As part of its continuing effort to promote J-pop overseas, Sony last week released an album in the United States titled "Japan for Sale 2," which is a great all-around introduction to Japanese music.
Now, before I go any further, I should declare that I have something of a vested interest in this project, since I wrote the liner notes for "Japan for Sale 2."
Although all the songs are by Sony artists, the album manages to strike a good balance between straight-ahead J-pop, with female vocal acts such as Chara, Aco and Puffy (here called Puffy Amiyumi), the avant-rock of the Polysics and Supercar, and the club-oriented sounds of artists like DJ Krush, Takkyu Ishino and Ken Ishii.