Phew

Japanese avant-garde electronic musician Phew creates experimental soundscapes woven around her distinctive vocals. Born Hiromi Moritani, the Osaka-based artist got her start in the 1970s as a founding member of the punk group Aunt Sally. They released just one album before she split to record as a solo artist. Her first output -the 'Finale' single- was produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto in 1980. A year later, her debut LP arrived. 'Phew' (Pass Records) featured guests Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit of Can and was produced by Conny Plank. 'View' was released in 1987 and a trio of efforts were issued in the '90s, including 'Songs', 'Our Likeness', and 'Himitsu no Knife'. Moritani would not release another solo album until 2010, with the critically acclaimed 'Five Finger Discount', which featured Jim O'Rourke (Sonic Youth, Stereolab) on bass. In 2015, Moritani released 'A New World', quickly followed by 'Jamming'. 2017 was a particularly prolific year for her. In addition to the Alrahim Wright III collaboration 'Here's a Pheww', Moritani released 'Light Sleep' and 'Voice Hardcore'. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]