Hiroshi Sato: Orient (Japan Import, Colored Vinyl) Vinyl LP

Yo, this Japanese reissue culture is getting so out of control that I’m considering dedicating a slot on my shelf to it (yes I’m copping all these reissues, no I don’t have any of the originals; I’m not made of money and my monthly ‘scogs budget is being eaten alive by rare free jazz and dancehall 45s). On this holy grail joint from 1979, Hiroshi Sato sings and plays the Minimoog and Polymoog synths you see floating on the cover, backed by an all-star cast of Japanese players: Haruomi Hosono on bass (just after he’d formed YMO with Sakamoto), Shigeru Suzuki on guitar and Pecker (!!) on percussion. Sato spits breezy, Rick Davies-esque AOR vocals over 8 tracks of immaculately-produced synthpop jazz fusion, fleshed out with bleeps and bloops yanked straight out of Kraftwerk’s dreams. A lot of these late 70s early 80s world synth jazz-funk records might sorta sound the same to the uninitiated jazzhead, but there truly is nothing else out there that sounds quite like this. Pecker’s percussion (and what I can only imagine to be a general wildcard presence in the studio) really takes this session to another level. Check out “Son Go Kuw,” “Doncama,” “Sora Tobu Jutan” and “Hikary Kaze.” Recommended.

• clear green colored vinyl
• high-quality Japan import
• includes obi strip + full color printed foldout insert
• limited edition
• original release year: 1979
• music label: Kitty Records 2026

reviewed by sunrise mart 04/2018