Following the recent success of theTokyo Dreaming, Wewantsounds comes with another compelling set, this time compiled by city pop expert DJ Notoya who has dug the rich Nippon Columbia catalog to bring a breezy selection of funky gems. Nippon has amassed an incredible back catalog over the decades. Particularly strong in the ’70s and ’80s, the label was one of the main purveyors of great music at a time when Japan was entering its greatest economic boom and labels had budgets at hand to create the highest quality music. As Notoya explains in the liner notes “Back in the day, the record companies had big budgets and could afford to have many great musicians playing on one record, plus strings and horn sections, top drummers and keyboardists. It all made for a very rich sound, which is generally very different to today’s music.”

Keen to emulate the music created in the US by their American counterparts, Japanese musicians came with their own blend of funk, boogie and soul that has come to be known as city pop. The selection onTokyo Glowis full of such gems and starts with “Kimugare” a relaxed, mid-tempo track by Kumi Nakamura, famous actress who only recorded one album in 1980 for Columbia. The set continues and flows effortlessly with the sunshine grooves of Miyuki Maki, Hatsumi Shibata and cult keyboard player Hiroshi Sato before the pace starts going faster and funkier with New Generation Company, Kengo Kurozumi — with his superb boogie, “Juggler” — and one of the queens of the genre, Hitomi “Penny” Tohyama with “Tuxedo Connection”. Tokyo-based DJ Notoya is from a new breed of Japanese DJs there focusing on nippon music and is an expert on funk, modern soul, and boogie from the Island.

WithTokyo Glow, Notoya says he “focused more on the slightly more underground tracks from the era, rather than the bigger, well-known releases. For me that was a more fun and satisfying approach.” Another fine example on the set is the mid-tempo groove of “I Wander All Alone Part III” by New Generation Company, an aggregate group of some of the best Japanese session musicians led by arranger Katz Hoshi and including Hiroyuki Namba, Kazuo Shiina, and Yutaka Uehara.Tokyo Glowshowcases the diversity and specificity of Japanese city pop during the late ’70s and ’80s. Also features Haruyoshi Yamashina, Sumiko Yamagata, Makoto Iwabuchi, Arakawa Band, Kiyohiko Ozaki, Ken Nishizaki, Jadoes, Midori Hara, Mizuki Koyama, Haruo Chikada & Vibra-Tones, and Mitsuko Horie.

Tracklist:

1. Kumi Nakamura – Kimagure
2. Miyuki Maki – Indo No Michibata
3. Haruyoshi Yamashina – Osake To Joke
4. Sumiko Yamagata – Natsu No Hikari Ni
5. Hatsumi Shibata – Party Is Over
6. Makoto Iwabuchi – Moonlight Flight
7. Hiroshi Sato – Saigo No Tejina
8. Arakawa Band – Paradises Dream
9. New Generation Company – I Wander All Alone (Part III)
10. Kiyohiko Ozaki – Ojosan Oteyawarakani
11. Kengo Kurozumi – Juggler
12. Ken Nishizaki – Koi No Paradigm
13. Jadoes – Simply Another Love
14. Midori Hara – Aamar Jabar
15. Hitomi ‘Penny’ Tohyama – Tuxedo Connection
16. Mizuki Koyama – Oh! Daddy
17. Haruo Chikada & Vibra-Tones – Sofa Bed Blues
18. Mitsuko Horie – Chigasaki Memory