Where can I hear the music of Hi-Posi?

October 31, 2009 8:48 PM

Does anyone know where I can find the music of shibuya-kei artist Hi-Posi?

A few, but not all, CDs are on eBay -- at exorbitant prices. I don't actually want to own the CDs. I just want to hear the tracks (not 30-second samples). I'm happy to purchase the songs digitally, but they are not available on iTunes or Amazon either. How can I hear/buy this music?

posted by whiskeyspider to media & arts (4 answers total)

Hmmm...

Well, it looks like you can listen to a few tracks on YouTube--not much, though. MP3.com has four tracks from their 2001 single album.

There are some longer tracks available for listening on NicoNicoDouga, a Japanese video service. You have to have an account to view videos, though.

I think your best bet might be to buy a Japanese iTunes card from J-List. That way, you can peruse Japanese iTunes and download Hi-Posi's music.

You could also buy from Amazon.jp, but you'd have to buy the cheapie, cheapie used CDs to buffer the exorbitant shipping costs. (For example, when I bought Harry Potter, I bought a 1-yen book so that the total price with shipping was around $14.)

Good luck on your search!
posted by ElectricBlue at 9:18 PM on October 31, 2009

Thanks, ElectricBlue. The mp3.com tracks aren't playable unfortunately.

I like your idea of using a Japanese iTunes card. Can you confirm that Hi-Posi's music is available on iTunes Japan? I assume I'll need the card before I can browse, is that correct?
posted by whiskeyspider at 9:29 PM on October 31, 2009

I figured out how to log into iTunes Japan, unfortunately they don't have available the tracks I'm looking for: only her two oldest albums which sound completely different.
posted by whiskeyspider at 9:42 PM on October 31, 2009

Looks like there are torrents available at the Jpopsuki Tracker. The listing I see (you will need to create a login) says:

I thought I'd upload some Hi-Posi albums since they're so awesome and really hard to find. For those who don't know about them they were a band that made sort of shibuya-kei music during the 90's and early 00's. The torrent contains their 6 full albums and the one mini album they have released. All of them are in mp3 except for Gluon which is in mp4.

Soul of Hippopotamus (1994)
Body Meets Sing (1995)
Kanashii Koto Nannka Janai (1996)
House (1997)
Gluon (1998)
4n5 (1999)
Seizen Setsu (2000)

Hope you enjoy!

There are 77 files.

I'll take that "best answer" checkmark now. ;)
posted by xo at 11:06 AM on November 1, 2009