10. Frogs, Insects, Birds, Harry (Pearl & The Oysters // Haruomi Hosono & Co.)

Episode notes

A few songs from Pacific, the album we’re discussing today, have made it onto city pop playlists and algorithms on all types of streaming services. It might sound a little loungier, a little jazzier than what you might expect from a city pop album, but the names in the credits should be familiar to any city pop fan. Haruomi Hosono, Shigeru Suzuki, and Tatsuro Yamashita are responsible for this record and it would go on to influence the sound of city pop and genre beyond for years to come.

We sit down with indie-pop duo Pearl & the Oysters to talk about the plentiful homages and quotes on this album, the influence of this record on their sound, and the incredible musicianship on display.

Check out our Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there! We also have the playlist on YouTube

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In this episode...

Christian Dueñas

Host

Yosuke Kitazawa

Host

Kevin Ferguson

Senior Producer

Richard Robey

Producer

Guests

Pearl and the Oysters

About the show

Primer is a music podcast about translation and illumination. Host Christian Dueñas is joined by a different co-host each season to explore a genre of music from outside the English-speaking world. In its debut season, music writer Yosuke Kitazawa (PBS SoCal, Light in the Attic, Temporal Drift) joins Christian and special guests to explore Japanese City Pop. They celebrate the lives of its artists, explore the cultural and historical context of the songs, and reflect on the impact that music had on listeners everywhere – including personally, as fans. Primer invites both newcomers and crate diggers alike to find their next favorite album and learn more about the music they already love.

Podcast art by Geoff Tice.