Friends of Earth - Sex, Energy and Star (Non-Standard, 1986)

This one seemed too fun not to share right away. The Godfather of Soul and genre-hopping whiz dude Haruomi Hosono, together at last with F.o.E.! It sounds like what you'd expect - which means you probably want to get down with it. The rest of the album is a treat too, all over the place in terms of style. "Total Eclipse" is an electro-tribal burner with some great female vocals, "Opera" is old-school Hosono MIDI spazz shit. There's a nice Dr. John cover. For my $$$ though, check out "In My Jungle," an exemplary sexy synth jam with some lovely piano touches halfway through...

enjoy

Haruomi Hosono - Philharmony (Yen Records, 1982)

Another one I've been searching for for quite a while. 

If I had to sum it up in one word - make that two: "Sports Men." 

This was my introduction to Hosono's solo career (via the excellent root strata mix). As I listen to it on repeat while writing this, the song's got to top anything YMO ever put out. This is a non-argument, like when Freud says it's a manifestation of your unconscious.

Released in '82 on his and Yuki's Yen label, this is a freewheeling, joyfully disorganized record, with aforementioned pop tunes rubbing shoulders with a cover of a well-known 19th century Italian song, takes on traditional Japanese percussion ("Luminescent/Hotaru"), and one-man choral pieces ("Philharmony"). Some of the sonic risks he takes on numbers like "Birthday Party" remind me of Ryuichi's dance soundtrack "Esperanto" - or some of the MIDI play employed by contemporary sound artists like Oneohtrix Point Never or Demdike Stare. A joy to listen to.

So, enjoy!