VA - DJ Notoya Presents Tokyo Bliss - Japanese Funk, Boogie and City Pop From King Records 1974-88 (2025)

DJ NOTOYA IS BACK WITH A NEW SELECTION OF JAPANESE FUNK AND BOOGIE FROM THE LABEL KING RECORDS BETWEEN 1974 AND 1988 AND FEATURING BUZZ, FUJIMARU BAND, KEIKO TODA, KUMIKO SAWADA.
Following the success of the 'Tokyo Glow' and 'Funk Tide' sets, Wewantsounds once again teams up with Tokyo-based DJ Notoya for a breezy selection of Funk and Boogie recorded in Japan for King Records in the 70s and 80s. Most tracks here are making their debut on vinyl outside of Japan and the album, like its predecessors, has been designed by Optigram's Manuel Sepulveda and is annotated by DJ Notoya. The audio has been newly mastered in Tokyo by King Records.

Album review

It's been six years since Light in the Attic poured kerosene on the spark of a nascent City Pop revival with the first volume of their Pacific Breeze compilation series documenting the smooth AOR, funk, boogie, and polished pop of boomtime '80s Japan. And while that first set blew the minds of many listeners outside of Japan—who, at that point, may have only heard the viral remix of Mariya Takeuchi's "Plastic Love"—it was far from the first collection to dig in those crates. Japanese DJs like Muro and DJ Notoya had previously put together mixes documenting the best City Pop to come out on labels like Victor (both Muro's 2018 Diggin' Victor and Notoya's Tokyo 1980s Victor Edition).

To say that Pacific Breeze cribbed from these sets would be something of an understatement. Tokyo Bliss—released on the Paris-based label wewantsounds—finds Notoya heading back to his label-focused deep-dives, gathering up '80s obscurities and hits from King Records, one of Japan's biggest labels. While it may not be shocking that some of the material—like the smooth pop of "Bokura no Date" by Koji Kobayashi or the torchy "You're Love's Away" by Kumiko Sawada—are firmly in the middle of the road, it should go without saying that Notoya also presents material that is jaw-droppingly fresh. Yuji Mitsuya's "After Five at Cafe'-Bar" shamelessly rips off Patrice Rushen's "Forget Me Nots" but it does so in such a gleefully funky way that the bass and handclaps somehow get a brand-new life.

Meanwhile, "Sabita Gambler" by Mami Ayukawa jams so many City Pop hallmarks into one song—thumping bass, glistening keyboards, high-precision musicianship, acres of digital reverb, a chorus that is both incredibly dumb and incredibly catchy—that it feels almost transgressive in its perfection. One feels that Notoya could have easily stretched this ten-song outing into a set three times as long, but the concision—and variety—of Tokyo Bliss ultimately makes it both a stronger set and a more convincing argument for Notoya's preeminence. © Jason Ferguson

Tracklist
1. Buzz - Garasumado (2:36)
2. Mami Ayukawa - Sabita Gambler (3:54)
3. Johnny Yoshinaga - The Rain (5:48)
4. Keiko Toda - FADE IN (4:16)
5. Koji Kobayashi - Bokura no Date (3:09)
6. Yuko Imai - HOTEL TWILIGHT (4:50)
7. Kumiko Sawada - YOUR LOVE'S AWAY (4:23)
8. Masatoshi Kanno - Day By Day (3:32)
9. Yuji Mitsuya - AFTER FIVE AT CAFE'-BAR (4:49)
10. Fujimaru Band - Paper machine (2:29)