Minuano -- Paper Moon（ペーパームーン）

 

I mentioned Minuano about half a year ago as being a sub-unit of the band Lamp due to their contribution to the 2022 compilation album "City Music Tokyo: Junction". Just mentioning it again, but percussionist Takeru Ogata（尾方伯郎）and vocalist Kaori Sakakibara（榊原香保里）have been providing their mixture of City Pop, jazz, soft rock and Música Popular Brasileira (MPB) since 2009.

"Paper Moon" has nothing to do with Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）"Paper Moon"（ペイパームーン）from the 1970s and even their individual interpretations in katakana are different. Minuano's "Paper Moon" is a track from their sophomore album "Aru Haru no Koibito"（ある春の恋人...Spring Lovers） from April 2010, and it's a lovely and relaxing Sunday brunch-friendly tune featuring Sakakibara's whispery vocals and Ogata's melody which is said to have that MPB flavour but I also pick up on some reggae rhythm in there as well.

There have been a few different remixes of "Paper Moon" over the years including one by Minuano itself for a compilation of rearranged versions titled "Kikai Shikake no Kajitsu ~ Saikoujitsu Ongenshuu"（機械仕掛けの果実 -再構築音源集-...Fruits Mechanical -reimagined works-）which was released in August 2024. This one has a bit more oomph with some 1970s City Pop and funk coursing through its system here.