Taeko Ohnuki -- Labyrinth

One of the observations I've had for the Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）albums that I've purchased is that for each one of them, there is a track that kinda stands out for its quirkiness. One example that comes to mind is from her "Sunshower" album of 1977 with "Kusuri wo Takusan"（くすりをたくさん）, her happy-go-lucky indictment of the medical industry for over-prescribing the meds to patients.

That particular song reflected her New Music/City Pop leanings back in the late 1970s, but then as all Ohnuki fans know, she made that switch to a more European/technopop sound from 1980. Still, the tradition for that one particular off-color pearl in her albums seemed to continue. In her 1982 album "Cliche", that pearl was "Labyrinth". The other tracks all either went on the sweeping Frenchness of it all thanks to Jean Musy or took on that whimsical trip through technopop Wonderland.

Although "Labyrinth" definitely had that techno in there, it wasn't whimsical at all. In fact, that percussion made it sound rather avant-garde tribal along with Ohnuki singing about some esoteric stuff involving jealousy, decadence and dream mosaics. I think overall it had to do with trying to navigate that titular labyrinth of the Dark Side while staying sane. Would have loved to have seen how a music video would have handled that song. Perhaps Kate Bush could have handled choreography.