Tomoko Aran - Fuyu Kukan (+1) (Vinyl)

180 Gram Black Vinyl 2LP, Cut at 45 RPM

This edition presents Tomoko Aran's 1983 album Fuyu Kukan as a double LP on 180-gram black vinyl, cut at 45 RPM and issued in Japan under catalog number WQJL-216, with the audio taken from the 2022 restored version in DSD. The label's notes explain the +1 in the title: when the album was first cut to vinyl, groove interference caused by the recordings' sound and the time limits of a side forced the producers to leave one track off entirely. That song, a different composition sharing the title "Ji·re·n·ma (25sai no Yuutsu)," opens side B here, and the version that did appear on the original LP closes side D, so both finally sit on one record.

The bass drum on the song that was left off was too strong to cut cleanly in 1983, so the original LP carried a reworked version under the same title. The unused recording, with its own melody and lyrics, first surfaced when the album came out on CD in 1988.

Fuyu Kukan was Aran's third album, released by Warner Pioneer on May 28, 1983, the same day as the single "Body to Body." Masatoshi Nishimura, later known as Asatoshi Nishimura, arranged every track, wrote most of the music and co-produced with Daiko Nagato, while Aran wrote all of the lyrics. Tetsuro Oda composed "Midnight Pretenders" and Masanori Sasaji composed "Shakuna Yesterday." The players included Kenji Kitajima on guitar, Tatsuhiko Hizawa on bass, Wataru Yamada on drums and Toshihiko Furumura on saxophone, recording at Studio Birdman.

The cover was noted at the time for its early use of computer-generated imagery. Decades later "Midnight Pretenders" found a new audience when The Weeknd sampled it for his 2022 single "Out of Time," with Aran and Oda credited as songwriters, and the label notes that "I'm in Love" has long served as the opening theme of a US podcast. Born Tomoko Yoshiura in Hirosaki, Aomori, Aran released nine albums and eight singles on Warner Pioneer and CBS/Sony between 1981 and 1990 and wrote songs for artists including B'z, Tube and Yoko Minamino.

Tracklist

Disc 1

Side A

1. Body to Body
2. Lonely Night
3. I'm in Love

Side B

4. Ji·re·n·ma (25sai no Yuutsu)
5. Midnight Pretenders

Disc 2

Side C

6. Hito Natsu no Tapestry
7. HANNYA

Side D

8. Shakuna Yesterday
9. Baby, Don't You Cry Anymore
10. Ji·re·n·ma (25sai no Yuutsu) (Analog-Only Version)