Haruomi Hosono - Vu Jà Dé (Speedstar, 2020) 2 x 10" Vinyl
As it is August 2022, this is my favorite album this year. Haruomi Hosono is a significant subject himself; he is the figurehead regarding Japanese Music 20th Century regarding his importance to culture. A vast subject matter, but everyone outside of Japan should know his music. Concerning Vu Jà Dé, this is a beautiful exploration of early American music and how Hosono connects his songs with thoughts on Western works.
When my generation hears the name Hosono, music lovers are more likely to think of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, better known to the world as YMO. This band is a super group consisting of Ryuichi Sakamoto, Hosono, and Yukihiro Takahashi. Mostly electronic pop music, and on the surface, a Japanese version of Germany’s Kraftwerk. YMO using electronics, also explored the relationship between the West and Japanese/Asian aesthetics and thoughts. And being lazy, one can easily compare them to the German Fab Four, but in reality, they’re very different with a particular interest in a specific history. Studying and listening to YMO is a route to learning how some Japanese see themselves on the giant canvas, that is, the world.
Hosono’s solo Vu Jà Dé is his journey from his love of American music to fully appreciating his Japanese sensibility. The first disc, Eight Beat Combo, is very devoted to swing-era or early rock n’ roll pop songs. Acoustically take on Americana filtered through Hosono’s sensibility and knowledge of its music history. He reminds me very much of Van Dyke Parks, another brilliant historian who is also a composer of significant presence. With his interest in American pop music, the current Bob Dylan is also very much part of Hosono’s DNA. The artistic twist is Hosono adding the song El Negro Zumbon (Anna), an Italian pop song.
The second disc is Essay, and we have original compositions by Hosono. Some do in the arrangement of early 20th-century American pop music, but one can sense the electronic pop era of Hosono as well. Vu Jà Dé is looking back, or more likely “rethinking” one’s appreciation for an art form and building one’s foundation to do future art. The packaging of Vu Jà Dé is perfection. Two 10” discs, which fit the music visually perfectly, as well as detailed liner notes (in Japanese and English) by Hosono that is profound, intelligent, and have great humor. I recommend music lovers embrace the world of Hosono.
