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Omni Sight Seeing

Omni Sight Seeing is a 1989 album by Haruomi Hosono.

Background and recording

This was their first studio album in four years since their last album, "Endless Talking", and their first release since moving to EPIC/SONY RECORDS.

This work was the result of sessions and collaborations with Arabian musicians, with an inclination towards the 'world music' that was gaining attention at the time.

Track listing

Music description

  1. ESASHI
  2. *The title Esashi is taken from "Esashi oiwake" ("Esashi crossroads").
  3. *Hosono was watching NHK Nodo Jiman in 1988 and could not forget the song Esashi Oiwake sung by then 14-year-old Kimura Kasumi from Hokkaido Esashi Town, so he sought her out and recorded it a cappella.
  4. ANDADURA
  5. *The genre is "Arab music".
  6. *The vocalists are the Arab singer Amina ("Amina Ben Mustapha" in the liner notes) and Hosono.
  7. 'ORGONE BOX'
  8. *The title refers to the orgone discovered by Wilhelm Reich.
  9. *The song is about Cloudbuster. (See Orgon for more information.)
  10. OHENRO-SAN
  11. *The title Ohenro refers to Ohenro.
  12. *It contains some of the songs used in A Promise, a 1986 film directed by Yoshishige Yoshida.
  13. CARAVAN
  14. *Hosono himself says: "A compilation of quotations, a ghost band of ghost musicians"; the names Les Paul and Duke Ellington are credited, but this is a simulation, not an actual performance and recording.
  15. RETORT
  16. *The lyrics are included on the lyric card, but the singer himself explains, "I can't sing it very well, so I'm hoping someone will record a song version of it for me one day." He explains,.
  17. *A song version self-cover was included as "Retort - Vu Ja De ver." (M11) on his 2017 album Vu Jà Dé.
  18. LAUGH-GAS
  19. *The lyrics are in French and the song is sung by "Amina Ben Mustapha".
  20. KORENDOR
  21. *Image of "a deranged alien playing piano in the Japanese countryside", according to the man himself.
  22. 'PLEOCENE'
  23. *The song PLEOCENE is a development of the song PLEOCINE, which was used in the 1985 film Night on the Galactic Railroad.
  24. *The vocals are sung by Hosono and Moro Fukuzawa.

Personnel

ESASHI

  • Kasumi Kimura: Main Vocal
  • Masako Kawasaki : Chorus
  • Masaya Honjou : Ai-no-te and Chorus
  • Miharu Koshi : Backing Chorus
  • Zouhir Gouja : Accordion
  • Julien Weiss : Quanoon
  • Hidetarou Honjou : Orientation

ANDADURA

  • Amina Ben Mustapha : Arabic Vocal
  • Zouhir Gouja : Accordion
  • Julien Weiss : Quanoon
  • Moro Fukuzawa : Chorus
  • Maria Kawamura : Chorus
  • Miharu Koshi : Chorus

ORGONE BOX

OHENRO-SAN

  • Harry Hosono : Prepared Piano, Sanu-kite

CARAVAN

  • Duke Ellington : Piamo, Horn Session
  • Les Paul : E.Guitar, Rhythm Arrangement
  • Gene Klupa : Drum Solo
  • Yasuaki Shimizu : Sax Solo
  • Harry Hosono : Vocal in Japanese-English style
  • Yasuo Kimoto : DX-7
  • Miharu Koshi : Hearing

RETORT

  • Harry Hosono : Celeste
  • Miharu Koshi : Junior Hohner & additional Arrangement
  • Kouji Ueno : Orchestrations(original for strings)

LAUGH-GAS

  • Amina Ben Mustapha : Arabic Vocal
  • Zouhir Gouja : Accordion
  • Julien Weiss : Quanoon
  • Tomoko Nunoi : French Voice
  • Unknown Children : Laughing
  • Miharuomi : Synthes
  • TR-808 : Rhythm
  • E.M.S : Bass

KORENDOR

  • Hosonoid : Piano Solo
  • Evansoid : Orchestration

PLEOCENE

  • Harry Hosono : Vocal, Kaya-gum
  • Moro Fukuzawa : Chorus
  • Masako Kawasaki : Chorus
  • Masaya Honjou : Chorus
  • Miharu Koshi : Electric Piano
  • Hidetarou Honjou : Chorus Arrangement

References