Minako Yoshida – Light'n Up

Japan Original Pressing.

A peak 1982 Japanese soul masterpiece — deep post-disco grooves, luminous keyboards and explosive New York horns surrounding Minako Yoshida at her most sophisticated.

Recorded between Tokyo and New York, Light'n Up pushes Minako Yoshida’s music deep into sophisticated soul, post-disco and black contemporary. Hiroshi Sato, Akira Okazawa and Yuichi Togashiki form the core groove, while David Sanborn and the Brecker Brothers bring a powerful New York edge.

The title track is massive and sophisticated, “Hoo ni Yoru no Akari” glows with late-night soul, “Reflection” moves with extraordinary depth, and “Alcoholler” closes the record with harder synths and horns.

Elegant, powerful and deeply grooving — far beyond City Pop, this is Minako Yoshida operating at the highest level of Japanese soul.Its reputation has only grown with time, and original Japanese copies have become noticeably more expensive in recent years — especially clean, complete examples.