Emerson Kitamura

Emerson Kitamura (エマーソン北村) has been earnestly, wholeheartedly committed to the pursuit of his singular sound for the better part of thirty years; you'll find his recent output remarkably similar to his early records.
 

Kitschy yet not cloying, his music is a sincere jumble of easy listening—Hammond organ saunters guided with Doncamatic drums, lo-fi exotica sketches inked with bright trumpet, dinky dub sharpened with unusual musicality.



Before he went solo, he was just Kenji Kitamura (北村賢治), a member of groups like the clangy post-punk Para-Phrase, new wave-funk hybrid Jagatara (じゃがたら), the reggae purists Mute Beat (ミュート・ビート), as well as a hired gun for bands such as Teiyu Connection and the Masami Shinoda (篠田昌已) group.

Infectious, feel-good, summery.