Chee Shimizu oversees Better Days compilation

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  • Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mariah, Eri Ohno and Colored Music all feature on the two-disc roundup of the cult Japanese label.
  • Chee Shimizu oversees Better Days compilation image
  • Chee Shimizu has put together a compilation of music from Japanese label Better Days. More Better Days is due to arrive on July 20th. The catalogue of Better Days, a subsidiary of Columbia Records in Japan, has been resurfacing these past 18 months. Palto Flats's 2015 reissue of the Mariah album Utakata No Hibi was followed by Chee Shimizu's edits of Colored Music, a re-release of Yasuaki Shimizu's Kakashi LP and Rush Hour's Eri Ohno 7-inch. This compilation has material from all those artists plus the likes of Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mkwaju Ensemble and Kazumi Watanabe. Shimizu, the man behind the Organic Music shop, has divided the two-disc CD version of More Better Days into two categories: "avant-wave" and "funky and mellow." Below is the CD tracklist. There will be a vinyl version too, but the tracklist is still TBA. Tracklist Disc 1: Avant-Wave 01. Yasuaki Shimizu - Semitori No Hi 02. Mariah - Shonen 03. Mkwaju Ensemble - Tira-Rin 04. Akira Sakata - Meuniere 05. Colored Music - Ei Sei Raku 06. Paradigm Shift - P.S. 07. Yasuaki Shimizu - Yume Dewa 08. Mkwaju Ensemble - Wood Dance 09. Colored Music - Heartbeat 10. Pecker - Kylyn 11. Atsuo Fujimoto's Beat Jazz - Strangers In Island 12. Mariah - Shinzo No Tobira 13. Kazumi Watanabe - Mother Terra 14. Ryuichi Sakamoto - Plastic Bamboo 15. Kyoko Furuya - Harumi Futoh Disc 2: Funky & Mellow 01. Tamami Koyake - You Wanna Rain 02. Arakawa Band - Funky Fanky 03. Mikio Masuda - Mickey's Samba 04. Shuichi "Ponta" Murakami - Huang Di 05. Eri Ohno - Skyfire 06. Pecker - Concrete Jungle 07. Ryojiro Furusawa - Moonlight Slumber 08. Kiyoshi Sugimoto - Night Train 09. Kazumi Watanabe - Mellow Sunshine 10. Eri Ohno - Living Inside Your Love 11. Kazumi Watanabe - I'll Be There 12. Mikio Masuda - Moon Stone Better Days will release More Better Days on July 20th, 2016.