Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Wewantsounds continues to respond to that request with another benchmark reissue following Egyptian musician and composer Ammar El Sherei's Oriental Music. This time taking one of the definitive releases in Ryuichi Sakamoto's extensive oeuvre and making it shiny and new. Or at least giving it a dusting down, not that the contents were ever going to sound anything other than fresh.

Hidari... was such a groundbreaking album at the time because of the pop sensibilities Sakamoto actively looked to root the album in by way of enlisting British producer Robin Scott and American guitarist Adrian Belew in addition to members of his Yellow Magic Orchestra. The result sounds like intoxicating downtempo electronica, jerky elec-house, 1980s fantasy movie soundtracks and Far Eastern percussive exoticism. So apparently a marriage of styles and places that we consider striking today does sound even better 39 years later.

Review: Wewantsounds has put together a re-release of the late, great Ryuichi Sakamoto's classic album Coda, which was originally issued in his native Japan in 1983. This album is a solo piano rendition of the seminal Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence soundtrack and has never been available outside Japan until now. It finds legendary composer Sakamoto perform acoustic piano interpretations of his iconic themes including the classic title track and 'Germination,' which later featured in the Call Me By Your Name soundtrack. Remastered by Seigen Ono's Saidera Mastering studio in Tokyo, this reissue includes the original artwork and a four page insert with new liner notes by Andy Beta.

Review: Not your everyday crime thriller, Man On A Swing (1976) doesn't just follow a detective solving a murder with his very own machismic wits. It rather sees the main character consult a local mystic for help, in what can only be described as a far more holistic and spiritually in-touch mystery than most out there. Lalo Schifrin's OST is as entertaining and stark as this premise suggests, blending every influence from disco to funk to bossa nova into a rather exciting affair.

Review: Japanese harpist Ayako Shinozaki's 1974 release 'Music Now For Harp' is a rarity, a sprawling journey through strings, percussion and electrochord that culminates in a 25-minute ambient piece 'Heterodyne (Or Surfing)'. It's magical and gripping, and is finally being released outside of Japan for the first time - a remastering and reissue in collaboration between Nippon Columbia and French label Wewantsounds. The sounds are otherworldly and entrancing, 'Stanza II' is evocative of a horror-themed Kabuki display, the strings deftly floating around a poignant aura of droning tension. Featuring the original artwork from Kohei Sugiura, this new package comes adorned with an obi belt and a booklet with liner notes from Alan Cummings.

Review: Funk and soul group Sho Nuff were already beneficiaries of such greats as Stax Records and Malaco before their fourth LP, now reissued here through Wewantsounds, came out via the Japanese music racket King Records. Whilst their earlier records saw wide promotions in the US, Body Pressure heard the sextet relocate their appeal to the Japanese market, after having toured regularly in the Eastern isle after their prior album Stand Up For Love saw only modest sales success. Now well into their early-mid 80s embrace of boogie, the likes of 'Body Pressure', 'Monster Monster' and 'Is This For Real' hear unique pan-Asian collaborative panaceas, with recordings from Japanese funk jazz guitarist Takao Naoi standing out most notably on this sizzler.