the first impression of takeo toyama's music on his album "hello 88" is playful, colourful, cheerful. a bit like the illustrations by jungo terade on the cover showing a manikin in a kind of sailor suit and a cute little bird. but just as you start wondering, after looking at the pictures a bit longer, if they couldn't be part of a very sad story indeed, a feeling of melancholy sneaks in now and then whilst listening to the tracks. thus, takeo toyama's music alternates between funny little creaking sounds and atmospheric flute and violin arrangements, making "hello 88" a very narrative piece of music with a lot of highlights. sometimes even vocals are added, as in "hello birds", which reminds one of the pop of the beach boys. "hello 88" has been out in japan on the label japan overseas and is now being released under licence by karaoke kalk including the as yet unpublished track "lithium".