Wewantsounds

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Roughly translating to "dinner is ready," the double-LP was recorded with Yellow Magic Orchestra and originally coproduced with Ryuichi Sakamoto across Tokyo and Los Angeles. The 14-track album showcases Yano's move away from her pop and jazz funk origins towards a synth pop sound. Akiko Yano is a Japanese pop and jazz musician and a longtime YMO affiliate. This reissue follows two Yano albums rereleased on Wewantsounds this year, Japanese Girl and Iroha Ni Kompeito. – Resident Advisor

"Alice Clark, who died in 2004 at the young age of 57, is a legend among funk and soul aficionados. Her recorded legacy consists of two late ’60s singles and this self-titled album, produced by Bob Shad for the Mainstream label in 1972. The pensive cover photo is a key to the music contained within: the album has the classic soul sound of Muscle Shoals at times, particularly on the almost Aretha Franklin-esque opening version of Jimmy Webb’s “I Keep it Hid,” but moves into a softer, jazzier realm on tracks like “Looking at Life” and “It Takes Too Long to Learn to Live Alone.” Clark’s vocals can swell like a river threatening to overflow its banks, but more often than not she’s beautifully controlled, flowing along with the serenity of Roberta Flack or Dionne Warwick.

The band on Alice Clark includes session aces like drummer Bernard Purdie and guitarist Cornell Dupree, and Shad’s production is lush without sacrificing visceral impact. Clark, born in Brooklyn, had the restraint of a city girl, rather than the unfettered emotionality of a Southern church-bred singer; there’s something guarded, a you-won’t-hurt-me undertone to her delivery. And while the music is fundamentally soul, there are dashes of jazz thrown in here and there, particularly on the closing “Hey Girl,” which lets both the trumpeter and saxophonist off the leash, albeit briefly." - Bandcamp Daily

Following the reissue of Ziad Rahbani's "Abu Ali" album earlier this year, Wewantsounds pursue its exploration of great Lebanese music with the reissue of "Wahdon," released in 1978 by legendary Middle Eastern diva Fairuz, recorded during the Abu Ali sessions and including the Lebanese dancefloor cult classic “Al Bosta“. - Bandcamp

"The world of rare Japanese Funk & Soul is a vast and expensive one to visit. The kind of realm that can be dangerous for your record budget once you start falling deep into. But there is something absolutely irresistible about the pop music that was coming out of Japan in the late 70’s and early 80’s...

...Filed under “Experimental Synth-Pop” is probably where you’d find this gem by Hiroshi Sato sorted at your local record store. Except you won’t. It’s one of those rare treasures that won’t appear magically in a dollar bin near you. You’ll have to pay a couple hundred dollars for an original of this one but thankfully it has been reissued a few years ago and will probably come around again. Back to the record in question: “Orient” (released in 1979) was Sato’s third album in a very productive period that saw him release 8 albums in 12 years (from ’76 to ’88)." - Music Is My Sanctuary 

"If you like synth-pop, you’ll love this obscure, cult-ish, previously hard to find and expensive treat. Actually, it’s synth-pop meets jazz-funk with more than a touch of exotica and Oriental proto-electronica...

...Originally released in 1979 (on Kitty Records in Japan only), it was a distant Japanese relation of M, Flying Lizards, Buggles, Gary Numan, The Human League et al. And it is now being made widely available (digitally remastered from the original tapes), six years after the death of its creator, Hiroshi Sato, a keyboardist, composer, arranger, producer, sound engineer and – some say – near-member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (apparently he turned down the offer to join the collective and they drafted in Ryuichi Sakamoto instead)." - Classic Pop Mag

"Sato, was a member of Happy End and had things turned out slightly different, he could have been a part of Yellow Magic Orchestra. The position was offered to him by Haruomi Hosono but was later taken by the great Ryuichi Sakamoto. Needless to say, it is a testament to Sato’s musical chops, all of which are on full show on Orient. With Haruomi Hosono featuring on bass, Sato took on vocals, keyboards and synthesizer, kalimba, drums, writing and production duties for the album." - Electronicbeats

"Digitally remastered from the original tapes, Orient features the cream of Japanese musicians including Shigeru Suzuki on guitar, Haruomi Hosono on bass, Pecker on Percussion and Sato himself on keyboards and synthesizers. This highly sought-after album on the Balearic scene is a superb breezy mix of Japanese synth-pop and exotica with subtle touches of mid 70s Herbie Hancock-style funk and AOR." - Bandcamp | Wewantsounds

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The ‘imaginary’ soundtrack to the adventures Of Kindaichi Kosuke, the cult detective book series by writer Seishi Yokomizo is on many DJ want-lists. Arranged by soundtrack master Kentaro Haneda and featuring a mysterious group of the best 70s Japanese Funk musicians, the album is pure undiluted Disco Funk. This reissue is the album's first official release outside of Japan. Remastered from the original tapes, it features artwork by renowned illustrator Ichibun Sugimoto, OBI strip and a 4 page insert with a new introduction by British journalist Anton Spice. - Bandcamp