Starting with his solo debut in 1988, Hiroshi Takano embarked on a fruitful career making beautifully chill pop music, and enjoying his greatest successes in the early '90s with a couple of albums produced by American rock savant Todd Rundgren. Takano's brand of breezy pop conjures blue skies and rippling waves, moving between dreamy soft rock and relaxing funk. But his sideline musical pursuits have ventured far beyond those parameters, including contributions to albums by mixmaster Towa Tei and composer extraordinaire Ryuichi Sakamoto.