Caoli Cano & Haruo Chikada -- Mechanica（メカニカ）

 

Considering the music and age of this particular album, this might be one of the rarest of the rare. And yet, I would like to explore it further. According to the explanation underneath the YouTube video, this is "Tokyo-teki"（東京的...Tokyo-esque） from March 1993, a compilation of songs under the aegis of Haruo Kubota（窪田晴男）who had been a band member of Haruo Chikada & The Vibratones（近田春夫&ビブラトーンズ）and a music producer.

With each of the nine tracks on the album addressing some aspect of Japan's capital city, the first track is "Mechanica" which was written by singer and sake brewer Caoli Cano（かの香織）and composed by Kubota's old boss Haruo Chikada. Kubota himself was on the keyboards here. It's quite the way to start things off with Cano's light and breathy vocals fronting a half-strutting, half skulking House beat, it seems like, as if some guy or lady in a red convertible is making Shinjuku or Roppongi their territory on a Friday night.  There are also a couple of times when this musical flourish suddenly bursts forth like a fountain going several metres up into the night sky which in a way reminds me of some Pet Shop Boys tunes. This album may be quite the ride in my old stomping grounds.