I haven't heard of these guys before, this stuff is pretty slick
I listened through the clips for three of their albums (haha, amazing cover art.) i spotted a few tracks i immediately loved. they've got that typically western sound, quite a bit "smoother" than the Japanese bands (for lack of a better word); very heavy on the soprano sax weather channel vibes. it's akin to the production music that used to air over here in the UK on BBC channels during closedown hours (
example); i wouldn't be surprised if this music
was available as production music, it's very typical, in fact it is quite unusual to see this sort of stuff being marketed under a band rather than a single composer. Casiopea for me seem way more idiosyncratic, even in their most subdued moments they don't really remind me of any western smooth jazz/fusion I've heard, production music or otherwise. nonetheless I like all of it anyway.
oh, here's a good Level 42 performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a61b1fGwIs . probably the closest thing in the west, dno.