WILT_2023-09

A playlist of songs that intrigued me from Sunday to Saturday. Week of 26 Feb 2023 to 4 Mar 2023.

1. 少女A (Shōjo A) – 中森 明菜 (Akina Nakamori)
2. ヨコハマA・KU・MA (Yokohama A-ku-ma) – 中森 明菜 (Akina Nakamori)
3. ニゲラ(Nigella) – 和ぬか (Wanuka)
4. ()vȯ)) ̷̨ʅ(۝ʅ(Ɵʅ():::()̵̳̗̊(Ɵʅ()vȯ)) ̷̨ʅ – ⣎⡇ꉺლ༽இ•̛)ྀ◞ ༎ຶ ༽ৣৢ؞ৢ؞ؖ ꉺლ
5. Hikers Y – Matthew Dear
6. A Remark You Made – Weather Report
7. Rumba Mama – Weather Report

Hyperlink to Spotify playlist: WILT_2023-09

Notes

Has it been another week already?

It all started with this video of 少女A (Shōjo A) by 中森 明菜 (Akina Nakamori). There’s a moment at 00:00:11 when she looks at the band with a cute scowl that made me melt. Of course, I was also very taken by the disco-rock hybrid groove that was coming out of Japanese new music in the eighties. Both 少女A (Shōjo A)and ヨコハマA・KU・MA (Yokohama A-ku-ma) have really infectious grooves that are accompanied by beautifully maximised musical arrangements, as well as Nakamori’s deep and gorgeously syrupy voice. 

From there I discovered 和ぬか (Wanuka) from another YouTube recommendation. It was an interesting arrangement so I checked out more of his work, and I landed on showcasing ‌ニゲラ(Nigella) because of it’s blend of J-Rock and other pop elements and big band elements. What results is a very driving song, but with lots of bop.

Imagine my surprise when ()vȯ)) ̷̨ʅ(۝ʅ(Ɵʅ():::()̵̳̗̊(Ɵʅ()vȯ)) ̷̨ʅ by ⣎⡇ꉺლ༽இ•̛)ྀ◞ ༎ຶ ༽ৣৢ؞ৢ؞ؖ ꉺლ was served up. I didn’t realise that the producer had new(ish) tracks released, but I’m always ready to listen. Damn, this beat is just a fine piece of nuanced work and minimal tech. I could listen to this for hours on end.

This now makes me nostalgic for music by Matthew Dear. I check out an album of previously unreleased material and find myself taken in by the bassline of Hikers Y.

Along the way, I also learned that Wayne Shorter had passed on. I didn’t know enough of his work, but I was also reminded that he was an essential part of Weather Report with Jaco Pastorious. So I loaded up an album and was immediately blown away by the virtuosity of the musicians. A Remark You Made is such a sweet melody that also reveals the constraint of its performers, and shows us if you want to be a good musician, you must want to listen to good musicians, and even better yet play with them.