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WWSLP 058LP
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Wewantsounds close the Makoto Kubota reissue series with the release of Dixie Fever recorded in Hawaii in 1976 and co-produced by Haruomi Hosono. Like its predecessors, Dixie Fever continues to explore American and Island music through a Japanese prism with a skillful mix of blues, swamp funk and America adding an exotic edge to the whole. A year after the release of their highly-acclaimed album Hawaii Champroo in 1975, Makoto Kubota and The Sunset Gang reunited at Sounds of Hawaii studios with co-producer Haruomi Hosono to record a new album, Dixie Fever. They used pretty much the same ingredients that had made the success of Champroo -- an effortless mix of Japanese folk and American roots music with some tropical influences. The same mix that Haruomi Hosono was applying to his own albums, especially Tropical Dandy which was experimenting with the same ideas -- in fact the front cover of both Tropical Dandy and Dixie Fever are illustrated by Yasuo Yagi. As per Hawaii Champroo and Sunset Gang, Dixie Fever includes a mix of original compositions and covers. On the album, you spot The Lovin' Spoonful's "Wild About My Lovin'" and a funked-up version of UK singer songwriter Ralph McTell's song "When I Was A Cowboy". They feature the Gang's usual musicians (Keni Inoue on guitar, Yosuke Fujita on slide guitar and Takashi Onzo on bass and keyboards) complemented by a handful of guests including Tin Pan Alley drummer Tatsuo Hayashi, Motoya Hamaguchi on percussion and New Orleans pianist and Dr. John friend, Ronnie Barron. Together they play a superb brew made of blues, soul, Hawaiian music and southern swamp rhythms. One of the highlights of the album is undoubtedly "Hoshikuzu (Stardust)" which has become a cult classic over the years on the international city pop scene and whose sunshine mid-tempo vibe is the perfect reflection of the group's musicianship. The first time the album is released outside of Japan. Features original artwork with OBI and insert plus remastered audio by Makoto Kubota himself.
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WWSLP 057LP
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2024 restock. Wewantsounds announce an ambitious Makoto Kubota reissue program with his three albums recorded with The Sunset Gang between 1973 and 1977. The albums feature Haruomi Hosono (who also co-produced Hawaii Champroo) and also includes Minako Yoshida, Taeko Ohnuki and Tatsuo Hayachi to name a few. Makoto Kubota has been one of Japan's true musical innovators and following his involvement with Les Rallizes Dénudés in the early '70s, he developed a unique sound bringing American, Hawaiian and Okinawan music influences to his own Japanese folk music mix. Recorded in Honolulu in 1975. Recorded in 1975 at the famed Sounds of Hawaii studio in Honolulu, Hawaii Champroo was co-produced by Haruomi Hosono and marks the start of Kubota's keen interest in Hawaiian and Okinawan music (Champroo is derived from Chanpurū, the traditional Okinawan stir-fry dish). A companion album to Hosono's own Tropical Dandy and Bon Voyage Co. albums (on which Kubota plays), the album was at the forefront of a tropical musical movement started in Japan in the mid-70s. The core Sunset Gang consists of Kubota on Guitar, Takashi Onzo on bass, Yosuke Fujita on guitars and mandolin, Keni Inoue on lead guitar and Hiroki Komazawa on pedal steel guitar. They are joined on the album by Hosono on drums and Teriyuki Kokubu on piano. Having travelled to the United States in the early '70s, Makoto Kubota had fallen in love with American music and had brought back many influences from his sojourn on the East and West coast. these are evident from the tracks covered by the band on Hawaii Champroo, including Jesse Fuller's "San Francisco Blues", The Rooftop Singers' "Walk Right In" (an old Gus Cannon ragtime) or The Texas Playboys' classic "Steel Guitar Rag". Hawaii Champroo also features originals such as the funky "Shanghai Gaeri" and a nod to the Hula Hawaiian dance "Moonlight Hula". One of the highlights of the album is the classic "Haisai Ozisan", the Okinawan 1972 cult classic by Shoukichi Kina which has become a standard in Japan. All in all, Hawaii Champroo is a timeless classic and one of the key Japanese albums from the '70s. This is the first time the albums are released outside of Japan. Newly remastered by Makoto Kubota. Comes with original artwork, OBI and the original Japanese inserts.
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WWSLP 056LP
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Wewantsounds continue its Makoto Kubota retrospective with the reissue of Sunset Gang recorded in 1973 for Showboat. The album, co-produced by Kinji Yoshino (Haruomi Hosono, Akiko Yano, Sachiko Kanenobu) and featuring Hosono, Minako Yoshida and Taeko Ohnuki, was released as Kubota had just recorded his classic first solo album, Machibouke. It marks the start of the group's unique sound mixing Japanese music with R&B, blues and New Orleans influences, a sound that would have a lasting impression on the Japanese music scene. Makoto Kubota's trip to the US' East and West Coast at the dawn of the '70s had been ear-opening. After a few years playing with Les Rallizes Dénudés, he had travelled there to soak up the music and the cultural revolution that was happening all around the country. Upon his return and after recording his solo album Machibouke for the Express label, he set to record a second album with likeminded musician to emulate the sound he had witnessed during his US trip. Kubota gathered fellow musicians in the studio with producer Kinji Yoshino, alongside a few guests including Haruomi Hosono, Tatsuo Hayashi and Takashi Matsumoto from Happy End/Tin Pan Alley galaxy to record nine tracks inspired by R&B, soul, blues, and tropical influences. From the bluesy "Kawa Wo Kudatte" and "Sunset Sunset" to the Southern groove of "Louisiana Mama" and the Grateful Dead-like feel of "Bang Bang Bang/Yukake Blues", the album is a superb mix of laidback music and an homage to American roots music. The album marks the start of a musical odyssey Kubota and his musicians would develop further in subsequent albums by the Gang. This is the first time the album is released outside of Japan, remastered by Makoto Kubota himself and featuring original artwork with OBI and four-page insert.
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