Following the huge success of the previous album, this is the second compilation album that delves further into the history of Japanese reggae pop!
This masterpiece collection includes many rare and hard-to-find recordings that sublimate lovers and new wave, exploring a diverse and experimental sound never before heard in either Japan or Jamaica!
Ryuichi Sakamoto left Japan for the first time in his life in 1978. His destination was neither America nor Europe, but Jamaica. With YMO on the brink of releasing their debut album, Sakamoto was invited to play synthesizer on a song by Japanese idol singer Teresa Noda at Dynamic Sound Studios in Kingston. The band featured some of Jamaica's finest musicians, including the legendary Rita Marley. Little-known fact is that this experience marked Sakamoto's discovery of dub music and the beginning of a passionate love affair with reggae throughout Japan. Produced by pioneering Japanese musician Kazuhiko Kato, the two Teresa Noda tracks, "Tropical Love (A1)" and "Yellow Moon (B4)," feature lush strings and horns reminiscent of Philadelphia soul. Coincidentally, they open and close the album as reggae with a more sophisticated pop feel than the lovers rock that emerged in the UK that same year. Many of the other tracks on the album also reinforced the globalizing musical trends of the 1980s, adding a refreshingly exotic touch to the city pop sounds of the time, creating entirely new music. Yosui Inoue's "Anata ni Wakaru (Understanding You) (A2)," produced by keyboardist Yuji Kawashima "Banana" of Kyoto post-punk band EP4, features post-New Wave reggae ridum interspersed with mysterious sounds that anticipate ASMR, and the experimental and playful dub treatment, combined with Yosui's surreal lyrics, creates a unique worldview. Furthermore, Kei Ishiguro brought in J-Reggae pioneer Pecker to create the bold track "Red Drip (B2)," reminiscent of Stevie Wonder. The influence of Compass Point Studios, synonymous with the studio work of Grace Jones, Sly & Robbie, and Wally Badarou, is evident on Juicy Fruits' "O Shi E Te A Gue Ru (A3)" and Yuki Nakayamate's "3/Trois - Trois (A4)." While the lyrics of Risa Minami's "Blue Jamaica (B1)" lack persuasive power, the distinctive drum machine-driven riddum in many ways reflects Japanese society at the time more than its Jamaican influence. While the previous album focused on city pop, this album features a broader, more experimental selection of works. A prime example is the hybrid dub-pop collaboration "Sad Vaudevillian (B3)" with Tomoko Aran, Yasuaki Shimizu, and Mariah, showcasing how reggae has traveled so far and been reconstructed in entirely new forms. In this way, we realize that Japanese reggae had forged a musical language distinct from Western cultural hegemony and had arrived at a very unique worldview shaped by the capital and creativity of the time.
