When I was in Shibuya in November I was wandering around the Tower Records looking for some Hotel Mexico but could crack the organization of the place. I eventually used some broken Japanese and hand signals to get help from one of the clerks, who then led me to what was quite obviously the “indie” section based on the album art where she found the last Hotel Mexico CD buried at the bottom of the shelf. After we did a dance of smiles and thank you bows I pointed at the wall, then her, then said “ii” (meaning “good”, roughly) to get her recommendation. Eventually she understood what I meant and pointed to this CD by “Her Ghost Friend.” It was a Japanese CD gamble.
The CD turned out to be pretty good. It’s a weird pop, video-game, female-led Postal Service style sound. Not quite something I would have sought out on my own, but you don’t walk into a record store in a foreign country to hear the same old crap. The album grew on me despite the fact that I can’t understand a word of it. If the idea of spacey, poppy, dreamy Japanese doesn’t turn you away you should definitely give it a shot.
