Landolt-C Blog

A singer-songwriter born in Hiroshima Pref. in 1958, Shinji Harada's debut album (#1 on the Japanese pop album charts). Released when he was 19 years old. Pop and melodic sound featuring piano, brass and strings, influenced by Western pop music, like Paul McCartney and Elton John. He composed and sung all the songs, played piano, keyboards, guitar and other instruments, arranged almost all the songs and produced the album with Takuro Yoshida. Includes the first two singles, "Teen's Blues" and "Candy". The guest musicians are Tatsuo Hayashi (drums), Shigeru Suzuki (guitar), Tsugutoshi Goto (bass) and others. The lyrics written by Takashi Matsumoto. The 2007 digitally-remastered reissue CD includes the third/fourth singles, "Shadow Boxer" and "Time Travel". His first three singles ranked top 20 in Japanese pop chart simultaneously. Ryuichi Sakamoto plays keyboards in "Shadow Boxer".

A British synthpop band, Depeche Mode's seventh studio album. The most commercially successful album to date (#2 on the UK album charts, #7 on the US). Considered their best work by lots of fans. Synthpop with a melancholy mood, like the previous two albums. Simple and strong melodies and sound production. Includes hit singles, "Personal Jesus" featuring bluesy guitar, "Enjoy the Silence" (#6 on the UK charts, #8 on the US), "Policy of Truth" and "World in My Eyes".

A single-disc compilation (RCA) that includes 22 well-known pieces (digitally remastered) composed by Henry Mancini, an American composer, conductor and arranger known for his film and television scores. Romantic and jazzy orchestral pop in the easy-listening/lounge style. Features movie themes, "Moon River" (from "Breakfast at Tiffany's"), "Experiment in Terror", "Baby Elephant Walk" (from "Hatari"), "Days of Wine and Roses", "The Pink Panther Theme" and others. A theme from TV drama "Peter Gunn" has been covered by lots of jazz/blues/rock artists, and the cover of Art of Noise with Duane Eddy is famous.

A female singer who debuted in 1965, Chiyo Okumura's compilation album (2 CDs). Compiled by Jun Miura, a manga artist/illustrator who calls himself a Chiyo Okumura fan, and released in 1994. Includes 40 tracks mainly forcusing on her songs released in around 1965-1971. Showa Kayo in the Enka/GS style, featuring Chiyo Okumura's coquettish and sensual vocals. Includes singles, "Gomenne Jiro (Sorry Jiro)" (1965), "Kitaguni no Aoi Sora" (a cover of the Ventures' "Hokkaido Skies") (1967), "Koi no Dorei (Slave of Love)" (1969. Her biggest hit song), "Shuuchakueki (Terminal Station)" (1971) and others. Recommended to Showa Kayo fans. The songs composed by Kunihiko Suzuki, Kyohei Tsutsumi, Keisuke Hama and others. "Look of love" is a cover of Burt Bacharach. "aux Camps-Elysées" is a cover of famous French pop song "Les Champs-Elysées" with Japanese lyrics.

An English punk band formed in 1976 by T.V. Smith (vocals, songwriting) and female bassist Gaye Advert, the Adverts' debut album (#38 on the UK album charts). Lots of dark, melodic songs filled with frustrations. Includes the singles, "One Chord Wonders", "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" (#18 on the UK charts), "Safety In Numbers" and "No Time To Be 21". Produced by John Leckie. Recommended to those who like the Damned and Buzzcocks. The 200 reissue CD "Ultimate Edition" includes 12 bonus tracks.

The volume 1 of the Odaka Prize-winning Japanese contemporary music works performed by NHK Symphony Orchestra. Toshiro Mayuzumi's "Nirvana-Symphony" (1958) (conducted by Hiroyuki Iwaki) is a stereoscopic piece with "Campanology Effect" technique (the orchestra reproduces the sound of Buddhist temple bell based on its data analysis) and Buddhist (Zen and Tendai) texts performed by three groups of male chorus and orchestra, like Shomyo (Japanese Buddhist chant). Recommended to those who like Messiaen's "Turangalîla Symphonie". Also includes Akira Miyoshi's "Concerto for Orchestra" (1964) (conducted by Hiroyuki Iwaki) and Michio Mamiya's "Two Tableaux for Orchestra '65" (1965) (conducted by Yuzo Toyama).

A new wave/techno pop band led by Chuji Akagi (vocals, guitar), Films' only official album. Released when Nobuo Nakahara (bass. Later he joined Portable Rock and Yapoos) and Takumi Iwasaki (synths, keyboards) were the members. Futuristic techno pop like Buggles, featuring Akagi's catchy pop songs and Kanji Honma's elaborate programmings of Roland MC-8. Includes the 1st single "TV Phone Age". All the songs written, composed and arranged by Chuji Akagi. The lyrics are mainly Japanese and partly English. The 2009 reissue CD (digitally-remastered by Akagi) includes 4 bonus tracks (2nd single "Girl" and 3 live recordings).

A brother/sister duo of Karen and Richard Carpenter, the #1 hit maker of American pop music of the 1970s, Carpenters' double-CD best compilation. Features Karen's melancholy vocals by full use of low voices and Richard's classical arrangement. Includes "Yesterday Once More" (#2 on the US charts), "Top of the World" (#1 on the US) and many other good A&M pop/soft rock tunes. "Ticket to Ride" is a cover of the Beatles. "(They Long to Be) Close to You" (#1 on the US) is a cover of Burt Bacharach. "Please Mr. Postman" (#1 on the US) is a cover of the Marvelettes. Originally released in 1985. The 24-bit digitally-remastered CD was released in 1998 with the addition of an extra track "I Just Fall in Love Again".

Beethoven's two string quartets full of maturity in technique in his later days, No.15 in A Minor, Op.132 and No.16 in F Major, Op.135. No.15 is a joyful, mleodic five-movement piece with beautiful harmonies, known for its long, impressive third movement with Phrygian mode (one of the old church modes). No.16 is one of his last works, and a small, compact piece in open and upbeat atmosphere, like Haydn. selected from Smetana String Quartet's complete string quartets digital recordings (1976-1985).

A singer/songwriter known for his acoustic guitar-centric melodic songs based on blues and folk, Masayoshi Yamazaki's best compilation album. "Blue Period" is originally a digitally remastered 2-CD single A-side collection released in 2005, and this 2008 renewal edition is a set of 4 discs, 2 SHM-CDs (includes additional 4 single tracks after the release of the original) and 2 DVDs (includes 21 music videos). Icludes "Celery" (covered by SMAP), "One More Time, One More Chance" (#18 on the Japanese pop charts. The theme song for the movie starring himself, "Tsuki to Kyabetsu/One More Time, One More Chance". Also used in Makoto Shinkai's anime film "5 Centimeters Per Second"), "Boku wa Koko ni Iru (I'm Here)" (#3), "Passage" (#6), "Ashita no Kaze (Tomorrow's Wind)" (#6), "Zenbu, Kimi Datta (You were All)" (#3), "Mikansei (Unfinished)" (#3), "Bokura wa Shizuka ni Kieteiku (We Go Away Quietly)" (#6), "Christmas in August" (#6. The theme song for the movie of the same title, starring himself) and others.