Sunday, October 4, 2009

Ippu-do - LUNATIC MENU, (192kbps)

"The 11-track compilation Lunatic Menu was released (in Japan and the U.K.) in 1982. Encapsulating Ippu-Do's first three Japanese albums — only one of which, 1981's Radio Fantasy, had been released outside of their native country — the set is a fine introduction to the Tokyo-based trio's rich and complex brand of synth pop. (Tracks from the first two albums, Normal and Real, both from 1980, are remixed and, in some cases, re-recorded.) Opening with the piano instrumental "Morning Menu," the disc quickly takes on an electronic sheen with the hit single "Sumire, September Love," which blends synths, electric violin, rubbery bass, and both acoustic and electronic percussion in a way that recalls a bouncier version of the U.K. group Japan. (Ippu-Do leader Masami Tsuchiya became a temporary member of Japan around this time, playing guitar on their live album Oil on Canvas.) Songs flirt with reggae rhythms, toss the occasional English phrase in with the predominately Japanese lyrics, and at times sound like everyone from Thomas Dolby to XTC to Laurie Anderson to Ippu-Do's compatriots the Yellow Magic Orchestra.

Critics at the time mostly only heard the Yellow Magic Orchestra comparisons, unfairly lumping the two groups together mostly by virtue of their shared homeland. Ippu-Do are far poppier and more Western-oriented than YMO, however, as evidenced by the almost bubblegummy "I Love You" (the soaring chorus of which, perhaps intentionally, sounds uncannily like Little Peggy March's "I Will Follow Him" crossed with the Ronettes' "Be My Baby") and a weirdly Bowie-like (circa Lodger) cover of the Zombies' "Time of the Season." The only one of Ippu-Do's original albums to be reissued on CD, Lunatic Menu is a gem of early-'80s Japanese pop"
- Text taken from MUSIC BLOG OF SALTYKA AND HIS FRIENDS

Named 58th Greatest Japanese Rock Album of All Time by Rolling Stone Japan. Instead of transliterating the track list I've provided the English track names as they are written on the album cover.

一風堂 - LUNATIC MENU

  1. モーニング・メニュー [Morning Menu]
  2. すみれSeptember Love [Sumire September Love]
  3. ミステリアス・ナイト [Mysterious Night]
  4. I LOVE YOU
  5. 電気人形 [Electric Doll]
  6. ジャーマン・ロード [German Road]
  7. RADIO COSMOS
  8. ふたりのシーズン [Time of the Season]
  9. ブラウン管の告白 [Moonlight Love]
  10. ラジオ・ファンタジー [Radio Fantasy]
  11. LUNATIC GUITAR
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