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Although Yukihiro Takahashi is probably best-known outside of Japan as the drummer and primary vocalist for Yellow Magic Orchestra, his career—like fellow YMO members Haruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto—was well-established before the group's late '70s and early '80s international successes. And, like Hosono and Sakamoto, Takahashi would continue to develop his own musical identity after the group paused their activities in 1984. But while his bandmates would go far afield in their solo musical explorations both during and after YMO, Takahashi's approach remained somewhat more traditional in its sound. Released in 1981, Neuromantic is his third solo album, and like the two that came before it, builds on a sonic fusion of the forward-looking electronics of YMO and the sophisticated city op of his former band, the Sadistic Mika Band (later, the Sadistics), whose "Tokyo Taste" is a stone-cold classic of the genre. To be sure, Neuromantic is very much an early '80s synth-pop album, and the rhythm-forward electro-grooves here are richly produced and exceedingly modern (for 1981, at least). However, they are explicitly less experimental-sounding than one might expect from a member of YMO. Even when things seem like they may be getting a little wild (for instance, the warbly, noisy intro of "Extra-Ordinary"), they quickly reorient themselves to a lush, 4/4 smoothness. Takahashi's breathy, melodramatic singing style is perfectly suited to the material, and when he occasionally comes off like Bryan Ferry fronting a Kraftwerk-covering lounge band (as he does on "Drip Dry Eyes"), it is a sublime concoction. (It should not be at all surprising that the album features contributions from Roxy Music's Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay, as well as his then-bandmates Hosono and Sakamoto.) Even on more insistently electronic numbers ("Connection," "Charge," "Glass") the arrangements still give plenty of room for Takahashi's pop-purist approach, making the material feel vastly more humane and considered than other synth-driven albums of the era. Maybe it's due to his background as a drummer, or it could be because of his time in the smooth-rock trenches of city pop, but whatever the reason, the album's lush, futuristic charm makes it easy to see what Takahashi uniquely brought to Yellow Magic Orchestra and shines a light on his important contributions to this era of Japanese pop music. © Jason Ferguson/Qobuz

Born in Latin America and inspired by African roots, rumba has taken a remarkable return trip to the Congo, where it continues to inspire dancers and musicians. With over 50 years on the stage, Bumba Massa has lived the history of this music from its earliest days. A singer in the Lovy Orchestra of Zaïre, with the star Vicky Longomba, then in OK Jazz with the mythical Franco, before working under the wing of the pioneering Henri Bowane. After his exile to Lomé in Togo at the end of the 1970s, he struck out on his own. A founding member of the Kékélé revival orchestra, founded by Africa's answer to Berry Gordy of Motown, Ibrahima Sylla, Bumba Massa never lost his faith - or his touch. His velvet voice and his rolling diction are still addictive. And this V70, recorded in Paris with the very best of Congo's Franco stylists, proves it across all eleven of these dazzling pieces from Bumba Massa, including a salute to the memory of his mentor Vicky Longomba in a torrid medley. An album for light hearts and nimble feet. © BM/Qobuz

Following its "Gramophone Editor’s Choice" album "Echoes of an Old Hall", Gothic Voice has recorded "The Splendour of Florence", a collection of Franco-Flemish music that was found in or associated with Florence. Occupying pride of place, Dufay’s motet Nuper rosarum flores is widely thought to reflect the proportions of the newly completed dome of Florence cathedral, for which it was written at the cathedral’s consecration in 1436. The other works – by Franco-Flemish composers Ockeghem, Busnois, Tinctoris, van Ghizeghem and others – are taken from a couple of Florentine chansonniers, which in turn document the wide dissemination of their music in the thriving Tuscan city. This album thus showcases Florence in all its splendour and lavishness, a city that proved a creative magnet for the highly-skilled and inventive compositional work of the outstanding composers of the Burgundian tradition. © Linn Records

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Featuring lyrics addressing tough issues such as religion, national identity, and the economic crisis, Convictions Suicidaires is the second release from the controversial French Congo MC Despo Rutti. The follow-up to the double album Les Sirenes du Charbon, this 2010 LP is his first release through Parisian independent label Because Music, and includes the singles "Redemption" and "Dangeroots." © Jon O'Brien /TiVo

Financed through donations posted on the My Major Company website, Sur Mes Gardes is the debut album from French singer/songwriter Joyce Jonathan. Released in 2010, its autobiographical, Tracy Chapman-influenced 12 tracks, produced by former Telephone guitarist Louis Bertignac, include the singles "Pas Besoin de Toi," "Je Ne Sais Pas," and "L'heure Avait Sonne."© Jon O'Brien /TiVo

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