DJ Notoya - Tokyo Bliss (Japanese Funk, Boogie And City Pop From King Records 1974-88) Vinyl LP

Following the success of the Tokyo Glow and Funk Tide sets, Wewantsounds once again teams up with Tokyo-based DJ Notoya for a breezy selection of funk and boogie recorded in Japan for King Records in the '70s and '80s. Most tracks here are making their debut on vinyl outside of Japan and the album, like its predecessors, has been designed by Optigram's Manuel Sepulveda and is annotated by DJ Notoya. The audio has been newly mastered in Tokyo by King Records and remastered for vinyl by Colorsound in Paris. For Tokyo Bliss, Japanese Funk expert DJ Notoya has picked a diverse selection of great funk, boogie and city pop tracks recorded between 1974 and 1988 for King Records, one of the most venerable record labels in Japan.

These tracks -- which are in demand on the Japanese groove scene -- are mostly new to international ears and showcase the breadth and quality of Nippon music recorded during the '70s and '80s. The selection kicks off with the group Buzz, a folk duet formed in the early '70s by Hiroshi Koide and Masakazu Togo who released a handful of albums for King during the '70s. The track "Garasumado" (Glass Window) is from the 1974 album Requiem The City which was produced by Nobuyuki Takahashi, the older brother of future YMO superstar Yukihiro Takahashi. At the time both were members of cult group Sadistic Mika Band. Next comes the synth boogie sound of singer Mami Ayukawa, who was active on the Japanese music scene in the mid-'80s, followed by drummer Johnny Yoshinaga's 1978 hard funk "The Rain" featuring great keyboards action from Hiroyuki Namba, one of Tatsuro Yamashita's key musicians. Keiko Toda's mid-tempo delight "Fade In" was released in 1983 and adds a touch of class to the ensemble with its languid rhythm and synth riffs. The rest of Tokyo Bliss alternate between the stylish funk-folk floater "Bokura no Date" by Koji Kobayashi from 1978 and the '80s funk bomb "Your Love's Away" by Kumiko Sawada, produced by prolific guitarist Kazuo Takeda with his group Creation, who is backing Sawada here. The selection closes with the superb Moog and Fender Rhodes-led space funk instrumental "Paper Machine" released in 1977 by Fujimaru Band and which ends the set on a perfect note.