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CD
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WWSCD 121CD
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Hot on the heels of the Tokyo Bliss and Funk Tide sets, Tokyo-based DJ Notoya delivers Tokyo Pulse, a new juicy selection of funk and modern soul recorded in Tokyo in the '70s and '80s. Most tracks here are making their debut outside of Japan and the album, like its predecessors, has been designed by Manuel Sepulveda (Optigram) and is annotated by DJ Notoya. The audio has been newly mastered in Tokyo by Nippon Columbia Records and remastered for vinyl by Colorsound in Paris. Tokyo Pulse's lush funk selection open with the nocturnal groove of Naomi Chiaki's "Yoru E Isogu Hito," recorded in 1978. The track perfectly sets the mood with its laid-back tempo and late-night atmosphere. From there, Yumi Murata's "Ranhansha" (1979) brings a funkier touch, before the mellower funk of L-E-V-E-L's "Bagdad No Atari Nite" signals the stylistic shift toward the early 1980s. Side one closes with GAM's "Lake In The Forest," an elegant reggae-inflected piece from 1980, played by several musicians from the cult Arakawa Band. Side two opens with a leap into the late 1980s via Nami Shimada's "Mitsumeteirunoni," a superb mid-tempo electro-funk track. This is followed by the earthy folk-soul of Bread & Butter's "Memory," originally released in 1974 on Blow Up Records, and featuring a who's who of Japanese music, including Haruomi Hosono, Ray Ohara, Tatsuo Hayashi, and Shigeru Suzuki. Keyboardist Minoru Koyama's instrumental "After Image" adds a cinematic, fusion-leaning dimension, while Chikara Ueda & The Power Station's "Island Cuckoo," released in 1979 on Denon, injects a cool dose of Brazilian-tinged funk energy. The compilation closes with Higurashi's superb funk-folk track "Anata Wa Doko Ni Irundesuka," a reflective 1974 recording that brings the journey to a quietly emotional conclusion. Taken as a whole, Tokyo Pulse offers a vivid snapshot of Tokyo's evolving groove landscape, embracing a wide diversity of sounds that move fluidly between funk, modern soul, folk, reggae, electro, and jazz-inflected pop. Carefully curated by DJ Notoya, the album captures the subtle shifts in style, production, and mood that defined nearly fifteen years of Japanese music and stands as a new addition to Wewantsounds' ongoing series exploring Japan's rich musical heritage, reaffirming Tokyo's place as a city with a uniquely refined and forward-thinking musical pulse.
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LP
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WWSLP 121LP
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$33.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 5/1/2026
LP version. Hot on the heels of the Tokyo Bliss and Funk Tide sets, Tokyo-based DJ Notoya delivers Tokyo Pulse, a new juicy selection of funk and modern soul recorded in Tokyo in the '70s and '80s. Most tracks here are making their debut outside of Japan and the album, like its predecessors, has been designed by Manuel Sepulveda (Optigram) and is annotated by DJ Notoya. The audio has been newly mastered in Tokyo by Nippon Columbia Records and remastered for vinyl by Colorsound in Paris. Tokyo Pulse's lush funk selection open with the nocturnal groove of Naomi Chiaki's "Yoru E Isogu Hito," recorded in 1978. The track perfectly sets the mood with its laid-back tempo and late-night atmosphere. From there, Yumi Murata's "Ranhansha" (1979) brings a funkier touch, before the mellower funk of L-E-V-E-L's "Bagdad No Atari Nite" signals the stylistic shift toward the early 1980s. Side one closes with GAM's "Lake In The Forest," an elegant reggae-inflected piece from 1980, played by several musicians from the cult Arakawa Band. Side two opens with a leap into the late 1980s via Nami Shimada's "Mitsumeteirunoni," a superb mid-tempo electro-funk track. This is followed by the earthy folk-soul of Bread & Butter's "Memory," originally released in 1974 on Blow Up Records, and featuring a who's who of Japanese music, including Haruomi Hosono, Ray Ohara, Tatsuo Hayashi, and Shigeru Suzuki. Keyboardist Minoru Koyama's instrumental "After Image" adds a cinematic, fusion-leaning dimension, while Chikara Ueda & The Power Station's "Island Cuckoo," released in 1979 on Denon, injects a cool dose of Brazilian-tinged funk energy. The compilation closes with Higurashi's superb funk-folk track "Anata Wa Doko Ni Irundesuka," a reflective 1974 recording that brings the journey to a quietly emotional conclusion. Taken as a whole, Tokyo Pulse offers a vivid snapshot of Tokyo's evolving groove landscape, embracing a wide diversity of sounds that move fluidly between funk, modern soul, folk, reggae, electro, and jazz-inflected pop. Carefully curated by DJ Notoya, the album captures the subtle shifts in style, production, and mood that defined nearly fifteen years of Japanese music and stands as a new addition to Wewantsounds' ongoing series exploring Japan's rich musical heritage, reaffirming Tokyo's place as a city with a uniquely refined and forward-thinking musical pulse.
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CD
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WWSCD 098CD
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Following the success of the Tokyo Glow and Funk Tide sets, Wewantsounds once again teams up with Tokyo-based DJ Notoya for a breezy selection of funk and boogie recorded in Japan for King Records in the '70s and '80s. Most tracks here are making their debut on vinyl outside of Japan and the album, like its predecessors, has been designed by Optigram's Manuel Sepulveda and is annotated by DJ Notoya. The audio has been newly mastered in Tokyo by King Records and remastered for vinyl by Colorsound in Paris. For Tokyo Bliss, Japanese Funk expert DJ Notoya has picked a diverse selection of great funk, boogie and city pop tracks recorded between 1974 and 1988 for King Records, one of the most venerable record labels in Japan. These tracks -- which are in demand on the Japanese groove scene -- are mostly new to international ears and showcase the breadth and quality of Nippon music recorded during the '70s and '80s. The selection kicks off with the group Buzz, a folk duet formed in the early '70s by Hiroshi Koide and Masakazu Togo who released a handful of albums for King during the '70s. The track "Garasumado" (Glass Window) is from the 1974 album Requiem The City which was produced by Nobuyuki Takahashi, the older brother of future YMO superstar Yukihiro Takahashi. At the time both were members of cult group Sadistic Mika Band. Next comes the synth boogie sound of singer Mami Ayukawa, who was active on the Japanese music scene in the mid-'80s, followed by drummer Johnny Yoshinaga's 1978 hard funk "The Rain" featuring great keyboards action from Hiroyuki Namba, one of Tatsuro Yamashita's key musicians. Keiko Toda's mid-tempo delight "Fade In" was released in 1983 and adds a touch of class to the ensemble with its languid rhythm and synth riffs. The rest of Tokyo Bliss alternate between the stylish funk-folk floater "Bokura no Date" by Koji Kobayashi from 1978 and the '80s funk bomb "Your Love's Away" by Kumiko Sawada, produced by prolific guitarist Kazuo Takeda with his group Creation, who is backing Sawada here. The selection closes with the superb Moog and Fender Rhodes-led space funk instrumental "Paper Machine" released in 1977 by Fujimaru Band and which ends the set on a perfect note.
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WWSLP 098LP
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LP version. Following the success of the Tokyo Glow and Funk Tide sets, Wewantsounds once again teams up with Tokyo-based DJ Notoya for a breezy selection of funk and boogie recorded in Japan for King Records in the '70s and '80s. Most tracks here are making their debut on vinyl outside of Japan and the album, like its predecessors, has been designed by Optigram's Manuel Sepulveda and is annotated by DJ Notoya. The audio has been newly mastered in Tokyo by King Records and remastered for vinyl by Colorsound in Paris. For Tokyo Bliss, Japanese Funk expert DJ Notoya has picked a diverse selection of great funk, boogie and city pop tracks recorded between 1974 and 1988 for King Records, one of the most venerable record labels in Japan. These tracks -- which are in demand on the Japanese groove scene -- are mostly new to international ears and showcase the breadth and quality of Nippon music recorded during the '70s and '80s. The selection kicks off with the group Buzz, a folk duet formed in the early '70s by Hiroshi Koide and Masakazu Togo who released a handful of albums for King during the '70s. The track "Garasumado" (Glass Window) is from the 1974 album Requiem The City which was produced by Nobuyuki Takahashi, the older brother of future YMO superstar Yukihiro Takahashi. At the time both were members of cult group Sadistic Mika Band. Next comes the synth boogie sound of singer Mami Ayukawa, who was active on the Japanese music scene in the mid-'80s, followed by drummer Johnny Yoshinaga's 1978 hard funk "The Rain" featuring great keyboards action from Hiroyuki Namba, one of Tatsuro Yamashita's key musicians. Keiko Toda's mid-tempo delight "Fade In" was released in 1983 and adds a touch of class to the ensemble with its languid rhythm and synth riffs. The rest of Tokyo Bliss alternate between the stylish funk-folk floater "Bokura no Date" by Koji Kobayashi from 1978 and the '80s funk bomb "Your Love's Away" by Kumiko Sawada, produced by prolific guitarist Kazuo Takeda with his group Creation, who is backing Sawada here. The selection closes with the superb Moog and Fender Rhodes-led space funk instrumental "Paper Machine" released in 1977 by Fujimaru Band and which ends the set on a perfect note.
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CD
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WWSCD 081CD
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A stylish selection of jazz-funk from Japanese label Electric Bird, selected by DJ Notoya and featuring Yasuaki Shimizu, Shunzo Ohno, Bobby Lyle, Toshiyuki Honda, Mikio Masuda, David Matthews, and Ronnie Foster. Following the success of the Tokyo Glow compilation, Wewantsounds once again teams up with Japanese Tokyo-based DJ Notoya to dig the rich Electric Bird catalogue and come with a versatile selection of sunny jazz-funk gems recorded between 1978 and 1987 for the label. Most tracks make their vinyl debut outside of Japan and the album has been designed by Optigram/Manuel Sepulveda and is annotated by DJ Notoya. Audio newly remastered in Tokyo by King Records. A sub-label from the venerable Japanese label King Records, Electric Bird was set up in 1977 to cater for the booming Nippon jazz funk audience that King -- as the Japanese licensee for such US jazz labels at Blue Note or CTI -- had grown for years. Taking advantage of their experience and the many contacts King had garnered through their American partners, Electric Bird, headed by in-house producer Shigeyuki Kawashima, decided to apply the same formula to their new label. Kawashima began signing a new wave of jazz musicians from Japan, putting them in state-of-the-art Tokyo or New York studios and backing them with the best American and Japanese players in order to shape the slick, sun-drenched jazz funk sound that would be Electric Bird's signature sound. With Funk Tide, DJ Notoya aimed at showcasing the diversity of the label's output, from the funky opener "In The Sky" by Trumpeter Shunzo Ohno to the sunshine mid-tempo groove of sax player Toshiyuki Honda's "Living in a City" featuring Paulinho Da Costa on perc via Mikio Masuda's Fender Rhodes-infected "Let's Get Together." One of Funk Tide's highlights is certainly Katsutoshi Morizono's "Space Traveller" from 1978, a remake of James Vincent's eponymous cult classic recorded two years before with some of Earth Wind And Fire's musicians and which has since become a favorite on the groove scene. Faithful to Vincent's beautiful laid-back, breezy original, Morizono's rendition add its own spice to it, and ending Notoya's skilled selection of the cutting-edge Electric Bird label on a perfect note.
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WWSLP 081LP
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2026 restock; LP version. A stylish selection of jazz-funk from Japanese label Electric Bird, selected by DJ Notoya and featuring Yasuaki Shimizu, Shunzo Ohno, Bobby Lyle, Toshiyuki Honda, Mikio Masuda, David Matthews, and Ronnie Foster. Following the success of the Tokyo Glow compilation, Wewantsounds once again teams up with Japanese Tokyo-based DJ Notoya to dig the rich Electric Bird catalogue and come with a versatile selection of sunny jazz-funk gems recorded between 1978 and 1987 for the label. Most tracks make their vinyl debut outside of Japan and the album has been designed by Optigram/Manuel Sepulveda and is annotated by DJ Notoya. Audio newly remastered in Tokyo by King Records. A sub-label from the venerable Japanese label King Records, Electric Bird was set up in 1977 to cater for the booming Nippon jazz funk audience that King -- as the Japanese licensee for such US jazz labels at Blue Note or CTI -- had grown for years. Taking advantage of their experience and the many contacts King had garnered through their American partners, Electric Bird, headed by in-house producer Shigeyuki Kawashima, decided to apply the same formula to their new label. Kawashima began signing a new wave of jazz musicians from Japan, putting them in state-of-the-art Tokyo or New York studios and backing them with the best American and Japanese players in order to shape the slick, sun-drenched jazz funk sound that would be Electric Bird's signature sound. With Funk Tide, DJ Notoya aimed at showcasing the diversity of the label's output, from the funky opener "In The Sky" by Trumpeter Shunzo Ohno to the sunshine mid-tempo groove of sax player Toshiyuki Honda's "Living in a City" featuring Paulinho Da Costa on perc via Mikio Masuda's Fender Rhodes-infected "Let's Get Together." One of Funk Tide's highlights is certainly Katsutoshi Morizono's "Space Traveller" from 1978, a remake of James Vincent's eponymous cult classic recorded two years before with some of Earth Wind And Fire's musicians and which has since become a favorite on the groove scene. Faithful to Vincent's beautiful laid-back, breezy original, Morizono's rendition add its own spice to it, and ending Notoya's skilled selection of the cutting-edge Electric Bird label on a perfect note.
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2LP
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WWSLP 055LP
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2025 restock; double LP version. Following the recent success of the Tokyo Dreaming (WWSCD 040CD/WWSLP 040LP), Wewantsounds comes with another compelling set, this time compiled by city pop expert DJ Notoya who has dug the rich Nippon Columbia catalog to bring a breezy selection of funky gems. Nippon has amassed an incredible back catalog over the decades. Particularly strong in the '70s and '80s, the label was one of the main purveyors of great music at a time when Japan was entering its greatest economic boom and labels had budgets at hand to create the highest quality music. As Notoya explains in the liner notes "Back in the day, the record companies had big budgets and could afford to have many great musicians playing on one record, plus strings and horn sections, top drummers and keyboardists. It all made for a very rich sound, which is generally very different to today's music." Keen to emulate the music created in the US by their American counterparts, Japanese musicians came with their own blend of funk, boogie and soul that has come to be known as city pop. The selection on Tokyo Glow is full of such gems and starts with "Kimugare" a relaxed, mid-tempo track by Kumi Nakamura, famous actress who only recorded one album in 1980 for Columbia. The set continues and flows effortlessly with the sunshine grooves of Miyuki Maki, Hatsumi Shibata and cult keyboard player Hiroshi Sato before the pace starts going faster and funkier with New Generation Company, Kengo Kurozumi -- with his superb boogie, "Juggler" -- and one of the queens of the genre, Hitomi "Penny" Tohyama with "Tuxedo Connection". Tokyo-based DJ Notoya is from a new breed of Japanese DJs there focusing on nippon music and is an expert on funk, modern soul, and boogie from the Island. With Tokyo Glow, Notoya says he "focused more on the slightly more underground tracks from the era, rather than the bigger, well-known releases. For me that was a more fun and satisfying approach." Another fine example on the set is the mid-tempo groove of "I Wander All Alone Part III" by New Generation Company, an aggregate group of some of the best Japanese session musicians led by arranger Katz Hoshi and including Hiroyuki Namba, Kazuo Shiina, and Yutaka Uehara. Tokyo Glow showcases the diversity and specificity of Japanese city pop during the late '70s and '80s. Also features Haruyoshi Yamashina, Sumiko Yamagata, Makoto Iwabuchi, Arakawa Band, Kiyohiko Ozaki, Ken Nishizaki, Jadoes, Midori Hara, Mizuki Koyama, Haruo Chikada & Vibra-Tones, and Mitsuko Horie.
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CD
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WWSCD 055CD
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Following the recent success of the Tokyo Dreaming (WWSCD 040CD/WWSLP 040LP), Wewantsounds comes with another compelling set, this time compiled by city pop expert DJ Notoya who has dug the rich Nippon Columbia catalog to bring a breezy selection of funky gems. Nippon has amassed an incredible back catalog over the decades. Particularly strong in the '70s and '80s, the label was one of the main purveyors of great music at a time when Japan was entering its greatest economic boom and labels had budgets at hand to create the highest quality music. As Notoya explains in the liner notes "Back in the day, the record companies had big budgets and could afford to have many great musicians playing on one record, plus strings and horn sections, top drummers and keyboardists. It all made for a very rich sound, which is generally very different to today's music." Keen to emulate the music created in the US by their American counterparts, Japanese musicians came with their own blend of funk, boogie and soul that has come to be known as city pop. The selection on Tokyo Glow is full of such gems and starts with "Kimugare" a relaxed, mid-tempo track by Kumi Nakamura, famous actress who only recorded one album in 1980 for Columbia. The set continues and flows effortlessly with the sunshine grooves of Miyuki Maki, Hatsumi Shibata and cult keyboard player Hiroshi Sato before the pace starts going faster and funkier with New Generation Company, Kengo Kurozumi -- with his superb boogie, "Juggler" -- and one of the queens of the genre, Hitomi "Penny" Tohyama with "Tuxedo Connection". Tokyo-based DJ Notoya is from a new breed of Japanese DJs there focusing on nippon music and is an expert on funk, modern soul, and boogie from the Island. With Tokyo Glow, Notoya says he "focused more on the slightly more underground tracks from the era, rather than the bigger, well-known releases. For me that was a more fun and satisfying approach." Another fine example on the set is the mid-tempo groove of "I Wander All Alone Part III" by New Generation Company, an aggregate group of some of the best Japanese session musicians led by arranger Katz Hoshi and including Hiroyuki Namba, Kazuo Shiina, and Yutaka Uehara. Tokyo Glow showcases the diversity and specificity of Japanese city pop during the late '70s and '80s. Also features Haruyoshi Yamashina, Sumiko Yamagata, Makoto Iwabuchi, Arakawa Band, Kiyohiko Ozaki, Ken Nishizaki, Jadoes, Midori Hara, Mizuki Koyama, Haruo Chikada & Vibra-Tones, and Mitsuko Horie.
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