Diego Olivas

Chagrin D’Amour: Chagrin D’Amour (1982)

2018/07/24

Who knows what would have happened in France if New Yorker Valli Timbert hadn’t met filmmaker Philippe Bourgoin, at some Chelsea Hotel, in the late ‘70s? Philippe, not pictured on the cover of Chagrin D’Amour’s self-titled debut, was the French artiste who had fallen in love with rap early on in 1979. Then, via The…
Paradigm Shift: The Rain Child And The River King (1986)

2018/07/20

Seems like the perfect time to sneak this one through ye olde FOND/SOUND blog. Led by Makoto Matsushita, proud creator of one of City Pop’s timeless gems (First Light), and Chris Mosdell, proud creator of this totally slept on “Japanese” techno-pop gem, comes this decidedly different collaboration called Paradigm Shift. Like its namesake, it actually does…
Roberto Musci & Giovanni Venosta: Water Messages On Desert Sand (1987)

2018/07/17

It would be easy to supplant whatever I stated in my post for Nuno Canavarro’s Plux Quba and simply transport it here. If we include Roberto Musci & Giovanni Venosta’s Water Messages On Desert Sand, as another trafficking in that gorgeous unplaceable thing — then we can think of it as another forgotten reimagining of…
China Crisis: Flaunt The Imperfection (1985)

2018/07/13

“If you have taste, your long neck is an asset, your small stature is an asset, that crooked smile is an asset… Elegance is innate. It has nothing to do with being well dressed. Elegance is refusal.” – Diana Vreeland (ex-editor of Vogue/Bazaar magazine). It seems highly appropriate, and better stated, to use her words…
Hajime Mizoguchi: Oasis – Behind The Clear Waters (1986)

2018/07/06

Let’s take a step back. Let’s take a breather and rediscover the music of Hajime Mizoguchi. Romantic, sunny, and surprisingly graceful, Halfinch Dessert notched another special rung on Japan’s wonderful New Age music from that era. In 1985, it was that debut, that gave us a taste of the string-laden, pining sound Hajime was inkling…
Righeira: Righeira (1983)

2018/07/03

The tale of Righeira appears weirder and weirder, the more I dig into it. Something about their self-titled debut is both so absolutely bananas and perfectly so. For the most part, we all know their hits/ear worms: “Vamos A La Playa” and “No Tengo Dinero”, but digging further one can be left more than…
Hideo Yamaki: Shadow Run (1993)

2018/06/29

And now, joining Genji Sawai in the next round of jazz not jazz, is the immensely talented drummer Hideo Yamaki. In essence, Hideo Yamaki’s Shadow Run, released in 1993, covers similar creative territory. However, the output here remains vastly different, even if some of the same cohorts help Hideo flesh out his own vision. Produced…
I-Level: I-Level (1983)

2018/06/26

Thatcher’s England must have been a messed up time to grow up in, right? At the height of her pull, Essex group, I-Level, released a wonderfully romantic, uptempo electronic-R&B single called “Minefield” near after England’s ridiculous war with Argentina and promptly got banned from the radio. Trying to go for their third, hit single, with…
Everything Play: Lou Lou Mon Amour (ルール・モナムール) (1987)

2018/06/22

For some reason, I’ve been sitting on this album for a long while just waiting for the right season to share it. It’s Everything Play’s Lou Lou Mon Amour (ルール・モナムール) who I owe a huge debt of gratitude to one fellow reader, Wes Almond, who has an equally fascinating Youtube channel who we all should…
Nasmak: Silhouette (1983)

2018/06/19

More Dutch love for these close-to-summer days. The final album by Nasmak, Silhouette, truth be told, was a sell-out. And truth be told, was absolutely their best work. I imagine it was a hard sell to quantify back then, take a spellbinding blend of Japanese-indebted electronic pop, mix in the sinewy, fretless-bass sound of Japan-”the…