The Ventures - "Pops in Japan" 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Japan, 1980 (United Artists Records Japan)

If for nothing else The Ventures brought the electric guitar to Japan.  To this day, The Ventures (or whoever is left of the band) still do yearly tours of Japan, and it is one of the significant areas of the world to complete your Ventures vinyl collection.  Other then that, The Ventures made two albums for the Japanese market covering Japanese pop songs and Enka, which is similar to the blues, but in Japanese.  These sad Japanese pop ballads have a natural relationship with the electric guitar.  For the Westerner, it's a cool combination.  For my wife, who is Japanese she may find it kitsch.  Since I'm writing this review, I will say it's fine art.

The liner notes are all in Japanese, and I suspect that side one & 2 of this double set was released as it is sometime either in the 70s or 60s.   It is also better than the second disc, which has keyboards and has a late 70s vibe in its recording.  Still, a remarkable document.  I have heard songs or singles that is devoted to the Japanese market, but it's rare to listen to a whole album by a Western band dedicated to the Japanese songcraft and hits.  The Ventures play their twang guitar sound, but it fits in perfectly with the Japanese melodies.  Also, I must note that side one is all original songs by The Ventures focusing on a Japanese 60s pop sound.  The rest of the double-album set are cover songs.

It took me years to find a vinyl version of this album, even in Japan, it's hard to find. I found this perfectly beautiful edition at Counterpoint Music and Books.   It was the last thing I expected to see in a shop.   The Ventures generally are not my favorite instrumental band.  For instance, I prefer The Shadows, and I think it comes to the Jet Harris bass and the Hank Marvin guitar. Still, one has to acknowledge the importance of The Ventures, and the little-known knowledge that they had a massive impact on Japanese pop music and aesthetics.  Before The Beatles, the other fab four, The Ventures, came and stole the hearts of future Japanese guitarists.  

Bluebob - "Bluebob" CD Album

Bluebob – Bluebob

CD, Album, US, 2002

Soulitude Records

Bluebob is a band, of sorts, composed of David Lynch and John Neff. I suspect, and I can be deadly wrong, that Lynch will be better known for his music. For me it is hard to think about his films without the soundtrack – and even though he chose the recording, it somehow conveys the Lynch aesthetic. Bluebob came out of nowhere and landed in the home of Tosh, and usually I have a memory of getting the record or CD, but in this case, it is totally blank.

The sound is what you expect from the Lynch world. Driving boogie-blues with the 1950's Duane Eddy meets Joe Meek guitar. But the big difference here is Neff's vocals, which almost, makes these songs sound normal. But there is also a death metal touch to the recording as well. It's a remarkable record, and in some Lynch music landscapes it s a road house bar, but the music here I think belongs to a dark forest. It's not an urban sound, but more of a 3:30 AM in the wrong part of the forest type of sound. Also it's a good record to hear by yourself. It is not sharing type of music, more of laying in front of the hi-fi by yourself, and letting the sounds bath you type of record.