Atsuko Nakazawa - 1973 - 中沢厚子ファースト・アルバム

 

Atsuko Nakazawa was (is?) a jpop/enka singer who made two albums in the 70s with this being her first. I don't know much about her - nobody does from what I can tell from light google research but that shouldn't matter too much anyway.

The album itself, as one would expect of jpop, is a fairly safe trek through loveable melodies and vocal harmonies with appropriate strings and 70s brass sections. What it lacks in creativity it compensates in how good Atsukos vocals are. I would say they remind me of Meiko Kaji a bit but Atsukos voice is much softer, more melancholic than angry and she doesn't get overly dramatic or expressive. There's a good balance here of happy and songs, most of them are pretty laid back tho so this whole thing is a very comfy experience.

Get it.

Meiko Kaji

Like many other people I discovered Meiko Kaji through Kill Bill, it could very well be my first enka discovery for that matter. Ever since I heard her voice I was enamored with it and I come back to her albums often. Years ago I shared her most common album (or compilation) called Zenkyoku Shu and someone in the comments left megaupload links to a boxset of her. Recently I went through this boxset and considering how the links are long dead I decided to share it again, this time giving it a proper post. The set includes 6 of her albums containing large volumes of songs making this pretty much the go to collection of Meiko Kaji. The songs of course vary in quality, some are absolute cheese garbage while others tend to be more subtle and refined. All in all she's a great singer and this collection is essential if you like her music.

CD1 - Gincho Wataridori

CD2 - Kaji Meiko no Hajiki Uta

CD3 - Yadokari. Kaji Meiko Original Best 12

CD4 - Sareyo Sareyo Kanashimi no Shirabe

CD5 - Kyou no Wagami wa

CD6 - Onna wo Yametai Soshite

Scans

Mari Atsumi ‎– 夜のためいき +6

Hey everyone. It has been a long while but I'm back with some more shares! I finished college more or less so I'll have more time to write and post. More importantly my internet connection is far better than before so I'll be able to do it with less hassle. I'll be reuploading requested files today or tomorrow with my new glorious upload speed of 84KB/s.

For starters here's some old school jpop (or enka more specifically).

If I had to compare then Mari Atsumi is mostly similar to Meiko Kaji in terms of voice. While Meiko's music is more rock and blues oriented with some traditional stuff thrown in for good measure. Atsumi on the other hand does things more folk oriented and more ballad esque. This isn't anything riveting or eye opening in total but it's just good 70s pop songs from Japan. Her voice has a very good soothing mature sound to it, there's nothing quirky or "moe" here which is usually what sells me on stuff like this.

The album itself was released sometime in the 70s but this is a newer reissue that adds a bunch of 7'' singles she did back in the day. Atsumi was also an actress so there's another comparison with Meiko in check.

Get.