Wednesday, October 21, 2026 • Vinyl Finds from Around the World
Pocket Park
Miki Matsubara's debut album, home to "Mayonaka no Door ~ Stay With Me," the song that brought her a worldwide second life. The natural starting point for anyone meeting her through a full album, now reissued on colored vinyl as part of a six-title campaign.
Who Are You?
The next stop after Pocket Park. Her second album keeps that vivid voice front and center while showing her stepping into songwriting and building out her own musical world.
-Cupid-
Features "Neat na Gogo Sanji," with every track arranged by Masaaki Omura. Side A brings in Dr. Strut, while Side B gathers session aces like Ponta Murakami and Tsuyoshi Kon — a must for anyone who loves City Pop grooves and arrangement.
Myself
Dr. Strut serve as the rhythm section throughout, paired with bright horn arrangements, and Matsubara composed three of the songs herself. Heard after -Cupid-, it shows the growing chemistry between singer and band.
彩 Aya
Arrangements by Tetsuji Hayashi, Tsugutoshi Goto and Jun Sato, with Matsubara herself joining in. Pressed on clear yellow vinyl, it captures the different shades she explored on her fifth album.
Paradise Beach
The pick if you want a single best-of first. This compilation gathers "Stay With Me," "Neat na Gogo Sanji," and the title track written by Takashi Matsumoto with music and arrangement by Haruomi Hosono, tracing Matsubara's early years.
Boces (Remastered)
One of Mercury Rev's wildest, most psychedelic records — their 1993 second album Boces — is finally back. This is the band before the dreamy orchestral romance: unhinged oddballs throwing psychedelia, noise and experimental rock into one pot, like The Flaming Lips' mania plus Sonic Youth's noise with a dash of Spiritualized's space. Reissued by Beggars Banquet with a new remaster by Henry Rudkins at AIR Studios.
WAMONO A to Z Vol. II - Japanese Funk 1970-1977
Volume two of French label 180g's Wamono series, compiled by veteran Japanese diggers DJ Yoshizawa Dynamite and DJ Chintam, digging deep into rare 1970s Japanese funk, soul and rare groove. Features Mieko Hirota, Hiroshi Sato, Kan Mikami, Fujio Tokita's eerie "Watashi no Beatles," and Hatsumi Shibata's galloping "Singer Lady" written and arranged by Yuji Ohno. Mount Fuji on the cover — the shop owner's personal favorite of the series.
WAMONO A to Z Vol. I - Japanese Jazz Funk & Rare Groove 1968-1980
Born from the 2015 Wamono A to Z disc guide by DJ Yoshizawa Dynamite and DJ Chintam — the book that sparked a new wave of digging and reissues of Japanese funk, soul, jazz funk and rare groove. Volume one on French label 180g gathers Japanese jazz funk and rare groove from 1968–1980, with Norio Maeda, Takeo Yamashita, Akira Ishikawa, and Naoaki Misago & Tokyo Cuban Boys' audacious folk-meets-reggae "Jongara Reggae." A rare repress.
Music For The Airport
Since November 2025, Honolulu's airport has played 17 AI-generated "island-flavored" songs, angering locals and the music community. Hawaiian label Aloha Got Soul answered with a record: 17 local tracks recorded between 1984 and 2017, pulled from licensed-but-unreissued archives and assembled in just four days. It's also the label's 100th release — a hope that real Hawaiian voices will one day fill those airport speakers.
はらいそ、の音楽 コーヒーハウス・モナレコーズの細野晴臣さんトリビュート・アルバム
A Haruomi Hosono tribute born from the Coffee House Mona Records event series led by Yasuharu Konishi at mona records in Shimokitazawa, supervised by Konishi with Hosono himself taking part. Covers by Konishi, Wataru Sawabe (Skirt), Masahiro Naoe, INO hidefumi and more, plus Hosono's own live recordings and a demo of "Ai no Yume." The vinyl sold out instantly; this is the restock.
HIKAWADAI NIKKI
Approaching their 30th anniversary, the band apart start a new chapter from familiar everyday scenes. The new album comes to vinyl with 10 songs about the beauty of daily life.
Before I Forget
The Kid LAROI's Before I Forget arrives as a one-time-only crystal clear marble vinyl pressing, featuring singles "A Perfect World," "A Cold Play" and "Back When You Were Mine."
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
The deluxe soundtrack box for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, scored by Lorien Testard, with original gold-foil cover art by art director Nicholas Maxson-Francombe. Six LPs hold all 63 tracks.
Silk
Ryuichi Sakamoto's score for François Girard's Silk, adapted from Alessandro Baricco's novel and starring Keira Knightley, Koji Yakusho and Miki Nakatani. To map its crossing of places and people, Sakamoto wrote sweeping orchestral and piano pieces set across Europe, Egypt, Russia and Japan. First issued on double vinyl in 2025; this is the restock.
最後に熱い日々を狂わしき想いで
A heavyweight LP of new aiko material, expected to hold 13 tracks. The tracklist isn't final, but it should include several TV drama and anime theme and ending songs.
Happy Tears (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)
Scottish post-rock giants Mogwai mark 30 years — alongside their label Rock Action Records — with the retrospective Happy Tears. "New Paths to Helicon 1" is rearranged by Adam Wiltzie (Stars Of The Lid / A Winged Victory For The Sullen) with the Budapest Art Orchestra as "Brand New Paths to Helicon 1," and there's a new song, "Underground," with Iggy Pop. The expanded edition adds live takes of "Ether" and "Mogwai Fear Satan." Laughter, tears and walls of sound.
For Zoot Allures' 50th anniversary, Zappa's originally planned double-album version — abandoned before it was cut down to a single LP — gets its first official release, with a different running order. It opens with an old mix of "Disco Boy" and restores the dropped "Sleep Dirt," "The Ocean Is The Ultimate Solution" and "Filthy Habits." Vault producer Joe Travers rebuilt it from 1976 hand-cut test pressings, a side-four tape and early mixes — a time capsule sealed for 50 years.