Needle Time

  Hiroshi Sato - Time [HMJA-101 JPN 2015 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I own three albums by Japanese keyboard whizz kid, Hiroshi Sato - well he was still in his twenties when this album was originally released in 1977 - Time was his second album and gets its debut outing to Needle Time from the 2015 HMV Japan repress. Essentially a city-pop album, Time blends jazz, soul, funk and Japanese MOR-style harmonies into the broadest possible entertaining listening experience, it even has a bits of honky-tonk, Hawaiian surf-guitar & oriental blues thrown in for good measure. Harry Hosono supplies the bass for a few tracks (he had to be involved somewhere) and the jazz vocal harmonies are supplied by Time Five. A1 Time A2 Joint A3 Minami Kaikisen A4 Choit A5 Yamate Hotel A6 Bad Janky Blues B1 Mezame B2 Akanegumo-No Machi B3 Black Coffee B4 Island Fantasy B5 Kage-Ni Mukatte B6 Saigo-No Tejina B7 Merry-Go-Round

  Hiroshi Sato - Super Market [HMJA-124 JPN 2019 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released on the Wave Concept label in 1976, in Japan. Never released outside Japan, here is the slick city-pop of Super Market , conceived during trips to Los Angeles by Sato and delivered as a mix of AOR, pop, jazz, rock, soul. Hiroshi was on a journey to make his mark in electronic music - if you haven't already check out my rip his excellent Orient album. Super Market echoes where so many of his contemporaries also began, with heavy influences of American jazz-rock, soul and funk. This is a slick, almost (dare I say)  smoochy album, delivery with panache and style - for me the highlight has to be High Times (very apt) where Sato builds traditional Japanese classical music, spacey electronics & dreamy jazz-rock into a gorgeous multi-dimensional instrumental. A1 私の彼氏は200歳 A2 レインボー・シーライン A3 F. W. Y. A4 用意はいいかな A5 Night In L.A. B1 High Times B2 いとしのマリー B3 スーパー・マー...

  Hiroshi Sato - Orient [WWSLP 12 FRA 2020 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released during 1979 on Kitty Records (MKF-1047) in Japan only, We Want Sounds have licensed this classic album of breezy Japanese synth-exotica (the sleeve is a clue) - my copy is from a limited edition of 100 blue vinyl pressings. If you've been following my recent run of Japanese bits (there is plenty more to come) you need this, if you have been ignoring my jap-obsession, then you need to start listening now. A1 カリンバナイト A2  孫悟空 A3  月の子の名前はレオ A4 ドンカマ B1 浄土 B2 空飛ぶじゅうたん B3 ピクニック B4 ひかる風