Somewhere Between: Mutant Pop, Electronic Minimalism & Shadow Sounds of Japan 1980–1988

The latest compilation from Light In The Attic’s ‘Japan Archival Series’ has been released in the UK. ‘Somewhere Between: Mutant Pop, Electronic Minimalism & Shadow Sounds of Japan 1980–1988’ follows the Grammy Award-nominated ‘Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990’ and ‘Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1972-1986’, released in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

‘Somewhere Between’ combines the sounds and genres explored in Light In The Attic’s other critically-acclaimed Japanese collections. Each share a focus on recordings produced during Japan’s ’80s bubble economy and technological boom — an era marked by consumerism, prosperity and abundance. This latest release manifests those ideas through rich, ambient pop music, electronic instrumentation and avant-garde songwriting and production.

Key tracks include pop duo Dip In The Pool’s ‘Hasu No Enishi’ and Mishio Ogawa’s minimal techno piece ‘Hikari No Ito Kin No Ito’. The energetic ‘Tira-Rin’ by Mkwaju Ensemble — a collaborative project between influential percussionist Midori Takada and Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi — offers another highlight, while opener ‘Arrows & Eyes’, by Noriko Miyamoto, features members of Yellow Magic Orchestra.

The compilation arrives the same month that Music From Memory releases their own compilation of Japanese music: ‘Heisei No Oto – Japanese Left-field Pop From The CD Age (1989-1996)‘ is available from February 28th.

‘Somewhere Between: Mutant Pop, Electronic Minimalism & Shadow Sounds of Japan 1980–1988’ is out now.