Live Stockholm July, 1971
"Led by infamous Fluxus member Takehisa Kosugi, Tokyo's Taj Mahal Travellers were one of the prime examples of a band more heard-of than actually heard. Their vinyl legacy (the 1972 LP July 15, 1972 released on CBS/Sony Japan; the 1974 2LP August 1974 released on Columbia Japan and recently reissued by P-Vine as a 2CD; one side of the mythical Oz Days Live 2LP compilation released on Oz in 1973 and recently bootlegged as a single LP) could dig a hole in your wallet deeper than the Grand Canyon. …
Lift
'It was on a night when sleep simply would not come, not matter how long I sprawled on the grass or how many pages of my book I leafed through. The black shaggy 'thing' expelled all the breath in its body. Phu phu phuu. And as it did so, something glowed softly at the crown of its head. Ahh, what a beautiful light! I should put a hat over it to stop it flying away. The black shaggy thing took his favourite hat, the one he had hung from a tree branch, and popped it onto his head. Perfect. Hirotom…
Parallel World
Originally released in 1976 by Nippon Columbia, this is the final album by legendary Japanese space/psych-rockers Far East Family Band. Droney and far-out electronica influenced by German producer/electronic music composer Klaus Schulze is more pronounced, merging prog rock with electronic music to create something rather weird and wonderful. Although Schulze oversaw the production of the album rather than playing on it (which he definitely didn't!), the synth star here is Masanori Takahas…
Ceremony
Phoenix Records reissues a digitally remastered edition of People's sole album, the legendary Ceremony -- Buddha Meet Rock, originally released in 1971 in Japan. Nobody's sure if the musicians on this recording ever performed as a group or whether Ceremony was simply a studio super-project. Certainly, guitarist Kimio Mizutani had already enjoyed a certain amount of critical exposure following stints with Love Live Life + One and Masahiko Satoh's Sound Brakers, and it is Satoh's jazzy fuzz guita…
Maru Sankaku Shikaku
New psychic territorial landscapes the cosmic cartographer mapped yesterday before tomorrow. Acid Mothers Temple main man Kawabata Makoto links up with LSD March guitarist Michishita Shinsuke to create another amazing platter of fantastic sounds and vibes. Maru Sankaku Shikaku (Circle Triangle Square) finds the duo moving on from the electric guitars of their previous duo releases to an all acoustic album featuring ethnic instruments from around the globe. Two side long pieces mesh drone music w…
Live At U.F.O. Club May 20, 2006
Heavy, psychedelic, emotional rock'n'roll with loud guitar feedback, as only the Japanese can filter (come, on, you know the drill). Includes 40-minute bonus footage of MICHEL HENRITI (DUSTBREEDERS) and OVERHANG PARTY leader RINJI FUKUOKA in a dual-guitar fluid-swap, with photographer / projectionist KUMIKO KARINO on visuals.
At The End Of Summer
The new psychedelic rock band lead by OVERHANG PARTY’s RINJI FUKUOKA. Live recordings that range from deep song to vivid rock instrumentals to heavy feedback drones.
Alto saxophone
Masahide Tokunaga: alto saxophone. Recorded by Taku Sugimoto at Studio Slubmusic, Tokyo, October 4, 2009. Mastered by Taku Unami. Drawing by Reiko Shioda
A thousand mountains
To start with, we've always commended Japan's Doubtmusic label for the handsome packaging job that each one of their digipack cd releases invariably receives. This one, though, we'd probably be inclined to buy just 'cause of the especially cool cover art alone! Done by one Tomoo Gokita, the cover suggests an arched window in a brightly patterned wall, looking out on (a photo of) some majestic snow-capped alpine mountain (the Matterhorn, is it?). But in front of the "window", the corpse-painted v…
13 & 14 for Guitars
Composed by Taku Sugimoto. Tetuzi Akiyama: guitar. Recorded live at Loop-Line on October 23, 2009. Recorded by Taku Sugimoto. Mastered by Taku Unami. Drawing by Taku Sugimoto.
Improvised Music from Japan 2009
Improvised Music from Japan 2009 takes a look at improvised/experimental music festivals and concert series in Japan. Covered in the book are 33 of the many festival/series events taking place around the country. The articles (some written by the organizers themselves, others based on interviews of the organizers conducted in person or by e-mail) reveal the ideas, aims and feelings of the people on the small improvised/experimental music scene who work tirelessly to hold these events on an ongoi…
Elegy for Native Tongues
Heavy, ominous psychedelic free-improv from Tokyo, Japan. Julian's Cope album of the month . Tetragrammaton is a trio featuring Nobunaga Ken on drums and percussion, Cal Lyall on electronics and guitar, and TOMO on hurdy-gurdy, saxophone and electronics, and have in the past collaborated with members of Zeni Geva, Acid Mothers Temple, Taj Mahal Travellers, and Damo Suzuki from Can. On Elegy For Native Tongues, however, it’s just the main trio at work, displaying a love for high-volume improvised…
Sound Track From Film \"Mabuta No Ura\"
From the one sheet "Sound track collections of BORIS that continues activity. This album puts, listens to the novella from the sound source, & there is a concept where the image flows to the other side of the eyelid of the person who read. Chaos in the silence that can be heard w/the feedback noise & fuzz sounds & the rhythm, drone, spacey & chill out, etc. That do the sequence minimal stimulate this album listener's imagination." Umm, yeah. No real interpretation here. If you don't know BORIS, …
Amalgamation
Number seven on the Japrocksampler Top 50, available again for the first time in over a decade! This preposterous piece of psychedelic avant-jazz sounds like the work of aliens, each with only one foot in our universe. Propelled by cacophonous brassy blasts, volleys of machine-gunning, ecstatically 'Light Fantastic' rhythms and moments of Teo Macero-style 'Mixing Concrète' (during which the whole track becomes consumed by waves of new sound); the result is the most singular mash-up of inappropri…
The Last Recording
Final solo alto sax blasting from the late legendary Japanese underground hero Kaoru Abe. Abe was an inspiration to free/jazz and Japanese noise lovers world-wide, lived a fast and hard life and ripped his guts inside out on each and every of his many releases. Extreme music for those who need it.
kaitai teki kohkan
Two of the most relentless and uncompromising artists from the 70s free jazz scene in Japan in a full-on assault. Totally essential
Archive 1
AMAZING RELEASE!! Between 1977-1978 Japanese improvising guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi performed with his "New Direction Unit" in a series of concerts of different formats (trio, quartet, quintet, sextet, &c). This "Archive" box set included the recordings of 5 concerts in Japan: the "another situtation" concert at Purcinera and "Regular Concerts" from Jean Jean in Shibuya. Comprised of live improvisations, this beautifully packaged box also has a booklet with details on the concerts, though mos…
Music For Voice, Koto And Shamisen
As part of its Japan focus the 1999 Biennial Festival for New Music in Hannover also presented Toshio Hosokawa's exploration into the music of his "musical ancestors." This CD was recorded live during the performance and includes three works from the 17th and 19th centuries. Chidori no kyoku by Yoshizawa kengyô II (1808-1872) is based on the 31-syllable poems of the classical poetry anthology Kokin wakashû (10th century), so-called waka poems; chidori is the Japanese plover, whose calls have bee…
the gun
Namba Jazz is the improvisation duet by Yoshigaki Yasuhiro (drums, percussion) and Yamamoto Seiichi (guitar, misc.). "Namba" of Namba Jazz means not an area in Osaka but means Namba walking. And "Jazz" of Namba Jazz is not jazz but is actually Jazu.Namba Jazz has performed gigs 4 times in Japan. This CD is consisted great 10 tunes what selected in 3 gigs. The guitar playing by Yamamoto has a wide variety of the sound. He keeps a spark of genius and has never sounds the cliche of improvisation. H…
Blood
CD audio + DVD video (NTSC / Region All). 'This trio was formed by Imai Kazuo (guitar), Suzuki Manabu (handmade electronics), and Ito Atsuhiro (optron) in July, 2005. I'm using a controllable instrument along with uncontrollable electronic sound devices that may make the music somewhat difficult to remain stable, yet its context of where I am now is the one that is similar to jazz'. Imai Kazuo, from linernotes. Imai Kazuo is the one and only graduate of Takayanagi Masayuki's private guitar scho…