I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
It was a little over a couple of months ago when I got my CD copy of Junk Fujiyama's（ジャンクフジヤマ）"Shoukei Toshi ~ City Pop Covers"（憧憬都市）from last year, with the singer coming up with his smooth takes on already-established songs of the genre. I did go over a number of the tracks but one that I intentionally left out until today was "Ryuusei Toshi" (City of Shooting Stars).
One reason is that it really does stand out as a City Pop number worthy of driving on the highway to. It feels like a love letter to Tokyo with references to Tokyo Tower and the skyscrapers in town. The horns including that boss saxophone are more than welcoming giants for the car and its occupants, and the slick music video above provide that wonderful vicarious ride. If this doesn't get viewers planning that City Pop-themed tour in Tokyo, then I don't know what will.
The original love emanating from this song actually originated from...well, Original Love via the band's May 1995 5th album"Rainbow Race". Compared to the snazzy cover by Junk Fujiyama, Takao Tajima's（田島貴男）creation is a quieter and more intimate piece that sounds more Burt Bacharach with that squeeze of bossa nova for good measure. According to Tajima himself, he had wanted to create a simple but pleasant song, something nice to go home with, and he mentions about the lovely view of the constellation Centaurus in the night sky (also in the lyrics). In a way, his statement reminds me of the whole story behind "Chuo Freeway"（中央フリーウェイ）performed by Hi-Fi Set（ハイ・ファイ・セット）and Yumi Arai（荒井由実）back in the 1970s.
Perhaps along with Minako Yoshida's（吉田美奈子）classic "Koi wa Ryuusei" (恋は流星）, "shooting stars" in Japanese songs ought to be given further attention.
Perhaps the above byline is a little longer and odder than usual but in my defense, I have to explain that all the way back in January, I had jumped the mighty gun and already spoke on singer-songwriter Junk Fujiyama's（ジャンクフジヤマ）most recent album, the album of covers known as "Shoukei Toshi ~ City Pop Covers"(City of Aspirations), several weeks before it was even officially released in March. I was too taken by the tasting menu of Junk's covers of "Telephone Number" by the late great Junko Ohashi（大橋純子）and then "Windy Summer" by Anri（杏里）that were already up on YouTube.
Generally speaking, I don't usually go for albums of cover versions since I'm always going to think that the originals will be far better, but cuing ahead several months, I finally pulled the trigger and bought my copy of "Shoukei Toshi" a couple of weeks ago just on Fujiyama's reputation and his takes on "Telephone Number" and "Windy Summer". Besides, considering how I've wondered how Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）would have handled some of those other City Pop songs outside his own contributions, "Shoukei Toshi" was my best chance to find out.
The cover of "Futari no Natsu Monogatari"（ふたりの夏物語）is another winning one by Junk. Retaining the dashing pace of the 1985 original by Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe, there are fewer bells and whistles in the arrangement but it's still got summer right here. In a way, it's perhaps more reflective of the times now when compared to the craziness of the Bubble Era years of those high-flying 80s (although I don't think stingrays were flying over Tokyo back then).
Up to this time, there probably have been more covers of "Mayonaka no Door 〜 Stay With Me"（真夜中のドアー）than there are shooting stars in the sky, but if one is doing an album of City Pop covers, this song by the late Miki Matsubara（松原みき）obviously has to be in here. In fact, there are two versions including this one that is the final track of "Shoukei Toshi". This version of "Stay With Me" though is done as a duet between Junk and singer-songwriter/keyboardist biki from Saitama Prefecture. It has a bit more keyboard groove and key changes, and the dynamics between the two singers bring some more excitement to the proceedings.
But it isn't just the City Pop from the 1970s and 1980s that's been covered by Fujiyama. He also tackles benzo's 1998 light and funky "Mahiru"（真昼）which I first discovered on one of my "Light Mellow" albums. Aside from the timbre of the vocals, there isn't all that is much different between the original and the cover, although of course, both are fine songs.
The cover that deviates the most from the original among the tracks on the album is the 1983 "Tasogare no Bay City"（黄昏のBay City）, one of Junko Yagami's（八神純子）big hits and a City Pop pillar. Not quite sure how to describe it, except that the funky disco has been replaced by a certain spacey atmosphere. No, I have to admit that this isn't my favourite track; I miss the horns.
I'll finish up here with his cover of Yumi Arai's（荒井由実）"Ame no Station"（雨のステイション）which was originally from Yuming's 3rd album"Cobalt Hour" (1975). This track is still a few away from the last one but it feels like a final song for the album since Junk takes the New Music ballad and makes it even more anthemic, though it still holds to that somewhat downbeat and reserved tone of the original.
For me, these are the highlights of "Shoukei Toshi" although I will at least cover one of the remaining tracks on its own because I hadn't even heard the original version by Original Love.
As I first did last Friday, I'm back with the AI gallery but I figured if I could do so with some of the female representatives of City Pop, why not give the male representatives a chance, too? Just to remind readers, I threw in three famous song titles in the Bing art generator to see what I could get in terms of images. For a couple of them, I invited Kayo Grace since earlier attempts got supposed real-life figures with very unnerving smiles.
Well, the last time I was writing on Junk Fujiyama（ジャンク フジヤマ）, it was back in late January which was several weeks before the premiere of his newest album "Shoukei Toshi ~ City Pop Covers"（憧憬都市...City of Aspirations）. I featured a couple of tracks there which were indeed his versions of those City Pop tunes "Telephone Number" and "Windy Summer" by the late Junko Ohashi（大橋純子）and Anri（杏里）respectively. Happy to say then that "Shoukei Toshi" was released a couple of days ago and hopefully sales have been brisk so far.
This song by Fujiyama though isn't on "Shoukei Toshi" because in point of fact, it was placed on his previous album from last August "Dreamin'". I don't think "Are wa Tashika September" (Had to Have Been September) even really counts as City Pop. It's more of a summery pop tune, natural to think so considering that release month, but it is one that could have been recorded by Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）, the man who Junk has been inspired by. Written and composed by Tatsuki Kamiya（神谷樹）, "Are wa Tashika September" seems like a bittersweet tune in terms of Kamiya's lyrics. One day in that titular month, a man sees a woman of his dreams searching for her lost key to lock the bicycle at a convenience store. But it appears that he never gets the gumption to help her out, thinking that he's just a mere boy next to the absolutely mature lady that he's fallen for. So, he settles for admiring her from afar. Sounds like a premise for an anime or a TV drama. 😎
Yup, Kayo Grace is in the big city which means that we are at Friday, the day of the urban contemporary on KKP. And today launches with a rather distinct article because not only am I talking about an album, but it's an album that won't be released officially until March 6th this year.
But allow me to give some background information. For one thing, I can't quite believe that it's been almost ten years since I posted the first article on singer-songwriter Junk Fujiyama（ジャンクフジヤマ）because of his "Hoshikuzu Pipeline"（星屑のパイプライン）, that homage to the sound stylings of late 70s/early 80s Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）that first got known as the amazing musical accompaniment to the ending scene of Episode 6 of the bonkers anime "Space Dandy". Some years before the whole "Plastic Love" thing, "Hoshikuzu Pipeline" had some of us City Pop fans back then swooning that maybe the good ol' days of music grooviness can come back with new tunes. Well, it's kinda crazy what's happened over the last decade.
Fujiyama has continued to do his groove thing although his profile has struck me as being somewhat low-level over the years. Well, I found out a few days ago that he's coming out with an album of City Pop covers, "Shoukei Toshi"(City of Aspirations), which I said above will be released on March 6th. I guess that a lot of fantasies of City Pop fans have now come true with Junk Fujiyama handling other tunes of the uber-genre. For instance, an advance digital single came out on January 23rd, a mellower cover of the late Junko Ohashi's（大橋純子）"Telephone Number", a special favourite for many of the fans.
Even earlier...on December 13th 2023, to be exact...Fujiyama released another digital single which is a cover of Anri's（杏里）"Windy Summer" and it'll also be included on the album. It's of course arranged in his style but it's no less summery than the original. I'm hoping that the other tracks which include covers of Junko Yagami（八神純子）and Miki Matsubara（松原みき）will also be fun. I've also noticed that Junk had covered a few Tats tunes in 2021 and 2022 but they're not on "Shoukei Toshi". Nice cover art, by the way.
Of all the places, it was on local news channel CP24's news ticker where I found out that Kanagawa Prefecture resident Seiichi Sano（佐野誠一）had been certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest active male surfer at the age of 89 (there's an article on "The Daily News"). Many congratulations to him and I hope that he does have many more years of hanging ten. Naturally, as the whimsiness within me is wont to do, I just had to start today with an Author's Picks regarding surf-related or at least surf-titled Japanese tunes since on seeing the news scroll by this morning, a number of them popped up in my head.
A lot of happy Torontonians today. We not only have the NBA Toronto Raptors on the verge of achieving the championship for the first time in the franchise's history on Monday night, but before that, we are probably going to savor a truly early summer weekend. For folks who usually suffer from cold weather 66.6% of the year, this is manna from heaven.
Yes, indeedy. It looks like summer is finally on its way. Therefore, I will finish my quartet of articles tonight with somebody that I haven't included on the blog for a few years now, and that is singer-songwriter Junk Fujiyama（ジャンク フジヤマ）.
I'm sure that I'm not alone in voicing my opinion about how much of the Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）style Junk Fujiyama has imbued into his music. Since I first heard about him back in 2014 via the anime"Space Dandy" and his summery romantic "Hoshikuzu no Pipeline"（星屑のパイプライン）, I've marveled at how much of the old-time summer Japanese pops esthetic he's brought back to us. Although it looks like only his Twitter feed has been active recently, I was glad that I could find out about his 2018 single"Mahou no Tsubuyaki" (Magical Tweets).
Ironically released in December, "Mahou no Tsubuyaki" has that taste of summer with some hints of yesteryear's music, including a very subtle lick of the disco classic "The Hustle". The happy brass is provided by Fire Horns. I couldn't have asked for a nicer song to introduce the hot season into this weekend here.
Now that we're in the last week of August, summer is entering its last few weeks. Pretty hot in your area? I know that Japan has been especially sweltering this season and Toronto has had its fair share of heat and humidity although the nights have been quite nice.
Well, I figure that I will do what hasn't been done on the blog before and provide my favourites for summer songs in Japanese popular music. It's one of the more difficult Author's Picks articles that I've done since there have been so many of these summery tunes and so many of them have been performed by the same singer. For example, Tatsuro Yamashita is one of the kings for the music of the sunny season.
As was the case with my favourite Technopop tunes, I will have to split my list into two and again the songs won't be in any particular order. All of them have also been covered in previous articles with the appropriate links to them.
I can probably credit "Natsu no Tobira"（夏の扉）as not only one of Seiko-chan's early classics, but also as the first Seiko song that I've ever heard and the first summer kayo that helped me get into Japanese pop music in earnest. Certainly, that image of the Queen Aidoru of the early 1980s in her bright yellow dress and Seiko-chan cut bopping about as she sang this one on various shows has eternally seared itself into my memories of summer...especially Summer 1981.
Anri is one of the singers who basically define summer music in Japan for me which explains why it was rather hard for me to come up with a favourite summer song by her. There are so many choices but in the end, I decided to go with "Windy Summer" from her "Timely!!" album. Her amazing collaboration with Toshiki Kadomatsu（角松敏生）in the early 1980s turned into summer gold, and especially with "Windy Summer", there is no way that I can even envisage a single snowflake popping up as this is playing.
"Manatsu no Kajitsu" is one of those Southern All Stars greats which is instantly recognizable from the first few notes. Keisuke Kuwata's（桑田佳祐）band is another musical symbol of summer in the nation so once again, I had to rack my brain about which one of their songs would be a fine choice but ultimately the No. 9 single of 1990 is my pick. And it's been the only SAS song that automatically conjures up images of summer in my head...specifically, ones of young couples huddling under that blanket in front of the small fire as the sun goes down on the Shonan beach.
Man, she looks adorable on that skateboard! This is one of the songs that I discovered later in life but it soon cemented itself as one of my favourites for the season, and it wouldn't be a summer if I didn't play it at least once in late June or early July. As a track on one of the classic City Pop/New Music albums, Taeko Ohnuki's"Sunshower", I have mentioned in the article for that album that "Summer Connection" has that nostalgic feeling of what summer must have felt like in the big city of Tokyo back in the late 1970s. Bright sun beaming off the pavement with the humidity starting to rise.
I also just had to have at least one incarnation of Omega Tribe included in the list and so I've gone with the first lineup featuring Kiyotaka Sugiyama. As with Ohnuki's "Summer Connection", "Summer Suspicion" also has that nostalgic quality...this time for the 1980s as Japan was relishing its economic boom which seemed to coincide with an increase of the younger generations hitting the beaches for some seasonal frolicking. However, I don't see "Summer Suspicion" as the high noon summer song, but more as the mellower sunset sort of summer song. Speaking of nostalgia, although I wasn't in the country when the song debuted, it still reminds me of my days at the University of Toronto and the JCSA as I regularly visited those Chinatown stores selling Japanese albums and tapes.
When I first saw the ending of Episode 6 of "Space Dandy", I had already been given warning by my anime buddy that this song would be coming up which sounded awfully like one of my favourite singers of all time. Still, my eyes rather goggled and my jaws parted with some distance as I heard Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）coming through the vocal cords of Junk Fujiyama, and yet this was a wholly different and original song by Fujiyama. Wouldn't it even been nicer if someone put up a live-action surfing video set to "Hoshikuzu no Pipeline"（星屑のパイプライン）?
Here's some Junk funk at you! I can imagine Sing Like Talking and Keizo Nakanishi（中西圭三）clapping their hands most appreciatively at this fellow who could give the legendary Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）a small run for his money.
Junk Fujiyama's（ジャンク フジヤマ）singing style's similarity to that of one of the masters of New Music/City Pop isn't a 100% match but it's still tremendous to hear the fellow bring back some of that old-style R&B. His song "Yuuwaku"(Temptation) has got some of those grunts (thanks, James Brown) and a nice tight horn section with a good thumpy bass. I never really got out all that much to those live houses in Tokyo but would be willing to pay admission to hear this guy play and sing....along with those horns.
"Yuuwaku" was originally a track on his 6th album "Junk Space" from March 2013 which was his first full major album. However, I've got it as part of his BEST compilation "The Best of Junk Fujiyama: Kazemachi" from 2014. His albums may not have flown up the charts but there is plenty of fandom for him.
It's been a while since I could funk to the Junk (OK...I wasn't trying to be obliquely obscene there). And to be honest, Junk Fujiyama's"Schedar" isn't anywhere in the R&B genre. This was the singer-songwriter's 3rd CD single (he had already had a lot of singles out...mostly through limited download) from January 2013, and it's a happy straight-on pop piece about how much in love he is. By the way, the above video is just a small excerpt of it.
First off, I was wondering about the title. Fujiyama's lyrics relate about his love is just so far-ranging that it has blasted off into the cosmos. When I punched in the katakana for Schedar into the rest of J-Wiki, I was ultimately taken to the English Wikipedia to the article for the star in the constellation of Cassiopeia known as Alpha Cassiopeiae. The star is also known as Schedar. I think the woman of his dreams should be quite flattered at how far his love goes.
Yoshihiko Chino（知野芳彦）came up with the music that one YouTube commenter, 10CPhil, likened to an 80s anthem. Right from the beginning, "Schedar" sounds like it is the theme for a regular high school kid from that decade (like me, except far cooler and trimmer) in his mullet hairdo racing down through his neighbourhood on his bike to pick up his girl for a fun afternoon....outside...in public...it's a PG movie.
Anyways, the CD single only got as high as No. 138 on Oricon. The song also got onto his 6th album from March 2013,"Junk Scape" which peaked at No. 81. My first encounter with the song was on his BEST compilation, "Kazemachi"（風街）. Perhaps Junk hasn't gotten as much fame as he deserves but his fans and I know what and who we like.
Up until a few minutes ago, I had been prepared to give an Author's Picks on "Psych-Up Songs"...those tunes that would give me that extra burst of energy and joy. But then I remembered that a scant few months earlier, I had already put up something very similar in the form of "Happy Songs for Me (for International Happiness Day)". In fact, there were a couple of songs that I was going to put up in this list that are already up in that other article. So I've just decided to go with the sequel formula here.
When I'm about to undertake a major project, I take a dose of this and don't need to call the doctor in the morning. I realize that in all likelihood the committee planning the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo will assign one of the big songwriters to create a new tune to represent the city at the Opening Ceremonies, but if an oldie-but-goodie can be introduced during the entertainment phase on the opening day, this is the one song that I'd want....with 3D projection mapping of dancing Tokyo buildings! If Yoshida can't perform this, then I nominate Kahoru Kohiruimaki or Miwa Yoshida.
The perfect summer song that wasn't sung by Tatsuro Yamashita. And it provides me with a fine sense of catharsis as it did for the finale of that 6th episode of the anime "Space Dandy" when the sudden and happy scene of space surfing came out of the blue. When I finish a major project, this is the song that I would like to play...as I walk off proudly into the sunset.
Another epic and EPO-esque song of City Pop coolness. Striding down the main strip of either East or West Shinjuku as the sun is heading out would be the ideal setting for this one. I think it deserved a higher profile when it comes to the EPO discography but for the die-hard fans, it's probably a well-remembered entry in any event. And considering the title, perhaps it's also the tune reminiscent of past economic days of glory.
When I recently heard the fictional Kitaoji High School band perform "Rydeen" on the anime "Hibike Euphonium", my jaw dropped and my joy rose. Yep, even after 35 years, a brass band version of a technopop tune had me squeeing like a little boy. At the time I first heard "Rydeen" in its original computer glory, I had no idea that the electronic pitter-pats which introduced the songs actually represented horse hoof beats but I immediately "got" the high-speed fun of the piece and was more than happy to ride on the YMO express.
I really cannot afford to take luxurious trips to far-flung tropical destinations...at least, not yet. However, "Loveland, Island" makes for a pleasant aural placebo...heck, a lot of Yamashita's summery works during the late 70s and early 80s would qualify but there is something about this particular song that just has me soaring off into the stratosphere over the Hawaiian coast. It's too bad that the original music video has been taken off the Net since it was fun to watch that supposedly old fellow bust a move like a pro...apparently that was none other than a disguised Noriyuki Higashiyama for 80s aidoru group Shonentai.
The mission of Kome Kome Club has been to bring zany, colourful and fun music to all who will listen, and a lot of folks did. Probably a majority of them would place some of their other hits above "Abracadabra", but for me, it's in my Top 3 for K2C. As the title hints, it's just this magic carpet ride led by a master magician...if the magician were Beetlejuice as portrayed by leader Tatsuya Ishii. It's one of a few songs that can actually make me sweat.
Referring to Minako Yoshida's"TOWN" at the very top of the list, Maki Ohguro's "Atsukunare" actually was one of the official songs for the 1996 Atlanta Games coverage by national broadcaster NHK. And yep, it did the right job in that it could get any couch potato such as yours truly pepped up enough to take on the planet. At least, it got me pepped up enough to get off the sofa and head over to the nearest CD shop to purchase the single.
But after writing this list down, I realized that although I will still call this "Happy Songs 2", all of the entries here indeed have that energy-building factor. It's not just the smile that has been put on my face but also that psyching-up feeling in my brain.
After listening to that surprise entry of Junk Fujiyama's（ジャンクフジヤマ） summer-happy "Hoshikuzu no Pipeline"（星屑のパイプライン）at the end of the 6th episode of "Space Dandy", I was convinced that I needed to get that song into my collection. I tracked it down as one of the new songs on the Junk's "The Best of Junk Fujiyama: Kazemachi" (Windy Town) which was released just at the end of January 2014. And following a trial listen to some of his past stuff at Amazon.jp, I decided to pull the credit card trigger.
And since this is a BEST album, here are the tracks:
1. Overture for Driving 2. To the Sky 3. Ano Sora no Mukogawa e （あの空の向こうがわへ） 4. Morning Kiss 5. Schedar （シェダル） 6. Sokubaku （束縛） 7. Courage - Honno Sukoshi no Yuuki （ほんの少しの勇気） 8. E.G.A.O. 9. ONE 10. Himitsu （秘密） 11. Miwaku no Kuchibiru （魅惑の唇） 12. Hoshikuzu no Pipeline （星屑のパイプライン） 13. Yuuwaku （誘惑） 14. Summer Breeze 15. Boku no Megami （僕の女神） 16. Kaze ni Nari （風になり）
"Morning Kiss" is Fujiyama's 1st single from July 2010. Although it didn't come out on CD, it was available through download as would be the case for his next 5 singles until June 2012. One of the reasons I decided to purchase his BEST album was his vocal resemblance to that King of Summery City Pop, Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）. And anyone or anything that brings back those happy days of the late 70s and early 80s is more than welcome in my collection. Heck, even the CD cover by Seizo Watase（わたせせいぞう） brings that feeling. "Morning Kiss" is just one of the examples of that good-feelin' Yamashita sound again. Written and composed by Junk with collaborators Hitomi (or Miru) Shirai（白井未留）and Junpei Kamiya（神谷洵平）, the keyboards throughout the song just makes it sound like an AM tune.
The video above has Junk providing the song in concert, and his movements reminds me of those by the late Joe Cocker. I wonder what Mr. Fujiyama can do with "You Are So Beautiful".
"Ano Sora no Mukogawa e"(To The Other Side Of That Sky) is Junk's1st official CD single release from June 2012, and as the cover for the song illustrates, the lyrics by the singer encourages getting on that plane for some fun in the sun and leaving all that stress behind. Ryuta Sakamoto's （坂本竜太）melody and the horn arrangement make it mighty tempting to hail that taxi for Haneda Airport. The song also got onto Junk's second full album, "Junkscape" which came out a year after this single and also includes the above-mentioned "Morning Kiss"."Ano Sora" itself managed to peak at No. 47 while "Junkscape" got as high as No. 81 on the album charts.
"Sokubaku" (Restraint) is Junk going funk. Fujiki alone was responsible for the lyrics and music, and I got memories of British band Level 42 when I listened to this for the first time. I wonder how Chikuzen Sato（佐藤竹善） or Keizo Nakanishi （中西圭三）would sound tackling this song together. "Sokubaku" is a track on his first full album, "Junkwave" from April 2011.
"Himitsu" (Secrets) is another slowly grooving mid-tempo song by Junk through his 2nd album, "Junktime" from April 2010.
Another "Junktime" addition to his BEST album is "Miwaku no Kuchibiru" (Captivating Lips), a rousing song that has Junk really pushing his vocal cords and a great sax solo.
"Kazemachi" has only gotten as high as No. 90 (so far) since its release a little over 2 months ago, something that surprises me somewhat but then again my City Pop bias is pretty much out there. Currently, the alphabet aidorus (AKB48, SKE48, etc.) might be holding sway at the top of the Oricon iceberg, and that's fine with me, but I'm also happy with the fact that underneath the surface, there are also singers like Junk Fujiyama and Hitomitoi that are keeping the adult contemporary musical movement alive and kicking.
Junk Fujiyama（ジャンクフジヤマ）was a name I've heard before.... strangely enough, right here in Toronto. As part of our cable TV service, we get several stations which basically act as video radio specializing in specific genres. I heard Junk on the Asian Music channel once and thought his music was very nice but didn't really go into the research about him.
Then, yesterday, my anime buddy and I got together again for another round of viewings. One of our must-sees has been the wild-&-crazy "Space Dandy". I've become a fan of the opening theme of the funkalistic "Viva Namida" by Yasuyuki Okamura（岡村靖幸）and I'll probably be writing about the ending theme by Etsuko Yakushimaru（やくしまるえつこ）pretty soon as well.
However, my buddy told me beforehand about this tune that starts up at the finale of Episode 6. As has been the case with most of the shows for "Space Dandy", the plot is nuts, but my friend told me that the song was by Junk Fujiyama, who basically set out to croon in the style of Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）back in his City Pop days of the late 70s and early 80s.
Junk's tribute to Tats in what I found out was titled "Hoshikuzu no Pipeline" (Stardust Pipeline) is a smooth and summery and oh-so-nice song. It fits the surprisingly simply big-hearted scene of the main character surfing away through the space waves after trying and failing to avert the tragicomic demise of two hardened enemies. My ears and eyes are now fully alert to the Junk. I did a bit of digging and the song has just come out and included as a new track on "The Best of Junk Fujiyama" which came out on January 22, 2014.
According to his bio on J-Wiki, Junk Fujiyama was born as Naofumi Fujiki（藤木直史） in 1983 and is a singer-songwriter/guitarist who can go into rock, soul and jazz....and do his Tatsuro Yamashita thing, so City Pop as well. It's nice to see that genre slide back in a bit, and the design for the cover for his BEST album brings back memories of those times as well. I'm sorely tempted to dish out the yen for this one.
