Akiko Kohara feat. paris match -- Kagami no Tsuki（鏡の月）

 

Yesterday, KKP contributor HRLE92, aka Island Fantasia on YouTube, was kind enough to write up an article on various Omega Tribe offshoots of which Carlos Toshiki's 1993 "Alquimist" was of particular interest to me. I never thought I would see the former lead singer of Omega Tribe looking so much like he was one of the cool-and-trendy citizens of Daikanyama in Tokyo.😮

Well, from his YouTube channel, HRLE92 has a just-as-cool song on there called "Kagami no Tsuki" (Moon in the Mirror) by relatively brief singer-songwriter Akiko Kohara（小原明子）in a collaboration with the mellow contemporary AOR duo paris match. Kohara who comes from Saitama Prefecture had started out creating songs for people such as Yuki Koyanagi（小柳ゆき）, Chemistry and Skoop On Somebody before debuting as a singer in 2001.

Only releasing 3 singles and 2 full albums, her second album is "AK-Note" from March 2003 and on it is where "Kagami no Tsuki" resides. Both Kohara and paris match's Mari Mizuno（ミズノマリ）provide the whispery vocals for this silky-smooth song of the city which grooves very nicely with the Chicago-esque (the band, not the city) horns and rhythm section. And hold the fort on that sax! Kohara provided the lyrics while Yosuke Sugiyama（杉山洋介）, the other half of paris match, came up with the music that may be some ideal accompaniment for a sunset walk through Daikanyama.

HRLE92 mentions just under the video on YouTube that the venture between Kohara and paris match here reminds him of Platinum 900, and his very first article for "Kayo Kyoku Plus" happens to be on that band. Feel free to take a gander of his story on one of the overlooked cool bands in Japanese pop music.