Takako Mamiya - Love Trip (1982/2012)

What it sounds like: Up there with Taeko Ohnuki’s Sunshower and Tatsuro Yamashita’s For You, Love Trip sits pretty in my all time Top 3 city pop albums ever. Takako’s vocals are all kinds of dreamy in their siren-like matter of factness, laying down an unshakeable aesthetic of 80s glamour, fashion, trendy designer apartments (and Chinese restaurants). The backing is decadently soulful, steering clearly of the more overt 80s excesses to favour a more ‘live’ sound of jazz horns and a tight rhythm section. If you’re looking for consistency, then you won’t go wrong with this album.