In 2020, while living in Japan, I bought a box of about fifty 7‑inch records from someone clearing out his late grandmother’s collection. A bittersweet treasure hunt.
Tucked among them was Kazuko Matsuo’s Dare Yori Mo Kimi Wo Aisu (SVC‑333), a four‑track EP I’d never seen before. From the first listen, it stood out to me. A haunting blend of Western folk-style harmonies and traditional Japanese melody. My favorite track is “Goodnight,” a beautifully melancholic closer that feels like it was written to linger in your chest. The vocal layering especially caught me off guard, something rarely heard in Japanese records from that era. I looked it up afterward and saw it wasn’t even on Discogs, so I ended up being the first to list it.
The title track, Dare Yori Mo Kimi Wo Aisu (“I Love You More Than Anyone”), won the Japan Record Award in 1961 and helped put Kazuko Matsuo on the map. She became known as 暗い波止場の女王 (The Queen of the Dark Waterfront). A nickname that reflected her noir-like public image and the moody, cinematic feel of her music, often dealing with themes of lost love, nighttime settings, and windswept coastal towns.
Listening back now, it just has a mood that sticks with you, like something familiar even if you’ve never heard it before.
