Well, considering I've chosen this day to celebrate the 5th anniversary of "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I thought it would be nice to conclude it with a song from my favourite genre of City Pop.
So, why not go with some Tomoko Aran（亜蘭知子）tonight? She may have concocted some of those wonderful summery pop songs for TUBE starting from the middle of the 1980s but earlier on, she was also singing her fair share of cool urban contemporary material.
I found this one mellow tune titled "I'm In Love" from her 3rd album "Fuyuu-Kuukan"（浮遊空間...Floating Spaces）which came out in May 1983. Masatoshi Nishimura（西村麻聡）not only provided the music to this song but was also responsible for the music for most of the tracks on "Fuyuu-Kuukan". Additionally, he co-produced the album with Daiko Nagato（長戸大幸）and arranged all of the tracks, plus he handled the synthesizers during recording; a good amount of multi-tasking there.
Aran provided the lyrics to "I'm In Love" which has that nice vibe reminiscent of some of those old radio-friendly downtown tunes that I used to hear all the time. Her vocals are steady for the most part except for a couple of areas where her voice seems to flutter uncomfortably. Still, I'm not complaining too much here. The album also has another track that I have already written about, "Midnight Pretenders".
Hi J-Canuck,
ReplyDeleteLovely singer, have this album and one other from 1982.An other vocalist called Aru Takamura did versions on her debut for Invitation called Aru First in 1985.She also did a modern R&B version in 1986 on her second lp called Aru.
Hi, Trevor.
DeleteYup, Aran has a really sweet voice, doesn't she? I have a feeling that there are a number of singers in her genre that I have yet to discover as well. Aru Takamura was indeed one of them. I actually wrote one article about her last year:
http://kayokyokuplus.blogspot.ca/2016/10/aru-takamura-im-in-love.html
Such a nice blog, thanks you very much💕
ReplyDeleteDo you know where i can find the lyrics of this song (i'm in love) ? i can't find them
Hello, there and thanks very much for your comments. I've tried to look for those lyrics as well but can't find them either, and unfortunately, I don't have "Fuyuu-Kuukan". I will have to put it on the shopping list soon.
DeleteI believe that I found
Deletehttps://www.shazam.com/pt/track/61987829/im-in-love
Many thanks, Andre. I hope that the Unknown will see your reply!
DeleteHello! Sorry to comment a two-year-old post, but I really like Fuyuu Kukan, love that sound that oscilates between Prince, Steely Dan, and even has that crazy krautrock-sounding track near the end. I haven't really found anything else that sounds similar to it, and Aran's other albums don't really sound like this one; maybe you know some similar artists/albums? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteNo need to apologize, Frank. You're free to comment on any article despite its age. :) "Fuyuu Kukan" is quite the character, isn't it? I thought it was purely a City Pop album like her following effort "More Relax" but I think it's actually a mix of City Pop and New Wave.
DeleteIf you're looking for some Japanese New Wave, perhaps some Miharu Koshi in the 1980s (https://kayokyokuplus.blogspot.com/2014/04/miharu-koshi-tutu.html), Ippu-Do (https://kayokyokuplus.blogspot.com/2012/09/ippu-doshazna-sumire-september-love.html) or Harumi Ohzora (https://kayokyokuplus.blogspot.com/2019/05/harumi-ohzora-viva.html) might be interesting for you.
Having grown up in the 70s and 80s, I do like my mix of Steely Dan and New Wave stuff as well.