I had NO idea what I was diving into when I grabbed this comp, but the title alone seemed like a no-brainer.

And man does this collection serve up all I could ask for...a wide-range of music I've NO previous exposure to with insanely meticulous liner notes and eye-catching visuals.

Gagaku music, previously exclusive to ceremonies at the Imperial Household or Shinto shrines, starts off the collection here. Followed up with my favorite song from the album, "Senryou Nobori" feels vaguely reminiscent of punk chord progression...all while being a style of three-stringed banjo (the shamisen) developed in the puppet theaters of Osaka. The title itself comes from the name of a sumo wrestler.

Just digestible nuggets of info and music for days. Multiple records of geishas singing seem to have been sponsored by watch/clock makers and...no one knows why? Labels with no concern for copyright or attribution...just bootlegging whatever it seemed like folks would buy, rights or "masters" be damned.

At this point in my life, records like this are the closest approximation to the monster serotonin dump of comfort food besides, well, comfort food. My wish is to be locked in a room with an endless supply of these and to not exit for days, having fully digested and comprehended the ideas and stories conveyed within their grooves and notes.

Finally...anytime a record label has a polar bear on it....you know that shit's gonna be good.