Nick Luscombe - Tokyo Dreaming - Wewantsounds

If you've got even the slightest interest in the cutting edge, synthesizer-heavy Tokyo scene of the 1980s, this killer compilation from Japanese music crate-digger Nick Luscombe and Wewantsounds is simply essential. It features tracks plucked from the vaults of cult labels Nippon Columbia and Better Days, with Luscombe offering up inspired selections that variously touch on deep synth-pop, electro, post-punk experimentation, jazz-funk, ambient and what would now be classic as Balearica. It's such a good collection that we're finding picking highlights difficult, though our current faves include the disco-tinged punk-funk of Juicy Fruits' 'Jenie Gets Angry', the slow-motion jazz-funk of Yumi Murata, Chiko Asamoto's smooth and sensual synth-pop, and the synth-reggae eccentricity of Akira Sakata.