Minoru Akiyama, Victor Guitar Ensemble

condition (record/cover): EX / EX

No obi.

The sakariba is the Japanese nightlife district, the strip of bars, cabarets and pachinko parlours where salarymen went after work, and the sakariba blues was its soundtrack: minor-key enka about neon, rain and women who have left. Minoru Akiyama and Victor's guitar ensemble turn a batch of these into instrumentals, with the melody carried by heavily reverberated electric guitar, the Japanese "mood guitar" tradition that runs parallel to Duane Eddy and Hank Marvin without owing either much.

The tremolo settings alone are worth the price. There is a particular Japanese guitar tone from these years, clean and wet at the same time, that later showed up in Yellow Magic Orchestra's more nostalgic moments. Victor SJV series pressing, no Discogs entry, which tells you how far under the radar these still fly.