I am posting about this very late, but Shibuya-kei pioneer Towa Tei dropped two great release, a reissue and a collection of rarities last month. He originally rose to fame in 1990, while he was living in the US and was a member of New York cult club favorites Deee-Lite around the time they became the surprise worldwide success act of the year with the release of their hit single, Groove Is In The Heart. He remained a member for about two more year and also did remixes for the likes of Sinéad O’Connor and They Might Be Giants during this time, but he eventually moved back to Japan where he quickly became associated with the Shibuya-kei scene, working with Pizzicato Five on their 1993 album, Expo 2001. And then he finally launched his solo career in 1994… exactly 25 years ago.

The reissue he released to coincide with the anniversary is a fancy double vinyl version of Future Listening!, his debut album, that, among others, featured Satoshi Tomiie, Arto Lindsay, Bebel Gilberto and members of Yellow Magic Orchestra and which quickly established him as a key player of the scene. Thanks to this and his previous association with Deee-Lite, he remained a household name worldwide, working with the likes of Kylie Minogue and doing remixes for Björk, En Vogue and others… and he also collaborated with, wrote music and did remixes for countless Japanese acts over the years. The new, 2 CD collection called Arbeit is a collection of these collaborations, including songs he did with/for Hi-Posi, Jungle Brothers, Nokko, Señor Coconut, Geisha Girls, Chara, m-flo, Kahimi Karie and many more:

Arbeit
2019.11.06
Disc $
01.uchūjin (KOJI12000)
02.Shonen B (Itsuji Itao)
03.Now Romantic (KOJI1200)
04.Drive (Kyoko Koizumi)
05.2AM (Miho Karasawa)
06.Brighter Than Sunshine (Lee Jung Hyun)
07.Pac Is Back! (Towa Tei)
08.Chatr – German Version (Towa Tei)
09.Butter (Miyako Kōda)
10.warau onna (Hi-Posi)
11.dai Nipponjin (Towa Tei)
12.Slow Is Beautiful (Towa Tei with Kumiko Asō)
13.What Is Coconut? (Señor Coconut)
14.Done by the Forces of Nature (Jungle Brothers)
15.Kick & Loud (Geisha Girls)
16.suisei feat. Onomatope Daijin (Tofubeats)

Disc $$
01.Tiny Girl (Shacho Mouse)
02.Catchy (Pizzicato Five)
03.Be A Superman (YMO)
04.Turn Turn (Sketch Show)
05.Murasaki☆Sunset (Kirinji)
06.Orange (Bonnie Pink)
07.More Fun-Key-Word (Scha Dara Parr)
08.Mirrorball Satellite 2012 (m-flo)
09.Boyfriend (Ayuse Kozue)
10.Heartbeat, Heartbreak (Shihoko Hirata)
11.boku wa shiawase datta (Moonriders)
12.Les cerfs volants (Benjamin Biolay)
13.Super Freak (Kahimi Karie)
14.atashi wa koko yo (Chara)
15.ningyo (Nokko)