Light in the Attic released a third, weirder, less categorizable compilation in their Japan Archival Series. The series consists of Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980–1990 and Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976–1986 (which are both equally perfect in their well-defined scope), and now Somewhere Between: Mutant Pop, Electronic Minimalism & Shadow Sounds of Japan, 1980–1988.
Each track has at least a toe if not a whole foot in at least one different genre, but the end result is something that is so deeply invested in experimentation that it defies labels. It’s refreshing to hear, since we are bombarded with overproduced music that sounds similar across multiple genres. The tracks on this compilation are great and weird and the more you listen the less weird they get and the more you want more.
The track I’ve selected, Area by Neo Museum, has a goth-y dark synth austerity that I can’t stop listening to.
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