Label: Soft – S 001 Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation Country: Japan Released: 1983 Genre: Electronic Style: Abstract, Electro, Experimental, Lo-Fi, Minimal, New Wave, Synth-pop
Notoriously illusive early 80s snapshot of fecund Japanese underground DIY scene on the ephemeral Soft Label.
Thirteen tracks from nine different artists, all of whom seemed to fizzle into total obscurity after this comp, cementing its cult status.Soft Selection 84 is peek into the stranger corners of independent music happening in early 80s Japan, where genres were coalescing / mutating, electronic music equipment rapidly becoming more accessible and enthusiasm BOOMING.La Sellrose Can Can’s Aerobicise around the start of the comp kicks off with a squiggly, lopsided synth-pop hit calling for physical training with strange English vocals, whilst Clä-Sick contributes filigree electronics on ‘Mornings In China’.The ultimate stand-out however is Name’s ‘Do We All Need Love’ - an unintentional masterpiece of lonely atmospherics, skeletal drum-work and endearing sense of naive innocence.A similar mood of self-deprecation carries through to the amazing insert included where the ‘Public Relations Manager’ gently states that they ‘cannot guarantee the possibility of selling million’s of copies’.Total time capsule release of an era in time still bearing fruit.RARE.(VG++ - with amazing promo insert).
Tracklist A1 Clä-Sick– Morning In China A2 La Sellrose Can Can– Aerobicise A3 Linolium– Unit 25 A4 Picky Picnic– Sume Ba Miyako A5 Pink Label– Good Luck A6 Name (5)– N.H.K. A7 Picky Picnic– Kibo No Asu A8 Rever– Performan B1 Name (5)– Do We All Need Love B2 Classic Pearl– Pearl B3 La Sellrose Can Can– Happy Morning B4 Clä-Sick– Every Night B5 Clä-Sick– Black Nile
