Merry Merry

First album in two years from the excellent duo, whose records sound like they are a 10 piece band. Yoshie Nakano and Masaki Mori started out in 1996 in Osaka, but these days make Tokyo their home. They were first influenced by trad jazz, which is still strongly evident in their music, which they then combined with 1920s Japanese pop music. Added to this are elements of ska, new wave rock and pop creating a collage of sounds. On this album, mixers, producers and guests include musicians from Little Tempo, Dry and Heavy and Mama Milk! Ego Wrappin' have become a big hit in Japan and it's easy to hear why on hearing this.