Usually it's the use of the unusual electronic instrument the Theremin that steals the show. But when you've got Japanese avant-garde vocalist Makigami Koichi playing the Theremin, that instrument's typically spooky and wavering tones almost take a back seat to the bizarre sounds coming out of Koichi's own mouth. Moon Ether's eleven tracks are mostly improvs, except for two traditional Asian folk tunes bookending the disc, and range from "Khoomi" throat-singing to totally free Theremin solos... and pieces that sound like sci-fi sound effects, or yodelling chipmunks! A lot of the time you can't tell what's Theremin and what's voice. He plays a Theremin "with moogerfooger", whatever that is. Maybe an example of Koichi's evident humor. There's beauty here, and a great deal of nuttiness. Wild gibberish for fans of Yat-Kha, Zubi Zuba, and Mike Patton for sure!!
You might already know Koichi from his releases on Tzadik -- he guest starred on a Painkiller album, collaborated with Switzerland's Anton Bruhin (the great jaw harp jam Electric Eel), and Tzadik also released an anthology of his '70s/'80s band Hikashu. But *this* is another from the amazing catalog of Japan's doubtmusic, packaged in their usual nice digipack with die-cut cover hole!
Japanese avant-vocalist Koichi and Swiss voice/tape experimentalist Bruhin team up on an array of home-built electric jaw harps! Extended techniques (based on Tuvan throat-singing) abound, the two harpists creating an amazing & amusing symphony of some very bizarre, unlikely sounds. Plus, it's practically three records in one, as Koichi is heard in one speaker and Bruhin in the other--so you can listen in stereo or have the option to hear each man individually!
Gorgeously packaged, gorgeous dronemusik!
Hitoshi Kojo is a Japanese sound artist and drone-centric expressionist who has recorded in the past under the moniker Spiracle and performs in the jubilantly psychedelic but still quite droned-out project Juupala Kaapio. Omnimoment is a collection of edits from Kojo's sound installations and site-specific work dating from 2006 - 2009, all of which extract and manipulate elemental forces of wind, fire, water, metal, wood, sand, etc. into blossoming thrums of sublime minimalism which run parallel to the works of Andrew Chalk, Loren Chasse, and John Grzinich. "Shiranui" was originally conceived at the MoKS residency program in Estonia, sourced mostly from the blades of an abandoned Soviet turbine left inexplicably out in the countryside. Kojo extracts pensive, metallic overtones from those blades that sound more like an ancient gong than some hulking industrial machine; and he amasses those sounds into semi-melodic phrases and ritualized acoustic dronings that Organum mastered in the mid-'80s. "Sea Migration" is an excerpt from an installation involving a feedback system and a bunch PVC pipes that hung from the top window of Germanic castle, looking sort of like a weird plastic octopus playing the part of Rapunzel. Those pipes captured the sound of the wind and the various frequencies of that feedback system creating a tactile, generative composition of pure tones and haptic events not too far from those far more composed works from Andrew Chalk's once prolific project Ora. The last three tracks demonstrate Kojo's ongoing strategies involving found objects through a process which he calls 'molecular communication' where extended vibrations and dense beds of accreted drone broadcast outward from Kojo's scraped metals, clinked glass, and rubbed sand. There's definitely some type of alchemy at work in Kojo's sound design, with mysterious energies transforming the commonplace into something sublime, otherworldly, or divine.
This is the limited art-edition of Omnimoment, which comes in a thick cardstock folio with a 24-page book and die-cut artwork. Certainly on par with what Faraway Press has done in their packaging department! Limited to just 88 copies! We most likely won't be able to restock the limited version, but will have the standard version soon.
Fans of the late great Japanese free improv guitar master Masayuki Takayanagi take note of this release. Guitarist Kondo and his group pay tribute with a version of Takayangi's gorgeous, gradually projected "Herdsman's Pipe Of Spain". And the rest of this is quite in keeping with the spirit of Takayangi's pioneering New Directions Unit. And while therefore pretty "out" sounding, it's also quite a bit different from some of the more extreme offerings we've heard from Kondo's other band, the electronics n' computers plus free jazz noisemaking ensemble Exias-J, known for their droning and distorted Borbetomagus-like jams. Here things are often calmer and more, dare we say, melodic. Though this is still pretty darn avant-garde. It opens with a solo guitar piece, finding Kondo playing a "ten-string gut guitar", which is an impressively large, plank-like instrument. Later on, he's accompanied by a group featuring flute, percussion and contrabass.
And this is called Structures for a reason. Even though there's a large improvisational element to Kondo's music (with certain tracks designated as such) he's really into experimenting with improvisations within particularly strict and unusual theoretical structures. Or at least that's the idea we get from what we've read about it, and certainly the very meticulous music here, full of moody pink-plonk, rumble-fumble, and scritch-scrape, seems like it could creatively stem from such complex, intellectualized musical methodologies...
Ruins mastermind Yoshida's newest group is a fiery combination of the familiar stop and start dynamics of the Ruins, spastic instrumentals, free improv freak outs, and a sort of funky edge (due in no small part to bass player Nasuno Mitsuru).
BACK IN STOCK! Tatsuya Yoshida's Magaibutsu label has at last repressed this second disc from Ruins side-project Korekyojinn. And now, it's got BONUS TRACKS (which may elicit an 'argh' from those who got it already, but that's the facts). They're not listed anywhere on the sleeve, but there are indeed four bonus previously unheard live cuts appended to this disc. FYI, here are the titles: "You Know What You Like", "Careless Heart", "Out Of Head", and "On Reflection".
And here's our review of the original edition:
It's kinda unbelievable, if you think about just how many records Ruins drummer Tatsuya Yoshida has been involved with. Dozens at least. Especially unbelievable since when you check the credits on most things he's played on, it quite often turns out that he wrote *all* the music. A hero to drummers everywhere, eh? He's got to have written literally hundreds of songs. Consider just Ruins albums alone: that's a LOT of music and it's almost all him. Even the larger ensembles he's in, like Koenjihyakkei, he's always the main composer. And, to a fan like me anyway, his stuff is always amazing. It's not a case of quantity over quality, no sirree. He's just a seemingly bottomless well of not just crazy riffs and rhythmic ideas, but songwriting talent (matched with an ability to play like a mofo). So that brings us to this new album, the second release from Yoshida's Korekyojinn band. Here he teams up with a bassist and a drummer, and as you might expect it's a bit like Ruins+1. A bit groovier perhaps, with some classic rock moments riff-wise, and it's all-instrumental. No nutty vocals, just the tricky, twangy guitars of Kido Natsuki, the bulldozering bass of Nasuno Mitsuru, and of course in the driver's seat, the masterful drumming of Yoshida. Eleven more complex compositions from the mind-boggling musical mind of Yoshida, encapsulating Led Zep licks, Hella hyperactivity, and jazz swing... Chances are if you've read this far, you're a Ruins fan, and if you're a Ruins fan, you'll probably want to check this out. But Arabesque would be a fairly accessible place in the pantheon of Yoshida projects to start with, too, if you're not already a convert. An utter prog instrumental monster that never loses the groove despite the chops on hand. Japanese import on Yoshida's own label.
Loud, heavy, energetic, supple, jaunty, nimble. That's these guys. The instrumental outfit Korekyojinn consists of drummer Tatsuya Yoshida of Ruins, guitarist Kido Natsuki of Bondage Fruits and Nasuno Mitsuru of Altered States -- an utter prog power trio blasting out of Tokyo. They're responsible for two chops-crazed studio albums already, a self-titled debut on Tzadik from '99 and last year's Arabesque on Magaibutsu (which is now out of print). And if you thought that this band was impressive on those cds (which they damn sure were), wait until you hear 'em playing live on Isotope!! Yep, this release is a live in concert recording featuring tracks taken from two shows in Tokyo, June and October 2004. Man are they tight. Spot-on playing of Yoshida's typically riffy, complex compositions. Your ears will be falling all over themselves trying to follow this stuff, it's amazing that the musicians aren't. Of course, some will consider this to be beyond-Berklee widdle-wank... and maybe it is, but you can still love it. Any fan of fan of the mad mathiness of Ruins, Stinking Lizaveta, Breadwinner, Orthrelm, that sort of thing ought to. Along with 13 live cuts, this disc also includes one prev. unreleased studio track (the punishing "Hash") that was left over from the sessions from Arabesque.
Ruins fans, listen up! Jackson is the fourth cd to be spawned by Ruins drummer Tatsuya Yoshida's ultra-tech Korekyojinn trio, an instrumental mathrock juggernaut that's basically the Ruins +1 (a guitarist added to the bass/drums duo), chugging a six pack of Red Bull, going gonzo and making the likes of Don Cab and Hella seem like mere amateur fumblers (well, not quite -- going for a bit of hyperbole there, but still...). This isn't improv, all these complex cuts are compositions sprung from the sweaty brow of Yoshida and the musical genius mind behind it.
The spazmodic yet precise drumming of Yoshida, the virtuoso guitar playing of Kido Natsuki, and the thick bass rippage of Nasuno Mitsuru as displayed on this disc's hard hitting, smoothly energetic opener "Lebanon" is what we want and expect. You'll be left dizzy and drained before its seven minutes are up. But watch out, there's a dramatic shift of gears when portions of the next track "Jackson" dip into an unfortunately funky style of glitterball fusion. Not sure what they were thinking there... maybe a tongue-in-cheek joke? Thankfully despite being the title track, it's a total anomaly on this album, and with the very next cut "Mindgames", we're back into sheer frenzied insanity of heavy prog mania, though melodiousness isn't neglected, with the bright, folky, infectiously nursery rhymey "Kaleidoscope" standing out in that regard, sounding a bit like something by Yoshida's Tairikutoko vs. Sanmyakuonna band. Mostly this album demonstrates that Korekyojinn are very nearly metal in their shredding capabilities, though of course they sound more like the Ruins than anything else...maybe like Stinking Lizaveta too at times. Which leaves us only to say, wow!
Seeing is believing. Knowing that the music they make is pretty much mindboggling, perhaps that's why Japanese power-prog trio Korekyojinn elected to package their new album as a double disc set, one an audio cd, the other a live dvd, packaged in a slim, dvd-sized case. The dvd portion provides the visual proof of their ability to play like this live, if there were any doubt about it, while fans already convinced of their genius will enjoy watching it over and over while bowing down in front of the screen chanting "we're not worthy". And since this unit hasn't toured much outside of Japan, it's also the only way we can get to see 'em short of springing for a plane ticket to Tokyo!
The cd constitutes Korekyojinn's 5th album, Swan Dive, an album entirely, amazingly improvised by the trio of Mitsuru Nasuno (bass), Natsuki Kido (guitar), and linchpin Tatsuya Yoshida of Ruins fame (drums) plus very special guests Uchihashi Kazuhisa and Hoppy Kamiyama, who contribute on guitar and keyboards/vocals, respectively, on two tracks each.
Of course it gets pretty wild, there's only six tracks but they're mostly all loooooong ones, up to 11, 17, and even 24 minutes in length... yet somehow they manage to keep it up, both the energy and creativity, their frenzied improvisations sometimes sounding rather more like the most complex COMPOSED prog rock music you could imagine (Orthrelm?), it's pretty insane. However, their convoluted chaotic outbursts are occasionally tempered by stretches of truly lovely, melodic, momentary mellowness. Melt-Banana meets Mahavishnu???
With herky jerk rhythms and heavy riffing, jazzy tinkling keys (when Hoppy sits in) contrasting with massively distorted electric bass, plus sheer avant-guitar textural shred-grind (the ante on that, upped by Uchihashi), this pretty much rules. As we had no doubt it would, considering who the heck this is (members of Ruins, Altered States, Bondage Fruit, etc.).
On the live dvd (70 minutes, NTSC, all region), they do a dozen songs, mostly from previous albums (though we think a couple, like the title track, are new), all of which we should mention are pieces in fact composed by mastermind Yoshida, NOT improvs. Again, total math-rock madness, very Ruins-esque, but with guitar. We are not worthy!
Squealing drones make by electronics and processed reeds from this Japanese duo (members of psychededic rock group Overhang Party). Quite beautiful. Similar to Keiji Haino's hurdy-gurdy pieces or free saxophonist Evan Parker's recent electronically-enhanced works.
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Anybody remember a Japanese hiphop artist named Shingo2? He was pretty rad, kind of in the DJ Shadow style. Shingo was based here in SF for a little while, that's how we encountered him, and probably how we ended up with these - we just discovered we had a bunch of copies of this cd-r, from 2005, documenting a live show by an instrumental, improvising band he was in called Kosmic Renaissance, which featured Shingo on mixer/sampler/synths (Vestax Faderboard, ARP Odyssey). The others in the KR trio were Sameer Gupta on drums & tabla, and David Boyce on saxophones, Microkorg, etc. It's pretty groovy, spaced-out stuff, heavy on the electronics and FX...
After a brief intro, they launch into the 25+ minute "Enter The Octagon" and get seriously deep and funky and out there - this is all improvised. "IO" and "Songs For Our Ancestors" follow in similarly sprawling, jammed out fashion. "IO" is nice and mellow, "Song For Our Ancestors" starts that way, then gets more intense, with some jittery digitally glitched-out Japanese vocal samples (?) towards the end. Pretty cool, spacey fusion improv with an Eastern inflection, presumably influenced by stuff like '70s Miles.
As much as we love so much of the noisier and heavier psychedelic sounds that come out of the Japanese underground, we have to say lately it's been some of the more blissed out and dreamy records from Japan that have been moving us the most. Folks like Fuqugi, Painting Petals On Planet Ghost, and Eddie Marcon have shown us that just as so many Japanese bands have mastered blown out psychedelic madness, others know how to conjure an equally entrancing sound, but replacing the all out assault with a gorgeously tranquil and languid state of sound.
We loved what we heard last from Koss, his 2008 outing Four Worlds Converge As One, but we're even more entranced and deliriously lost at sea with Ancient Rain. Such tender and delicate movements of sound, that maintain an element of melodicism while still capturing an overall mood and ambience. For sure in line with the great Pop Ambient sounds out of the Kompakt camp, like Gas and early Klimek, as well as the more washed out and ethereal sides of Fennesz, Murcof, Jan Jelinek, The Fun Years and Colleen.
Majestic and flowing, evoking deep sleep, dark drifts, set to the sounds of the waves on an ocean. Tapping into a feeling of lightness and ease with subtle undertones of something a bit darker bubbling just below the surface, Koss creates a sound that throughout the entirety of Ancient Rain manages to feel so honest and organic, lush, rich, and otherworldly, a soundtrack to the perfect daydream...
From Japan, the artist/producer known as Koss (real name: Kuniyuki Takahashi) has apparently been around for a while, involved in the electronic scene since back in the '80s, dabbling in everything from electro body music to dub to hardcore noise to chillout techno to deep house. This, however, is the first album of his we've heard. Well better late than never. Four Worlds Converge As One is lovely, lovely, calm, and lovely. It starts with the soothing, beatless ambient drift of "Water", the first of four tracks on the disc and at 29+ minutes the longest. Hissing, humming, with field recordings of obvious watery origin worked in, this track is like the sound of a white mist rising from the shore of a gently lapping lake, with a wind softly blowing. A relaxed, melodic drone piece. That could have been the whole disc right there and we'd be sold. But there's three more parts, each over a quarter of an hour in length, representing the other elements of fire, air, and earth...
Track two, "Fire / M Point (40N42-34N33 Mix)" is immediately more active than "Water", with pleasantly creaking noises, eventually joined by shuffling electronic beats, and glitchy clicks worked into the washes of more feedbacky drone. Following that, "Air / MW Point (137E35 Mix)" is back to the blissful shimmer of the first track, but with the addition of minimalist Reichian (Steve, not Wilhelm) pulsations. Looping, layered sounds from some classical stringed instrument. Utterly hypnotic of course. And then, Koss brings us down to "Earth / S Point", wrapping this disc up with a surprising mix of forest-at-night nature sounds and percolating, processed tribal percussion, with echo and effects. It gets denser and denser, but remains quite soothing, the sort of "exotica" you might expect from, say, one of Eye Yamataka's remixes... though perhaps a little "rainstick-y" for some. But the more "Pop Ambient", droney-synthy explorations that mostly fill this album are enough for us, so good, reminding us of Eno and Budd (Harold, not the Aussie grunge band) and Tangerine Dream and even composer John Luther Adams.
And by the way, the "converge into one" idea of the title has a special meaning - apparently Koss intends that if all four tracks/elements on this disc were to be played simultaneously (you could buy three extra copies of the cd... or make them yourself), a whole new song will emerge. Hmm...haven't tried it, we're happy with the four just by themselves so far. Recommended!
'Tis another lovely new release from Japanese producer Kuniyuki Takahashi, aka Koss. We've giving glowing reviews to a couple previous ones, also on Mule: Four Worlds Converge As One (2006) and Ancient Rain (2008); this is just as recommended (welcome back, Koss!). He specializes in wonderfully blissful, pianistic, drone-laced electronica, very much in a quasi-new-agey, Pop Ambient vein. The dozen tracks on this release, with titles like "Watercolors" and "Shadow World", are quite soothing, calm, and spacious. The mix of gentle piano and hushed electronics, slow-moving and graceful, seems inspired equally by Bill Evans and Brian Eno; another reference point would be Harold Budd. Also at times we're reminded of our old friend Koji Asano, but more produced, less experimental. Also in the mix, environmental field recordings - samples of what could be rain, or what could be applause, or what might be the processed sounds of an orchestra warming up� Some pieces are more rhythmic, some more abstract; there's variety without disturbing the relaxed mood. Koss maintains a light touch with this deep music and it's perfectly enjoyable.
FYI, vinyl version forthcoming, but this compact disc edition has more tracks.
Man, do we at ever AQ love that Japanese '70s group the Taj Mahal Travellers! Masters of organic drone, utilising bowed cymbals, violins, loudspeakers, tape loops and all sorts of unique source material. And we've been blessed of late with the reissue of lots
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Killer violin ur-drone from Taj Mahal Travellers mainman. Long drawn out high end screech / scrape / skree. Hypnotic and gorgeous.
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The day we first got this in stock, it was pouring rain -- appropriately enough, because playing this made it seem like it was raining in the store as well as outside, quite a lovely effect we thought. Truly, this is a stunningly beautiful concert/field recording, the culmination of a series of concerts held at (the very rainy) Koukiji temple in Japan. The concerts were organized by Yasushi Utsunomia -- whose claim to fame was as recording engineer for art rockers After Dinner. According to Utsunomia, his initial efforts were unsuccessful due in part to demanding and flaky performers (apparently all rock bands) and a crappy sound reinforcement system supplied by the temple. In the end, the first problem was solved by turning to traditional musicians and the second by constructing a sound reinforcement system worthy of such a space (a detailed diagram of the performance space and speaker locations is included on the back of the booklet's cover.) The performances heard here are on shakuhachi, ryuteki (both Japanese bamboo flutes), sitar and stone flute (played by the legendary shamanistic composer Akio Suzuki). All are accompanied by rain, from soft patter to heavy downpour. At times the rain is so loud it completely drowns out the soft playing of the instruments, essentially being an instrument itself -- and as a warning to those who would say otherwise, says Suzuki: "I'll tear out the ears of whoever says this is just rain." For its part, the electro-acoustic elements added via DSP and Utsunomia's custom built horn loaded speaker array are all but completely transparent for much of the concert. During Korei Deguchi's ryuteki performance is when the processing is most noticeable, with what sounds like the work of a harmonizer. Aside from that, the musicians' playing, the space, the rain and Utsunomia's equipment are seamlessly wedded and, if nothing else, you'll feel drenched by the time you finish listening. This numbered edition comes beautifully packaged with a nicely printed cover drawing (some thick rubbery ink that feels nice to pass ones fingers over) of a couple of cats performing for an audience of felines, and is hand-stamped on the inside. Also it includes a printed fold out with liner notes in Japanese and English. The whole thing -- package, idea, music -- is simply beautiful. Several of us here (Andee, Byram, Allan, at least) have already taken copies home...
Kousokuya are a Japanese heavy psych rock outfit that's been operating for years in the dark shadow cast by fellow Tokyo act Fushitsusha, though they emit a mighty blackness themselves. One reason for their obscurity is the paucity of Kousokuya releases -- one live disc on Forced Exposure many years ago, another with them joined by avant-saxophonist Masayoshi Urabe on PSF also a few years back, not much else really, though some of you might have picked up their guitarist Kaneko Jutok's excellent PSF solo set "Endless Ruins" we reviewed in mid-2001. Now we have this cd reissue of their first LP (+ bonus track), from 1991, and with it more evidence of the debt both Fushitsusha and Kousokuya owe to those mythical heroes of Japanese '70s psych, Les Rallizes Denudes.
The Haino-like cries and guitar feedback skree will remind you of Fushitsusha (and I wouldn't be surprised if the band wears shades on stage too) but there's less 'free jazz' improv, more conventionally heavy '60s/'70s rock stuff going on, some melody even. It's somewhere between Fushitsusha and White Heaven I guess, and really more 'doomy' than either, what with their torpid sometimes Sabbath-heavy bass sound and the melancholic wail of the singer. Totally slow, doomy psych indeed -- though the slowest, saddest song here abruptly cuts off at the end, as then band then launches into a garagey number with Quicksilver-meets-Black Flag guitar. Cool. So, especially if you're already into other dark bands from the Tokyo psych underground like Shizuka and Overhang Party and Ohkami No Jikan, don't neglect Kousokuya -- and this is the disc to get.
MPEG Download: "The Dreams Of The Recollections" [/audio/kousokuya2.mp3]
Japanese psych nerds alert! Here's a cd AND dvd package from aRCHIVE of anguished, punishing, distorto psychblurtblowouts to the max from these legendary dwellers in the darkness, Kousokuya. They were Tokyo psych scene stalwarts for many, many years (from the '70s, until the recent passing of guitarist Jutok Janeko), part of the Rallizes-worshipping, sunglasses at night posse along with Keiji Hanio's Fushitsusha and High Rise and more recent torchbearers Up-Tight and LSD-march, amongst other flashbackers. They've never been that heavily documented, so it's a red letter day for fans to get this 42 minute, 3 track live cd recorded at a show in Osaka, 2001 along with a bonus DVD vid of that same performance, in suitably ghostly-effected black & white.
It's sort of music that makes even our Christine in mailorder feel like a grandmother from the Midwest. Just doesn't get it. Is it Halloween? Why is the lady crying? Can't they turn it down? This rock n' roll stuff is scary.
But while Christine's not gonna buy one, that's just all the better for the rest of you who thrive on this sort of stuff, since it's limited to 700 copies, of course lovingly packaged (silkscreened in metallic silver and gloss varnish on heavy black cardstock folder, complete with sillkscreened obi bundling the envelopes holding the two discs) in the expected aRCHIVE style.
Kousokuya are one of the bands whose heavy sounds predate such current Japanese psych scenesters as LSD-march (who played here in SF last week) and Suishou No Fune (who are playing here next week), and without whom... well, along with Fushitsusha they're one of the longest running dwellers in darkness that Tokyo has produced. They've been around for going on three decades now, and as you can tell from the title of this disc, PSF has managed to dig up a tape of their very first ever live performance back in '79. Not a bad-sounding tape either. And definitely special not just for historical reasons, but for the amount of synth freakoutishness heard here, courtesy of a keyboardist who was only briefly a part of Kousokuya's early line-up. Reminds us a bit of early Comets On Fire, all totally damaged and dirgelike, embellished with tons of electronic fuckery... in fact, if you focus on just the vocals and the effects, this sounds like it could be a new release on the noise-mongering Load label. Just three songs, a densely-packed 25 minutes.
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Les Rallizes Denudes, High Rise, Fushitsusha... If you know them, you probably know Kousokuya. Or you should. This Japanese combo, led by guitarist Kaneko Jutok, has been playing dark, heavy, distorted psych-rock in a similar vein to those bands for decades now. They haven't had all that many releases, but that's gradually being rectified by the efforts of the PSF label. So here's the Kousokuya trio live (as they should be!) in 1991 at a club called Gospel. This was recorded the same year as their debut LP, recently reissued on PSF as well (and reviewed elsewhere on our website). They churn out two long, slow-building tracks (20+ minutes apiece) filled with dark atmospheres, haunting vocals, primitive beats...and lots of geetar burn once things get going.
The inky black booklet for this cd includes lyrics, and also liner notes in English translation by Angie Hamamori, that touch on the long history of Kousokuya (going back to 1975!) and attempt to explain in an intimate way the power of the band and the individuals within it. She writes: "The solitude of all the musical instruments, and the armed musicians are spreading aesthetics at the edge of the world. The duel between the swords. The first note cuts the second note sharply, the third note reacts the loudness on no notes. In conclusion, this kind of high leveled quality definitely separates Kousokuya from the ubiquitous so-called psychedelic bands all over the world." Now, I don't know about you, but I'd be interested in hearing any band that would compel someone to write something like that. And from this and other experiences with their recordings, I'd say there's something to what she's saying...
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"Legendary and ultra-obscure Japanese psychedelic rock group." You may have heard them on the Tokyo Flashback compilation series (volumes 1 & 2).
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Tokyo psych band Kousokuya (previous release a live cd on Forced Exposure) collaborate with Japanese free saxophonist Urabe.
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Split cd of minimal, ambient electronics from Canadian drum 'n' bass experimentalist Kristian and Japanese artists Sian (a duo formed by the guys from noisemakers Aube and Monde Bruits). Haunting stuff, eerie sounds that sneak up on you.
A name you can trust. You can always count on the tracks woven by this Japanese sonic craftsman to be of the highest caliber. Every sound is expertly chiseled and meticulously assembled. With its haunting high melodies from a shakuhachi (or perhaps another flute-type instrument), stuttery tactile breakbeats, deeeeeeeeeeeeeeep bass, and turntable scritchin', Jaku is no exception. Full, rich and enveloping but without extraneous clutter. This is a totally fitting soundtrack for high-end cocktail lounges and haute couture boutiques. With each album, Krush's overall sound has grown increasingly serene and smooth grooving, but on Jaku special guests such as Mr. Lif, Aesop Rock, and Japanese turntablist Tatsuki spice things up a bit.
Rumor has it that, Krush had misappropriated his sizable recording budget and instead released "some of the grimiest sub-audio committed to tape... with no vocals either." Guesting on the album are Shawn J, Mista Sinsiter (X-Ecutioners), A.S.A., DJ Sak, Jun Sawada, etc...
though it seemed doubtful that any A&R rep for Sony US would dare touch this record, and as such remain an expensive Japanese import, it has finally been released domestically for a much more reasonable price.
Japan's best DJ in his premiere American release.
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One of two import solo albums from the chanteuse of Japan's Maher Shalal Hash Baz.
One of two import solo albums from the chanteuse of Japan's Maher Shalal Hash Baz.
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Another album from the female singer of Japan's Maher Shalal Hash Baz.
This is maybe not entirely what you might expect from a solo album from the guitarist for modern-day Japanese psychedelic rock legends Ghost and, formerly, White Heaven (he's also currently the six stringer in Stars, and a frequent Damon & Naomi sideman)... He's perhaps best known for his gorgeous displays of John Cippolina influence in his guitar playing, but on portions of Sunset Notes he sounds less like the legendary Quicksilver Messenger Service guitarist than he does like Robert Fripp in Frippertronics mode. This lovely, lovely, sprightly, poppy album will also remind listeners of Ennio Morricone soundtracks (we're always suckers for that!) and surf music and dreamy pop. With track titles like "Twilight Mystery Of A Russian Cowboy" and "The Old Man And The Evening Star" it seems clear that he's not gonna deny the Fripp and Morricone influences... To be sure, some fans who want a more Ghostly album won't go for this but we think it's great! Bright and energetic, or gentle and pretty, but not hippified at all.
Released last year, now finally in stock at a reasonable price despite its Japanese import status.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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Yet another release in Tiliqua's Erotic Oriental Sunshine series of Japanese erotic music from the sixties and seventies. We reviewed Kokotsu No Sekai from Japanese sexy action heroine Ike Reiko a few lists back, as well as a long lost release from seventies bondage / S&M queen Naomi Tani, whose record was issued to commemorate her withdrawal (ahem) from the world of porn.
Now we have another gem, this time from Japanese "Play Girl" Kuwabara Yukiko, who in addition to starring in a handful of films, and posing for various fashion and nudie magazines, made her mark most notably as the star of the erotic action series "Play Girl" which ran for 5 years and nearly 300 episodes! Yowza! That's a lot of erotic action for sure.
Yukiko only released a single album, this one, in 1971, another titillating example of Iroke Kayoyoku, a bastardized version of a more popular Asian music of the time, sexed up with chanteuse like crooning, and most important of all, an amazing array of moaning and groaning and cooing and giggling, as if in the throes of EXTREME passion.
On Kuwabara Yukiko to Anata, Yukiko coos and purrs over a lush bed of Lawrence Welk strings, sexy smokey sax, playful vibraphone melodies, and flamenco melodies. Soft and easy, swinging from big band jazz ballads, to spaghetti western twang, to champagne bubble waltzes, with soaring strings and shuffling percussion, muted Wes Montgomery-like guitar and that slow moaning sax.
Much like the Tani disc, Yukiko, lays way back, spending as much time lounging quietly as she does whispery sexily in our ears. Only occasionally does her kitten-like purr escalate into downright moaning and groaning, instead, she spends most of the time, doing her best Birkin or Bardot, sing speaking what can only be sexy tales and subtle come-ons.. Oh la la!!!
Wonderfully wild and kitschy, and oh so sexy!
Packaged in a super deluxe Japanese miniature gatefold style cd sleeve, with a printed obi, saucy nude photos of Yukiko on the cover, and extensive liner notes in English and Japanese!
ULTRA LIMITED!!! Only 1300 copies pressed. Already almost sold out, these will most likely be our last copies...
Here's the Japanese cello and violin duo of Kuwayama Kiyoharu & Kijima Rina's second release for Bernard Gunter's Trente Oiseaux label. Their creaking, mysterious improvisations are always set within a larger sound-environment. Their previous disc had them playing next to a highway at midnight, this one finds them in a warehouse on a pier, so rather than the buzz of traffic the ambient sounds are gently lapping, sloshing water in a large acoustic space, interwoven with their fog horn cello droning and deep string stroke scritch-scratch. Really nice and evocative, for fans of both modern free improv and field recordings -- it's maybe like violinist Malcolm Goldstein jamming with field recordist Toshiya Tsunoda. We're also somewhat reminded of works by Pauline Oliveros, Koji Asano, Philipp Wachsmann, and Akio Suzuki.
MPEG Download: "02.08.31 e" [/audio/kuwayama020823.mp3]
Second album of extreme electric guitar and drums improv action from the duo of Munehiro Narita and Shoji Hano, this time under the name Kyoaku No Intention (Worst Intention) which was the title of their previous PSF release (as well as the name of an early '80s project led by Narita prior to his formation of the Tokyo psych rock legends High Rise). The original Kyoaku No Intention left behind no available recorded traces, so we can't say how closely it forshadowed the sounds heard on Astral Projection. But with Narita's distorted, screaming guitar and Hano's tumbling drums, this disc can't be any less "out" than what Narita got up to 20 years ago. Shoji Hano is primarily a free-jazz drummer, though he's experienced in various psychedelic rock combos (Mainliner for one). Meanwhile, Munehiro Narita is of course the sort of underground Japanese guitar god that Hano is used to playing with (previous sparring partners include Keiji Haino and Kawabata Makoto). So you can expect serious speedfreak Hendrix psych-spurts alongside more moody, almost jazzy clatter over the three long, live tracks that writhe and burn on this disc. Lovers of way out, free-to-be-skree electric guitar mangling and drum wrangling will want to stick this in their ears right quick!
It's kind of amazing how the venerable Tokyo psych label PSF can almost entirely concentrate on releasing just that: Tokyo psych! Well it's a big city and apparently there's no shortage of long haired musicians in shades there coaxing dark drones and distorted atmospheres from their instruments, in psychedelic altered states rapture...
So here, imported via PSF we have the latest vibrations from Tokyo, in the form of the the lovely and mysterious Le Son De L'Os, whom we heard for the first time last year on the 7th installment of PSF's Tokyo Flashback compilation series, on which they had the longest track, a "delicate and haunting organic drone" in our words. And this, the debut full-length from the group, is also an abstract, all-acoustic improvised affair, five tracks that are hushed and tenuous, fragile and atmospheric, definitely a late-night listen. Calm, quiet, yet compelling, this is music that draws you in - and certainly drowns nothing out, so although they we're told that Le Son De L'Os enjoy performing outdoors, they would have to do so far from the hustle and bustle of urban Tokyo, we'd imagine... and deep in the woods or up on a mountainside, where are they going to find a piano?
That's right, there's some (prepared?) piano on here, Le Son De L'Os being a trio consisting of Masahiro Deguchi (guitar, flute, piano, bell), Yuko Hasegawa (guitar, voice), and Shizuo Uchida (bass, "one-string"). Shizuo is half of the Hasegawa-Shizuo duo (with another Hasegawa, not Yuko), who've released albums on PSF, Tiliqua, and Utech that we've stocked before, and was also in Keiji Haino's ambient Nijiumu project, as well as being a member of art noise punk crazies Kito Mizukumi Rouber. Masahiro Deguchi was in PSF's Gendai Sokkyo. Yuko Hasegawa, for her part, was in the Tokyo Flashback vol. 4 band Onna-Kodomo together with Shizuo back in the '90s as well. So, plenty of Tokyo psych cred with this bunch! Though one listen is all you'd need to realize that. And you'll keep listening, if you have an affinity for this subtle style of drifting dreamy almost Jewelled Antler-y improv, that's both out-there and barely-there, but blissful.
Comes in nice gatefold mini-lp style sleeve, with obi.
All right folks (specifically, psych lovers and/or Japanophiles)... here's a literal "warehouse find", copies of a long out of print cd that we ourselves discovered during a visit to one of our suppliers, recently! It was worth all the dust-induced sneezing to find, too. Fans of Japanese uber heavies Zeni Geva might know the name, as Leningrad Blues Machine was the heavy, shambolic psych outfit led by KK Null's guitar partner in ZG, Tabata Mitsuru (who was also an early member of the Boredoms as well). Bass player Hayashi Naoto also was in UFO or Die, FYI. This blown-out blues explosion of a debut was originally released via Null's Nux Org label in 1993, but the songs on this disc were actually recorded much earlier, as it consists of material from two shows at Egg Plant, Osaka in November of 1987 and February of '88, plus a couple tracks recorded to 8-track in Kyoto's Queer studio, 1987. There's nine tracks total, although the song "Russian Asshole" appears THREE TIMES in different renditions. That's brilliant, we think. Evidently it can be considered the Leningrad Blues Machine's "theme song". And it's a good 'un, a great example of the distortodelic, fuzz and feedback filled garage stomp at which they slay, in the tradition of near contemporaries The Heads, fellow countrymen High Rise, or spiritual forefathers Blue Cheer, whose classic cover of "Summertime Blues" is in fact sampled and looped as the intro to LBM's own "Bad Blossom" here! Speaking of ye olde influences, "Woodstock Monster" definitely channels some Stooges and MC5. But in 1988, stuff like that wasn't exactly off-handedly "retro" the same way we'd think about it today - it was just weird! LBM are also way more chaotic and noisy than a really retro band woulda been back then. You can also hear that they were on the same path as certain Seattle bands around the same time, or a few years later... this is Japanese proto-grunge, from a year or so before Mudhoney's earliest singles hit the racks. In LBM's case, it's grunge with grim grandeur, when you hear the melancholic majesty of tracks like "Roman Castevet" and other lugubrious epics here, which also bring to mind the more recent generation of downer "Tokyo Flashback" acts like Up-Tight, Miminokoto, and LSD-march.
Recommended to fans of The Heads, Mudhoney, Zeni Geva, people who think some Russians are assholes, etc. Grab it quick, we really only found a few, and then that's it, they're gone... though we do think that LGM themselves are possibly still active, sometimes, even now. And probably playing some of the same songs. For sure, "Russian Asshole"!
Les Raillize Denudes (alternatively, "Hadaka No Rallizes") are the legendary and obscure '70s Japanese psych-rock combo that exterted a huge influence on the Keiji Haino/Fushitsusha/High Rise crowd. They're so obscure that it's just about impossible to find recordings of any of their music. Rare cd-r releases trade for big $$$, and the "Live '77" double vinyl bootleg that surfaced last year is now long gone. But, here's another volume. It's live, the sound quality is poor, there's no information about anything given (tho the color insert sleeve is nice) -- but the music is psychedelic grail-worthy. We've only got four copies, and won't be able to get any more. So, collectors: ready, set, go!
What the heck? There's FIVE new Les Rallizes Denudes archival releases on this hitherto unknown label Ignuitas? And three of them are ALREADY out of print? (Sorry!). That's right. We were only able to get a handful of each, and they sold out in the store almost immediately. But we do have A FEW copies left of two of 'em that we were able to get more of, and by a few we mean like 6 or 8... so act fast, Rallizes-heads. Not even sure if we should bother with a "review" since in this case it'd be a mere formality, but here goes, briefly... Les Rallizes Denudes were/are a seminal underground Japanese psychedelic rock band, totally influential on the current crop of Tokyo guitar psych acts like LSD-march and Up-Tight (for instance), yet obscurely under-documented. What you CAN find, is primitive lo-fi genius (?). For more possibly dubious but nonetheless very interesting info get Julian Cope's recent book the Japrocksampler (when we have it back in stock, it's on backorder right now). And check out the recent Rallizes "best of" cd entitled Yodo-Go-A-Go-Go reviewed on AQ list #282.
These two releases, since we have so few, are reserved for the devout fans. There's Are You Rallizesed?, subtitled Shizuoka Stupa 1974, a double disc of material recorded live in '74 (natch). 115 sprawling minutes of classic Rallizes murk, nine tracks total. It's all moodily melodic psych drift that's a wraith-like presence, about to spontaneously combust into ashes even as it echoes irresistibly in your mind, ever out of reach. Is it band leader Takeshi Mizutani's searing guitar making that distorted sound... or just the deteriorating recording medium? Either way, once you've ingested the entirety of these two discs you won't be able to listen to any "normal" or "correct" recordings, quite the same way again. What else has this much fragile emotion, or needs your ears to meet it more than halfway, to hear the music within the magnetic tape miasma that they made that night 34 years ago? (Or maybe it's not all from the same night, since they do one song twice...)
The other one we've (barely) got is called Live May 25 1975 Yaneura. And that's about all the info we have for you right there. Four tracks, about 31 minutes of Rallizes' damaged distorted jangle as captured by someone's cheap, tinny tape recorder. It's a mysterious meeting of the shrillest of feedback and the sweetest of psych pop. You can put your imagination to work to try to figure out what it actually sounded like in person or just go ahead and assume it's meant to be so fucked up and muffled and utterly destroyed... that's right, we probably don't need to spell this out, but be warned: these are EXTREMELY lo-fi, dub-of-a-dub, Nth generation, ultra-bootleggy sounding recordings. The tape hiss is almost as loud as Mizutani's guitar. It's like this Rallizes music is psychically appearing on tape from beyond the grave a la EVP, Ghost Orchid style... But of course, you wouldn't expect anything less. It's all part of the Rallizes mystique anyway. Half the reason folks like Rallizes is 'cause nothing else is ever allowed to sound like THIS. What we can legitimately complain about is the crappy cheap graphic design Ignuitas has thrown together for these releases. Good grief these look terrible. But you're not buying 'em for the packaging anyway. And the ARE real cds, not cd-rs... so that's something. Rallizes fans will take what they can get, when and if they can get it, we know 'cause we are. First come, first served...
All right, time to crank the stereo! There's no way to listen to these, but loud. Two rather crucial entries in the distorto-delic discography of seminal '70s Japanese underground rock band Les Rallizes Denudes are now reissued, on proper compact disc for what we think is the very first time, these having being previously only "available", if you can call it that, as cd-rs. Blind Baby Has It's Mothers Eyes, and Heavier Than A Death In The Family, woah, you know with titles like that they've gotta be good. And before you go running to your Japrocksamplers to look 'em up, we'll save you the trouble: Julian Cope rated these two albums at #11 and #3, respectively, on his top 50 of Japanese psych artifacts. Deservedly so.
Heavily mythologized and mysterious, this lo-fi, in-the-red, sunglasses-wearing, Motown-loving, airplane-hijacking (??!), studio-recording-avoiding, raw outsider rock and roll unit provided the inspiration for every latter day underground Japanese psych band who have ever slipped on shades, cranked up their amps, and had a Tokyo Flashback. (Like Fushitsusha!) And these two discs, both equally recommended, are essential documents as to how and why.
Heavier Than A Death In The Family features six songs, all but one of 'em in the double digits, with some great titles, no less than three of 'em referencing the night in some form or other: "Strung Out Deeper Than The Night", "The Night Collectors", "Night Of The Assassins", "Enter The Mirror", "People Can Choose", and "Ice Fire". All were apparently recorded live in '77 (except one from '73). Blistering is the word. Super echoey, reverbed out, almost like Ariel Pink producing Wooden Shjips or Comets On Fire gone dub... Sounds also like some Siltbreeze shitgazers, or current psychsters like Heavy Winged, plodding and throbbing. And "Ice Fire" is 16 minutes of proto-Merzbow meets Hawkwind howl. Wow.
Frayed and fried, ULTRA fuzzed and feedback-y, of course, and yet for a Rallizes release, the sound isn't all that "bad", compared to some of their stuff we've heard wherein the tape hiss competes with the guitar for domination. Not that that's a bad thing, either, but this will take less getting used to.
Meanwhile, Blind Baby Has It's [sic] Mothers [sic] Eyes consists of three tracks, but clocks in at 54 minutes total: the title track, "An Awful Eternity" (aka "An Aweful Eternitie"), and "The Last One". Presumably also recorded live, we don't know when, sometime in the '70s, the sound here is similar sickness. More of their charismatically clangorous chaos, getting quite hypnotically repetitious across the lengths of these three wandering, wah-wah wailing epics. We'd recommend this as a good gift for your friend who likes the Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray", Circle, and primitive black metal such as Striborg... if they haven't heard Les Rallizes yet they'll be thanking you!
Although due to the confusing nature of the Rallizes catalog, we imagine that some of these tracks might appear on other Rallizes discs that you may or may not have, but in any case these two albums are essentials in their entirety. Get 'em while they last.
Typical Phoenix no-frills cardboard "wallet" packaging, each cd numbered and limited to 1000 copies.
Wow, for a band that legendarily never really made, like, any "official" albums, certainly no studio ones, we sure have written a lotta reviews of releases by 'em! Not that we're complaining, we'll happily gobble up whatever obscure documents by these gents that reissue labels like Phoenix manage to dig up. After all, these Japanese Seventies psych subversives are one of those bands that inspired an entire scene, it seems, with all shades-wearing Tokyo psych acts of the modern era (Fushitsusha, LSD-march, Up-Tight, Miminokoto, etc. etc.) owing them allegiance. Themselves inspired by the dark urban psych of the Velvets, plus a dose of oddly enough Motown rhythms... and an even bigger dose of hiss, distortion and feedback. All noise / psych rock freeks definitely should delve into the mystery and murk of Les Rallizes.
This one, named for a 1970 Sam Peckinpah western (?), is a soundtrack to a live VHS video (we've never seen) released back in 1992, compiled by Rallizes leader Takashi Mizutani himself, a "best of" of sorts, demonstrating that these psychedelic hermits have sounded always as blisteringly blown-out and otherworldly rockin' and rollin' since their inception in 1967... it could be '72, it could be '79, it could be '83, it could be '92, it doesn't matter, when Les Rallizes take the stage they're in their own universe anyway, where time and other natural laws (musical ones too) operate differently. Where were we in '92? Just discovering Fushitsusha, probably, not yet hip to the true godhead that is Les Rallizes.
At first, when confronted with the heavy duty, distorted throb of the first few tracks, you might think, cool, but this does sound like stuff you already have heard by Rallizes, so do you really need more? Well, first off, if you're like us, you probably do... and anyway, wait, 'cause this is a sprawling double cd set after all, and eventually it reveals some sides to Les Rallizes that seemed new to us. Stuff that's so amazingly echoed-out, it's practically dub music. Beyond dub music, even. (Hmm, that'd be interesting, if someone did a dub version of a Rallizes track... would it collapse in on itself somehow?). There's also moments that have to be some of the most melodic, prettiest Rallizes to ever grace our ears... and some of their heaviest stuff is here too.
'Cause this is sort of a "greatest hits", the tracks that sound familiar are of course performances of songs we've heard in other incarnations on other Rallizes releases, and again they are as 'perfectly' realized (Rallizesised?) as any renditions you'll hear.
So, yeah, Cable Hogue easily winds up in the "essential" category... with almost all the other Rallizes records we've heard. Limited, numbered, cardstock "wallet" packaging.
Much like the Great White Wonder 4cd/5lp box from legendary Japanese psych combo Les Rallizes Denudes that we reviewed a while ago, this brand new SIX cd box, capturing a handful of the band's live shows in the early eighties, is most definitely not for dabblers. In fact, we've definitely reached a point, where unless you're a crazed collector, a Les Rallizes Denudes completist, or just an insane record nerd, you've probably surpassed your LRD quota, for, well FOREVER. Thankfully it seems, plenty of you out there are one or all of those things, cuz we couldn't keep that Great White Wonder box in stock, and it looks to be the same situation with this new one. Heck, all the Japanese psych nerds here either need, want or have already bought this, so we imagine some of you do too (although, let's not forget, that one aQ-er, who shall remain nameless, at one point bought a massive FORTY cd-r Les Rallizes Denudes set, which speaks to a whole other set of problems, but we digress).
So this set collects three legendary shows, that took place in 1980 and 1981, and featured the band with their new guitar player, who was chosen by LRD mainman Takashi Mizutani to replace 2nd guitarist Takeshi Nakamura, and the player was chosen with the intent of finding someone more connected with the burgeoning punk scene, so the sound here, is a bit more 'punk', although ultimately the sound is not THAT far removed from seventies Rallizes, pounding drums, wild swirling squalls of blown out guitar, effects everywhere, the vocals dripping with them, many of the songs laid back and poppy, dipping into a sort of Velvets-y dirge (which the band had already proven to be quite adept at), the sound smeared and druggy and dreamy, long stretches of moody meander leading into dense psychnoise blowouts, dubbed out rhythms, heavy and haunting, the vocals especially, powerful and shamanistic, and with a body of work that is mostly raw poorly recorded live sets, the sound here is killer, loud, intense, echo drenched, and supremely psychedelic. And now having listened to this box all the way through yet again, we might have to recant our opening statements, cuz really, how could you NOT want this, it RULES!!!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Every time we come across a new Les Rallizes Denudes reissue, not only are we absolutely thrilled, cuz we're sort of WAY obsessed, as are many of you we're discovering, we just can't get enough of these Japanese underground legends' crazed guitar-heavy freaked out, in-the-red psychedelia, but we also begin to marvel that there even IS another Rallizes release. After all, these guys only ever had ONE single proper release, and spent very little time in the studio, so pretty much every other record is a collection of live performances, some recorded straight through, others collaged into 'proper' records, but hell, we're not complaining, these guys sound like they were made for tearing it up live. And the varying sound quality, only adds to the whole freaked out-ness, the sound crumbling, or the levels peaking and the whole band seeming to disappear in a cloud of muted buzz, before emerging and exploding into another frantic bout of wild tangled leads, or some chugging proto-metal psychedelic blues.
Great White Wonder was originally released in 2006 on the Univive label, and now it's now been reissued with a whole extra disc, the now 4cd set compiling, yep, a handful of live shows from 1974 to 1980, with lots of the same song performed at each, but in true Les Rallizes fashion, you'd never know, in fact sometimes we think the titles were just a formality, the same song will be 9 minutes on performance, 5 the next, 6 the next, super loose and high end and chaotic one performance, dark and muddy and riffy the next, murky and heavily reverbed and way more rocking the next, but that's kind of what's so magical about these guys, and what keeps most of us complaining about the inevitable overlap, cuz it all sounds so good, and it always sounds different, the arrangement, the sound quality, the tone and timbre, and listening to these 4 discs, if you edited out the breaks and between song spaces, it's easy to imagine this would flow pretty excellently as a nearly four hour super jam. And it is pretty divine, these guys are the undisputed masters, slipping from brooding, and soulful crooned balladic blues, the guitar leads super emotional and soaring and epic, to wild and loose and chaotic, the guitars impossibly frantic and furious and freaked out, the sound easily shifting between the two, a moody crooned verse will explode into freaked out psychedelic frenzy, an endless heart-of-the-sun jam will slip smoothly into a loping bit of midtempo brood. And with Les Rallizes, it's totally about the jam, sure there are songs, and there is singing, but most songs eventually (d)evolve into something much more transcendent, total epic majestic psych rock nirvana.
Fans of all things PSF, modern Japanese Psychedelia, and newer psych rock like the Heads and White Hills, odds are you're already as obsessed with these guys as we are. If you're not, well, give the sound samples a listen and try and see if you can resist...
Four cds housed in cardboard wallet style sleeves, all housed in a nice printed box, with extensive and detailed liner notes. And FYI, an eventual (and expensive) vinyl version is on the horizon as well.
All right, time to crank the stereo! There's no way to listen to these, but loud. Two rather crucial entries in the distorto-delic discography of seminal '70s Japanese underground rock band Les Rallizes Denudes are now reissued, on proper compact disc for what we think is the very first time, these having being previously only "available", if you can call it that, as cd-rs. Blind Baby Has It's Mothers Eyes, and Heavier Than A Death In The Family, woah, you know with titles like that they've gotta be good. And before you go running to your Japrocksamplers to look 'em up, we'll save you the trouble: Julian Cope rated these two albums at #11 and #3, respectively, on his top 50 of Japanese psych artifacts. Deservedly so.
Heavily mythologized and mysterious, this lo-fi, in-the-red, sunglasses-wearing, Motown-loving, airplane-hijacking (??!), studio-recording-avoiding, raw outsider rock and roll unit provided the inspiration for every latter day underground Japanese psych band who have ever slipped on shades, cranked up their amps, and had a Tokyo Flashback. (Like Fushitsusha!) And these two discs, both equally recommended, are essential documents as to how and why.
Heavier Than A Death In The Family features six songs, all but one of 'em in the double digits, with some great titles, no less than three of 'em referencing the night in some form or other: "Strung Out Deeper Than The Night", "The Night Collectors", "Night Of The Assassins", "Enter The Mirror", "People Can Choose", and "Ice Fire". All were apparently recorded live in '77 (except one from '73). Blistering is the word. Super echoey, reverbed out, almost like Ariel Pink producing Wooden Shjips or Comets On Fire gone dub... Sounds also like some Siltbreeze shitgazers, or current psychsters like Heavy Winged, plodding and throbbing. And "Ice Fire" is 16 minutes of proto-Merzbow meets Hawkwind howl. Wow.
Frayed and fried, ULTRA fuzzed and feedback-y, of course, and yet for a Rallizes release, the sound isn't all that "bad", compared to some of their stuff we've heard wherein the tape hiss competes with the guitar for domination. Not that that's a bad thing, either, but this will take less getting used to.
Meanwhile, Blind Baby Has It's [sic] Mothers [sic] Eyes consists of three tracks, but clocks in at 54 minutes total: the title track, "An Awful Eternity" (aka "An Aweful Eternitie"), and "The Last One". Presumably also recorded live, we don't know when, sometime in the '70s, the sound here is similar sickness. More of their charismatically clangorous chaos, getting quite hypnotically repetitious across the lengths of these three wandering, wah-wah wailing epics. We'd recommend this as a good gift for your friend who likes the Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray", Circle, and primitive black metal such as Striborg... if they haven't heard Les Rallizes yet they'll be thanking you!
Although due to the confusing nature of the Rallizes catalog, we imagine that some of these tracks might appear on other Rallizes discs that you may or may not have, but in any case these two albums are essentials in their entirety. Get 'em while they last.
Typical Phoenix no-frills cardboard "wallet" packaging, each cd numbered and limited to 1000 copies.
You hear that? That echoing, droning, heavy psych jamming destroying your mind? Yep, at last, we've got 'em. Real cds, not cd-rs. Reasonably priced. More than a handful in stock (for now). The distorto-delic seventies Japanese guitar psych holy grail known as "Live '77", previously released only in an absurdly expensive, impossible to track down double cd-r edition, and in part on long-gone vinyl bootlegs, is now within your grasp (almost). This we expect to have around for more than two seconds at least, and is a comparative steal at only $25. Nicely done too, with a die cut cover revealing a blurry b&w photo of Les Rallizes Denudes guitarist Mizutani Takashi in action.
Disc one starts off exploring Les Rallizes mellow side, all sensitive and lovely, with "Enter The Mirror", but then soon explodes into sheer amplified overload, with throbbing mantric rhythms Circle fans should dig. It's a searing wash of guitars in the most far out VU, Neil Young, Fushitsusha realm, but taken way further out. Rough, raw live sound, but really all the fuzz and distortion and grit sounds just right. There's four long tracks on disc one, three looong tracks on disc two. By the time the epic 20+ minute "The Last One" on disc two marches into white noise oblivion, you -- and maybe your speakers -- will be fried.
Apparently, Takashi and co. are still out there, somewhere in Japan, making music as they have been for the past 30-odd years, but rarely leaving a recorded trace. But this 1977 live set isn't just about the only thing really available, it's also proof of their obscure genius. Next to 60's beat-psych legends the Jacks, they are maybe THE pioneering Japanese psychedelic outfit, obviously a BIG influence on today's underground Japanese psych bands, like Keiji Haino's Fushitsusha, High Rise and Mainliner, Acid Mothers Temple, Nagisa Ni Te, maybe even noiseniks Hijokaidan... All of 'em could simply be Les Rallizes tributes, really. We'd have to imagine that Keiji Haino and co. caught some Rallizes shows back in the day. So, if you like any of that stuff, you need this...and if you're the sort who buys every admittedly fine Kawabata Makoto/AMT cd or LP released every goddamn week, you have to get this just to help with the cosmic balance, man. Get 'em now, while you can!
