Well, we got a bit of a reprieve overnight from the forest fire smoke enveloping us. Some goodly amounts of rain fell upon us which washed out the air so folks are breathing easier now.
A couple of days ago, I mentioned that I had found some additional tracks from the compilation "Light Mellow: Moment" including Eri Sugai's（菅井えり）"Saigo no Vacation"（最後のVacation）. Another track that I was happy to find was benzo's "Kagerou" (Heat Haze).
This band from Hokkaido was a group that I first discovered from another "Light Mellow" disc in the series: "Wing" via their 1998 "Mahiru"（真昼）which was originally from their debut album "benzo no Baai"（benzo の場合...benzo's Case） . Benzo has been described as a Sugar Babe-esque Northern soul unit and "Mahiru" struck me as being representative of that, especially in the guitar work. On the other hand, "Kagerou" feels a bit more groovy 70s soul via Stevie Wonder because of the keyboards and even from how vocalist and songwriter Koji Hiraizumi（平泉光司）delivers his lyrics. At the same time though, getting to the end, I can hear some Sugar Babe once more through the background chorus and Hiraizumi. Incidentally, "Kagerou" comes from the band's 2nd studio album "Days" from August 1999.
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