various artists - Japan For Sale Vol. Two

If Japan is for sale, then I guess I'm buying.

I've been on a buying spree lately. I found a few solid penny CD auctioneers on eBay, plus I'm still in the thrift stores 2 or 3 times a week. It's made a bit of a dent in the bank account, so I think it's probably tijme to cool it, at least thru the end of the year. I have a ton to listen to, a ton to box up; no need to add to it unless it's the deal of the century.

Or I can just recognize that I treat anxiety with retail therapy sometimes.

ANYWAY...

I copped this one for less than a buck on the basis of it having POLYSICS and Puffy Amiyumi on the comp and some very fun Shag artwork, Clearly, it doesn't take much for me at that price point. But here's the second of four snapshots of the SonyMusic Japan family at the turn of the millenium. This one's fascinating to look back at, especially with how strong a force K-pop is now around the world. It makes me wonder how such a diverse music culture fell out of view.

Shit, I'm probably just musing on account of subscribing to Crunchyroll and watching a bunch of anime.

Discogs

Click here to download.

Yusuke Homma - Fushigi Yûgi・ Original Soundtrack

Not a compilation, per se, but it's a pretty cool find, features multiple performers of Yusuke Homma's score, and this is my blog, not yours. So it's allowed.

Mrs. Ape, the Mummy Mommy, has been revisiting a lot of anime in recent months. And I manage to turn up a lot of Taiwanese grey-market soundtracks out in this part of the country. Put it all together, and she's thrilled whenever I show up with the music from one of her childhood favs. Yusuke Homma's anison for Fushigi Yugi, featuring vocals from Akemi Satou and Yukari Konno, hits that sweet spot for both of us. For her, it evokes adolescent weekdays after school in a small town on the Central Coast, slotted beside the likes of Sailor Moon. For me, it's some of that sweet, sweet J-pop, reminding me it's a-ok to still get stoked on anime, even as I'm nearer to 50 than 15.

Discogs

Click here to download.

Sailor Moon & The Scouts - Lunarock

Here's another shameless grab at clicks and downloads, featuring the late-90s voice talent from the English language "Sailor Moon". It should not surprise you in the least that this is a North American-only release; no Japanese company would record and release something like this.

I'm no great expert on anime soundtracks or video game music, but I come across a fair amount of it in discount bins and thrift stores around these parts, so I guess I have a greater than average familiarity, because I'll be damned if I can pass it up. I think it's great that the best in that industry have gained worldwide recognition in the past two decades, thus negating the need for a market specific release like this. It never ceases to amaze me how content providers will underestimate the tastes of their audience, dumbing it down while localizing while neglecting what makes an IP interesting in the first place.

Anyhow, here's the second North American market Sailor Moon release. It's a far cry from the Takanori Arisawa composed and arranged from the original Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn series, but it worth remembering, I suppose. But it does combine English language music recorded for DIC's localization with Japanese songs from idol group DALI and vocalist Yoko Ishida. It gives it this weird mix of second-rate Stan Bush vibes with the occasional Harajuku outburst.

Hell of a week to misplace my main hard drive, is really what I'm getting at.

Discogs

Click here to download.