Somewhere Between: Mutant Pop, Electronic Minimalism & Shadow Sounds Of Japan 1980-1988

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Seattle’s Light in the Attic label is a crucial conduit to the West for the bygone sounds of Japan. Following <i>Pacific Breeze</i> volumes 1 and 2, which collected the sprightly city pop of the late ’70s and early ’80s, and <i>Kankyō Ongaku</i>, a compilation of ambient from the ’80s, the label sets its sights on esoteric sounds that hover in between those two poles. Noriko Miyamoto’s “Arrows & Eyes,” which opens the album, is something of a red herring: Though many of the compilation’s songs are rooted in pop, its entries mostly stray far from recognizable signposts. R.N.A-ORGANISM’s “Weimar 22” pairs a skulking hip-hop beat with the squealing oscillators of a lo-fi noise act; Perfect Mother’s “Dark Disco-Da·Da·Da·Da·Run” offers a twisted fusion of goth and post-punk. Perhaps best encapsulating the collection’s vanguard spirit is Mishio Ogawa’s “Hikari No Ito Kin No Ito,” in which a melody befitting a Broadway musical is set to a beat that’s part New Wave and part jazz. Every song is a potential departure to points unknown, yet the whole thing holds together remarkably well as a cohesive listening experience. Musicological textbooks don’t come much more immersive than this.

via Apple Music