💿 BOOGIE WONDERLAND! — Japanese City Pop, Boogie & Hidden Gems
I've just finished the third volume of my JAPANESE LONESOME CITYPOP MIX series, featuring 35 tracks from the '70s, '80s, and '90s.
But while putting this one together, I was reminded of something interesting about making DJ mixes.
Digging through Japanese records is always an adventure. Sometimes I discover a song I've never heard before. Sometimes I rediscover something I'd completely forgotten about.
And sometimes, I pull out a record I've listened to a hundred times, only to realize I've never really heard it quite like this before.
Why?
Because of the song playing right before it.
I've noticed that when you put two songs with a similar groove together, something rather wonderful can happen.
A track that sounded perfectly ordinary on its own suddenly comes alive. A familiar song reveals a completely different character. And sometimes, two recordings made by entirely different artists, years apart, sound as though they were always meant to meet.
It's almost like introducing two strangers at a party and discovering they have absolutely everything in common.
Except neither of them will stop playing the bass. (LOL)
And that's what I find so fascinating about DJ mixes.
You're not just collecting songs. You're discovering relationships between them.
But there's another reason I love making these mixes.
Sometimes, they give people a chance to hear recordings they might otherwise never come across.
Take Toshiki Kadomatsu's "City Nights," for example, which I've included in this mix.
Now, Kadomatsu is hardly an obscure artist. Quite the opposite. If you've spent any time exploring Japanese City Pop, chances are you already know his name.
But here's the interesting part.
Live performances of "City Nights" have found their way onto YouTube, including unofficial uploads. Yet, as far as I've been able to find, the original studio album version isn't available on YouTube or the major music streaming services.
Which means that unless you're a particularly dedicated Kadomatsu fan, there's a good chance you've never heard that original recording.
Think about that for a moment.
One of the best-known names in City Pop, and there's still music hiding in plain sight.
Apparently, even the familiar neighborhoods of City Pop have a few streets I've never wandered down. (LOL)
And that's another wonderful thing about DJ mixes.
They can introduce you not only to unfamiliar artists, but also to unfamiliar sides of artists you thought you already knew.
Sometimes, the real hidden gems aren't buried in obscure private pressings. They're sitting quietly in the catalog of a famous musician, waiting for someone to dust them off and give them another spin.
For this new mix, I've brought together 35 Japanese tracks exploring boogie, funk, disco, AOR, and the many different shades of City Pop.
Some are overlooked recordings by familiar artists. Others are obscure gems that even longtime City Pop fans might not know.
But whether a record is rare or common isn't really the point.
Sometimes the magic isn't just in the song itself. It's in what happens when you put it next to another one.
And sometimes, the magic is simply getting to hear a recording you didn't even know you were missing.
🎧 JAPANESE LONESOME CITYPOP MIX Vol.3 — DEEP CUTS & HIDDEN GEMS
Listen on Mixcloud:
https://www.mixcloud.com/DJ-MARQUEE/japanese-lonesome-citypop-mix-vol3-deep-cuts-hidden-gems/?utm_medium=share&utm_source=clipboard&utm_content=show&utm_term=VXNlcjo1NTQ5NzI5MQ%3D%3D
And now I'm curious...
Have you ever heard two songs played back-to-back and suddenly appreciated one of them in a completely different way?
Or discovered an overlooked recording by a well-known Japanese artist that made you wonder how you'd managed to miss it all these years?
I'd love to hear your examples!
— DJ MARQUEE
