Sunshower (reissue) vinyl

Taeko Ohnuki's second album Sunshower first broke in July 1977, hastening the evolution of city pop even before it developed the name. With the mythic Ryuichi Sakamoto enlisted for musical direction, the record married J-pop, smooth jazz, and rock, as 'Summer Connection', 'Tokai', and 'Kusuri Wo Takusan' fleshed out and diffracted Ohnuki's introspective lyrics and melodic sensuality. Despite only modest initial commercial success, Sunshower garnered critical acclaim over time for its sophisticated arrangements, standing out and tall among a thick canopy of similarly flighty-slick city pop records, most of which lack that extra Sakamoto *something*.