Akiko Yano – Japanese Girl

French reissue label We Want Sounds is charting a course to release the early catalogue of Japanese singer Akiko Yano. The imprint is following up last year's release of Tadaima (originally released in 1981) with her 1976 debut, Japanese Girl. The goal is to expose Yano, who is legendary within Japan, to a larger audience.

Whereas Tadaima is a synth-pop collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yellow Magic Orchestra, Japanese Girl, her debut, features the jazz-funk rhythms of American band Little Feat — an outfit formed by ex-Mothers of Invention member Lowell George — on the A side. She's backed on the flip by Japanese pop music royalty, including a pre-YMO Haruomi Hosono and drummer Tatsuo Hayashi.

With a vocal delivery likened to that of Kate Bush, Yano comes out swinging with a powerful tone that bobs and weaves effortlessly. Her range belies her inexperience on this recording. This is the soulful emoting of a veteran of her craft, not the tentative first effort of an ingénue finding her footing. It's immediately apparent why the release of Japanese Girl created such a stir in her home country, and made Yano an overnight sensation.

Akiko Yano is one of the most ground-breaking artists to come out of the '70s Japanese music scene along with Haruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto. A piano child prodigy, Yano started her solo recording career in 1976 at just 21, with Japanese Girl, which created a stir on the Japanese scene and Yano was on the map.

She went on to record a series of superb albums mixing funk, electro, and city pop featuring the cream of Japanese (and sometimes American and English) musicians; The fact she was producing, writing and composing herself made her a true maverick in a very male-dominated industry. These albums, incredibly, have never been released outside of Japan to this day.

Released for the first time outside of Japan with OBI and 4 page insert with lyrics and full line up.

Vinyl, LP, Reissue, Remastered

Tracklist:
American Side
A1 Kikyu Ni Notte 6:32
A2 Kuma 3:57
A3 Denwasen 2:50
A4 Tsugaru Tour 1:58
A5 Funamachi-uta Part 2 5:48
Japanese Side
B1 Ooinaru Shiino-ki 3:15
B2 Herikoputaa 3:50
B3 Futa 1:48
B4 Oka Wo Koete 3:08
B5 Funamachi-uta Part 1 3:57