Shintaro Sakamoto and the trippy surfy psychedlic rock tropicalia of "Is There A Place For You There?"

"First, let’s look toward where the sound is coming from / Let’s go see what’s happening / First, let’s look toward where the sound is coming from / Let’s go see what’s happening / Is there a place for you there?"

The trippy surfy psychedlic rock tropicalia of "Is There A Place For You There?", by Japanese psych rock stalwart, singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer Shintaro Sakamoto who helmed the legendary Yura Yura Teikoku for 20 years before going solo in 2013, is full of drop dead gorgeous vibes and hallucinogenic diversionary highs. This track screams beatnik noir in a late 60's surf themed tiki bar with comely mini-skirted, white knee high vinly booted go go dancers in a retro drenched Quentin Tarantino film yet to be made. For me, the fact that the vocal drawls are in Japanese add to the allure as I can make up the lyrics in my head. I love the fluttering flutes, the trancy guitar with vibratonic leans and snaking notes that slither among the snappy down stroked guitar chords, the sexy bass and drums dance and, of course, the lush pervasive vibraslap. Damn, I have always wanted to be a vibraslap player, not a percussionist, just a world renowned vibraslapper. 

The more I listen to "Is There A Place For You There?" there is also a spy caper going on, a Japanese James Bond film perhaps, the sky is the limit here. A very filmic sound indeed. Shintaro Sakamoto has released four solo albums: How To Live With A Phantom (2011), Let's Dance Raw (2014), Love If Possible (2016), and Like A Fable (2022). Now I will just shut up and dance.  

-Robb Donker Curtius 

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THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM 

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4U7i0wRZh9IIHbjuECMyIq

https://soundcloud.com/shintarosakamoto

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQsr4d7aUsNibZ-ny5VfU1A


Shintaro Sakamoto led the Japanese psych-rock legends Yura Yura Teikoku for twenty years before embarking on his solo career in 2013, with How to Live with a Phantom, releasing three records on the Other Music Recording Co, while garnering praise from NPR Music, Pitchfork, Vice, SPIN, FLOOD, The Line Of Best Fit, Under the Radar, amongst others.


Shintaro Sakamoto, from Japanese psych rock legends Yura Yura Tekioku, Japanese singer songwriter / musician / producer, vibe drenched, surfy, spy caper-esque  "Is There A Place For You There?", 4 solo albums,