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Kudos to PS Classics for including in the liner notes a quote that will be excerpted in every review of Sondheim Sings, Vol. 1, 1962-1972. So states Stephen Sondheim in 1971:

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of hearing my voice before, I tend to sing very loud, usually off pitch and always write in a keys that are just out of my range.

Sondheim’s estimation of his singing voice may be on target, but his gruff delivery sounds like he’d be great at karaoke. Not that he’d need a karaoke machine to back him up — he’s an incredible pianist, as this first volume of Sondheim’s personal demo tapes demonstrates.

In Meryle Secrest’s 1999 biography of Sondheim, the composer noted how he wasn’t an orchestrator, leaving that job mostly to Jonathan Tunick. But Tunick usually had his work cut out for him — Sondheim’s piano scores had enough material from which to draw.

The most telling track is a private performance of “The Glamorous Life” (from A Little Night Music) in front of guests. Sondheim explains the staging of the song to his audience while not missing a beat of his incredibly full accompaniment. It’s tough to imagine one person doing everything in this track.

The remaining tracks on Sondheim Sings, Vol. 1 were recorded by a friend with enough money to invest in home recording gear at the time. We’re not talking ProTools here — the use of reverb on some of recordings is a surprising embellishment.

Sondheim enthusiasts will no doubt find this album a fascinating glimpse into the evolution of his work. PS Classics annotates the material well, noting which songs were cut from which show and where lyrics have alternate versions.

Thing is, I’m only familiar with his latter-day work, so I have no real point of reference for most of this material. The notes are helpful in this regard.

It’s easy to see how A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum went through two different opening songs — “Invocation” and “Love Is in the Air” — before settling on “Comedy Tonight”.

“Multitudes of Amys” has some clever wordplay that teeters on annoying, but it’s interesting to see how bits of it worked its way into “Marry Me a Little”. Both were scrapped in favor of “Being Alive”.

Still, there’s something special about hearing a guy who would write music sung by hundreds of performers doing it himself.

And if the tongue-twisting aliterations of “Pretty Little Picture” are any gauge, that’s an amazing feat. (Amazing from my haphazard training, at least.)

There are about 74 demos in Sondheim’s library, which means more volumes in this series are forthcoming. So waiting will be the hard part.

When previous editions of the Japan for Sale series were released, mainstream music was dominated by teen pop and nü metal. Underground tastes were splintered at the time, but if generalizations could be made, those tastes could lumped into the umbrellas of indie rock and electronica.

Sony Music hedged its bets on electronica as the “underground” music likely to crossover and stacked the track listings on the Japan for Sale compilations accordingly.

But in the recession of teen pop and nü metal from popular taste, indie rock emerged not as a driving cultural force but as a diffused common ground, where the likes of the White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand and the Flaming Lips can achieve the same amount of success and remain distinct from one another.

Electronica, on the other hand, has had a difficult time shaking its association with a club culture driven by the drug Ecstacy.

With Japan for Sale, Vol. 4, Sony Music plays catch-up and showcases the diversity of Japan’s underground rock scene. It’s about time.

There are only so many ways a four-on-the-floor dance beat can be repackaged, and I don’t have a subtle enough ear to distinguish Takkyu Ishino from Ken Ishii and Kyoto Jazz Massive. At least DJ Krush has enough sense to bring guest performers on his ambient hip-hop adventures.

The first three tracks of Vol. 4 alone jump among some drastic styles. Tommy heavenly6, the second alter ego of the brilliant green singer Kawase Tomoko, offers some pop-friendly grunge on “Swear”. Rhymester immediately follows with a rapid-fire rap on “The Great Amateurhythm”. Then Guitar Wolf blasts through with the garage rock fury of “Can-nana Fever”.

The rest of the disc doesn’t let up, either. Asian Kung-Fu Generation does a better Weezer than Weezer on “N.G.S.” Boom Boom Satellites demonstrate how rock guitars and electronica can drive each other on “Dive for you”, and Kokeshi Doll finishes things off with the wonderfully disturbing “Hasuike no Uta”.

Some choices on Vol. 4 are curious. “baby beautiful” is a tender selection from ex-Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her mastermind Higurashi Aiha, but it’s not the best track from her solo debut Born Beautiful.

Mean Machine’s “Johnny Back” is a terrific inclusion on the compilation, but the one-off project featuring singer-songwriter Chara and Judy and Mary’s Yuki has been on hiatus. Its one-off album, Cream, is currently out of print.

“lang” wonderfully demonstrates the adventurousness of ACO’s most recent work, but the single “Machi” from her album irony would have been a natural choice.

A few tracks show Japan’s off-kilter tastes. Orange Range’s “Shanghai Honey” sounds like a mutated version of the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe”. L’Arc~en~Ciel’s “Ready Steady Go” is a maniacally bouncy tune, and Polysics continues its quest as Most Annoying Band in the Universe with “Kaja Kaja Goo”.

Japan for Sale, Vol. 4 is so far the strongest installment of this series. The program stays interesting throughout by jumping among a number of different styles, and the true breadth of the world’s second largest music market is finally revealed.