La Plus Grande Discothèque du Monde v.13 – Soft Selection 84

This is a compilation of mostly electronic Japanese Post Punk, released in 1983. It contains a mixture of poppy and really weird music. I found it in the bargain bin of the now defunct Berlin record store Dense about 10 years ago. I am collecting Japanese 70s/80s Synthpop for quite a while, and it was a real suprise to find such an item there, because the according Japanese scene is very hermetic and local, and as a European citizen you either go there, or buy from Japanese sellers. I only got stuck while browsing through the bin as I read Picky Picnic being included, hailed as the Japan’s answer to The Residents, of which I own a record they once released on the German label Ata Tak. Second glance revealed these were all Japanese artists, all the better. But the best part was of course that the whole record was totally interesting and worthwhile. It contains everything I love about Japanese music from that period. Wild experiments, girlish charms, awkward references to Western culture, otherworldly interpretations of Eastern culture, and most of all just performances you cannot really compare with European counterparts. I’d like to discover more records like these, but it is getting more and more difficult, and costly, too.

Written for The Drone.