User:IanTEB/Yellow Dancer

Yellow Dancer is the fourth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter and musician Gen Hoshino, released by Speedstar Records on December 2, 2015.

Background and concept
Japanese singer-songwriter and musician Gen Hoshino emerged as a primarily acoustic pop artist with his debut albums Baka no Uta (2010) and Episode (2011). Hoshino's parents were both fans of jazz and he grew up listening to Michael Jackson. In an interview with Fanplus Music on his debut single "Kudaranai no Naka ni" (2011), Hoshino said his parents' musical interests heavily influenced his songwriting. With his instrumental band Sakerock, Hoshino performed songs inspired by funk, soul, jazz, and rhythm and blues genres, and experimented with a mixture of Japanese and African-American styles on the B-sides to his singles, such as "Yuge" on "Kudaranai no Naka ni", "Moshi mo" on "Film" (2012), or "Kisetsu" on "Shiranai" (2013).

Hoshino collapsed to a subarachnoid hemorrhage in December 2012. After a three-month hiatus, he released his third album Stranger, which brought Hoshino's sound into a more up-beat direction by incorporating greater use of synthesizer and string sections. He followed Stranger with the non-album rock and roll single "Gag" a week later, but assumed a second hiatus in June after a reinspection discovered a relapse in his hemorrhage. Hoshino wrote the lyrics to "Why Don't You Play in Hell?" – which would be Yellow Dancer first single – while awaiting the reinspection and had it released in October, whilst still on hiatus. Hoshino used the song to reconsider his musical roots: "1960s jazz, soul, Motown sound black music". Hoshino commemorated his full recovery by finishing touring for Stranger in February 2014 and performing the Fukkatsu (復活) Live Tour in April. After the conclusion of the Fukkatsu Tour, Hoshino released the songs "Crazy Crazy" and "Sakura no Mori" (lit. "Cherry Blossom Forest") as a double A-sided single, the former track a homage to the Japanese jazz group Crazy Cats. Hoshino re-discovered a love for soul artists such as Michael Jackson during the single's production, which would mainly inspire the sound on "Sakura no Mori".

Track listing
All tracks are written, arranged, and produced by Hoshino, except where otherwise noted.


 * Notes
 * First editions include audio commentary from Hoshino and his collaborators.
 * The analog version is a double album, split between "Why Don't You Play in Hell?" and "Nerd Strut". The 2019 LP re-release splits the album into four records: the first disc contains tracks 1–3, the second 4–7, the third 8–11, and the fourth 12–14.

Personnel
Credits adapted from the Yellow Dancer liner notes.


 * Production


 * Gen Hoshino – songwriting, arrangement, production
 * Mio Okamura – arrangement of strings
 * Satoru Takeshima – arrangement of horns
 * Shojiro Watanabe – recording, mixing
 * Takahiro Uchida – mastering
 * Yuni Yoshida – art direction
 * Hideto Kometani – A&R


 * Instruments


 * Gen Hoshino – vocals (1–7, 9–14); guitar (1, 3–4, 6, 8, 11); handclaps (2, 5, 7, 9–10); tambourine (7, 10); marimba (7–8, 14); drums, piano, Hammond organ, sanshin (8)
 * Ryosuke Nagaoka – guitar (1–3, 7, 11, 14); handclaps (3)
 * Eiko Ishibashi – analog synthesizer (1–3, 14); background vocals (1–3, 5); handclaps (5); marimba (14)
 * Wataru Iga – bass (4–5, 7, 9, 11–14); handclaps (12)
 * Hama Okamoto – bass (1–3, 10); handclaps (3)
 * Wataru Iga – bass (4–5, 7, 9, 11–14); handclaps (12)
 * Haruomi Hosono – bass (8)
 * Noriyasu Kawamura – drums (1–5, 11–12, 14); cowbell (1–2, 12); handclaps (3, 12)
 * Daichi Ito – drums (7, 9, 12–14); handclaps (12)
 * Satoru Takeshima – tenor saxophone (2, 7, 12); flute (5); handclaps (7)
 * Hajime Kobayashi – piano (2–4, 10); Wurlitzer piano (2); Hammond organ (4–5); Rhodes piano (9, 11)
 * Nobuhide Handa – trombone (2)
 * Atsuki Yumoto – trumpet (2)
 * Tatsuhiko Yoshizawa – trumpet (2)
 * Naofumi Takimoto – trombone (7, 12)
 * Taichiro Kawasaki – trumpet (7)
 * Orari – background vocals (9)
 * Shohei Takagi – background vocals (9)
 * Yu Arauchi – background vocals (9)
 * Masatoshi Nakano – drums (10)
 * Teppei Kawakami – trumpet (12)
 * Takuji Nomura – piano (13)
 * Mio Okamura – violin (1–5, 7, 9, 11)
 * Osamu Iyoku – violin (1–5, 7, 9, 11)
 * Motoko Fujiie – violin (1)
 * Kiyo Kido – violin (1)
 * Yu Sugino – violin (1, 3–5, 7, 9, 11)
 * Miho Shimokawa – violin (1–5, 11)
 * Akane Irie – violin (2–5, 11)
 * Shohei Yoshida – violin (2, 9, 11)
 * Kazuo Watanabe – violin (2)
 * Rena Kato – violin (3)
 * Akatsuki Takahashi – violin (5)
 * Mikiko Ise – violin (7, 9)
 * Reiichi Tateizumi – viola (1–5, 9, 11)
 * Mikiyo Kikuchi – viola (1, 3–5, 7, 9, 11)
 * Kaoru Hagiwara – viola (7)
 * Toshiyuki Muranaka – cello (1, 5)
 * Ayano Kasahara – cello (1, 3, 5, 9)
 * Mari Masumoto – cello (3, 5, 9)
 * Yoshiko Maeda – cello (5)