Japanese City Pop
ISSUE #241
There’s a genre I included on last week’s summer pop playlist that I decided to dive deeper into today: Japanese city pop. This wave of what would best (if reductively) be described as “Japanese Steely Dan” was like a sister to the American yacht rock of the 1970s and 80s. City pop is bright, breezy, jazzy, sleek, playful, funky, smooth, and born from the urban luxuries of a blooming economy. You can clearly hear its influence on Nintendo menu music. It’s perfect for a top-down summer cruise or a walk down shimmering streets. Enjoy!
There’s a genre I included on last week’s summer pop playlist that I decided to dive deeper into today: Japanese city pop. This wave of what would best (if reductively) be described as “Japanese Steely Dan” was like a sister to the American yacht rock of the 1970s and 80s.
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