Utakata No Hibi - Mariah (1983)

ideated from: the oddest stuff I could find from a random album list generator

I wouldn’t feel comfortable putting a tag of “Swedish” or “South African” just because an artist was from a particular country, but somehow labelling this as “Japanese” is pretty descriptive. It has that sense of being distinctly Japanese, but also grappling with all kinds of western musical styles and integrating the two.

The thing that stands out to me is how forward-thinking it sounds for 1983. It has some 80s postpunk and new wave trappings but it takes a while to realize that this isn’t a throwback; it was actually made in the 80s. It just sounds like it hopped into a time machine in a weird way.

Tracks I Liked

Sokokara - a very modern drum sound. Sounds like When In Rome doing a Talking Heads cover.

Hana Ga Saitara - punky edge.