Kidorikko -- Shitsuren（失恋）/Penelope（ペネロペ）

Several years ago, I posted a song by an 80 technopop group called Kidorikko（きどりっこ）whose sound as far as I could get from their April 1985 debut single "Momoiro Kingyo"（桃色金魚）reminded me a lot of the collaborations between Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）and Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）in the early 1980s. It sounded quite zippy and fresh.

Well, in the last couple of days, commenter YMOfan04 contacted me regarding a very rare creation by the group consisting of keyboardist/composers Kimitaka Matsumae（松前公高) and Ryuichi Sato（佐藤隆一）along with vocalist/lyricist Chiyumi Ten（てんちゆみ）. According to Kidorikko's J-Wiki article, they released several self-produced albums via audio cassette between 1985 and 1990, the third one being the September 1985 "Tamatebako"（玉手箱...Pandora's Box）. The tape managed to squish in 28 tracks on both sides so although I haven't heard the entire album, it strikes me as getting bits and bites of songs instead of whole pieces.

One of the tracks that YMOfan04 recommended was the light and classical "Shitsuren" (Heartbreak) above (at 18:33 on the album itself via the link) which only seems to last a minute and a half before it  abruptly smashes into the next track. I would have liked a fuller version since again that feeling of Ohnuki/Sakamoto popped up. 

"Penelope" is actually the second track on "Tamatebako" at 2:25 on the album but uploader cydthezombie wanted to focus on this one because they thought it was so good. This one is of a much longer and more reasonable length and is a whole lot peppier in arrangement. Again, I get some of the Ohnuki/Sakamoto feelings but at the same time, I also feel that there is YMO floating around in there. In fact, I think this might be an example of a hybridized City Pop/technopop creation.