Tokyo Glow

Tokyo Glow deepens an affiliation between the French reissue label Wewantsounds and the fathomless catalog of Japans Nippon Columbia. In addition to reissuing Ryuichi Sakamotos crucial Thousand Knives, Wewantsounds previously trawled the margins of the Nippon Columbia archive for Tokyo Dreaming. That compilation favored the esoteric side of the labels 70s and 80s catalog. This, selected by Tokyo native DJ Notoya, emphasizes what is loosely classified as city pop -- relatively commercial recordings across a vast, smooth, and bright landscape of post-disco R&B, adult contemporary pop and soul, soft rock, and even fusion. It therefore complements Light in the Attics Pacific Breeze and Pacific Breeze 2 sets, making the material accessible far outside Japan and beyond hardcore record collectors. The one artist this has in common with Tokyo Dreaming is the charismatic and effervescent singer Hitomi "Penny" Tohyama, whose "Tuxedo Connection" is sophisticated dancefloor funk clearly influenced by Quincy Jones early-80s productions for the likes of the Brothers Johnson (with a bit of Skyys "Heres to You" to it). A few hew closer to art pop, such as the crystalline "Aamar Jabar" by Midori Hara, the most distinctive vocalist here for the way she stretches notes while wrapping her voice around what sounds like the low end of a Yamaha DX7 held down by a skilled Chuckii Booker acolyte. The few 70s selections -- from Sumiko Yamagata, Hiroshi Sato, and Makoto Iwabuchi -- all take easy, pleasant strolls down the middle of the road. Among other more fascinating curiosities are Mizuki Koyamas vivacious pop-R&B hybrid "Oh! Daddy" (with all-English lyrics), Kumi Nakamuras capering "Kimagure" (somewhere between Michael Franks and Seawind), and Haruo Chikada & Vibra-Tones Kid Creole-indebted "Sofa Bed Blues," the only one that whoops it up (if politely so). ~ Andy Kellman