Yasuaki Shimizu - Music For Commercials LP

Label: Crammed Discs

Originally issued in 1987, Yasuaki Shimizu wrote and recorded this brilliant and inventive collection of short pieces, initially conceived for Japanese TV commercials. This album has achieved near-mythical status in the last few years, which have seen artists such as Oneohtrix Point Never sing its praise. It should be noted that Yasuaki is the man responsible for the wonderful Utakata No Hibi record under the name Mariah from 1983, and reissued on Palto Flats in 2015.

Music For Commercials is a brilliant and inventive collection of short pieces, initially conceived as soundtracks for Japanese TV commercials (and bearing sweet titles such as "Seiko," "Sharp," "Honda" etc). These twenty-three tracks (each clocking in at two minutes or less, except one longer piece composed for a computer-animation short) abound with hit-and-run sound collages, twittering computers and energetic ricocheting between myriad styles of music.