If it wasn't enough that this hairy hippy rock guru, leader of Japan's prolific Acid Mothers Temple, is busy releasing NEW music at a frantic pace, now he's begun digging through his closet to find old stuff he made years and years ago and is re-releasing that as well. No complaints though, if the "Kawabata Makoto's Early Works" series turns up more material as enjoyable as this, originally released in 1981 on (Kawabata's own?) Revolutionary Extrication Project cassette-label, now reissued on cd in a limited edition of 500 copies.
Osaka Loop Line's title is suggestive of trains, and indeed the two long (22-23 minute) tracks here, parts one and two of the same extended piece, can be heard as chug-chugging (if not choo-chooing) along, a droning but active, abstract soundscape-in-motion composed of electronic hum and mechanical pulse. It's a bit different from the amped up and/or blissed out psych guitar explorations we're used to hearing from Kawabata, indeed we don't even know if he's playing guitar at all on here (he's simply credited with "all instruments and voice"). The Eastern ethnic elements found in much of his later AMT and solo work aren't so much in evidence, as this seems to be primarily influenced by '70s German "kosmische" electronics and proto-industrial experimentation, we'd guess. At the same time, it's not like he was making skinny tie New Wave punk or mimicking Journey or doing rockabilly covers or something -- this music does fit in logically with the krauty psychedelia we hear from the man today. Not bad at all for a youngster -- check out the cute photo on the sleeve of a youthful, beardless Kawabata!
Now the question is, how many Early Works are there? If he was as prolific back then as he & his cohorts are now, then from 1981-199? whenever we first encountered AMT, there's got to be a lot more cool Kawabata musical history to hear...!
Attention Japanese psych fans!!! All bow and bear witness to the divine collaboration between two pillars of modern Japanese psych, Kawabata Makoto, temple lord of Acid Mothers Temple, and Michishita Shinsuke, frontman of LSD-march! Blown out, fuzzed out, and tripped out, this monumental collaboration delivers much of what you'd expect from these two long-haired masterminds, spastic improv, dueling electric guitar, unearthly walls of damaged freak-out. Recorded live in Sapporo, Japan, Basement Echo is completely unedited and improvised, a true documentation of, like, two generations of Japanese underground meeting for the first time!
Triple electric guitar attack, from Acid Mothers Temple mainman Kawabata Makoto, ex Reynols axeman Anla Courtis and underground Japanese guitarist Rokujenkin. We know what you're thinking, but you're probably way off. This is no psych rock blow out, some FX drenched jam session, instead, Kokura is two huge slabs of epic ambience, shimmering, chiming, glistening, sparkling, all of those ING things guitars do when they are creating gorgeous soft swirls of sound. Thick sheets of guitars are bathed in soft focus effects, and allowed to drift and gently intertwine, slowly and dreamily melting into each other. Even the noisier moments are strangely beautiful, soft fuzzy melodies colliding with dense waves of distortion, all over hypnotic melodic runs and subtle barely-there rhythms. The label describes Kokura as sounding like SUNNO))) at half volume, but it's a lot more delicate than that, at moments monstrously heavy, but at others, like a soft whisper or a ghostlike sonic shimmer. Really nice.
It's really difficult to not start off every Acid Mothers Temple or Kawabata Makoto review with something about their ridiculous prolificacy. Which makes sense of course, especially when we're faced with a new release probably every two months, if not more frequently. But as we've stated before, the point is almost moot, as pretty much everything we lay our ears on is great! So it all boils down to how much you need, or how different each recording is, a sort of personal preference. Allan probably has 40 or 50 Keiji Haino albums, and probably thinks that is not nearly enough, whereas Andee has maybe one or two, and is positive that that's plenty.
So here we have the latest slab of divine psych from Acid Mothers Temple guru Kawabata Makoto, functioning here in his solo shaman incarnation (as opposed to his role in AMT's freaked out psych rock space rituals) and it's awesome. Really. A deliriously dreamy swirl of electric guitar, bouzouki and sitar, all woven into two sidelong tracks of glorious ur-drone! Glistening, sparkling expanses of slow shifting overtones and overlapping melodies, steel string buzz and deeeeeeeeeep resonant rumbles. Hard not to hear a bit of fellow countrymen Taj Mahal Travellers. The more static passages sound downright Niblock-like with their almost imperceptible sonic shifts.
LIMITED TO 550 COPIES, packaged in a super deluxe full color gatefold sleeve. And for a super limited time we have some of the version that comes with a bonus 7", pressed on red vinyl (ONLY 150 COPIES, WE HAVE ABOUT 15), two more brief bursts of buzz, with reverb drenched chant-like vocals added to the already buzzing, droning mix. So good.
It's possible that all we need to say is "limited to 300 copies on trippy colored vinyl." (And "only 5 in stock" too.) Putting aside our sarcasm about the massive output that drives the collector's market for Kawabata Makoto and his Acid Mother's Temple, "I Wished You Were Here Again" is a solid release for Kawabata, who's by himself layering piercing feedback and amp melting distortion on top of his trademark blissful washes of cosmic guitar noise.
What would an AQ-list be without at least one or two new Kawabata Makoto/Acid Mothers Temple releases on it?? Well I don't think we're ever gonna find out... Here's a new solo release, and as ususal, it's really very nice. One long piece for droning electric guitar and sarangi (a kind of Indian droning fiddle), beautifully dark and gentle. The listener will encounter some episodes of tangled string-scrape, but mostly this just slowly flows forward, soft and soothing. It sorta sounds like it should be heard in church. Recorded live (complete with little glitches) in France while Kawabata was over there hanging out with his friends in Ueh.
Although we might be tempted to join some sort of Kawabata Makoto backlash movement on general principles, the fact remains that the uber-prolific leader of Japan's Acid Mothers Temple has maintained a fairly high level of quality in his constant, cosmic output of music. This here release (one of FOUR Makoto-related discs we've received this WEEK) is indeed pretty worthwhile, so we're not ready to ask him to cease and desist quite yet. Utilizing electric organ, electric harpsichord, violin, tambura, percussion and electronics, Kawabata (with a little help from guest vocalist Audrey Ginestet, the bass player of French psych band Ueh) is in the dream-zone on this one, far from the distorto-rock loudness of the Acid Mothers Temple recent "Electric Heavyland", for instance. With high-pitched tones swirling about, this is spacey, droney stuff in a psychedelic Terry Riley/Steve Reich repetitive minimalist vein, that originally spread over the two sides of a limited edition LP released last year on Eclipse. (So limited, that we never saw it.) But this cd reissue appends a 15 minute bonus track anyway, so we're all good. In a word, lovely.
This guy could poop on a stick and someone would put it out! And someone else would pay a lot for it on eBay! Thankfully, so far, he hasn't done quite that. But here's yet another (non-poop) new release from the man...
A blissful, if relatively non-active, listening experience proferred by Kawabata Makoto, leader of the wild psych freakout band Acid Mothers Temple. This is the music Kawabata makes when he's sleepy, maybe, and there are no jarring effects to disturb the blissful vibe, so it's also perfect for *your* bedtime. Improvised on guitar with no overdubs, the music sleepily drifts between good dream vs. nightmare. If you play it loud, the tension will crowd out all your other thoughts. If you play it quiet you'll feel rather soothed in its undemandingness. Three long tracks totalling 74 minutes.
So yeah, about time this was available on compact disc! We've got Inui 2 and Inui 3, but ol' Inui 1 only came out as a limited-edition LP on the Siwa label back in 2000 ("roughly 100 releases ago, in Kawabata terms" as VHF themselves admit) and is of course long gone, a major prize on eBay or so we're told.
Kawabata (of Acid Mothers Temple, need we tell you?) is joined by guest vocalist Audrey Ginestet from French band Ueh for the first track on this dreamy, droning initial installment of the Inui series, Kawabata handling the rest of these three lengthy tracks all by himself using various and sundry ethnic stringed instruments from his collection (violin, sarangi, oud, bowed sitar, bouzouki, lyra, shou, and nei) plus his own vocals -- all very blissful and spacey and psychedelic as you'd expect. The last twenty+ minutes (the track "Son") is such an angelic ambient drift, shimmering, seeming like the magnified sound of a shaft of magic morning sunlight in the floating-dust filled air of an old empty room, awakening to the day.
AMT/Kawabata fans should thank VHF for reissuing this on cd, 'specially as it's so nicely presented in a hand-screened mini-gatefold sleeve done by the folks at Siwa, and guess what? It's also a limited edition!
Japanese avant-hippy sound guru Kawabata Makoto (of Acid Mothers Temple, Toho Sara, Musica Transonic, and countless other projects) releases his first widely available solo cd, following up his "Inui" lp. Four long tracks of instrumental drones and tones, made with a variety of instruments of both Eastern and Western lineage (violin, zurna, bouzouki, cello, organ, electric sitar, sarangi, gong, electronics, and more). He weaves some exotic, beautiful (improvised?) melodies atop said drones as well. Very nice, very psychedelic. Good going-to-sleep music.
It's really wonderful of Kawabata Makoto (the high priest of Japan's Acid Mothers Temple y'know) to let us in to his private inner world of drone-bliss, via this release as well as previous discs like Inui 2, Infinite Love, and O Si Amos A Sighire A Essere Duas Umbras? and his collaboration with Richard Youngs, of which this here disc certainly reminds us.
Inui 3 consists of three long tracks (the last, over 45 minutes long), making psychedelic usage of bouzouki, sarangi, electric guitar, viola and ECS-101 (whatever that is -- we thought at first it was maybe an analog sequencer, but our expert in that area, Cup, had never heard of an ECS-101 -- anyone know?). The results are a lot of shimmering loveliness, with high end tones over droning drones. Really really nice.
So, if all you know him for is the 'motorpsycho' guitar splurge characteristic of AMT and Musica Transonic and the like, then you'll be surprised (pleasantly we think, this is nothing if not pleasant) by the beauty and restraint of these tracks. Of course, AMT followers by now are probably familiar with, and fans of, that mellower side to Kawabata's prolific output. In either case, here's a(nother) recommended dose!
- MPEG stream: Sui
- MPEG stream: Ken
Imagine being in the middle of a hectic workweek, with a project deadline on Friday. Maybe, for instance, you've got to write a ton of reviews of music releases for a bi-weekly New Arrivals list? And it's time to review the new installment in the Inui series by Acid Mothers Temple leader Makoto Kawabata. It's just one track, 68 minutes long, and you take the opportunity to relax in your chair as you listen to it before writing about it. Under the spell of its blissful wash of drones, gently burbling electronics, and mellow, repetitive guitar strum, you might even drift off for a few moments of blessed nap-time, before getting back to work tackling the next offering of indietronic dance pop, cd-r noise folk, or grim black metal in your to-be-reviewed pile.
Well under these circumstances, Kawabata's Inui 4 definitely gets the big thumbs up! Seriously, as long as you're not trying to concentrate, even the foghorn sounds at 21 minutes in, or the high-end whistling tones of Kawabata's drones, won't bother you. It's just another welcome relaxing trip to the softer side of Kawabata Makoto's psychedelic cosmos.
Made in Germany it says here, and Fuenfundvierzig is a German label, if you hadn't guessed. And that's where it *sounds* like it was made, back in say 1973, by someone like Klaus Schulze. But the music on this disc -- spacey, trancey, "kosmiche" guitar bliss out stuff -- was actually made in 2004 in Japan by the next best thing to an authentic long haired and bearded '70s German krautrock guitar/electronics guru. That'd be Kawabata Makoto of Acid Mothers Temple! These two long tracks of meditative, astral exploration ("mediation" and "astral" both being words that figure in the titles of the two pieces) also bring to mind the work of Terry Riley with all the wonderfully repetitive delay and reverb goin' on. Anyone into the gentler side of Kawabata/AMT (such as Kawabata's O Si Amos A Sighire A Essere Duas Umbras? and Inui 3 albums) ought to swoon over this glimmersome Jellyfish Rising. And the back cover of the cd booklet is a picture all AMT fans already have in their heads: an unclothed Kawabata in bed, smoking a cigarette, cradling his beloved electric guitar.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Ok, we all know there's a lot of Kawabata Makoto records released every hour of every day, for no better reason than that's what the cosmos seems to require of Kawabata Makoto...but the Acid Mothers Temple guitar guru claims to have a special excuse for this particular release, that it's a tribute to the island of Sardinia where he recently had some sort of undescribed spiritual awakening -- maybe they have really good drugs there, hmm? Thus inspired, Kawabata sat down with his guitar(s), three reverb units and a delay pedal, and created these two lengthy (32 and 43 minute!) tracks of spacious, echoey, glimmering goodness. Actually, on the first track he's playing an acoustic, and on the second an electric. With both he conjures a calm sea of *very* reverby, droned-out guitar tones. This definitely belongs to Kawabata's meditative, mellow side as opposed to his slash-and-burn rock skronk side, and we must that that, and this, is a really nice thing!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Numero uno Japanese long-haired avant-hippy Kawabata Makoto and Acid Mothers Temple compatriot Cotton Casino were just in town to play a sadly under-publicized show, and were kind enough to stop by and sell us a few of Kawabata's latest cd-r release, volume seven in his "Private Tapes" series. Limited (of course) to just 200 copies, this disc sees Kawabata in solo guitar instrumental mode, doing a single 38 minute track called "I Want You To Want Me" (but it's not actually a Cheap Trick cover, as far as we can tell). It starts off quite blissfully, and that's the mood of the entire piece, although it builds in density as it goes along, getting quite a bit louder towards the end. Kawabata's guitar subs for a full string section as he uses effects to create a shimmering backing drone (shall we call this Kawabatatronics?). He proceeds to pick out fragile, repeating melodic phrases, layering them over the pulsing textures of what's come before. It's quite nice. You can imagine Kawabata sitting in his room recording this, as shafts of heavenly light beam down upon him from on high. If you liked his soothing Infinite Love cd on Ochre you'll dig this, as will those into the mellow psychedelic trips of Krautrock guitar/synth explorers like Ashra's Manuel Gottsching.
Those partial only to Kawabata's noisy, freak-out side should perhaps look elsewhere, although this might be the one to convert you to enjoying his more gentle moods. Note: as we said, this limited, and we only were able to get a few, so when they're gone, they're gone...
Kawabata Makoto (better known in his adult incarnation as the Father Yod like ringleader of Acid Mother's Temple) was a precocious Japanese kid at the age of 13 when he made these recordings. Like his Dark Revolution Collective album that was recorded about the same time in 1978, the only instrument that Kawabata had access to was a borrowed synthesizer, which he tweedled and modulated to
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Fulfilling his self-made prophecy as the reborn spirt of legendary hippie music guru Father Yod from Yahowha 13, Acid Mothers Temple ringleader Kawabata Makoto proclaimed a harmonious existence within his own personal "cosmos" in 1999. The perpetual output of material from Kawabata after that incident may indicate that he is merely a medium for the extra-dimensional spirits with which he has come in contact. Or maybe he just took a lot of drugs. Either way, Kawabata's neo-psychedelia has become one of the more wildly divergent expressions of an altered consciousness, ranging from the propulsive psychedelic jams of the aforementioned Acid Mothers Temple, to the thug-rock riffs of Nishinihon, to his miasmic guitar / sitar drones when recording under his own name or the Father Moo moniker. "You Are The Moonshine" falls into the latter category of glistening, reverbed guitar washes projecting the levitationally transcendent images from Kawabata's lysergically tinged personal cosmos. Even better than the recent "Inui" recordings, but painfully limited to 150 copies each. Don't expect these to last.
If a bearded, tie-dyed guy fiddling with the knobs and wires of some vintage synth is your idea of a good time, you're in luck. Here's another three (quite long, of course) tracks of space-out fantasia from the prolific Kawabata Makoto, leader of everyone's favorite band of hippie throwbacks, Acid Mothers Temple. Kawabata's music is just about Japan's number one export these days, isn't it?? Well c'mon, he's got rent to pay (or effects boxes to buy, or something). And as always, we're not complaining... ol' Kawabata can indulge his love for krauty cosmic electronics, as he does here, all the live long day and we'll forever be willing to lend an ear.
At 21, 19, and 34 minutes, roughly, these tracks have plenty of space to develop, and feature quietly creepy stretches of looping seagull static as well as utter sci-fi, videogame zappery, pretty much along the same lines as Space Machine, Masonna's similarly inspired analog synth side project. Good music to veg out to while starring at any remotely abstract pattern, with the last and longest (title) track being the most meditative, basically a central drone-tone and heartbeat-like pulse.
*Acid Mothers Temple alert* *Acid Mothers Temple alert* *Acid Mothers Temple alert* Yep, back to the bomb shelter (or out to the playground). Didn't we just have one of these drills last week? Seems it like anyway. Still, best to be prepared. This time, it's AMTer in chief Kawabata Makoto, a veritable psych guitar guru, teamed up with veteran French avant-guitarist Jean-Francois Pauvros, whom many of you might recall from a previous collaboration a few years back with Kawabata (Extreme Onction). He's also recorded with another Japanese psych guitar guru: Keiji Haino. Together, here, Kawabata and Jean-Francois stir up three long tracks of psych-guitar improv beauty. It's a billowing blowout of both droning nightmare whalesong and subtle scrabbly textures, wrung ffrom guitars, bows, amps, and the cosmos. Venus has a seductive softness to it, even when it's loud. PSF brand goodness for sure.
See our review of Kawabata's "I'm In Your Inner Most" for the obligatory *I can't believe it's yet another Kawabata Makoto/Acid Mothers Temple release but it's actually pretty good so why complain* comments, they apply to this cd-r (a reissue of an out-of-print cd-r on the AMT label) as well, even though "Electric Guitars" is quite a bit different from "Inner Most" -- Kawabata and collaborator Miyamoto Naoaki (MNS) dial up the feedback, noise, and distortion on this one. A bliss-out trip only for those who like their dreams cranked to 11. Nightmares are more like it. As the title suggests, the duo's weapons of choice are electric guitars, there's nothing else on here. They wrangle their guitars over three long, probably fully improvised tracks, one of 'em creating a droning, evil atmosphere while the other picks out non-melodic note-shards, and vice versa. Psychedelic skree that's just restrained enough to be listenable when in the mood for this moodiness (rather than being sheer noise terror in the Merzbow or Solmania vein). Not just a collector's item, but a cheap fix courtesy of Last Visible Dog for those into the darker side of Kawabata Makoto's ouevre.
After being out of print and unavailable for far too long (a coupla years anyway), the kind folks at VHF have repressed this, at last. Here's what we had to say about this great record back when it came out in 2001, originally:
"The entirely too prolific Kawabata Makoto (who fronts Acid Mothers Temple) joins AQ fave Richard Youngs for a surprisingly tranquil, and beautifuly melancholic record of swirling haze and delicate melodies, employing acoustic guitar, autoharp, organ, and voice. Rather than have titles, on the back cover this disc's songs are differentiated by colored bars of varying length.
Medium length blue bar: distorted autoharp over a fuzzy drone of muted melodies, with beautiful plaintive vocals soaring over the rich sonic miasma.
Longer orange bar: gentle finger picked guitar over far away wind chimes and dreamy soundscapes.
Green bar shorter than the blue one: manipulated vocals time stretched and twisted into alien melodies over a warm buzzing hum and acoustic guitar.
Short red bar and really short purple bar: two tracks of gorgeous melodies on acoustic guitar with simple droning organ chords and fluttering high end organ noodling.
Really beautiful and totally mesmerising. Some of the best work by both Makoto and Youngs, who have curbed their penchant for all out noise and given us a glimpse into their sensitive sides."
Of course, since we wrote the above review (which first appeared on list 124), the ever-prolific Kawabata has explored some other equally "sensitive" realms, but this is still one of the best from amongst his mellower stuff. And Youngs (who often allows that glimpse) has also increased his profile to some degree, bringing us such AQ-faves as May, Airs Of The Ear (especially), and River Through Howling Sky. So we imagine there's got to be a bunch of you out there who have only discovered either Youngs or Kawabata relatively recently, or otherwise somehow missed this before and thereby (not to use to strong a word, but...) NEED it now.
It's been several years since this was last available, so all AMT fans who missed Hot Rattlesnakes the first time should be happy that Prophase has reissued this album (originally released by Paratactile in 2002). Here's our review from back then, all comments about AMT's prodigious output still valid:
Another two weeks have passed. Must mean it's time for another AQ-list. AND another Acid Mothers Temple record!! That's a slight exaggeration, but -only- slight, as the insanely prolific Makoto Kawabata (surpassed only by the stupidly prolific Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices) unleashes yet more music, this time with his power trio Mothers Of Invasion and their debut recording "Hot Rattlesnakes" (a reference to the only Zappa record Allan thinks you might want to own). Fans know what to expect and won't be disappointed. Track one is a thirty minute, freaked out psychedelic rock and roll jam. Bass (Tsuyama Atsushi) and drums (Ichiraku Yoshimitsu) kicking out an endless groove while Kawabata goes to fuckin' town! Wailing and squealing and spraying gobs of freaked out Hendrix guitar all over the place. Endless guitar god nirvana. You know you love it! Track two is ten minutes of delayed and reverbed guitars warped into a hypnotic wash of warm guitar atmospherics and gently finger picked low end melodies. Subtle and quite nice. The closing 15 minutes is back to the jam, with an even more intense burst of psychedelic mayhem, phasers set to stun and flangers set to... well to FLANGE MOTHER FUCKER!!!!! The track blisses out for a moment while Kawabata wrings some emotion from his dying guitar, only to bring it back to life and exit in a blaze of guitar shredding, amp melting glory!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Recorded in 1970, these sessions represent a sort of "prequel" to what would eventually become AQ fave Japanese psych act Flower Travellin' Band. Having cut one record as Yuya Uchida and the Flowers, this line up brought in Joe, the inimitable vocalist whose trademark sound did much to make the band stand out from the pack and organist/pianist Kuni Kawachi from another sixties band The Happenings Four. While Kawachi never made the cut, for whatever reason, for the final group that would later record FTB debut Anywhere, his Hammond organ grumblings add a nice touch to the tracks here. In addition to Kawachi's organ, singer Joe plays his harmonica more than he did on later recordings, giving these recordings a bluesier sound. While we're not going to fool you into thinking this is anything near as great as Satori or even Made In Japan, it's got some great heavy psychedelic jams that are certainly as great as anything they did for their first album. And for those who were turned off by Anywhere due to its consisting entirely of covers, it will be comforting to know that the tracks here are all originals. If anything, they are a lot closer to what ended up on Satori, albeit a great deal more primordial and lacking the taughtness of their later works.
Newly reissued, now as a 2-on-1 with another, later album, we've previously listed a cd of Kirikyogen, organist/pianist Kuni Kawachi's 1970 recording with hard rockin' Japanese psych geniuses Flower Travellin' Band (which barely preceded those AQ faves debut on their own, Anywhere, also 1970). Kawachi came from sixties Group Sounds band The Happenings Four, and made a great decision in teaming up with the nascent FTB (who had started off as Yuya Uchida and the Flowers, another GS act) for Kirikyogen, especially since Flowers/FTB had recently recruited Joe Yamanaka, the inimitable vocalist whose trademark wail did much to make Flower Travellin' Band band stand out from the pack later on. With Joe on the mic, and guitarist Hideki Ishima coming into his own, Kirikyogen is very much Flower Travellin' Band, the prequel! Meanwhile, Kawachi's Hammond organ grumblings add a nice touch to the tracks here, which he also wrote, for the most part. In addition to Kawachi's organ, singer Joe plays his harmonica more than he did on later recordings, giving these recordings a bluesier sound. While we're not going to tell you this is anything near as great as FTB's Satori or even Made In Japan, it's got some great heavy psychedelic jams (like the title track, and "Works Composed Mainly By Human") that are certainly as good as anything they did for their first album. If anything, they are a lot closer to what ended up on Satori, albeit a great deal more primordial and lacking the taughtness of their later works. It should also be noted that Kirikyogen is about 1/2 heavy Hendrix-y grooves, 1/2 more acoustic-y (but lovely), not as heavy melodic material.
Also to be noted, as alluded to above, this cd reissue also includes Kawachi's 1972 follow-up Love Suki Daikirai, which is appears as the first 14 tracks here for some reason rather than being presented in chronological fashion. Love Suki Daikirai doesn't feature any FTB folks (and is thus automatically less rockin'), but does have Kimio Mizutani on guitars, whose solo album A Path Through Haze was also recently reissued by Bamboo and reviewed by us (and which happened to feature, yes, Kuni Kawachi on keyboards!). Much more gentle and meandering than its predecessor, this later album certainly has its beautiful and/or freaky moments, but Kirikyogen, #25 in Julian Copes "Japrocksampler" Top 50, is still the primary reason to pick this up.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Lots of Japanese psych this list, eh? Not one but two Acid Mothers Temple releases, the psych-tinged doom of Garadama, and also this half-hour, limited edition debut cd-r release from Masami Kawaguchi's New Rock Syndicate. Masami Kawaguchi? That's the former guitar guru who dealt the high-decibel damage in underground Japanese psych outfit Miminokoto (he's also been a member of Broomdusters, LSD-march, and Keiji Haino's Aihiyo). But now Miminokoto are no more -- long live the New Rock Syndicate!
Miminokoto, over several desirable releases that had come our way in recent years, carved a niche for themselves as a particularly melancholy and melodic Japanese garage psych band, one that pushed the VU meters (and comparisons) both with heavy duty guitar excess and almost-poppy punk jangle. Kawaguchi's new trio carries on the tradition, his guitar and vocals well supported by bassist Akira Kikuchi and drummer Nao Shibata over the course of these five tracks, which vary from all-out psych overload, as displayed by wailing opener "(Theme From) New Rock Syndicate" for instance, to more relatively restrained fare like "Mienakunaru" (which hints at the trippy grooves of The Doors) and the (mostly) gentle balladry of "Everything Is", wherein everything is aching with misery. None are untouched by the shrapnel coming off of Kawaguchi's six string, though, which is definitely a forced to be reckoned with on the final track, "Tottemo", which channels "Louie Louie" just a bit, but with more than enough distortion and feedback and destructiveness to give you Tokyo Flashbacks for weeks...
We're definitely looking forward to seeing Kawaguchi & Co. when they come play out here in SF and perhaps elsewhere Stateside in October.
It's ben a wild, weird and sexy ride through the strange world of sixties and seventies Japanese sonic erotica (serotica?) courtesy of the fine folks at Japan's Tiliqua label. And it isn't over yet! We were led to believe that number five, recently reviewed right here, the amazing and bizarre Girlfriend - Baby Doll by Petite M'Amie would be the last, but no, we were just resting, catching our breath, recharging as it were, and now it's time to plunge right back in...
What the heck are we talking about? It's Tiliqua's Erotic Oriental Sunshine series of Japanese erotic music from the sixties and seventies chronicling the criminally under-documented sounds of Iroke Kayoyoku, a sort of loungy exotica, equal parts Les Baxter and Ennio Morricone, a bastardized version of a more popular Asian music of the time, a funky, groovy, soulful soundtrack music, but sexed up with chanteuse like crooning, and most important of all, an amazing array of moaning and groaning and cooing and giggling, very playful and silly and sexy. The first five volumes were all fantastic, fun and funny and funky and far out, and unfortunately now all out of print, discs from Japanese sexy action heroine Ike Reiko, Japanese "Play Girl" Kuwabara Yukiko, seventies bondage / S&M queen Naomi Tani, legendary porn actress Taguchi Kumi, and most recently what could quite possibly be the first Iroke disc (and thus the rarest), from sexy Lolita, Petite M'Amie, aka Mari Keiko.
We also considered Keiko's contribution to the series to be the strangest by far, and while it was pretty weird, it sounds downright tame when compared to this, the latest in the series, Kokotsu/ Ecstasy by Masami Kuwahara & The Exotic Sounds, originally released in 1970, but practically forgotten and lost until now.
Unlike the other titles in the series, this one is not the recording of a particular vixen, instead, it's the work of composer and arranger (and future husband of Ike Reiko, Masami Kuwahara, who was responsible for many of the Iroke recordings, including Reiko's and this one right here. A Latin, late night Tiki mamba exotica lounge jazz mash up...
The opening track sets the tone, smoldering and sultry, with moaning late night muted trumpet, marimba and jungle drums, a sweaty sweltering vibe, with lots of Les Baxter like sonic filigree, while as is the style of Iroke, a lusty lady giggles and and coos, moans and groans, as if she is alternately being pleasured, tickled or spanked. In fact after a brief burst of furious congas and horns beneath the sounds of what definitely sounds like actual love making, comes the creepy third track, all fluttering flutes and tribal percussion, wherein another lady gets slapped or spanked, and squeals and squeaks appreciatively. You can even hear the man's grunts, his exertion and passion evident as he sexily slaps his woman, ummm, okay. Well, it was a different time, but that one definitely sounds more freaky than sexy, but the music, ohhh man, gorgeous flutes, and a minor key full moon marimba melody, the perfect soundtrack for a night of masochistic fun. Then the next track, things are off again, the drums wild and frenzied, the females rapid breathing and sounds of passion mirroring the intensity of the music.
The whole record sort of swings back and forth, from languid late night crawls, all warm and humid and romantic, to blown out blasts of intense sexy freaked out flesh and frenzy. Might be the first record in the series that is less 'gimmick' and more music, with every track steering well clear of the sort of Lawrence Welk meets Morricone smooth jazz of the other discs in the series and offering up some seriously bad ass Latin lounge-y exotica.
The final track, another of the slow sultry numbers, peters out, leaving one of the ladies to moan passionately, obviously in the throes of post coital bliss, seemingly as exhausted as we are from these nearly forty minutes of sexy sonics...
Packaged in a super deluxe Japanese miniature gatefold style cd sleeve, with a printed obi, extra saucy nude photos of Kawahara on the cover, and extensive liner notes in English and Japanese including an interview with the lady herself!
ULTRA LIMITED!!! Like most of the others in this series, this one is a one time only limited pressing of only 1000 copies, and is already pretty much sold out. There's a good chance once these are gone we will be unable to get more...
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Altered States/Ground Zero guitarist's second solo album, all-live, no overdubs, but featuring plenty of effects and the occasional use of a guitar synth. Not to be mistaken for a noise record, or a jazz one for that matter, this is an intricate, almost-magical improv session of guitar experimentation.
Here's another attack, this time via Tzadik, from the dynamic duo of Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins, Korekyojinn, etc.) and Kazuhisa Uchihashi (Ground Zero, Altered States, etc.). These two Japanese superheroes of spazzed out improv prog shred have teamed up on at least 3 previous installments of drums/guitar only avant-garde mayhem, but the world needs more - too much is never enough with these guys!
Tatsuya Yoshida is as octopoidal as ever in his percussive abilities, and again shows off his quasi-operatic but utterly abstract vocal stylings upon occasion here as well. Meanwhile, veritable guitar whiz Kazuhisa Uchihashi is all over his instrument, making it make sounds from all across the spectrum of skronk, and beyond, visiting sundry rock styles, as advertised, in sliced up snippets and shards� Together they're telepathic in their ability to segue out of a full-on freakout into something that almost sounds composed, even melodic! Many of the dozen thrombulating tracks are riotous and rambunctious, though there's also moments of calm, as in "Equillbhimgorzz" with its echoed vox stretched over skittery soundscapes.
Probably not for everybody (as this music sounds like their song titles read!), but those who know they want it, know they want it. And the Yoshida/Uchihashi duo, with their exquisite control over what could otherwise sound quite uncontrolled, won't let you get bored. Exciting improv ADD entertainment here, folks!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Delightfully improvised pieces with no overdubs played on guitar and Hans Reichel's self-built daxophone. Difficult-but-fun music that recalls Raymond Scott's wonderfully cartoonish jazz, but with a much more avant garde slant.
The concept here is as straightforward as the title, though it might require some explaining for the average Westerner. Kazutoki Umezu is a Japanese jazz saxophone improviser, perhaps best known to us for his collaborations with Ruins. He also had a disc on the Knitting Factory label a long time ago. Enka is kind of the Japanese cultural equivalent of American country or blues music, a traditional song style much beloved by the quote-unquote common folk, songs about life and love from a proletarian perspective. It's not normally intended for instrumental, jazz-inflected saxophone performance, but the talented "Doctor" Umezu takes enka and makes it his own, delivering emotional, intricate, and sometimes quite energetic interpretations of 14 enka standards as solos on alto and soprano sax, also clarinet and bass-clarinet.
Minor key, melancholic, and so very melodic, this is a quite beautiful synthesis of Umezu's Japanese roots with his "foreign" love for jazz (hardly foreign in Japan, of course, which is home to a happenin' jazz scene). The unavoidably "lonely" cry of Umezu's unaccompanied reeds well evokes the mood we expect enka often conveys. We're not exactly jazz experts, so probably many better comparisons could be made, but this reminds us a bit of the work of the late great Albert Ayler, due to Ayler's penchant for the use of folk motifs in his free jazz compositions. Recommended to anyone into sax solos for sure, especially sad ones.
While this doesn't boast a special die-cut cover like that Sim+Otomo disc we highlighted last list, it's still housed in quite a handsome looking digipack as is always the case due to Doubtmusic label's tasteful packaging aesthetic. The inner sleeve includes English language liner notes all about enka to help listeners understand what Umezu is up to here, giving a bit of context that the lack of lyrics may or may not leave necessary.
The ever-reliable Hydrahead label does it again -- though we already knew Keelhaul were good. Their other two albums of especially complex, heavy metalcore got high marks 'round these parts, and we know they absolutely kick ass live. Now they confront us with Subject To Change Without Notice. That's the title, but the only thing that's changed is that they're maybe even better. Or maybe they're referring to their modus operandi of tricky riffing and quiet/loud dynamics. Largely instrumental, super heavy, very very tight -- this is metal done right. For fans of Converge, Coalesce, Neurosis, Helmet, Mastodon...and The Gooch (one of their typically silly song titles).
Oh boy. It had to happen. And it did, at 2007's Festival International de Musique Actuelle in Victoriaville, Quebec. Kikuri is the heavyweight team up of two folks who cast long shadows in the realm of Japanese underground music: Japanoise master Merzbow (for he is Masami Akita) and that totemic Tokyo psych veteran, Keiji Haino, longtime leader of the free rock band Fushitsusha. There they are in the photo on the inside of the cd booklet, Haino and Akita both standing stoically in a leafy green forest... hey has Haino's hair turned grey, a la J. Mascis (with bangs)?? It's about time (not for the grey, for the team up). Haino has collaborated recently with Tatsuya Yoshida of Ruins (including another highlight on this week's list!), and KK Null of Zeni Geva, and some years back with all of Boris, but this one's definitely as earthshaking (literally) as any of those, if not moreso.
So, think this might be dark, dense, and noisy? You're right! Putting this on is like telling your stereo, wake up, time to die!!! The first four of five tracks on this disc are all extreme, crinkled, screaming, disssstorrtted NOISE. It's interestingly varied, and very Merzbovian - although the cryptic, wordy song titles which are definitely the work of poetic soul Keiji Haino... such as: "Give Me Back That Colour You Stole From My Guts" (track 3) and "That Place Into Which You Fell Was Lined With A Cushion Of Pain And Is No Proof Of You Continuing Existence" (track 4). Yep, these initial four tracks of brutal catharsis, all but one of them over 10 minutes long, are quite excellent if you're a Merzbow fan, though those who know Haino will definitely be able to hear his input too, beyond the titles. The track "By Mischance That Soul I Devoured Was A Transparent, Vertical Blues" features bursts of his trademark tortured vocals amidst the throbbing hissing static that could be the work of either party. (Making it more of a "blues" is an outsider guitar part, well we think that's a guitar, plucked probably by Haino.) In any case, up to track five, this disc sounds most like Merzbow, with Haino as a special guest. But then, tipping the balance back towards Haino and his special brand of electric guitar apocalypse, comes the disc's last and longest track, with the shortest title, "Pulverized Purple". That's got to be Haino's title too, 'cause he has always had a thing about the color purple, no not the Alice Walker book. It takes up about half the disc, over 30 minutes long. And while it too is plenty distorted and noisy, like what came before it, it also features gobs and gobs of totally recognizable-as-guitar guitar playing, sheer howling psychedelic feedback style, that had even Andee here (who normally is a Haino hater, weirdly enough, and also thinks he's heard enough Merzbow already) declaring that this was fantastic. Heavy, heavy, droney, droney, and definitely worth the price of admission even if you maybe wouldn't normally buy a Merzbow record. Allan, who IS a big Haino fan, is happy that Andee has finally found something he likes by Haino (in large part 'cause it downplays his distinctive vocal stylings in favor of the way out heavy guitar wailin'). Shut up and play yer guitar is Andee's advice for Haino, and he takes it here. This is definitely something for fans of Fushitsusha (natch), Skullflower, White Heaven, Boris, Brotzmann (Caspar), Les Rallizes, LSD-march... The thick feedback wranglin' and added buzz and hiss sounds a bit like Hendrix' famous "Star Spangled Banner" trip given Striborg-style production!! Meanwhile, Masami Akita gets behind the kit to provide urgent drum tumble and cymbal splatter, reminding us that he played drums on that ol' krautrocky Crystal Fist cd that was a fave 'round here some years back. Damn. Recommended!
Album number two from this hot Japanese trio! After an amazing overdriven garage monster debut on Bulb and years of touring for these Osaka mod rockers, "In the Red" is a long awaited and highly anticipated follow up. Released on Toshiba EMI in their
You'd think it would be easy to write reviews of records you love, but it's not, not always anyway. This band, though, makes the task easier, 'cause maybe we can just say a few key words: JAPAN. DOOM. PSYCH. CRAZY. Uh... is that doing the trick? Tokyo trio King Goblin, who describe themselves as a "progressive space psychedelic death rock band", definitely have that "anything goes", totally WTF?! Japanese thing going for 'em, mixing up prog and punk and funk and metal and noise whatever else they want, you know what we mean if you have albums by bands like Boredoms, Melt Banana, Children Coup D'Etat, Space Streakings, Omoide Hatoba, Green Milk From The Planet Orange, and others of that ilk in your collection. Specifically, though, the Japanese bands that King Goblin most especially make us think of are CSSO, Solar Anus, and Sigh (circa Imaginary Sonicscape). Somehow melding gonzo grind and druggy doom, plodding heaviness and catchy grooves, the nine strange songs here bouncing from spaced out acid rock to lumbering funk, with rubbery bass, squiggly guitar, gruff guttural vocals, and, as it says here, "hand craps" (sorry if it's not PC to chuckle over that particular credit in the cd booklet!).
Imagine if retro-disco-doomsters Cathedral got even weirder than they already are now, turned Japanese, and went no wave... that might approximate the dizzying extreme entertainment offered up by King Goblin. Also, how can songs with titles like "Boiled Again (Born To Ride)" and "Motordead" not be entertaining?
This disc, their debut, actually dates from 2007, but we only discovered 'em recently, and got some copies directly from Japan as quick as we could. They're working on a new album, to be entitled Cryptozoology, but unfortunately the guitarist of King Goblin is currently suffering from some unspecified, serious illness, so that's delaying things. Hopefully he gets better soon!! However, a couple of the King Goblin guys are also in wicked sick grindcore band called AKBK, who have a brand new album out that smokes, so look out for us to list that, soon!
This lovely (and bargain-priced) record is the result of a beautiful band-meets-band story. You know, two bands with beards meet and make friends for life. Actually, does Kinski have beards? We're just guessin'. (Note: there's ladies in both bands, we're not accusing them of having beards or anything.) Seattle cosmonauts Kinski and guitarist/guru Kawabata Makoto of the popular Japanese underground musical commune Acid Mothers Temple go way back, to when Kinski opened for Mainliner's 1999 US tour. Sooner or later they had to collaborate, and we're not complaining. Even if you find AMT a mite too prolific, at least this release is 50% Kinski, who haven't yet reached the product overload stage that AMT share with Merzbow and precious few others. Thus no need to feel guilty about adding this to your shelf of AMT releases.
So, we get four tracks to absorb here. First up, is Kinski's "Fell Asleep On Your Lawn". Its ten minutes start off all quiet n' pretty before going into spacelaunch mode. They fire their rockets, come back to earth, and then blast off again. Maybe they don't fly as high as the best of their recent Airs Above Your Station album, but it's still a good track. Then, track two sees Kinski visiting Japan, playing a pre-dinner jam at AMT "dancin' king" Higashi Hiroshi's flat, with Higashi and Kawabata sitting in on guitar. It's really beautiful, almost ambient, hushed space drone stuff that's so sleepy that I woulda thought it was an after-dinner jam instead. Lovely. The third track comes from the same 'session' but has extra added AMT overdubs, so you hear from the whole AMT crew plus the Kinski quartet. It has a similar mood to track two but is denser. Lastly, track four is just AMT, offering their companion to Kinski's opening cut, though it's twice as long, called "Virginal Plane 5:23". It's a swirling stoned jam not unlike their Electric Heavyland album. All in all, real nice disc from these international cosmic comrades, packaged in some cool Boredoms-meet-Man Or Astroman? lookin' cover art. Vinyl limited, cd not.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
2nd album from the Ruins + Keiji Haino, vinyl only.
Ruins + Keiji Haino = Knead! Yes, this new PSF group Knead (we're curious about how/why they picked that name, it's kind of odd isn't it?) is none other than a trio consisting of Keiji Haino, Tatsuya Yoshida, and Hisashi Sasaki. Haino of course is the guitar/vocal shaman of Fushistsusha and much solo fame, while Yoshida and Sasaki are the drummer and bassist of equally famous Tokyo duo Ruins! Indeed, Haino and Yoshida are both truly titans of the Tokyo underground rock scene. Haino is a pillar of dark, psychedelic phantasia, while Yoshida is more of a progressive rock stalwart. On paper, it might seem like the super hyper, stop start hardcore acrobatics of Ruins would be an ill match for Haino's freeform drone guitar freakouts. But fans familiar with the respective massive outputs of both, know there is in fact much common ground. That said, Yoshida and Sasaki pretty much let the 50 year old Haino take the lead in Knead, with bassist Sasaki accepting a supportive role more typical of his instrument (which is certainly not the case in Ruins), wisely deciding not to directly duel with Haino's apocalyptic guitar. But you still hear a lot of nimble playing from him, while partner Yoshida of course unleashes mighty drum salvos pretty much continuously. The eight tracks (75 minutes) of Nipponese noise rock nirvana found here are kind of like Fushitsusha with a supercharged rhythm section. At the energetic peak that much of this attains, Haino torches the place as if his guitar was a flamethrower, while the Ruins duo busily thrash away. Upon a few other moments, they find calm, throwing in sections of atmospheric clatter and vocal babble. At the outset of track 5, Haino's primal, gutwrenching singing is joined by Yoshida's much less anguished, falsetto cries and bizzare vocal sound fx. (Although Yoshida's vocal model has always been Magma's Christian Vander, we noted while listening to this the similarity of Yoshida's warble to Robbie Basho's singing!) Soon, though, the vocal duet gives way to Knead's combined instrumental firepower.
Haino, even though he hardly needs anyone's help to generate entire universes of emotive psych-skree, has thrived in collaborative settings, having recorded with Boris, COA, High Rise, Musica Transonic, Shoji Hano, Peter Brotzmann, Masada's rhythm section, Bill Laswell & Rashied Ali, and others...much of it great stuff indeed. Whereas, the Ruins collaborative track record is not so good: generally fun but tossed-off improv sessions. Their jams with Derek Bailey, Guapo and Omoide Hatoba were pretty much ok, but we could've done without their meetings with Ron Anderson, Jason Willett, and the Sun City Girls. Knead, thankfully, is much better than these -- infinitely better than RonRuins!
Haino and Yoshida of course have actually vibrated the cosmic ether, I mean played, together before. Haino guested on the first disc by Yoshida's Tairikuotoko vs. Sanmyakuonna band, and he also did an album with Musica Transonic (for whom Yoshida drums)...more recently there was an excellent Haino/Yoshida duo disc (and tour in China) called "When Water Grasps Flame". We sold out of that disc before we could even list it, but hope to get more of 'em in soon!
Recommended, especially to Haino fans. After all, Fushitsusha's last record, the shockingly guitar-less "Origin's Hesitation", really was pretty great -- but even those of us that loved it can't help but yearn for more of Haino's intense wall of sound guitar playing. And for that, Knead will more than meet your needs!!
While we know Japanese drummer extraordinaire Tatsuya Yoshida best from his infamous prog-core duo Ruins, it would seem that he's putting most of his copious energy into a different band these days, Koenjihyakkei. Actually Koenjihyakkei have been around for a long time (their first album came out in 1994) but we've always thought of 'em as sort of a Ruins side project, one of many, not Yoshida's main thing. However, now they're up to album number four (2005's Angherr Shisspa) and have just released *another* live DVD (their third! however, the previous two are out of print now) on Yoshida's Magaibutsu label. So they've been busy lately. Meanwhile, it sadly seems like Ruins is on, at the very least, a major hiatus, with nothing heard from that duo since 2002's Tzomborgha.
Of course, Ruins fans are probably also Koenjihyakkei fans. Naturally, since the latter band takes the Ruins' obsession with all things Magma to another level, in part by including keyboards, guitar, operatic female vocals, and woodwinds... it's all very over the top and insane (like Ruins) but, with, like six or eight virtuosos not just two. And it's less "punk" than Ruins sometimes seem, with more prog polish.
Fans (or prospective fans) should be interested in this live dvd, documenting a show at Starpine's Cafe in Tokyo, on May 31st 2007 (hence the title). Besides Yoshida, the lineup includes Yamamoto Kyoko on vocals, Ishibashi Eiko (heard with Yoshida on their recent duo disc Slip Beneath The Distant Tree) on keyboards and flute, Sakamoto Kengo on bass, Komori Keiko on soprano sax and clarinet, and none other than Hoppy Kamiyama on keyboards and vocals. Plus, guests Tsuboy Akihisa on violin and Imahori Tsuneo (from Tipographica, and also the Imahori-Yoshida duo) on guitar. All of 'em of course pretty much slay on their respective instruments and vocal duties. As is made abundantly clear on this disc's first six cuts, which find these musicians improvising in various small groupings. It starts off already in a pretty darn full-on mode, with a herky-jerky Yoshida and equally physical Komori Keiko in a wild duet. Crazy stuff. The second half of the program switches to proper Koenjihyakkei compositions, and (in case you didn't know) we're talking some complex prog bizness here, the utmost in "Zeuhl" stylings, beginning with the title track from Angherr Shisspa. They do two more from that album, and two off of Nivraym, and then for their grand finale, the band do a lively version of "Sunna Zarioki" from the very first Koenjihyakkei album. It's played with a great deal of relish, and the Komori Keiko's rah-rah stage moves are quite cute. Hearing these songs on record is one thing, SEEING and hearing them rip through them live is even more impressive.
There's only one camera, which occasionally zooms in for a (medium) close-up of the action but mainly stays with a full-stage view, getting everybody in. 12 tracks, 100 minutes, all region NTSC.
As with previous Koenjihyakkei (aka Hundred Sights Of Koenji) and Ruins releases, this boasts a bunch of tough to say, impossible to understand titles/lyrics... apparently they're all written in a made up language that's part of band leader Tatsuya Yoshida's characteristic Magma worship ('cause the French proggers he and we love so much did the same thing). So we don't know if "Angherr Shisspa" really means anything or not. But one guess would be "Utterly Crazed". Or how 'bout "Complex Mania"? Or "Mind Boggling"? Something like that would be descriptive of this, the fourth album from the Ruins drummer's amazing Koenjihyakkei ensemble.
There's been some line-up changes this time around. Yoshida remains on drums naturally, and longtime bassist Sakamoto Kengo still holds down the bottom end. But there's a new person on keyboards and an additional new singer as well. And the guitar is totally gone now, replaced with a reed player, who adds a bit of chaotic free jazziness to the mix, though of course Koenjihyakkei's playing and arrangements remain totally tight and technical.
With all five band members credited with vocals, it almost sounds like this could some sort of operatic stage performance, everyone taking the part of a character in some (again, impossible to understand) story. Very dramatic and action-packed though! If you're in the mood for some excessive prog indulgence, just ask for "Angherr Shisspa".
At last!!! We knew we could count on the Skin Graft label. They've finally reissued the amazing, long-out-of-print debut album by Koenjihyakkei (aka Hundred Sights Of Koenji), a crucial "side project" of Japanese spazz-prog faves Ruins. Originally released by the Japanese God Mountain label back in 1994, this is one that any fan of Ruins, or heavy crazed Zeuhl-style prog rock action, MUST HEAR, NOW.
If you're familiar with the Magma-obssessed Tokyo bass and drums duo Ruins, imagine them becoming EVEN MORE Magma-obsessed and adding female vocalist/keyboardist and a guitar player (actually, adding a bass player, as the Ruins bass player nimbly switched to guitar for this). This uber-Ruins quartet then wrote a bunch of insane, gorgeous prog rock tunes (or, in one case, adapted a traditional Bulgarian one, on the track "Yagonahh", surely one of the most incredible reeling hoedowns ever recorded) and play them to dazzling perfection. The French '70s prog band we keep mentioning (Magma) are insane, but not quite this heavy or hyper. If you like Ruins and/or Magma and/or weird prog music, you want to get this if you haven't already. It's probably the best of Koenjikhyakkei's albums, which are all pretty cool... indeed if you've been following our updates and scanning our website, you probably have read our ravings about this band's other releases. And as good as they are, this is the one, that started it all. Sooooo bombastic, so energetic, so exotically catchy. You've likely never heard anything as majestically grandiose and yet as full of stop on a dime frenzies as opener "Ioss", ferinstance. And the whole album is full of that sort of thing. It makes us gleeful just to think about it. Definitely in the top two or three of of all Tatsuya Yoshida related non-Ruins releases sez our resident Japanophile, Allan (don't ask him what the others are though, he'll spend all day agonizing over it).
One kinda curious note to make about this reissue, though: mastermind Yoshida not only remixed it for this reish, but he apparently also RE-RECORDED all his drum tracks! We're pretty sure only he could tell the difference. We really wonder what inaudible-to-others flaws he felt he needed to correct! This new disc seems to be about 12 seconds longer than the original, too, but we couldn't tell ya where/why.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY. NOW AVAILABLE ON THE SKIN GRAFT LABEL DOMSTICALLY, THOUGH, SEE ELSEWHERE ON OUR SITE!
Sometimes hard-to-find, now finally restocked: The second (1996) album from drummer Tatsuya Yoshida's Koenji-Hyakkei unit (aka Hundred Sights Of Koenji). Yoshida, if Allan hasn't yet indoctrinated you on this truth, is Japan's answer to Christian Vander (French drummer/musical mastermind behind the '70s prog band Magma). Yoshida's well-known main band Ruins is a drum and bass duo that is heavily influenced by Vander's band, but those influences become even more apparent with this project. Keyboards, operatic male and female vocals, guitar, bass, and drums expand the Ruins palette into a realm of almost symphonic "death progressive" madness. Crazed instrumental prowess, mindboggling changes, utterly heavy and amazing. Both Hundred Sights of Koenji albums are essential to all fans of Ruins or Magma, and certainly surpass both in some select ways! Third album upcoming, at last.
Live concert videos (or dvds) tend to be for fans of the band in question only, though we imagine that if you weren't familiar with operatic Japanese prog monsters Koenjihyakkei and happened to watch this dvd you'd possibly become curious enough to seek out their studio recordings (or not, as this band's brand of hyperactive bombast isn't going to be everyone's cup of extra-caffinated tea). If you're already a fan of Ruins and/or Koenjihyakkei, though, you know what you're getting into here and probably can't wait to watch this. Ruins mastermind Tatsuya Yoshida's heavily Magma influenced (well, he's -always- Magma influenced, but this is to the extreme) combo Koenjiyhyakkei is in fine form here on this dvd, documenting a show they performed at the Tokyo nightclub Doors in August of 2005. There's flashing colored lights and all, but they don't them to be dazzling! Two sets plus an encore, 16 songs/chapters including a medley, shot with two cameras, for a good look at this very tight and energetic band.
Er, is it a sexist comment to mention that we marvel at how Yoshida's managed to get so many cute girls on board to perform his crazy music?? There's a female vocalist, female keyboard player (she sings too), and a female clarinetist/saxophonist (instead of the guitar that this band used to have). Then you've got Yoshida running the show from the drumkit (also singing), and also holding down the bottom end, one of Yoshida's obligatory dexterous rhythm section partners on 5-string electric bass. It's the lineup from their last album Angherr Shisspa, from which a lot of these songs are drawn.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
We're pretty sure that anybody who owns any of Koenji Hyakkei's three studio albums is already sitting up and salivating at the prospect of acquiring this live DVD. They've never played outside of Japan as far as we know, so short of a trip to Tokyo this is about the only way you're likely to witness the masterful madness of this band live on stage. Lead by incredible drummer/composer Tatsuya Yoshida of cult Japanese spazz-prog-duo Ruins, Koenji Hyakkei are quite a bit like Ruins, but with an expanded line up -- not just bass and drums, but also (in this instance) including guitar, not one but two keyboardists, and three vocalists (female soprano, female alto, male tenor)! In this band, Yoshida and co. indulge their wildest '70s prog-rock fantasies, performing with over-the-top abandon and precision -- like an ultra-caffeinated amalgam of Magma, Area, ELP, Osanna, etc. at their most excessive. Koenji Hyakkei are insanely hyper, insanely tight, somehow combining superhuman technique with utterly catchy, complex arrangements -- and doing it live without a net. That's the thing with them, this music is simply EXCITING.
This DVD is shot with one camera, mostly framing the entire stage but with occasional close-ups. It might have been nice to have additional angles, but at least it's not MTV-style dizzy cuts, that would have been just a bit too much with this music being dizzying enough as it is. And the sound is great. The songs performed are drawn mainly from their most recent, third album, "Nivraym" and their second album, "II". The set closes with one song from their debut, too. Packaged, by the way, in a regular cd jewelcase, not a DVD box.
We've been waiting for this for a while (since 1996!) -- at long last, the third album from Japan's Koenjihyakkei (in English, Hundred Sights of Koenji), the massively Magma-minded side project of the almost-as-Magmoid bass and drums duo Ruins. Ruins leader
It's about time! The Skin Graft label does all fans of crazed prog and (to be specific) Japanese band the Ruins a big favor by reissuing this long out of print album by Ruins side-project Koenjihyakkei. Not only is it available again, but it's at a domestic, cheaper price! Yay!
Originally released on Hoppy Kamiyama's God Mountain label in 1996, Viva Koenji!! (also known as II) was the second album from drummer Tatsuya Yoshida's Koenjihakkei unit (aka Hundred Sights Of Koenji, Koenji being the district of Tokyo wherein Yoshida lives). Yoshida, if Allan hasn't yet already indoctrinated you on this truth, is Japan's answer to Christian Vander (French drummer/musical mastermind behind the '70s prog band Magma). Yoshida's well-known main band Ruins is a drum and bass duo heavily influenced by Vander's band, but those influences become even more apparent with this project. Keyboards, operatic male and female vocals, guitar, bass, and drums expand the Ruins palette into a realm of almost symphonic "death progressive" madness. Crazed instrumental prowess, mindboggling changes, utterly heavy and amazing. Pretty much essential to all fans of Ruins or Magma, surpassing both both in some select ways! Those who've only heard this band's later albums, Nivraym and Angherr Shisspa, will be bowled over by how much more HEAVY and intense this disc is even than those (and those records aren't exactly mellow or wimpy!). Seriously.
So if you missed this before, give thanks to Skin Graft! Let's hope that they'll also be adding the first, also now impossible to find, Hundred Sights Of Koenji album to their catalog someday soon too...
More from this avant-garde Japanese vocalist.
