Sachiko Kanenobu

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4...according to our Ant on Thu 21 Dec, 2006.

I have some warm, heart felt Japanese female singer songwriter music in the form of a CD called 'Misora' by SACHIKO KANENOBU. 'Look Up The Sky Is beautiful' begins the album with an acoustic guitar that could have come straight off the Palace 'Days In The Wake' record. Then the vocal on 'Far Away From You' is a lot like Stereolab. Although the song titles are in English, they are sung in Japanese. In a very sweet voice my I add. I rather like the fact that I can't understand what she's saying. It leaves you just listening to the sound of her voice rather than the lyrics which give it a certain charm. She could be saying all welsh people should be burned at the stake for al I know. Phil reckons this is like what the lady from Deerhoof would sound like had she been listening to Vashti Bunyan (instead of extraterrestrial transmissions from the Planet Zogg#586tx - Brian) . The tracks are pretty straight up acoustic folk / pop numbers with minimal instrumentation leaving plenty of space for Sachiko's gorgeous vocals. This was originally released in 1972 and has been reissued by Australian label Chapter Music.

Twenty eight years after it's release, Sachiko Kanenobu’s first album 'Misora' is today cited as a major influence by a new generation of Japanese musicians. Japanese groups Grapevine and Freebo both recently covered songs from the album, while 'Shibuya-kei' artists, Sunny Day Service, Kenji Ozawa and Kazuyoshi Nakamura all tout her as a source of inspiration.

'Misora' was released during the Japanese 'folk boom' and featured seminal figures Happy End and Haruomi Hosono. Kanenobu was labeled the 'Japanese Joni Mitchell'. However, before the album was even released, she took off to America, not to return to the Japanese music scene until now. After getting married and having children, her music career remained on the backburner for the first six years she lived in America.

It was a meeting with science fiction writer, and author of 'Bladerunner' Philip K. Dick who first encouraged her to get back into music. After visiting her in New York and listening to and loving ‘Misora’, he encoraged her to start writing songs again. Dick sponsored her first American recordings, which she sung in English, but unfortunately he died soon after. Kanenobu moved to California, but continued to write new songs. She toured Germany in the 80s and early 90s steadily building up a following on the folk festival and club circuit. She formed a band 'Culture Shock', and cut a couple of albums for release in mainly Germany.

However, it's only with the release of her new album 'Sachiko', that Japanese fans have been treated to a bona fide new album of nearly all new songs. 'Sachiko' is an eclectic blend of many types of music, including Asian, Celtic, African, Indian, Middle Eastern, flamenco and club music. Her interest in music from other cultures was aroused during the 'State of World Forum' held in San Francisco in 1996 and organized by Mikhail Gorbachev. Kanenobu participated as a Japanese singer, and met many other musicians from around the world. The theme of 'Sachiko' is unconditional love, and love as a source of energy.

Recorded in San Francisco, the album features musicians from including Africa, Pakistan and Ireland all living in and around the San Francisco Bay area, while her long time friend, Japanese producer Makoto Kubota mixed the album. The theme of 'Sachiko' is unconditional love, and love as a source of energy.

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