released the first compilation in 2019 and followed up swiftly the next year with . The enterprise seemed like it might have been a done deal until the label announced the third volume, which arrived in 2023. Although many of the tracks throughout the compilations have been accessible to those outside Japan via streaming platforms, selectors and survey and contextualize the country's '70s/'80s urban musical landscape in a discerning way that considers both collectors on a budget and curious listeners with no idea about where to start. , a truffle harvest, is a little more colorful and illuminating than the two overviews that preceded it. It's lighter than the others on '70s selections. Ex- frontman sounds amiable and wise over a production indebted to early . 's "Tropical Love" is candied reggae with strings, produced in Jamaica by with also on the session. A bounding synthesizer delight from is in the realm of 's "Computer Game" and 's "The End" (and preceded both). In a way, the 1978 track points toward the prevailing '80s material with electronic gear figuring prominently in virtually everything from the later decade. The influence of U.S. contemporary R&B is strong in "Bewitched (Are You Leaving)," smooth, high-tech boogie voiced breathily by . (The harmonica solo could be mistaken for the work of .) It's even stronger in 's -issued "Heartbeat," sophisticated and peppy electro-funk that can fit between 's "Can't Slow Down" and 's "Operator" -- appropriately enough, it was recorded for an anime set in Southern California. Further highlights veer from charmingly mannered new wave to oddball art-pop, from 's "Ah! Soka," featuring , , and their brother , to 's "Scandal Night," the most -like track here, a jittering wonder produced by with human propulsion from former drummer . Those exploring the seemingly bottomless well of -related projects are treated even more by 's "Boy Meets Girl" and 's "Love Sick." Other noteworthy tracks involving none of those three giants include 's Balearic delight "Tropical Exposition [Who Done It? Version]" and 's glistening "Suiyoubi Madeni Shinitaino," production-wise a collision of with at least some of the lyrics at odds with its ecstatic vocal. As notes in the liners, the approximate English translation of the title is "I Want to Die Before Wednesday." ~ Andy Kellman