Some Sachiko's

I've discovered this week not just one but two Sachiko's.

First there was, at the instigation of Joris The Noisecutter, Sachiko, with the mystical ambient noise of You Never Atone For. Quite a shock when the misty ambient of 'Raijin Song I & II' suddenly explodes into the unholy noise racket of 'Fire Yith', thereby almost eclipsing similar experiences I had in 2006 with Hair Police and Wolf Eyes.

And then there was Sachiko Kanenobu, with her achingly beautiful folky Misora. The record is actually from 1972 and was produced by one of the YMO guys. They often refer to her as the Japanese Vashti Bunyan and comparisons are also drawn with Joni 'Boring' Mitchell, while I am myself more inclined to compare Misora with Linda Perhacs's heavenly Parallellograms. Comparisons aside this is one of those forgotten singer-songwriter pearls-for-swines that keep resurfacing in recent years. And it is totally, completely sung in Japanese. Which is a plus at my house because I am a total sucker for all things Japanese.

A more interesting fact about her is that it was one Philip K. Dick who encouraged her to get back into music in the early eighties, after meeting her in New York and hearing Misora. He even payed for the sessions of what was to be her first English-sung album. Unfortunately he died and the record never saw the light of day. Anecdotes, I love them.