Music from Japan

Masayukia Takayanagi, electric jazz guitar. Nobuyoshi Ino, contra bass. Hiroshi Yamazaki, drums. Recorded live at Yokohama Airegin on August 26, 1984. Remastering and remix by Yukio Kojima from Takayanagi's private tapes. Linernote (in Japanese) by Kazuo Imai.

Masayuki Takayanagi, electric jazz guitar. Nobuyoshi Ino, contra bass. Hiroshi Yamazaki, drums. Recorded live at Yokohama Airegin on August 26, 1984. Remastering and remix by Yukio Kojima from Takayanagi's private tapes. Linernote (in Japanese) by Kazuo Imai.

Great and heavy new recordings from the Japanese Experimental Noise Masters Dissecting Table. New solo recordings from Marc Hurtado (one of the two ETANT DONNÈS brothers). Very heavy and sublime dronning Noise-music, totally fantastic!!! Vinyl comes as "oxblood" with black splatters in heavy gatefold cover. Limited edition of 30 copies.

Originally released in 1987 and first reissued in the mid 1990s on CD, Ecobondage is one of Merzbow’s seminal works, and also one of my earliest experiences with his vast discography. Presented as a double LP reissue (with included CD), the album feels like an appropriately deluxe edition that captures a high point of Masami Akita's too often overlooked, but superior junk noise era. As I have surely mentioned in previous reviews of his albums, my first exposure to Akita's work was Venereology. L…

A covers album from Hatsune Kaidan, the Hijokaidan side project that runs the Vocaloid idol Hatsune Miku through harsh noise. Anime themes, Perfume and Jun Togawa songs sung by the digital idol and steadily devoured by feedback, pop and Japanoise collapsed into one body. On Alchemy, 2015.

In May 2014, the group held their final concert as BiS Kaidan before disbanding, much as BiS themselves will disband in July. Notably, their final show began with the group performing "nerve", their representative song, thirteen times in a row. Biskaidan is a cross-generational coup de pop, uniting two acts from opposing ends of Japan's musical spectrum. BiS (short for Brand-New Idol Society) are representatives of Japan's 'idol' scene, a culture of singerdancer-celebs who define the country'…

**2006 release, long out of print, very few copies available** This album's a pretty great testament to Satoh's durability as one of the great composer arrangers – sublime stuff from the late 70s, and a record that really works nicely alongside Masahiko's music for films. An obscure murder mystery, given a great deal of depth and class from the music – which is often surprisingly jazzy, despite the setting of the film and kinda avantgardish in some passagesBut all this idle talk aside, it's the …

Late in 2011, Celer and Machinefabriek teamed up and recorded the 7" 'Maastunnel / Mt. Mitake', to coincide with their tour in The Netherlands. They then decided to make it into a trilogy of 7" singles, all self-released in limited editions. Now, Irrational Arts has compiled the six tracks of the 7"s onto a CD‚ titled "Compendium (Collected Singles and Remixes)". The CD also includes a new, additional track by Celer and Machinefabriek, and remixes by Stephan Mathieu, Sylvain Chauveau and …

Legendary Japanese noise band Hijokaidan presents its 2015 studio album Emergency Stairway to Heaven. The album arrives as a luxurious picture disc containing four cuts of unique sounds that only Hijokaidan can deliver, created by the full line-up of Jojo Hiroshige, T. Mikawa, Junko, and Futoshi Okano. The album also includes a bonus CD containing two live recordings from 2014; the first features Hiroshige (synthesizer), Mikawa (electronics), and Junko (screaming), and the second features …

Needless to say, Akio Suzuki is one of the representative sound artists in Japan. Many of his previous releases are sometimes interpreted as the work of a hermit or wizard creating beautiful sounds with his self-made musical instrument called "Analapos," glass harmonica (De Koolmees), and stone flute, but the title of Suzuki's first sound piece, aidan ni Mono wo Nageru (Throwing Things at the Stairs) at Nagoya Station in 1963, reflects his perspective on the noises in his work. This LP consists …

Toshimaru Nakamura is a pioneer on his instrument no-input mixing board. Releasing nearly hundred albums since the mid 90's, including 9 solo albums. However, in this project with Martin Taxt he appears with a new approach to his instrument. Taxt has connected his microtonal tuba to Nakamura's mixer through a microphone, and thus interrupts his analog signal. This creates a raw, brutal and surprising character to the music.

Flying Basket is a double album of avant jazz, discord and deconstructed rock by five master practitioners. It also marks the debut collaboration by a pair of Japan's legendary transgressors  -- saxophonist Akira Sakata and noise pioneer Masami Akita, aka Merzbow. For the past ten years Sakata has rededicated himself to fiery free jazz alongside guitarist Jim O’Rourke and the monstrous rhythm section that is Chikamorachi -- Chris Corsano (drums) and Darin Gray (double bass, percussion). Sakata's…

On Moon Light Reflecting Over Mountains, Tokyo's Chihei Hatakeyama evokes an instrumental poetic grace that marks him out as one of the icons of his generation. Drawing upon a broad swath of aesthetic references, he seamlessly melts glacial ambient drifts with richly harmonic guitar strata that echo the gliding motions of My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and Cocteau Twins. Never resolving to clear melody, his interest in unrestrained harmonics creates a depth to his compositions and moreover a pr…

**2008 release, long out of print, very few copies available** New release in Tiliqua Records ongoing Archival Series is this quintessential album by Takayanagi Masayuki. It was his debut recording as a leader with his newly erected unit The New Directions, a trio consisting out of bassist Yoshizawa and drummer Toyozumi "Sabu" Yoshisaburo. Recorded at the Teichiku Kaikan studios on 18 September 1969 (released in 1970), "Independence – Tread on Sure Ground," is largely regarded as the first true …

**2009 release, long out of print, very few copies available** Mooko was the first installment of a short-lived "power trio" comprised of Japanese free saxophonist Akira Sakata, bassist Bill Laswell, and drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson. At the time of this recording, the latter two were deeply into their Last Exit project, a band with whom Sakata sat in during their tour of Japan. This trio is a bit like a pared-down version of Last Exit, without the incendiary guitar work of Sonny Sharrock…

**2005 release, long out of print, very few copies available** This disc is a real brain ripping free jazzing blast from the past. Togashi Masahiko may be a name you have already encountered if you are a bit acquainted with Japanese free hardcore blowing jazz. He was the man responsible for churning out Japan's first free jazz disc being “We Now Create” for which he got assisted by Takayanagi Masayuki and Yoshizawa Motoharu amongst others. The following year in 1969, he teamed up with another ha…

**2006 release, long out of print, very few copies available** OK, if obscure and hard to track down Japanese avant-garde and free jazz is your thing then look no further. This disc, released in 1969 is a hard nut to come by since due to extremely poor sales only a handful of copies and some promo copies are known to have hit the streets, making it now one of the hardest free jazz documents to track down. This one comes on bloody red wax. But all this idle talk aside, it's the music that really …

Inspired by the American Southwest, "How could you believe me when I told you that I loved you when you know I've been a liar all my life" is the new album by American musician Celer, aka Will Long, now living in Japan. Sourced from an electric piano and wooden flute, tape loops were copied to sun-baked cassette tapes, and a warped vinyl tester, using the most basic format-inherent effects. Based on an idea of primitive Americana, it can be seen as a mediation on the different sides of music and…

Box is Stupid is a really luxurious and rather neat boxset that brings together 11 CD and 2Dvds cd's worth of early out print 1990’s tape releasers by Japanese noise tearing duo The Incapacitants. It's really a must have item item for any serious and discerning noise fan. "As far as I'm concerned, the Incapacitants are THE best noise band to ever come out of Japan. While they aren't as prolific or esoteric as some of their contemporaries, they've consistently been responsible for some of …

Special limited edition CDR for February-March 2015 Europe tour, featuring electronics and field recordings by Rudolf Eb.er.  recorded in or around Rudolf Eb.er's house in Osaka, Japan 2012 to 2014, except track 12 recorded under his basement in Dübendorf, Switzerland 1976.