The Techno-kayō Gems of Tamao Koike

Worthwhile obscurities lastly compiled in a single place

While I suppose I do know loads about Yellow Magic Orchestra, not less than annually I discover one thing beforehand unfamiliar and someway dive even additional into the rabbit gap that actually by no means ends. This is very true for the band’s early ‘80s interval; along with their work as a band, their label Alfa launched Yen Records, a manufacturing playground for bassist Haruomi Hosono and drummer Yukihiro Takahashi. During Yen’s brief run from 1982 to 1985, Takahashi and particularly Hosono launched and infrequently produced fascinating off-kilter synthpop and digital music by rising skills. One might argue that the label’s catalog of infinite gems completely encapsulated bubble-era Japan’s alternatives for inventive experiments at a extra mainstream-adjacent stage.

One Yen Records artist who sadly by no means took off was Tamao Koike, a mannequin whose new CD TAMAO – Complete Yen Years paperwork the whole lot of her short-lived try at techno-kayō (late Shōwa period Japanese synthpop) stardom. Though solely obtainable in Japan on the irritating Blu-spec CD2 format (it’s not even obtainable for streaming or obtain), it is stuffed with melodic catchiness and complicated manufacturing that deserves to be extra broadly heard. The "full" side should not be intimidating; it compiles each final model of each tune Koike recorded for Yen, on the intensive size of 53 minutes.

According to the liner notes (translated with Google), Tamao Koike turned a mannequin at age 15, with a closely stylized look, assuming that the CD booklet’s barely later pictures are something to go by. She befriended the brand new wave band Plastics, and in addition appeared within the music movies for Yukihiro Takahashi’s 1981 solo LP Neuromantic. Presumably, she signed to Yen Records shortly after its launch. Like loads of fashions who attempt to grow to be singers, Koike didn’t write her personal materials, however collaborated with Guernica’s Koji Ueno, Plastics’ Toshio Nakanishi, and all of YMO. Of course, there was virtually no room for musical failure there.

In 1983, Tamao Koike debuted with the YMO-composed and backed “October In The Mirror” 7”. It can be her solely modern launch, and either side characteristic the identical tune—a Japanese model with a full band association on facet A, backed with an ambient French model on the B-side (the latter with the much less particular translation “Automne Dans Un Miroir”). The Japanese model bears huge drums, layers of pulsating synth chords, and maximalist layering of minimal components attribute of YMO’s different 1983 output. Yet the French model’s sparse manufacturing is rather more efficient, teeming with extremely refined however infinitely detailed synths that truly sound like an autumn evening way back. Koike delicately sings about nostalgia for a previous affair, her virtually whispery vocals pushing in the direction of the highest of her vary. The French model’s lack of drums higher highlights the melodic modifications within the bridge, additional affirming “Automne Dans Un Miroir” as a fully indelible ambient-leaning techno-kayō tune.

Koike recorded different materials, although none of it received contemporarily launched underneath her personal title. She sings on Hosono’s 1982 “Sangokuchi Love Theme,” a single recorded for an NHK TV present. At merely two minutes, it options one other fantastic melody, a shortly ascending and descending line that Koike sings with ease and gusto. The moreover included “unique karaoke model” replaces her voice with an extra synth line; it’s equally nice and wouldn’t sound misplaced on YMO’s equally melancholic-yet-joyful Naughty Boys Instrumental. Koike additionally sings backing vocals on Hosono’s “Yume-Miru Yaku-Soku,” a non-album minimize adjoining to the latter’s Philharmony and its childlike playfulness.

Koike recorded with Plastics’ Toshio Nakanishi, however was an excessive amount of of a perfectionist to launch any of it. “Sexanova,” the only obtainable monitor from the Nakanishi classes, is breezy metropolis pop with an angular new wave edge, although it doesn’t compete with Hosono’s expertly sculpted productions. Thankfully, there are a couple of extra of these: an electronically ornate albeit faithfully organized cowl of Sly & The Family Stone’s “Runnin’ Away” (Hosono should love There’s A Riot Goin’ On), the lilting “Kanariya” (the one tune the place Koike wrote the lyrics), and “Tamago,” a tune she recorded with YMO for a TV business. That one is overly redundant, however gratifying for the absurdity of Koike’s sampled vocals flying throughout the soundstage as Hosono performs considered one of his funkiest bass traces. There’s additionally an annoyingly stuffy remix of “October In The Mirror” (made for a 1985 Yen Records compilation), in addition to extra instrumental and TV variations.

By far essentially the most unconventional materials are the three songs credited as “Keiichi Ohta that includes Tamao Koike,” with a manufacturing credit score for Koji Ueno. Ueno was the musical power behind Guernica, an operatic synth cabaret challenge with lyricist Ohta and singer Jun Togawa. Thus, these three songs taken from Ohta’s 1983 Yen LP Jingai Daimakyo (impressed by Mushitarō Oguri’s novel Jingai Makyo) are basically Guernica with Koike changing Togawa, and the outcomes are attention-grabbing however considerably awkward. Koike’s singing was extra mannered than Togawa’s strident eccentricity, although she wasn’t made for these frankly weird oddities like “Deep Sea S.O.S.,” which appears like a malfunctioning circus.

None of TAMAO – Complete Yen Years is new, however that is the primary time that any cheap quantity of Tamao Koike is in a single place; beforehand, these songs had been scattered throughout prohibitively costly CD field units and different non-album obscurities. Thus, it’s a welcome rediscovery, even when there’s an excessive amount of “October In The Mirror" (although you may’t argue in opposition to the completism).

Why launch this now? That’s unclear, as “Automne Dans Un Miroir” isn’t precisely a YouTube algorithm megahit, although Koike’s dedication within the booklet reads “for Y.T. and R.S.”—YMO’s just lately departed Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Perhaps Koike needs to safe her small musical legacy whereas she nonetheless can, or possibly she merely felt a wave of nostalgia. Whatever the case, it’s fantastic to legally hear these songs with out breaking the financial institution. As a pleasant bonus, TAMAO – Complete Yen Yearsends with YMO’s instrumental demo of “October In The Mirror.” This easy rendition demonstrates the core trio’s dexterity and precision as session musicians, and is considered one of their solely formally launched work-in-progress bits.

It might sound that Tamao Koike fell off the face of the earth as soon as her perfectionism halted her makes an attempt at idol stardom. That’s not totally true. She married photographer Kaoru Ijima and therefore modified her surname. From what little info I can discover, evidently she modeled for not less than a couple of extra years after her marriage. As Tamao Ijima, she launched 1992’s Dusk ’Til Dawn, an English-language EP produced by Plastics’ Nakanishi. Unfortunately, it’s a slightly boring challenge of moody downtempo electronics, coming uncomfortably near grownup modern schlock.

While I nonetheless detest the Blu-spec CD2 format, TAMAO – Complete Yen Years sounds fairly first rate. Some of those songs had been digitally recorded and/or blended to start with, although tonality is okay even when barely too squeaky-clean. The new remasters make use of some limiting, although the dynamics aren’t in any respect crushed. It’s not fairly a sonic spectacular, however with no comparability level, there’s hardly something to complain about. I’m most likely one of many few individuals in America who up to now owns this CD, however I hope extra Japanese synth-pop lovers (for which there’s clearly a rising viewers) try this compilation. Available at CDJapan and HMV.