Light in the Attic to reissue mythical and mystical album from “Japan’s first female singer-songwriter,” Sachiko Kanenobu

Light in the Attic to reissue mythical and mystical album from "Japan's first female singer-songwriter," Sachiko Kanenobu

The next time somebody attempts to argue that the Internet has been a wash or a net negative for the music industry overall, first: stare at them in silence for a deliberately creepy amount of time — and second: kindly point them to reissues of albums like Sachiko Kanenobu’s Misora, which few(er) people would be aware of absent the word of mouth that the World Wide Web so capably enables.

The album was originally written, recorded, and released by the 18-year-old Kanenobu in 1972, and as if being sponsored by one of Japan’s first independent labels didn’t keep expectations low enough when it came to national or international publicity, the Osaka-born guitarist wasn’t especially enamored by the thought of being arguably the country’s first female singer-songwriter. She met and married music critic Paul Williams, emigrated to the United States, and reportedly left promotion up to the poor saps at Underground Record Club.

Kanenobu got back into music after a period of stateside acclimating, but Misora (which roughly translates to “beautiful sky,” by the way), by virtue of being stylistically unique for the period/country when and where it was released, has garnered a reputation as a hidden gem. It’s received a number of reissues from Japan-based labels since 1995; and now, the Seattle-based Light in the Attic label will be reissuing a deluxe edition of Misora come June 21. It’ll feature audio remastered from the original analog tapes, and extensive liner notes will offer background on the delicacy that Kanenobu easily delivered way back when.

And now, YOU know about it!

And now, you can hear samples and pre-order it!


Misora tracklisting:

01. Haru Ichiban No Kaze Wa Hageshiku (The First Strong Winds Of Spring)
02. Yuki Ga Fureba (I Wish It Would Snow)
03. Michi Yuki (Running Away On A Road Of Snow)
04. Sora Wa Fukigen (Moody Sky)
05. Aoi Sakana (Blue Fish)
06. Toki Ni Makasete (Leave It To Time)
07. Anata Kara Toku E (Far Away From You)
08. Misora (Look Up, The Sky Is Beautiful)
09. Omae No Hoshii No Wa Nani (What Do You Really Want?)
10. Kagero (The Heat Wave)
11. Hayabusa To Watashi (Falcon And I)

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