tide
Kemo Sabe
Groovy Samba
Song For Hope
Cumorah
Phoebus
¼ Samba II
Cumulonimbus
Burning Cloud
Planets
Wolf’s Theme
Honey Sanba
Kirisame
Black Nile
Acoustic Chicken

Over the years Argentinian duo Klik and Frik have taken the bubbling Latin electronic scene to deeper levels and in the process garnered support from the likes of Vice, Billboard, Red Bull as well as sharing line ups with Squarepusher, The Orb, Nina Kraviz, Detroit Swindle and more. Their debut album was released in 2017 and featured friends Nicola Cruz, Chancha Via Circuito and Mohanad Zohair. But it is impossible to talk about Klik & Frik without first delving into their origins as the explosive Frikstailers. The Frikstailers (pronounced freak-stylers), composed of duo Rafa Caivano and Lisandro Sona, exploded onto the scene in 2006 by turning the who electro-cumbia genre on its head. Fusing cumbia with dancehall, hip hop and electronic beats they took tropical to extraterrestrial levels and tore up unsuspecting dancefloors across the world. Their unique style has seen them put out remixes on DFA Records, Young Turks / XL Recordings, Mad Decent ("Hold The Line" Cumbia style anyone?) and included on Modeselektor’s "Modeselektion Vol 2". They have played sessions on KEXP, Boiler Room and NPR and their debut album caught the attention of XLR8R and more. But during their journey as Frikstailers, Rafa and Lisandro found they were maturing in their ideas, sounds and productions. They needed a musical outlet that enabled them to showcase more subtle and textured sounds for the dancefloor that weren’t just upbeat bangers. They wanted to go deeper. In 2013 they were invited to play Mutek Mexico on the Red Bull Music Academy stage and so they began making new music. They explored indigenous sounds (which at the time had been largely ignored) and started to blend them with deeper electronic production. The resulting hypnotic, ritualistic and meditative blends were debuted at Mutek Mexico under their new moniker Klik & Frik. With rich layers of electronic synthesizers and groove boxes the "Refugio EP" has a unique approach to the ancestral influences of South America. From the bass propelling opener "Achalay" (meaning 'How Beautiful') textured with glitches and synths, to the quenacho flute and hypnotic beat on "Refugio" (Refuge), to the piano on "La Puna Satie" inspired by French composer Erik Satie, and the euphoric "Las Penas", the EP is a deep and meditative melding of influences. The traditional quenacho and pinkullo flutes feature across the tracks as a tribute to the indigenous music and mysticism of Argentina. The "Refugio EP" is a reflection on the need for human connection, refuge and a noble reasons to keep going at a time when the world is burning both politically and literally.

TRACK LISTING

Achalay
Refugio
La Puna Satie
Las Penas

Live in Japan is the second live album by Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela. It was released on independent label Rubyworks Records on October 17 and October 20  2008 in Ireland and the UK, respectively. The album captures Rodrigo & Gabriela making their live Japanese debut, at Tokyo’s Duo club on March 30, 2008.

TRACK LISTING

Disc: 1
1. Satori
2. Ok Tokyo
3. Juan Loco
4. Ixtapa
5. Viking Man
6. Orion
7. Take Five
8. Foc

Disc: 2
1. Stairway To Heaven
2. One
3. Tamacun
4. Gabriela Solo
5. Rodrigo Solo
6. Diablo Rojo

Following the sell-out success of our landmark compilation, J-Jazz: deep modern jazz from Japan 1969-1984, BBE Music is thrilled to present another exploration into the very finest Japanese modern jazz. J-Jazz 2 builds on the solid foundation of the first compilation and sees co-compilers Tony Higgins and Mike Peden once again pick choice sections from their own record collections.

They present a deep dive into an intoxicating and beguiling range of styles: from cinematic roaring big-band (Little G by Nobuo Hara) and sparse minimal acoustic funk (Teru-Teru Bozo by Teru Sakamoto), to deep spiritual modal epics (Dragon Dance by Makoto Terashita and Harold Land) and funk fusion (Mother of the Future by Electro Keyboard Orchestra).

J-Jazz 2 delivers more astonishing high quality jazz that will appeal the old school hard-core jazz head as much as those digging the current sounds of the current vibrant jazz explosion in the UK and USA. The specially chosen tracks on J-Jazz volume two span across 25 years of Japanese musical progression and invention. From the elegiac stark beauty of Serenade to a Dimly Lit Street and the modal vortex of Daguri, to the fierce post-bop freedom of Bull Trout and the mid-tempo bossa lilt of Vietnam, there is enough here to satisfy the most curious and demanding jazz fan seeking something extra special.

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: After scoring a sell out success with the first volume, BBE revisit the treasure trove of Japanese jazz for another killer compilation of wild cuts and diverse rarities. This is a set so deep that the listener is a cat, whiskey and coffee away from turning into a Murakami protagonist...

TRACK LISTING

A1. Makoto Terashita Meets Harold Land - Dragon Dance
A2. Kohsuke Mine Quinte - Daguri
B1. Mabumi Yamaguchi Quartet - Distant Thunder
B2. Hideto Sasaki & Toshiyuki Sekine QuarteT + 1 - Stop Over
C1. Miyasaka + 5 - Animals Garden
C2. George Kawaguchi Big Four - Vietnam
C3. Hiroshi Matsumoto & Hideo Ishikawa Quartet - Serenade To A Dimly Lit Street
D1. Electro Keyboard Orchestra - Mother Of The Future
D2. Teru Sakamoto Trio - Teru-Teru Bozu (Black Keys)
D3. Toshiyuki Miyama & The New Herd - Fallout (with Masahiko Sato)
E1. Makoto Terashita - Dai Hosaku (Great Harvest)
E2. Takashi Miyasaka Quintet - Straight Road
F1. Nobuo Hara & His Sharps & Flats Orchestra - Little Giant
F2. Akira Miyazawa - Brown Trout

In the years following the World War Two, Japan developed one of the most insatiable, dynamic and diverse markets for jazz. For a crucial period of little over a decade - from the late 1960s to the early 1980s - Japanese jazz culture progressed at an astonishing rate, producing an extraordinary array of artists, recordings and record labels that created some of the most forward thinking and impressive jazz to be committed to tape. This amazing journey is explored on ‘J Jazz’. This compilation from BBE uncovers some of the most sought after and rare material from this period and pulls together key artists who shaped the postwar modern jazz scene in Japan.

‘J Jazz' includes obscure and sought after rarities like the bass-driven power jazz of Koichi Matsukaze’s ‘Earth Mother’, the holy grail rarity of Aizawa Tohru Quartet’s ‘Dead Letter’ and the loping majesty of Takeo Moriyama’s ‘North Wind’. This collection takes the listener into deep spiritual jazz, post-modal impressionism and fierce dance-floor fusion with material from artists and composers whose names are generally only known to committed collectors of Japanese jazz. Fumio Karashima, Mitsuaki Katayama, Takeo Moriyama and Kiyoshi Sugimoto are among the names featured on an album aiming to shed a little light on the shadowy world of Japanese jazz clubs, tucked away in the neon backstreets. This music demands a wider audience and BBE are excited to deliver a landmark compilation, lifting the veil on this wonderful and mysterious area of the global jazz catalogue.

None of the tracks featured on ‘J Jazz’ have ever received an official release outside Japan before. The albums the tracks are taken from are extremely hard to find and often fetch huge sums on the collector’s circuit. Originally pressed in small numbers on independent and private labels such as Union, Johnny’s Disk, Whynot, ALM and VAP, these tracks are now available for everyone to enjoy.

Compiled by Tony Higgins and Mike Peden, both long-time collectors of Japanese jazz, ’J Jazz’ brings together the very best in modern jazz from Japan, recorded during a critical period of musical and cultural transition that saw composers and musicians not only assert a new artistic identity but also create a lasting musical legacy.

TRACK LISTING

CD
1. Koichi Matsukaze Trio - Earth Mother
2. Tohru Aizawa Quartet - Dead Letter
3. Eiji Nakayama - Aya’s Samba
4. Takao Uematsu - White Fire
5. Shintaro Quintet - A Blind Man
6. Mitsuaki Katayama - Unknown Point
7. Takeo Moriyama - Kaze
8. Fumio Karashima - Little Island
9. Kiyoshi Sugimoto - Long Neal

LP
A1. Koichi Matsukaze Trio - Earth Mother
A2. Takeo Moriyama Quartet With Shigeharu Mukai - North Wind*
B1. Tohru Aizawa Quartet - Dead Letter
B2. Eiji Nakayama - Aya’s Samba
C1. Takao Uematsu - White Fire
C2. George Otsuka Quintet - Sea Breeze*
D1. Shintaro Quintet - A Blind Man
D2. Mitsuaki Katayama - Unknown Point
E1. Fumio Karashima - Little Island
E2. Kiyoshi Sugimoto - Long Neal
F1. Takeo Moriyama - Kaze
F2. Terumasa Hino Meets Reggie Workman - Ode To Workman*

Limited to 350 numbered copies on mint coloured vinyl.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. "Changes" (2:50)
2. "Rebel Rebel" (3:10)
3. "Ashes To Ashes" (4:53)
4. "Starman" (3:46)
5. "Fashion" (4:57)
Side 2
1. "Sound & Vision" (3:34)
2. "Ziggy Stardust" (3:44)
3. "Heroes" (4:40)
4. "The Jean Genie/Gloria" (8:08)

"Devil's Music" and more! EM Records presents the re-release of Nicolas Collins' live radio sampling masterpiece, originally released on vinyl in 1986, served up in all its stuttering glory, a time capsule of the mid-80s New York City airwaves. Acclaimed by Philip Sherburne as 'an early template for techno', the album has a feel somewhat akin to scratching turntablist madness, a block-rocking party put through a blender and reassembled by body-popping demons. Nicolas Collins is a hugely influential in contemporary electronic music, having performed world wide for many years, collaborating with Christian Marclay, Elliot Sharp, David Shea, David Tudor and John Zorn, composing, recording, modifying circuits and inventing instruments,and spreading the good word through his writing and teaching. The pieces released here are only part of his ongoing, multifaceted and truly experimental activities.

Straight from the streets of Reno, Nevada comes Big In Japan and new to the Honest Don roster! Singer Zac was frontman in Zoinks and was in Screeching Weasel for a bit. A mix of classic new wave and modern pop/punk. The 12 hook laden tracks here touch on every subject from the likes of small towns to girl troubles and this is truly pop/punk for the new decade!