Hosono formed a “new band” with Friends of Earth, meaning his sequencers and samplers with a rotating cast of guest stars. So that means the likes of James Brown and Maceo Parker turn up amid the haywired funk madness of Sex, Energy and Star. Hosono was fascinated by American music, especially as captured by immigrants, like Turkish immigrant Ahmet Ertegun making soul into a force at Atlantic Records and the Polish brothers behind blues label Chess. “One can say that American music was created by music-loving immigrants who were able to put their music to tape,” he observed. And his love of New Orleans soul bubbles to the surface with a delectably robotic version of “Right Place, Wrong Time.”

– Andy Beta