Recohan Hints on recohan.net

Denki Groove - J-POP

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 15:00:00 +0200

Wow, I was lazy. My last ReHaHi is so long ago that I had to search the editor I use to write them in. Shame on me and sorry for that.
But Denki Groove did not much better. Since their last Album Voxxx eight years passed by (in contrast to that I already start to feel better). I read about J-Pop on the great Japan blog chipple.net and so I needed to have it. For somebody located in Germany that's not a cheap pleasure. Sometimes the Amazon.de Marketplace is a good place to find cheap imports from Japan. And I was in luck. My favourite dealer musicjapan.jp (despite the name it seems they do not have a web site) offered the new Denki Groove CD at around Euro 24 including shipping from Japan there (thanks to the very strong Euro). From previous orders I was aware that they are fast and reliable. This time I had my brand new copy after just four days. Since then the new album is on auto repeat and will be there for many more spins. The music is clear, fresh, modern, fast and driving. It immediately shacked me through and through and motivated me to write a record hunter hint right away. J-Pop is a must for all fans of Japanese pop music. It was worth the wait and I highly recommend it.

The Nits - Urk

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 16:00:00 +0200

Where Do you order your The Nits CDs and DVDs? I order mine directly from the NITS shop. The first time I did that was at a time where their CDs had been rare in regular stores. I transmitted a bit too much postage to them and they send me my order, the difference and a nice collective item for free. From that time I order only from the direct, get copies with signature and have the good feeling that the band might have more profit from my order (perhaps only an illusion, but a nice one for me). You do not know NITS? Hmmm, yes, that might the problem of that Dutch group. Outside the Netherlands they are one of the most overlooked bands. And that is a shame. It is hard to describe their music. The influence of the Beatles can be heard clearly but there are also influences of Minimalist Music, Jazz and Independent Pop. Especially live like on Urk you will recognize the fun the have with improvisations, lots of percussion and samplings. Even after over 30 years of band history and a lot of albums their music did not got boring. Recohan.net lists The Nits. From 1988 the official name is NITS but I wanted to keep the discography in one piece. My advice: start your NITS experience with the double live CD Urk (now also on double CD plus DVD) like I did many years before and enjoy.

International Sampler - 8-Bit Operators - The Music Of Kraftwerk

Wed, 16 May 2007 16:42:00 +0200

If you follow my record hunter hints column here for a while you already have found out that my all-time favorites are Yellow Magic Orchestra and Kraftwerk. New releases from both groups are rare so that the hard core fan is happy to hunt nice cover tracks of his favorites. 8-Bit Operators - The Music Of Kraftwerk comes with 15 very special Kraftwerk covers I needed to have right away. All of them are performed on lo-bit microchip computers by prominent chiptune artists what makes the album outstanding from regular cover CDs. If you - like me - have grown up with Commodore, Atari, and Co you will love the basic 80's computer sound. Imagine a complete album sounding similar the Casio beeps played by Kraftwerk in Pocket Calculator. Hate it or love it. I think there is not much in-between. If you are a serious collector 8-Bit Operators - The Music Of Kraftwerk is a good starting point to a interesting flavour of electronic music. The CD comes with a booklet full of links to the artist’s homepages helping you to explore new worlds. The CD was released in Feb. 2007 so it is neither rare nor hard to hunt.

P.S: If you fell in love with that C=64 sound you might also take a look at International Sampler.

The Balanescu Quartet - East Meets East - YMO by the Balanescu Quartet

Tue, 8 May 2007 10:05:00 +0200

Some time ago I found Possessed by The Balanescu Quartet containing five great Kraftwerk covers. This sounds like nothing special - there are many Kraftwerk covers around. But The Balanescu Quartet is a Romanian avant-garde string quartet. They use only strings and no electronics. Is it possible to play Kraftwerk's electro-pop songs unplugged and classical? It is!
Soon I got aware that the quartet did the same for my favorites Yellow Magic Orchestra. East Meets East - YMO by the Balanescu Quartet is five years older than Possessed and by far not so wide spread; at least in Europe. After some hunt I found a sealed copy at Far Side Music in the UK which is specialized in Japan imports. Paul Fisher, the owner of the shop, confirmed my order himself and it arrived in time and good shape. He has a lot more interesting stuff imported from Japan on stock. Pricing was OK for me
East Meets East - YMO by the Balanescu Quartet comes with six covers of well known YMO tracks. I had a lot of fun spinning the CD again and again. Even if you can not stand classical music in general - with East Meets East you should give the genre another try. For me East Meets East - YMO by the Balanescu Quartet is a very nice piece worth the hunt.

A la via! - A la via!

Tue, 3 Apr 2007 16:00:00 +0200

On the occasion of the European Shareware Conference 2003 we attend an event at Girkeller in Cologne. It was a historical medieval banquet with jesters. The corresponding music from A la via!. This minstrel band collects and performs music from Middle Ages between the 13th and 16th century all over Europe. They play the songs on historical instruments. Thanks to A la via! we had a very nice evening. Logical we were glad to hunt the music direct from the band. Ok, A la via! is granted not my every day favorite, but from time to time I really enjoy listen to it. You can fetch the CD from the artist's online shop. Happy hunting!

P.S. If you like medivial style music you should also take a look at The End Of Asia.

Taha Khaled Faudel - 1, 2, 3 Soleils

Tue, 3 Apr 2007 15:00:00 +0200

One day a sampler of French music finds his way into our music collection. A few titles sound really promising, so we decide to look for more. At least at this time the artists were hard to get in Germany. Next time we spend a long weekend in Paris I made a list of our favorite artists from this sampler. We found already a store in the web but naturally it wasn't open when we arrived there. Good luck we found another very small CD store in walking distance from Sorbonne university with very motivated and skilled staff. They helped us to select interesting CDs. 1, 2, 3 Soleils is the first one. It is a live cd of the three Algerian artists Taha Khaled Faudel, Khaled and Faudel. I like especially the combination of Arabian instruments and strings. Thirteen long titles filled the cd with 75 minutes of interesting music. My favorites are title number five, eight, nine and twelve. BTW: Aicha is the original version of a German summer hit from Outlandish. Enjoy!

Cosmic Village - Nice Age

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 13:18:00 +0200

Nice Age by Cosmic Village closes my little sequel of Yellow Magic Orchestra covers. This CDs contains six YMO classics differing significantly from the originals. In my collection I found nearly fourty variations and covers (including doubles) of Rydeen but the one by Cosmic Village is still different. The first five tracks are nice variations of well known YMO anthems, but Tong Poo is a to weird improvisation. If you look carefuly through the collection you will find other "weird" things like Autechre but here the contrast to the other tracks on one disk is to brutal. Off course the CD is a must have for fans of YMO but I recommend to listen to it in two sessions. I hunted my copy at Tokyo Recohan where I also got the 1:1 excerpt Rydeen (Club Edge Limited Mix). Like all hunts with them it was a good and inexpensive experience.

For the last ReHaHis I listenined to a dozends of different Rydeen variations. Even as a hard core YMO fan this is more than enough for now. I promise the next RehaHi will cover non-YMO related music. Btw: if you find some item in the collection you want to know how to hunt please use the contact form to let me know. If it is an interesting story it might worth a ReHaHi. So stay tuned.

Logic System - Orient Express

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 01:30:00 +0200

Is Orient Express of Logic System on CD rare? I think so, while I had no problem to hunt my copy at Otokichi Premium at a reasonable price. I used the "Wants List" of Otokichi and it worked for me after a while of waiting. You always have to be patient if you want to hunt a good copy at some good price. If you are willing to pay any price for the first copy you see on eBay you can speed up the process - but this is not how a real recohan does it. Isn't the hunt as important as the item you hunt...

Why did this CD come to my radar? Hideki Matsutake, the brain behind Logic System is well known to most Yellow Magic Orchestra fans - some call him even the inofficial band member #4 responsible for effects and electronics. For me a good reason to buy the records Logic, Venus, and Orient Express on vinyl in the 80's. 20 years later I remembered this three little gems (I know, there are later Logic System albums but I only have 1991's To Gen Kyo of these). Sure I needed to hunt them...

On Orient Express I especially like track #3 Simoon. This is a cover of the Yellow Magic Orchestra classic found on 1978 debut album Yellow Magic Orchestra Japan / Yellow Magic Orchestra USA (so this Rehahi is part of my small series of Rehahis with YMO covers I started with #9). I prefer the female voice singing over the vocoder of the original. The other tracks on the CD are no covers of YMO. They are written in the mood of some travel with the famous train of the same name. So if you like YMO, then chances are good that you will also fall in love with Logic System. Better get your copy as long as there are sometimes good offers, e.g. at Otokichi.

DJ19 meets JMO - Perspective Service

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 20:38:00 +0200

Perspective Service is a combination of the work of two remixers: DJ19 (Japan) and Junior Vasquez (USA). The first two tracks are really great remixes of the Yellow Magic Orchestra classic Rydeen by DJ19. He is a Japanese DJ which a large discography on his site. Both mixes are my favorite YMO remixes so far. Togehter they are over 20 minutes long and the Maxi-CD could end here. Really excellent stuff for YMO fans.
But there are five more YMO remixes by the American DJ Junior Vasquez on the MCD. These are also very well done, but the better mixes of the very same tracks can be found on Junior's Magic Orchestra. The disc comes without any booklet in a Laserfile® case. Like most of my Japanese stuff this jewel was hunted by Tokyo Recohan.

Y Setsu O - Ero Magic Orchestra

Tue, 9 Jan 2007 15:35:00 +0200

Here comes another Yellow Magic Orchestra tribute: Ero Magic Orchestra by Y Setsu O. A very funny and interesting piece. "Ero" and the album cover gives me the strong impression that the sketches in the last four tracks titled Sperman Show must be x-rated :-) Bad luck for me - I do not understand more Japanese than Sayonara or Recohan. I wish I would understand more - a problem I already had with the original Super Eccentric Theater sketches on Service. The music is close to the original and very well done. The spare lyrics (e.g. Simon, La Femme Chinoise) are hard to understand because of heavy vocoder usage. My impression is, that these are the original english lyrics, perhaps with some minor (dirty?) changes but sung with heavy accent.

The CD comes with a CD-Extra which do not play automatically on (my) western PC. If you have the same problem you should go to the root of the data section on your PC and double-click ysetsuo.avi which plays fine. Do not miss that movie because it introduces the band Y Setsu O (Ero Magic Orchestra is the album name - an issue I just fixed here in our databases) and has some funny slightly sex related graphics (In a way that nobody should be offended). The movie and the booklet gives credits to Hideki Matsutake (YMO, Logic System) for some noises which makes it even more interesting for a real record hunter like me. The movie ends with the word "respect to YMO" - good to know that they are not making fun out of YMO (and making a fool out of me pointing on it here). Please use the contact form if you have more information on this interesting piece. I'm really happy that Patrick from Tokyo Recohan hunted this piece for my collection at some very nice price!

Oriental Magnetic Yellow - Youshoku X0breeds

Wed, 3 Jan 2007 20:55:00 +0200

This tribute album by Oriental Magnetic Yellow is the first recohan hint in a row with Yellow Magic Orchestra covers, remixes and tributes. First I was not sure if I could accept a group to make more or less fun out of my music heros. But if you listen to this CD you have to agree that this is no blasphemy at all. Titles like Rice Age instead of Nice Age or Gay Stripper instead of Day Tripper show the funny direction of the project but the music is very gently played. Hard core fans in Japan might not like what groups like OMY do. In the western world YMO is an insider tip and I enjoy the feeling that they are so famous in Japan that even tribute bands like OMY can exist. Youshoku X0breeds is from 1997 and easy to get if you are happy with an used copy. There are a few more albums from Oriental Magnetic Yellow on my personal hunt list. Stay tuned!

Love, Peace & Trance - Love, Peace & Trance

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0200

Love, Peace & Trance was in my last parcel from Tokyo Recohan my very favorite source for rare stuff from Japan. You can send your hunting order to them and they hunt used CDs for you in Tokyo's second hand record stores.

Love, Peace & Trance came into my radar because it is a project of Haruomi Hosono member of my favorite Japanese band Yellow Magic Orchestra. If you like Hosono's stuff from his Quite Lodge phase then this should be on your hunt list too. Love, Peace & Trance surrounds you by ambient music of Hosono enriched with the beautiful voices of Mimori Yusa (Love), Miyako Koda (Peace) and Mishio Ogawa (Trance). If you expect YMO'ish electro-pop you will be disappointed. It is a very relaxing experience. For me it is a good choice as BGM (background music) while programming or reading. I'm not sure if this is rare but the title without Hosono's name moved it a bit out of the focus of YMO collectors.

Oingo Boingo - Only a Lad

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0200

"Hey, this must be Devo" said my girl friend proudly after listening to the track Capitalism without looking to the cd cover. No, it is not - it is Oingo Boingo. While I must admit that I had the same first impression. I even think I hear the whip from Whip It in Nasty Habits. After giving this record a few more spins I think that I definitely found this Oingo Boingo album to late in my life. But better now than never. Everybody who likes Devo will like at least this album (I can not say anything about the others because I just started to collect Oingo Boingo albums). It was really easy to get for me at some reasonable price.

Devo - Recombo DNA

Wed, 6 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0200

Recombo DNA is a two disc set limited to 5000 copies by Rhino Handmade. While I'm writing this there are still copies of this year 2000 release available. Perhaps the publicity of this nice collection of 42 songs was not high or potential buyers went away because of the original price of around 40 USD. While the track listings looks familiar this is not another best-of album of Devo. You find great alternate versions and lyrics on this. The booklets are also great and I'm very happy to have my copy #4240 of 5000 at hand if my mood is looking for some de-evolution.

David Byrne - The Visible Man

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +0200

This one is very special and out of print. It is a limited edition of official David Byrne Feelings remixes sold at his concerts. You can read some official lines about the nine tracks here. The remixes on The Visible Man are dramatic and some fans might dislike them. But there are Byrne fans (like me) who just sit back and enjoy another facing of this great artist. I hunted the fabulous sounding Japanese edition with Obi and extra booklet some while ago without problems. Search the web and you'll find some places where it is listed - but sold out for long. So don't miss to pick it if you see a copy if you like outstanding pieces.

Eläkeläiset - Das Humppawerk

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +0200

Today the post man put a very funny EP into my mailbox. It is an EP from the Finnish humppa band Eläkeläiset. Well, it is a sort of polka music our grandparents might like. Every song has a cute Finnish accent making me smile while I listen to it. What makes it a hunt for me is track #1: An Outstanding cover version of Kraftwerk's Das Model [sic]. I say "Terve" (the Finnish hello) to this nice 2006 release.

Yellow Magic Orchestra - YMO versus The Human League

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +0200

I always had the impression that this 1993 EP should be hard to hunt. Now I hold a second copy in my hands. The reason might be that this is not rare in it's origin Japan. Nevertheless it is a very nice piece with four tracks combining the music of two of my all time favorites: Yellow Magic Orchestra aka YMO and The Human League. The info about YMOs contribution in the booklet is rare but some facts are clear: these are YMO classics played by The Human League produced in Japan. And the versions are in a way that fans of both groups have fun with it. So I have double fun spinning it from time to time. If you see a copy - grab it.

The Beautiful South - Gold

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +0200

The Beautiful South may be not well-known out of Europe, but the best-selling album of the 90s in the UK was their earlier best of Carry On Up The Charts.
The newest Best of Gold are two CDs full-packed of 36 digitally remastered hits from all albums. Even if there are no new songs for long-time fans like me, the sound is very good. The band is famous for good music and very sarcastic lyrics.
Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway found the band in the late 80s, just after The Housemartins splits. I had the luck to hunt already their first release Welcome To The Beautiful South. The newest release with new songs is Superbi, also an easy hunt published in 2006. Also interesting is Paul Heaton's solo excurs as Biscuit Boy.

Señor Coconut - Yellow Fever!

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +0200

While surfing the web for new Yellow Magic Orchestra gems we came across this very special cover album. It is made by the German Uwe Schmidt located in Chile. Despite the fact that it contains great covers of classical Yellow Magic song it has a long list of guest apperances. Among them are Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Towa Tei, and Mouse on Mars. So it is definitely a must have for every YMO recohan. It was easy to hunt this June 2006 release at a good price in a regular online music shop. So the hunt was not thrilling in this case but the item is.