Akiko Yano – Ai Ga Nakucha Ne

Let this be clear once and for all: Without Akiko Yano, Hosono would probably still be playing folk rock at some Retromania events and Sakamoto would still be giving piano lessons. And in any case, albums like Ai Ga Nakucha Ne are among the finest moments in Japanese pop history of the early 1980s, because even then Yano didn’t give a shit about techno and city-pop sensibilities, preferring to do her thing instead. The best weird pop music that doesn’t sound weird at all on the first three listens, which is why it’s so disturbing.
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