Welcome to episode 45 of Holly Jolly X’masu! In this episode, in honor of Women’s History Month, I’ll be discussing Iruka’s 1977 album “From the Bohemian Forest.”

As you’ve likely noticed, I’m still way behind schedule. I was hoping to have this episode out on the 18th. I’m doing my best to get caught up and will hopefully be back on track next month.

Over the course of my collecting, I’ve found that some albums are a real crapshoot. Their covers don’t always give an indication of what you’re going to get, and since a lot of them can’t be found online, I’ll sometimes buy a record and have no clue how it’s going to sound until I finally drop the needle. “From the Bohemian Forest” was one of those cases.

As you can see above, this looks like a standard children’s album. However, the music was much better than I’d imagined. After I listened to it the first time, I told a friend that it was similar to “John Denver & the Muppets – A Christmas Together.” Not that I was making a direct comparison, but it features a mix of familiar and unfamiliar songs, as well a story involving a tree that segues into a song, packaged in a way that’s geared toward children but belies a more mature and enjoyable style of music. All in all, it was a great addition to my collection.

In the episode, I mentioned Iruka’s song “Nagori Yuki,” and the animated special for “Jeremy Tree.” Here are links to each of them:

Nagori Yuki

Jeremy Tree

Join me back here on the 25th (or thereabouts), when I cover Iruka’s 1990 album, “Noel – Fantastic Winter Story.” It’s another great album and one I’m sure you’ll enjoy.

As always, any feedback on this episode would be appreciated. If have any suggestions, or if you’d like to recommend a song or album for a future episode, drop me a line and let me know.

Remember, I’ve added a button to my Ko-fi page. If you’d like to support me one cup of coffee at a time, a donation is only $3. I’ve also opened a Redbubble store. I only have a couple designs up, but keep an eye on it as I’ll be trying to add more. Half of any proceeds or donations received will be donated to support the people of Ukraine, while the rest will be used to purchase new Japanese Christmas music to review for future episodes. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And if you get a chance, leave me a review on iTunes. Thanks!