Staff Mix No. 4: Stepping Over Petals

This collection of Japanese indie, ambient, and city pop spans almost 50 years and attempts to capture the simultaneous optimism and moodiness of changing seasons. To kick things off, Keiichi Sokabe, former lead singer of ’90s indie group Sunny Day Service, sings “Guess it's a little bit different than usual,” as rain glistens on his Tokyo porch. City pop legend Taeko Onuki tells a story of whiling her lunch break away in a garden laying beneath the shade of a tree, and current J-pop star Fujii Kaze pleads “Flowers bloom and perish… Still, I'd love to keep my garden safe until it's gone.” In between, there’s some high-energy modern city pop, a little dive into Hokkaido indie, and quieter moments perfect for the warm (but not too warm) days ahead.