Breathing Fire with Little Dragon

I unfairly pegged Koop as a lightweight nu-jazz act, but a couple of tracks on their first album, Waltz for Koop, stood out. The reason they stood out was the voice of Yukimi Nagano and, when I finally saw Koop at Cargo in London in 2006, she really made the concert. As well as an amazing voice, she had a great look to go along with it.

So for the last couple of years I’ve been following her (which is not the same as stalking her,  although I’ve been doing that as well) as guest vocalist on other people’s albums (notably the under-rated Movin’ On by Hird) and wondering whether she would ever release anything under her own name. Now, finally -

She hasn’t. However she is the vocalist in a project called Little Dragon who last year released their debut album - also called (originally) Little Dragon. The album didn’t appear to have any marketing behind it in the UK, which is a shame because - while it’s not the best album ever - YUKIMI NAGANO IS THE VOCALIST.

One track on the album is heart-stoppingly beautiful, and should make it obvious why I’m going on so much about her voice. Watch the video, listen to the song, buy the album, as you wish.