As Happy End – and their quest for “Burbank Sound” – came to an end in 1973, Hosono decamped to a house about an hour or so outside of Tokyo with a loose assemblage of musicians that he saw as his own version of LA’s legendary “Wrecking Crew.” Together they embarked on another sonic voyage for Hosono which he dubbed “virtual American country.” It’s a dead-on emulation of Californian sound of that time, in the pocket even as it’s about to fall off its barstool. Hosono’s arrangements are exacting in their looseness – no cymbal hit, accordion drone, or pedal steel swell is out of place here. Its low-key gravitational pull could be felt well into the 21st century, when Harry Styles paid overt homage to the album.

– Andy Beta