Sublime bossa from Japan's Himiko Kikuchi. The sound of a soprano sax causes many to reach for the "off" switch (thanks Kenny G!), but Himiko has made it not only acceptable again, but almost hip (almost!). The song starts off with baby noises, before wordless, female vocals come in and introduce the memorable melody. It then moves into a suitably paced bossa rhythm. I have been listening to this track for a few years now (courtesy of Compost Record's "Gl�cklich IV" compilation), and I just can't tire of it. It's one of my all time favourites.

The "Softrock Drivin'" series is a terrifically compiled collection of japanese soft rock and bossa nova gems from the late 60s/early 70s. And it clearly shows that the japanese interest in all kinds of easy listening music wasn't solely influenced by contemporaries like Burt Bacharach but by native artists as well. This track by Emma Sugimoto is a delightfully light and fluffy piece of japanese pop and sounds like a blueprint for some kind of "Shibuya-Kei" track artists like Pizzicato Five could have produced. With shimmering strings, harpiscord embellishments, slightly funky electric guitar and a wonderful trumpet on top. With the clear, transparent production and fine arrangement it's a true standout track of the series.

For Hideaki Sekiguchi, aka Bass Wolf, who sadly died of a heart attack on the 31st of March. He was only 38.
Guitar Wolf is one of those bands you either love or hate, i myself love them and their insane, primal rock n' roll antics. Sure hope they carry on, even though they are now missing a member.
This may well be the loudest song ever recorded. It's insanely great and makes me want to learn how to destroy a guitar.

An old Lotte chocolate commercial song turned into an infectious disco-ish club track.
The song starts with a loop of the famous "we like music, we like the disco sound" sample and with social dance instructions in Japanese, and then turns into disco with a groovy bass line and wah-wah guitar, to then apply the commercial song's vocals perfectly.

Japanese recluse Ip rarely leaves the confines of his room-cum-studio - and it's usually to attend a naff 1980s-stylee disco. The shy, clumsy student takes on the persona of a mentalist when news of a party spreads.

To celebrate his love of all things crazee, Ip recorded a series of bizarre poptastic tracks in the early 1990s. The songs suffer from dreadful production values and annoying lyrics, much of which is spoken in broken Engrish. But hey, that only adds to the fun.

Ip's debut album 'Floor 15: Room 17' is his best. Two stand out tracks include: 'Knocking on door while Mr Room Mate is away now', and 'Why are all new friends arrive for special event not on?'.

But his best song is 'Have you got ticket to the Dome?', a slice of Human League-esque rom-pop, bolted on to a 130 bpm, glam rock rhythm.

I used to know his acquaintance, this bloke that used to wear a plastic suit and fake glasses. He would hang around with a can of cheap lager. But I haven't seen him in months. I think he lost his mobile phone, or something. He'd probably say: 'Oh yeah, Gonza, Genzo. I remember. The good old days. Hanging out in the Lounge.'

Whatever. But Ip. Far out.