"Imagine the bloke from Banzai yelling introductions over the Franco-Japanese equivalent of the Langley School Music Project, only with a late Sixties Eurovision Song Contest psychedelic flavour. No... wait... where are you going? Ah, fuck ya. On one level, this is woefully patronising, cross-cultural bubblegum pop, devised and recorded in 1971 by two French pop composers determined to bridge the European/Asain gap through some cheesy and funky pop sounds: holiday camp rock that you can imagine a generation of Christians with shoulder-length hair singing along to. On another, it's absolute fucking genius - there are levels of elation, innocence and tunefulness here that lesser artists have spent decades trying to emulate. The insanley joyful African (yes!) beats of 'Aieaoa' even surfaced 20 years later, as Banarama's debut recording. Music that has transcended its origins to become both an ironic and avant-garde icon, this is a special album indeed."
PLAN B (APRIL 2005)
"Honestly, you've got to wonder where on earth they find this sort of thing. For the record, Yamasuki was originally a French/Japanese project to unite Eastern and Western culture via choreography, children's choirs and a screaming Japanese black belt. When you add the fact that the Yamasuki was, according to Andy Votel's sleeve notes, a dance craze that could have rivalled the mashed potato and that 'AIEOA' was heard, then covered, by the band that became Bananarama, you can understand why Finders Keepers were so keen to find and keep it. Odd, yet compelling beyond belief, this bizarre mix of random noise, spoken (Japanese) word and the occasional funk-fuelled drumbeat is thankfully one crazed, genre-defying record they've decided not to keep hidden. 8/10"
CITY LIFE (APRIL 2005)
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