SANHEDRIN s/t (Breathing Bass) cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Scorched earth skronk from some of the best in the business... that'd be the Japanese underground improv psych power trio super group Sanhedrin, who consist of monster guitarist Keiji Haino of Fushitsusha, monster drummer Tatsuya Yoshida of Ruins, and monster bassist Mitsuru Nasuno of Altered States. Before this, they had a cd on PSF under the name Sanhedolin, and before that, there was a unit called Knead (Haino + Ruins) but basically it's the same thing. Freeform freakout distortodelic action. Really heavy-duty stuff, fans of Haino know what to expect, if you've been waiting a while to really hear him crank it on the axe again, this is the thing to get! There's eight tracks, about 66 minutes filled with feedback and fuzz, recorded live to multitrack in 2007 at two separate performances. A combustible chaos of roiling drums, seesawing rhythms, angular wandering bass grooves, and, above all, thick wooly slabs of ultra-distorted guitar. Chaotic vocal babble (Haino? Yoshida?) intrudes only occasionally, and amidst all the mayhem there are some relatively serene (but heavy) stretches of black metal-ish amplifier drone bzzzz... Pretty killer! We can't imagine hearing any band of noise rocking whippersnappers doing this sort of thing any better.
We don't normally quote from label blurbs, but can't resist this grammatically confused sentence: "Is equal to of the whole body which passion gushes from." Dunno exactly what that means, but y'know, it's probably true! The disc is some kind of limited edition, originally tour-only merch sold at shows in Japan. It's packaged in a glossy black cardstock tri-fold sleeve + obi, adorned with some odd, colorful collage artwork - a typewriter, a dragon, telephones, fish, a frog, a tuba, a Gibson SG guitar, an eyeball with squid-like tentacles...
MPEG Stream: "Yokuaukototowa Iwasenai"
MPEG Stream: "Kitani Naritagaru Gate Reverb"
MPEG Stream: "Saa Mannakada Donnakanji Part-2"

SANJA Musen / Izu (PSF) cd 22.00
Sanja is an underground Japanese improv supergroup of sorts: Kan Mikami on vocals and guitar, Toshi Ishizuka on drums and percussion, and Masayoshi Urabe on alto saxophone, harmonica, bass blockfloten (?), accordion, piccolo and chains. Yes, chains, you can hear 'em. And we've gotta say: woah, not the most relaxing sounds we've ever heard! For non-Japanese speakers, even more difficult, because you won't be able to decipher the vocals of Kan Mikami, whose dramatic delivery comes across as a bit Muppet-like here to us Westerners. And Urabe's saxophone shrieks don't help matters. Nope, not always an easy listen. But that's not what they're going for, or what you're here for either, right? You're looking for some stark, intense improv a bit out of the ordinary. Well here you go. Free jazz for the wide-open spaces, avant-garde Japanese hobos camped around a fire trading hard knock life stories via vocals, drums, and sax. Even when relatively quiet, it's roiling.
MPEG Stream: "track 1"
MPEG Stream: "track 3"

SARUMATAKEUITSUKO s/t (Alchemy) cd 21.00
Night Gallery 3 compilation alumni Sarumatakeuitsuko (whose name might translate into something in English like "Monkey Crotch Mushroom Mituko"?? no that can't be right... we hope not!) bring us their debut full-length for Osaka's Alchemy label. They were also just on Alchemy's recently reviewed Tribute To Jojo Hiroshige, and both comp appearances whetted our appetite for this cd.
An all-female psych rock trio (vocals & guitar/guitar/bass... no drums!), Sarumatakeuitsuko's album is often a haunting and beautiful thing, initally making quite effective use of eerie, lovely vocals and occasional stabs of guitar, eventually exploring chanting, fuzzed-out repetition, using slashing guitar chords percussively in lieu of drums. But it's not all downer drone-psych minimalism, as with track three "An An" the disc suddenly veers into sunny indie-pop jangle a la Maher Shalal Hash Baz or Nagisa Ni Te. Eventually things cloud over yet again, getting again all drifting and dreamy, especially on the disc's final 13 minute cut "Akai Butter", wherein emotive vocals and notes plucked out on one guitar are suspended over what builds into a droning bed of distortion...wandering, narcotic. Very nice indeed. Certainly something fans of Nagisa Ni Te, Angel 'In Heavy Syrup, Doodles, Eddie Marcon, etc. should hear!
MPEG Stream: "Solo"
MPEG Stream: "Meniere Girl"

SAWAGUCHI, MIKI Big Boobs (Alchemy) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Other than stating the obvious (you have to see the album cover), I have no idea why Miki Sawaguchi gave this album the title "Big Boobs"... Musically, she goes all over the place, starting off with some schlocky excessively produced Japanese pop that sounds like a studio band trying to fuse Madness with Link Wray. Then she sings over a lengthy Hijokaidan-like guitar/effects noise attack (the album's high point), followed by an strange, sorta-funny a capella version of "Oh, Lord Won't You Buy Me A Mercedes Benz." The album is wrapped up by some Ramones-like three chord thug rock, and back to the schlock pop that opened the album. There's a guy in the booklet who is wearing a Burzum t-shirt, but that seems insignificant next to all of the topless photos of Miki Sawaguchi. Still don't know what to make of it -- is this some study into the variety of musical exports of Japan? The only thing for certain is the title's accuracy.

SAWAGUCHI, MIKI / JOJO HIROSHIGE / MASAMI AKITA / MASAHIKO OHNO Uterus and Human (Alchemy) cd 21.00
Another new Alchemy title that we've imported from Japan, this one kind of an all-star Japanoise fest featuring noise guitarist Jojo (Alchemy boss and Hijokaidan mastermind), vocalist Miki Sawaguchi (of dubious "Big Boobs" fame), Masami Akita (aka Merzbow) on Macintosh computer, and Masahiko Ohno of noisicians Solmania playing one of his self-built electric guitar monsters (he's also responsible for the lovely graphic design, as he is for most all equally-keen looking Alchemy releases). Naoko Otani plays live drums. Three tracks, one "remix" (I think that's Merzbow's role with his Macintosh), one studio, one live. All pretty great, ranging from rumbling foghorn soundcapes with delicate female spoken vocals, to churning noise accompanied by Yoko Ono-inspired shrieking.

SAX RUINS Yawiquo (Ipecac) cd 16.98
Do you like sax? Do you like the Ruins? Then, hey, have we got a deal for you! Ruins drummer/mastermind Tatsuya Yoshida teams up with jazz improviser Ono Ryoko (alto sax) in this new unit, Sax Ruins (sorry, no idea what that name means, how did they come up with it?). The Japanese band Ruins has been Yoshida's vehicle for heavy duty, ultra mathy, Magmoid post-punk prog mania since 1985, and has pretty much always been a drums / bass two piece, Yoshida accompanied by several different insane bass players over the years. Their last album was 2002's Tzomborgha, also on Mike Patton's Ipecac label... and then in 2004 bassist number four (Sasaki Hisashi) left the band, yet to be replaced as far as we know. So Ruins is now defunct, or at least on an indeterminate hiatus, but that hasn't stopped Yoshida from performing Ruins songs, in a mindboggling one-man-band format called Ruins Alone. And now, in the Sax Ruins duo!
As you might expect, it's hyper frenetic and jumpy, but also... boppy. The buoyant saxophone helps make this duo's uber uptempo activity feel positively infectious, a joyful noise indeed. And it's not all frantic musical athletics, there's room here for some really lovely, melodic passages too, as on "Epigonen". Ono Ryoko really pulls out all the stops, drawing on her experience playing not only jazz but also funk/R&B, prog, and psych (the latter in collaboration with Acid Mothers Temple). She delves into extended techniques, circular breathing and such, and somehow is a match for Yoshida in the endless energy dep't. Together, what they unleash here is exciting stuff, way more complex and catchy than your average freakout. Imagine a stripped down, pepped up marching band playing really wild Carl Stalling / Raymond Scott style cartoon music. And wisely, Yoshida has kept this instrumental, none of his crazy vocals getting in the way of the sax blasts.
The 17 tracks here include saxified reinterpretations of classics from the Ruins' vast catalog, such as "Hyderomastgroningem" and "Pallaschtom", plus some new tunes too, including the album's title track and grand finale, that one a showstopper for sure.
So, again, definitely for fans of Ruins - who also like saxophone. And those into the likes of Zu, Flying Luttenbachers, 16-17, Alboth, and other exemplars of jazzprogcore craziness. Oh, and of course any John Zorn / Naked City fan ought to be ecstatic! Dunno if we'll really need any MORE albums from Sax Ruins though, 'cause as cool as this is, we're still keen for more Bass Ruins...
MPEG Stream: "Zworrisdeh"
MPEG Stream: "Gravestone"
MPEG Stream: "Yawiquo"

SCHISTOSOMA JAPONICA Kankei (PSF) cd 22.00

SEIJAKU Mail From FUSHITSUSHA (Doubtmusic) cd 24.00
FUSHITSUSHA! No, that wasn't a sneeze. We're trying to get your attention, if you're into that band, Fushitsusha. Those of us here who are big Keiji Haino fans (and we're talking BIG fans), will readily admit that while we love all of the Tokyo psych shaman-in-shades' multi-instrumental solo outings (including solos for guitar, hurdy gurdy, percussion, and electronics) and various collaborative efforts (with Pan Sonic, KK Null, Boris, Sitaar Tah, Tatsuya Yoshida, Merzbow, etc.), it's really his best-known band, the legendary Fushitsusha, that got us into Keiji in the first place, and that we love the most. Avant-garde, free-rock, garage-psych heaviness taking off from obvious sonic/spiritual '70s inspirations Les Rallizes Denudes into the realms something even more experimental and "outsider", a la the Dead C. Unfortunately for us, Fushitsusha disbanded some years ago. But at long last, we've got these, the simultaneously released TWO debut albums from Haino's new "permanent band", Seijaku. Like Fushitsusha, an improvisational power trio, led by Haino's amped up guitar. He's also on "blues harp" on one of these discs, steel guitar on the other, and of course trademark anguished vocals (or should we borrow the metal term vokills?). Besides Dark Lord Haino, the Seijaku trio consists of Nasuno Mitsuru (Altered States, Korekoyjin, Sanhedolin) on bass, and Ichiraku Yoshimitsu (Acid Mothers Temple, Nishinihon, ISO) on drums.
And yes, the "blues harp" does mean that the idea here is Haino & Co. playing "the blues". Or what the label suggests is a fusion of Delta blues, and Noh theater. But electric, very electric. And, well, Haino sure sounds like he's got the blues, bluer blues than any blues EVER, judging from how his guttural cries sound like each word is being tortuously torn not just from his throat, but from his very soul, as if it's the last thing he's ever going to be able to say, or scream, in this world. A striking contrast to his relatively calm and trad harmonica playing. But quite in keeping with sheets of feedbacky guitar skree, utterly Fushitsusha style, that Haino often unleashes. At other times, his guitar is a chiming, slashing, distorted twang, part of the fractured "blues" vibe, along with the plodding percussion and low end rumble that gives this an apocalyptic atmosphere indeed. Would Robert Johnson recognize this stumbling, staggering, scrabbling music as the blues? Well, he knew about dealing with the devil, right, so the vocals wouldn't faze him, and yeah we think might well appreciate the improvisational and spiritual aspects of the Seijaku sound. But beyond that...
Of the two discs, Mail from FUSHITSUSHA (bless you!) (it really is all caps in the disc's title) is the one that, according the Haino, represents "21st century blues". The title obviously makes the connection clear to Haino's earlier outfit, they're apparently "adhering to the Fushitsusha method", and the back cover credits Haino as the "originator". There's ten tracks, with titles like "Forced To Think You Love" and "Please Send Me A New Heart"... this one has a sheet of lyrics provided, in Japanese though, but we think we might get already have gotten an idea of what Haino is so down about.
Meanwhile, the 2nd of the two discs (by catalog number), You Should Prepare To Survive Through Even Anything Happens, with the whiter/lighter cover, is dedicated to "Albert King, The Doors, and Steppenwolf"! It's meant as Haino's tribute to the SPIRIT (if not exactly the sound) of 20th century blues, and is the one with his occasional harp blowing. It features four (long) tracks, titles include "Keep On Fighting" and "Look Over Here From The Other Side".
While each is a bit different, Mail From... with more short sharp shocks, You Should... stretching out soulfully, rollin' but mostly tumblin' hard, we're pretty certain that if you want one, you'll also want the other! Both come in handsome digipacks, like all Doubtmusic releases, of course.
MPEG Stream: "Forced To Think You Love"
MPEG Stream: "Not Too Bright (#1) "
MPEG Stream: "Humiliation To Be Selected To Come Down From Elsewhere"

SEIJAKU You Should Prepare To Survive Through Even Anything Happens (Doubtmusic) cd 24.00
FUSHITSUSHA! No, that wasn't a sneeze. We're trying to get your attention, if you're into that band, Fushitsusha. Those of us here who are big Keiji Haino fans (and we're talking BIG fans), will readily admit that while we love all of the Tokyo psych shaman-in-shades' multi-instrumental solo outings (including solos for guitar, hurdy gurdy, percussion, and electronics) and various collaborative efforts (with Pan Sonic, KK Null, Boris, Sitaar Tah, Tatsuya Yoshida, Merzbow, etc.), it's really his best-known band, the legendary Fushitsusha, that got us into Keiji in the first place, and that we love the most. Avant-garde, free-rock, garage-psych heaviness taking off from obvious sonic/spiritual '70s inspirations Les Rallizes Denudes into the realms something even more experimental and "outsider", a la the Dead C. Unfortunately for us, Fushitsusha disbanded some years ago. But at long last, we've got these, the simultaneously released TWO debut albums from Haino's new "permanent band", Seijaku. Like Fushitsusha, an improvisational power trio, led by Haino's amped up guitar. He's also on "blues harp" on one of these discs, steel guitar on the other, and of course trademark anguished vocals (or should we borrow the metal term vokills?). Besides Dark Lord Haino, the Seijaku trio consists of Nasuno Mitsuru (Altered States, Korekoyjin, Sanhedolin) on bass, and Ichiraku Yoshimitsu (Acid Mothers Temple, Nishinihon, ISO) on drums.
And yes, the "blues harp" does mean that the idea here is Haino & Co. playing "the blues". Or what the label suggests is a fusion of Delta blues, and Noh theater. But electric, very electric. And, well, Haino sure sounds like he's got the blues, bluer blues than any blues EVER, judging from how his guttural cries sound like each word is being tortuously torn not just from his throat, but from his very soul, as if it's the last thing he's ever going to be able to say, or scream, in this world. A striking contrast to his relatively calm and trad harmonica playing. But quite in keeping with sheets of feedbacky guitar skree, utterly Fushitsusha style, that Haino often unleashes. At other times, his guitar is a chiming, slashing, distorted twang, part of the fractured "blues" vibe, along with the plodding percussion and low end rumble that gives this an apocalyptic atmosphere indeed. Would Robert Johnson recognize this stumbling, staggering, scrabbling music as the blues? Well, he knew about dealing with the devil, right, so the vocals wouldn't faze him, and yeah we think might well appreciate the improvisational and spiritual aspects of the Seijaku sound. But beyond that...
Of the two discs, Mail from FUSHITSUSHA (bless you!) (it really is all caps in the disc's title) is the one that, according the Haino, represents "21st century blues". The title obviously makes the connection clear to Haino's earlier outfit, they're apparently "adhering to the Fushitsusha method", and the back cover credits Haino as the "originator". There's ten tracks, with titles like "Forced To Think You Love" and "Please Send Me A New Heart"... this one has a sheet of lyrics provided, in Japanese though, but we think we might get already have gotten an idea of what Haino is so down about.
Meanwhile, the 2nd of the two discs (by catalog number), You Should Prepare To Survive Through Even Anything Happens, with the whiter/lighter cover, is dedicated to "Albert King, The Doors, and Steppenwolf"! It's meant as Haino's tribute to the SPIRIT (if not exactly the sound) of 20th century blues, and is the one with his occasional harp blowing. It features four (long) tracks, titles include "Keep On Fighting" and "Look Over Here From The Other Side".
While each is a bit different, Mail From... with more short sharp shocks, You Should... stretching out soulfully, rollin' but mostly tumblin' hard, we're pretty certain that if you want one, you'll also want the other! Both come in handsome digipacks, like all Doubtmusic releases, of course.
MPEG Stream: "Want To Head Back"
MPEG Stream: "Keep On Fighting"
MPEG Stream: "Showa Blues"

SEIKAZOKU Live In Japan (Vivo ) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Japanophile AQ-customers may already be familiar with Seikazoku, or at least with work of the three individual musicians that make up this band: Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins, Korekyojin, Koenji-hyakkei, Akaten, etc.), Kawabata Makoto (Acid Mothers Temple this, Acid Mothers Temple that, etc.), and Tsuyama Atsushi (Omoide Hatoba, Akaten, Acid Mothers Temple, Zoffy, etc.)! So you'll expect what you get here, psych-drone-freakout weirdness improvised on a multitude of instruments, live in Japan like it says. Some of the 13 tracks on this disc are drifting, mellow krauty jams with hippie hand-percussion, electronics, and fake throat-singing (courtesy of goofy vocal specialist Tsuyama we think, though we know Yoshida is capable of some fairly over-the-top vocals as well). But then there's also the other side of the Seikazoku coin: spazzy jazzy manic meltdowns at greater volume and velocity. It's all got a bit of an indulgent ADD vibe, and might be an easier listen if they stuck to one mood (if not the other). We'd say the primitive bliss of the mellower tracks would be the way to go. But there is indeed a lot of crazed chaos here, so those of you who share their silly, hairy mania should dig the whole set.
MPEG Stream: "track 2"
MPEG Stream: "track 7"

SEIKAZOKU Outtakes '66-'78 (Fractal) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The title is a bit misleading, as this Japanese psych-prog-improv fest was recorded in '96... Seikazoku consists of Tsuyama Atsushi (Omoide Hatoba, Akaten), Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins, Akaten, Musica Transonic, Mainliner, etc.), and Kawabata Makoto (Musica Transonic, Mainliner, Toho Sara, Acid Mothers Temple).

SEKKUTSU JEAN s/t (Magaibutsu) cd 13.98
There's been an onslaught of Ruins-related releases on Ruins drummer Tatsuya Yoshida's Magaibutsu label this week, folks!! Here's one from a brand-new band formation we'd never heard of before, Sekkutsu Jean, an improvising duo featuring Yoshida on drums, keyboard and vocals, and Sato Kenji on bass, cello, and voice. The results are most often SUPER distorted and heavy and fierce. Some of this reminds us a bit of some real old Ruins stuff, when they went for the ultra-dirty fuzz bass sound on such albums as Infect and Stonehenge. Total blurting bass bludgeon. Other parts are more "jazz", or even "classical" oriented, with droning sawing strings battling Yoshida's drum battery, or accompanying his keyboard lines. And then there's things that we can't even begin to classify, like track six, "Wihytcujmo", which is based around a drum machine beat and vicious cello bowing. Overall, this is some seriously mean stuff, without the strain of goofiness that oftentimes shows up in other Yoshida-related improv projects. There's 19 slices of killer improv weirdness here, with easy-to-remember titles like "Ghijuhnkkumn" and "Qyxoichdbihm" and "Bysjiahvoskkn"!! Over the course of all these tracks, there's a lot of creativity and intensity. Recommended.
And as with all of this new batch of Magaibutsu discs, this comes packaged in a handsome tri-fold full-color cardboard cd sleeve.
MPEG Stream: "Ftohkmofhtt"
MPEG Stream: "Wihytcujmo"

SEVEN THAT SPELLS + MAKOTO KAWABATA The Men from Dystopia (Beta-Lactam Ring) cd 16.98
*Acid Mothers Temple Alert*
Seven That Spells is a psych rock outfit from Croatia. But they sound a heckuva lot like Japanese kraut-channellers Acid Mothers Temple. And guess what? They've got AMT guitar guru Makoto Kawabata on hand as a special guest! He obviously feels right at home jamming with these Croatian freaks, together stirring up billowing smoke-clouds of droning space rock, the babbled and chanted vocals giving this the feel of some sort of medieval folk ritual, zapped with swirling electronic FX. And when it comes time for the guitar solo (and that time comes often) Kawabata and co. hold nothin' back. Spaced OUUUUUUT maaaaaan.
Packaging is sorta swank: the cd rests on a foam numb affixed to the inside of a heavy-duty gatefold kind of sleeve, adorned with busty, naked hippie ladies (again, in the Acid Mothers Temple tradition!).
MPEG Stream: "track 1"
MPEG Stream: "track 3"

SHINKI CHEN s/t (Phoenix) cd 17.98
Not the Speed, not the Glue - it's just the Shinki, here. After reissuing the two classics of drugged out early '70s Japanese heavy psych by proto-metal power trio Speed, Glue and Shinki, makes sense that the Phoenix label would turn their attentions to the solo effort by that band's guitarist, Shinki Chen, originally released in 1972, also featuring Hiro Yanagida on keys, and George Yanagi from Flied Egg / Strawberry Path on bass and vocals. For those keeping score at home, this doesn't get nearly the love from Julian Cope's Japrocksampler as do Shinki's albums with Speed and Glue, but we still figure any Speed Glue & Shinki fan will certainly wanna check it out, 'cause it's pretty cool in our book. Truth is, as far as STONER rock goes, its hard to imagine music much more stoned than this comfortably numb slab of swirling, psychedelic blooze rawk. Just look at the album cover... crazy long hair, red eyes, puffing on a joint... that's this album, all right.
It starts off with a weird, semi-ambient opening track, "The Dark Sea Dream", five fairly abstract minutes of tinkling piano, barely-there percussion, distant voices (?), amp buzz and feedback drone which would fit right in on a current Miasmah label release, say. After that, the "regular" (though quite relaxed) rock n' roll kicks in, on melodic blues-based songs with such wonderful titles as "Freedom Of A Mad Paper Lantern", "Gloomy Reflections", and "Corpse". Shinki's guitar gently weeps, his riffage more slumbering than lumbering, the rhythms lazy and loping, everything often overwhelmed by blissed out layers of synth shimmer. And it's all quite enjoyable in fact, with a vibe sorta similar to the California dreamin' of Captain Beyond's Sufficiently Breathless (though without the jazziness of that album, which we just realized we've never reviewed!). And definitely of interest to fans of Too Much, Far Out, and of course SG&S.
In any case, Shinki and friends fuzz it up nicely here, and remarkably enough, on the album's last cut, the nearly 13 minute long "Farewell To Hypocrites", they suddenly start to display some energy, the drummer at last bestirring himself, making for a rousing finale to a record that otherwise often sorta sounds like heavy Hendrix on 'ludes. Nothing wrong with that, though, if you're in the mood! Hmm, maybe they recorded this last track first, who knows?
Limited, numbered, mini-LP sleeve styled gatefold packaging.
MPEG Stream: "Gloomy Reflections"
MPEG Stream: "It Was Only Yesterday"
MPEG Stream: "Farewell To Hypocrites"

SHINKI CHEN s/t (Phoenix) lp 24.00
Not the Speed, not the Glue - it's just the Shinki, here. After reissuing the two classics of drugged out early '70s Japanese heavy psych by proto-metal power trio Speed, Glue and Shinki, makes sense that the Phoenix label would turn their attentions to the solo effort by that band's guitarist, Shinki Chen, originally released in 1972, also featuring Hiro Yanagida on keys, and George Yanagi from Flied Egg / Strawberry Path on bass and vocals. For those keeping score at home, this doesn't get nearly the love from Julian Cope's Japrocksampler as do Shinki's albums with Speed and Glue, but we still figure any Speed Glue & Shinki fan will certainly wanna check it out, 'cause it's pretty cool in our book. Truth is, as far as STONER rock goes, its hard to imagine music much more stoned than this comfortably numb slab of swirling, psychedelic blooze rawk. Just look at the album cover... crazy long hair, red eyes, puffing on a joint... that's this album, all right.
It starts off with a weird, semi-ambient opening track, "The Dark Sea Dream", five fairly abstract minutes of tinkling piano, barely-there percussion, distant voices (?), amp buzz and feedback drone which would fit right in on a current Miasmah label release, say. After that, the "regular" (though quite relaxed) rock n' roll kicks in, on melodic blues-based songs with such wonderful titles as "Freedom Of A Mad Paper Lantern", "Gloomy Reflections", and "Corpse". Shinki's guitar gently weeps, his riffage more slumbering than lumbering, the rhythms lazy and loping, everything often overwhelmed by blissed out layers of synth shimmer. And it's all quite enjoyable in fact, with a vibe sorta similar to the California dreamin' of Captain Beyond's Sufficiently Breathless (though without the jazziness of that album, which we just realized we've never reviewed!). And definitely of interest to fans of Too Much, Far Out, and of course SG&S.
In any case, Shinki and friends fuzz it up nicely here, and remarkably enough, on the album's last cut, the nearly 13 minute long "Farewell To Hypocrites", they suddenly start to display some energy, the drummer at last bestirring himself, making for a rousing finale to a record that otherwise often sorta sounds like heavy Hendrix on 'ludes. Nothing wrong with that, though, if you're in the mood! Hmm, maybe they recorded this last track first, who knows?
MPEG Stream: "Gloomy Reflections"
MPEG Stream: "It Was Only Yesterday"
MPEG Stream: "Farewell To Hypocrites"

SHIRAISHI & MICO Live Duo (PSF) cd 22.00

SHIRAISHI, TAMIO Sax Solo Performance At Subway In NY (PSF) cd 17.98
Part field recording, part free jazz improv. As the title indicates, solo sax in the subway, that's what this is. But definitely not your usual "busker" fare! Beautiful, but also definitely dog-whistle intense. Japanese saxophonist Tamio Shiraishi has been active since the '70s, and played in an early incarnation of Keiji Haino's Fushitsusha, we're told. He been living in New York City for at least a decade, collaborating with NNCK among others, and apparently likes to haunt the subway in Queens, with his sax, when he's in a pensive mood. The sax he blows here generates a thin, piercing, upper-register "whistling" sound, sometimes a subtle squeal, sometimes a haunting soul-cry, that we'd think would be lost in the clangor of the subway system. But, instead it sounds like he's playing in an abandoned area of the subway, it seems often almost totally silent, but for the saxophone. And except, now and then, for the sounds of a passing train. Clearly it's a lonely stop, late at night or very early in the morning... or maybe the sine-wave like tone of his saxophone has chased all the commuters away. When a train does "run though" the station where Shiraishi is playing, a whole 'nother dimension is added, the ambient, field recording character of this disc becomes apparent, that's definitely what makes this most interesting to us, as listeners. Rumbling, clanking, hissing, rhythmically choo-chooing in its subway way, first in the distance softly, then louder, then receding again to be replaced by the sax it didn't quite drown out... The loneliness of the delicately shrill saxophone soloing is accentuated as the train fades away, each a drone of its own, for moments in brief duet. More than the sum of its parts, we'd definitely rather hear Shiraishi in this subway setting than in a studio - and at the same time, it's NOT quite what you might have thought a subway platform saxophone recording would sound like. So, move over DJ Shadow, David Shire, and Charles Gayle... this is the new sound of the NYC subway system!
MPEG Stream: "track 1"
MPEG Stream: "track 5"

SHIZUKA Heavenly (PSF) cd 17.98

SHIZUKA Live/Traditional (PSF) cd 17.98
Live in '95. Hmm, I think maybe that was right about when some of us here at AQ saw this Japanese psych band, they came to SF and played an amazing show at the Kilowatt, back when they had shows there. Tokyo's Shizuka, with their haunting female vocals drifting ahead of an inevitable onslaught of noisy, billowing, distorto-delic electric guitar murk, were one of the '90s precursors to such current bands as LSD-march, Suishou No Fune, and Up-Tight. At the time, we compared 'em to Angel 'In Heavy Syrup and Slapp Happy Humphrey, the latter especially 'cause of Shizuka's extreme mix of delicacy and destructiveness, of melancholic melody and sheer, feedback-laden guitar/amp/earhole abuse. Not abuse, though, not really... it's loud, sculpted sound that's actually quite beautiful. As with so many Japanese bands from the PSF/Tokyo Flashback scene, it's like a cotton candy dream of the most out there Neil Young & Crazy Horse amplifier meltdowns (a la Arc). This raw (but not to Rallizes-like levels of low fidelity) 52 minute live set is Shizuka in their element, and even if you've never heard 'em before wouldn't be a bad place to start, at all. The first song alone should make you a believer if you're at all open to this sort of thing (i.e. maybe already a fan of some of the other bands mentioned above). And it is 26 and a half minutes long! That's the biggest blow-out on the disc, the other three tracks trafficking more in the tranquil side of Shizuka, with long slow-moving stretches of sweet vocals backed by echo and hum and hiss as the shoegazing guitar bides its time before finally erupting into full flight.
And of course, those already into Shizuka know they're one of the best, unique within the pantheon, and should be pleased have another rare document of their sad dark mystery.
MPEG Stream: "Shizuka live track 1"
MPEG Stream: "Shizuka live track 2"

SHIZUKA Tokyo Underground '95 (Last Visible Dog) cd-r 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Japan's Shizuka were once (and maybe are again) an up-and-coming four-piece Tokyo psych outfit, you might know 'em from their contributions to PSF's Tokyo Flashback compilation series, or their studio album on that same label, or their amazing but now sadly out of print live cd on Persona Non Grata. They even played a great show here in San Francisco at the Kilowatt some years ago that some of us were lucky enough to witness. The prime elements of Shizuka's sound are the Keiji Haino-esque guitar storms of ex-Fushitsusha man Maki, combined with the haunting, sad female vocals of the band's namesake Shizuka (Japanophiles reading this probably also have seen her beautiful and spooky handmade dolls, on the cover of a Land of the Rising Noise comp and elsewhere). This band broke up a while ago, but have apparently recently reunited. No new material has been forthcoming, however, but they have released this live cd-r (recorded in 1995, before the break-up), which will be some consolation to fans. It's a 40-minute long live performance (complete with a fragment of the music being played through the PA prior to their set!) from a club in Tokyo. The recording is great, and their songs are phenomenal. Gorgeous, melancholic stuff, with the gently lulling singing of Shizuka being heartbreaking enough by itself, but also setting the listener up to be destroyed by the fantastic heavy psych controlled-noise outbursts of the guitar when they begin (usually a few minutes into each song). If you're already a Shizuka fan, you'll want this, and if you're into bands like Nagisa Ni Te, Slap Happy Humphrey, and Fushitsusha, you probably do too. Those with less expertise in modern underground Japanese psych -- but who dig the Velvets, Neil Young, or even an imaginary mix of Mazzy Star and Mogwai -- could do a lot worse for an introduction as well.
RealAudio clip: "Heavenly Persona"
RealAudio clip: "Lunatic Pearl"

SIGH Gallows Gallery (Baphomet Records) cd 11.98
Whoa! We were taken by surprise (in several ways) by the sudden appearance of a new album from Japanese black metal mavericks Sigh. We all loved the avant garde, psychedelic, stoner rock horror show of their 2001 disc Imaginary Sonicscape but we hadn't heard much about them since. Well, the press release for Gallows Gallery explains that this sixth Sigh opus was recorded last year but Century Media, previous label, refused to release it because it allegedly makes use of experimental, illegal "sonic weapon techniques" developed during World War II! Warning is given that this album could be hazardous to the listener's health -- in fact, supposedly one of the members of Sigh was hospitalized during the recording sessions due to the effects of this sonic weapon stuff. But... we're having a hard time believing all that! If you're expecting some sort of bowel-rupturing, flesh-decaying subsonic rumble you'll have to get a different cd (I'm sure we can find you something). Listening to this record is more likely to leave one puzzled rather than sickened.
Having heard it, our guess is that the REAL reason that Century Media dropped Sigh is that, even by Sigh's previous standards, this is just so darn eccentric, confusing, and (to us) amusing. We're thinking that if this "sonic weapon" stuff exists, it operates in the realm of psychological warfare, 'cause it does seem possible that this music could drive a person insane. IT certainly is! Kind of like the way a catchy jingle might drive you crazy. They've definitely upped the pop element of their sound here. That's right, POP. But not normal pop that could ever be, uh, popular. No this is weird...weird....weird. And it's still metal of course. Just not black metal really, more like European "power metal" with speedy drums and hooky choruses. But their voices are kind of chipmunky, and there's weird effects, psychedelic organ jamming, throat singing, sitars and saxophones... Yup, their genre-fuckery is still in full effect. This might sound like Dag Nasty punk one second, Iron Maiden metal the next, with a schmaltzy lounge-jazz interlude following that! And the James Bond theme gets hinted at as well. Totally the sort of thing that should be on Trey Spruance's Mimicry label, though it's on Baphomet instead.
Apparently whatever Japanese insane asylum wherein the guys in Sigh reside allows visitors, as this album features members of the Meads Of Asphodel (who are about the only band in the world that we'd say are all that similar to Sigh!), Necrophagia, The Red Chord, Yakuza, Dark Tranquility, Firewind, and Thine, helping out with the shredding guitar runs, dramatic narration, saxophone solos, and things like that. Someone else also contributes a trancey techno remix of one of the album's songs at the end of the disc, preceeded by the untitled electronic noises of track ten, which we suspect might be the "weaponized" one. So...be careful, especially since it's gonna require repeated exposure to ever figure this album out.
MPEG Stream: "Confession To Be Buried"
MPEG Stream: "Midnight Sun"

SIGH Imaginary Sonicscape (The End) cd 13.98
Not only is this a welcome disc to have back in our shop, being our favorite album by this unique Japanese "black metal" band... but we (and you?) might have to buy it again 'cause this now features 2 bonus tracks and one "extended version" not on the original edition. Imaginary Sonicscape was Sigh's first domestic US release, originally on the Century Media label. It's the one with the Stephen O'Malley art/design. Now that they're signed to The End it's been re-released. When it first came out, we said we'd always been fans of their fucked-up genre-mangling horror movie soundtrack metal, and that this might be their best album yet! And while we like what they've done since, it's still our fave.
Though Sigh are considered a black metal band, that has more to do with their history (you'll read in the Lords of Chaos book that their first album was supposed to be released on Euronymous' Deathlike Silence label, before he got stabbed to death) and love of Venom (as evidenced by their recent Venom tribute album), than their actual sound, which manages to combine '80s heavy metal licks with everything from lounge-jazz to 20th century classical. At first listen, Imaginary Sonicscape might seem less crazed than some of their previous efforts, but that's just 'cause they've become masters at writing good metal songs whose weirdly juxtaposed components actually gel rather than jar (and also because the first track is one of the most conventionally accessible). You'll get totally into this as a heavy metal record, nodding your head to the riffs and so forth, and then suddenly "wake up" and wonder what the hell is going on with the sizzling '70s psychedelic synths and handclaps and disco breaks and pop hooks and classical piano solos, etc. Yet it flows so well, you'll still be nodding your head just the same. Imagine Venom, Ennio Morricone, Sleep, The Boredoms, Loudness, Boston, Goblin, and Satyricon (and their respective record collections as well) all rolled into one fat PCP-dusted joint. Hallucinogenic, catchy, absurd, fucking incredible.
The bonus tracks are worthy. One, "Voices" being a creepy/mellow 7-minute drift of processed voices, synth burps, and piano tinkling... the other "Born Condemned Criminal" (originally on the Japanese version of the album only) features a lot of snazzy organ jamming.
MPEG Stream: "Ecstatic Transformation"
MPEG Stream: "Nietzschean Conspiracy"
MPEG Stream: "A Sunset Song"

SIM + OTOMO Monte Alto Estate (Doubtmusic) cd 24.00
The always interestin' Japanese label Doubtmusic has three new releases out, we'll get to the enka-sax-solos one by Kazutoki Umezu and the jazz-improv-with-flourescent-light-instrument one by the Kazuo Imai Trio on a upcoming list soon, but we picked this disc to highlight first, this time, 'cause we know how many eager Otomo Yoshihide fans there are out there, and this disc features Otomo teaming up with a hitherto unknown to us rhythmic progwave unit called Sim, a trio comprising Oshima Teruyuki on guitar, Ootani Yosio on electronics/computer, and Ground Zero drummer Uemura Mashiro. Together they encode an alien, mechanical glitch-funk, definitely something special for fans of This Heat, Starfuckers/Sinistri, Radian, and the like.
Fried and fractured, the mutant grooves of Sim are further gunked with grit and glitch spinning from the seemingly warped turntable action of maestro Otomo, who is also credited with the use (and abuse?) of a "self-made synthesizer". Otomo's turntables are also presumably the source of the cut-up vocal loops heard on this otherwise instrumental set, garbled transmissions of chatter and mumble from unknown entities.
But it's Uemura's percussive percolations that utterly underpin this futuristic FX laden fantasmagoria. With each frayed nerve beat seemingly counting down to some terminal fate for the listener, his drumming interlocks with chicken scratch guitar and throbbing (temple) low end pulsations, amidst a miasma of electronic noise textures: blips and bleeps, crackle and feedback, eerie squeak and creak. It's maddening and mesmerizing, music for some discombobulating no-wave-by-way-of-onkyo dance club. This Sim+Otomo network is dense and distorted, displaying staggered rhythmic freakishness that seems off, then on, speeding up and slowing down and phasing in and out of "grooves" with precise imprecision.
The packaging is perfect for this, a striking digipack design as is usual for Doubtmusic, featuring not one but two circular die cut holes, a big one offset on the front through which you can see the cd, a smaller one in the back right in the center of the clear cd-tray, both to go along with the artwork, elliptical orbits echoing the way the music on this disc syncs and spins.
MPEG Stream: "5.5mm"
MPEG Stream: "Am"
MPEG Stream: "Disk 1"

SITAAR TAH Semimimimimin (aRCHIVE) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We first heard Sitaar Tah!, Tokyo's amazing 22-piece all-sitar "orchestra", a couple years back on another limited (and now out of print) aRCHIVE release, the sprawling, droning two cd set Animamima on which they collaborated with Japanese dark psych lord Keiji Haino! And we've been eager to hear more from 'em ever since. Now aRCHIVE presents a Semimimimimin, a 43-minute studio recording from the group. Sitars are GO!
So.... You like dense drone. You like exotic, Eastern raga-like stuff. You like psychedelic, pulsing, shimmering beauty. You like ghostly Phillip Jeck-like lo-fi surface hiss. Well what more need we say? You're gonna like this!
One long, trance-inducing track that weaves the sound so many massed sitars into complex patterns of rhythm and melody, modulating and building to more abstract and organic, swarm-of-insects levels... absolutely as soothingly nice as you could imagine.
Beautifully presented in the aRCHIVE tradition, in their usual oversized format, with art by SUNNO)))'s Stephen O'Malley, 4-color silkscreened cover, LIMITED TO 700 COPIES ONLY!
MPEG Stream: "Semimimimimin excerpt 1"
RealAudio clip: "Semimimimimin excerpt 2"

SLAP HAPPY HUMPHREY (Public Bath) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The domestic issue of previously Japanese-import-only album. Jojo Hiroshige of Hijokaidan, the girl singer from Angel In Heavy Syrup, and one other guy (from Subvert Blaze). La la la...Quiet...Pretty...CRASH!...SCREEEECH...La la la...Mellow mellow...

SOAP JO HENSHI (SOAP JO HENSHI) cd 13.98

SOLAR ANUS Skull Alcoholic: The Complete Solar Anus (tUMULt) 2cd 14.98
It's hard to believe, but it's true. SOLAR ANUS IS HERE! It took almost 5 years, but it was well worth it! But what exactly is Solar Anus? An essay by French writer/philosopher Georges Bataille... a burst of plodding pummel from UK freedrone outfit Skullflower... but also, and as far as we're concerned more importantly, a band whose music conjures up a mysterious land of legendary monsters, ancient customs, cult beliefs and ritualized incest, all hidden just below the surface of our everyday world, a place only accessible through Matsuri, a group trance during which music and sound, lights and pictures help transport participants back to those mysterious other worlds and ancient times.
Such is the strange world of Japan's mighty tranced-out psychedelic doomlords Solar Anus, whose sound most definitely exists as Matsuri, a music designed to lull us into a trance and carry us off...Ê mesmeric, hypnotic and HEAVY.
Here, for the first time ever readily available outside of Japan, is the entire recorded output of the legendary Solar Anus, all collected into one massive head crushing, mind melting double cd.
Skull Alcoholic chronicles the band's dizzying trajectory, from stumbling, buzzing, bloody-stumped, sludge doom behemoths to druggy, tranced out psychedelic outer space visionaries, swinging wildly toward both extremes the whole time. An impossible blend of Black Sabbath, Hawkwind and the Boredoms, Flower Travellin' band, Pink Floyd, Boris and the Melvins.
Beginning life as a dizzy and druggy, slow motion stoner doom outfit, with their 1997 album On, Solar Anus channeled both the garagey spacestomp of old Monster Magnet, the epic miserablist doomscapes of Candlemass, and the purposefully obtuse sludge riffery of the Melvins, taking all of these disparate but distinctly heavy sounds and incorporating all manner of primitive percussive rituals, drifting dronescapes, 16 rpm Krautrock groove, dreamy angelic female vocals, massive fuzzed out guitars, huge in-the-red monster drums and swirls of creepy crawly dirge into a truly epic dronedriftdoomgroove sound.
The band's blend of propulsive tripped out krautrock, dizzying drum jams and glacial stoner sludge is at once ominous and swoonsome, crushing and psychedelic, lurching wildly from tripped out tribal Can worship to massive bulldozing metal grooves to super abstract druggy dreamscapes, often within the same song.
Album number two, 1999's Trance!! found the band trudging even more resolutely into a bleak and blown out world of dark doom, sounding more and more like classic doomsters, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost and Cathedral, but completely tweaked of course, and confusingly blended with epic stretches of lurching lo-fi psychedelic Krautrock blow outs a la Amon Duul II.
By the release of their final album, 2000's Next World News, the band had stretched out yet again, dragging their druggy doom into a head spinning world of cracked skull outerspace trance, spinning even further into the void, not so much heavy as blissed out and psychedelic. Lots of abstract rhythmic workouts, like a more demented, damaged version of Finnish dronerockers Circle, a swirl of confusionally dense and relentless FX drenched Krautrock spacejams rife with belching foghorn brass, squawking birds, dizzyingly dense tangles of hippy drum freakouts, chanted vocals, as well as all sorts of studio fuckery, chopped up tape loops, warbly pitch shifts and layer after layer of fuzz and buzz and psychdrone blur.
Each languorous stretch of fuzzed out metallic groove is swathed in blown out clouds of Hawkwind bongsmoke, but broken up by bleary expanses of chilled out 4am trancemusic, but instead of a post-rave laid back Ecstasy come down, it's like crashing and burning in some dirty back alley from an all night PCP binge, silvery streaks of electronic glitch laid over a pulsing techno throb, surrounded by thick washes of processed tribal drums, the whole thing a very Boredoms like primitive percussive ritual, hypnotic and heavy, sprinkled with all kinds of sparkling sonic twinkles and drifting chimes, and underpinned by a wasted moody muted sixties psychedelia.
A quick look at the band's convoluted thanks/inspiration list gives another glimpse into their twisted musical world: German Oak, Crash Worship, Twink, The Electric Prunes, Stooges, Nebula, Pungent Stench, Timothy Leary, Monster Magnet, Ash Ra Tempel, Sodom, Sleep, Amon Duul II, Exit-13, Cathedral, Joel Peter Witkin, Saint Vitus, Church Of Misery, Corrosion Of Conformity, Romain Slocombe, Jimi Hendrix, Gong, Funkadelic, Budgie, Guru Guru, Electric Wizard, Brutal Truth, the Beatles and more. Phew.
And for all you Asian psychrock obsessives: The Solar Anus track "Dear Mother Coral" is actually a cover of a classic tune by Japanese psych legends JA Ceasar!
One of the weirdest, wildest, heaviest collections of druggy, dreamy, dirge-drone-doom-kraut-space-noise-sludge rock EVER!
Mind blowing psychedelic collage cover art, housed in a super deluxe die-cut 'solar anus' slip cover. Includes a massive 12 page booklet, with the original album art and liner notes. These two discs contain every single bit of Solar Anus ever, including their final recording, the previously unreleased nine minute title track, "Skull Alcoholic"!
Once again, it's the year of the anus! SOLAR ANUS!!!!
ONE TIME PRESSING OF 2000 COPIES!!!
MPEG Stream: "Skull Alcoholic"
MPEG Stream: "Dear Mother Coral (JA Ceasar)"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Run"
MPEG Stream: "Conceive Bang"
MPEG Stream: "Die In The Space"
MPEG Stream: "Nightfall New Year"
MPEG Stream: "The Extreme North"

SOLMANIA Psycledelic (Alchemy) cd 21.00

SOLMANIA Trembling Tongues (Alchemy) cd 21.00

SONODA, SATOSHI Everything Lies Beyond The Burning Summer Grasses: Early Works Of Satoshi Sonoda 1977->1978 Memories Of Yashushi Ozawa (PSF) cd 17.98
Like the Onna above, here's another release from Japan's PSF label that we've been meaning to highlight for a while (they put out too much good stuff!). Finally we have enough of 'em in stock to list (for months we've been selling these steadily just by playing it in the store, actually). As the evocative/informative subtitle indicates, this is an archival collection of recordings by one Satoshi Sonoda... who he? A guitarist and composer in the realm of post-progressive rock, and new music avant-garde, part of the late '70s Japanese university scene, with connections to both psychedelic drone minimalists East Bionic Symphonia and noisepunks Gaseneta.
From the subtitle, you'll also note that this release is dedicated to the late bassist Yasushi Ozawa, best known perhaps as a member of Keiji Haino's Fushitsusha. He apparently had quite an impact on Sonoda both artistically and personally. The seven tracks here find Sonoda performing with several different lineups/projects/units, several of which feature the presence of Ozawa. The first three tracks are all credited as Sonoda compositions, though they seem just as likely to be group improvisations, and are variously designated as by Free Music Space ("1") or Free Music Revolt ("rehearsal" and "session"). The very first piece, eleven minutes long, reminds us a lot of the oldest Onna stuff, dreamy and spacey, freaky and folky, a combo of raw wandering psychedelic jamming with majestic melancholic vocal balladry. Beautiful. The second track is even longer, over 24 minutes, and encompasses enthusiastic violin string scrape, somnolently nodding grooves, and free form freakout action. Very cool, as is the shorter but similar (sans violin) track 3. Next, tracks 4-6 are by a band called ANARkISS, performing live, and are more punky, with angular raucous jagged guitar, as well as some shakuhachi and sax and what they call "scratch noise"... one of the songs is a Kan Mikami cover, "Piss-Soaked Lake", which figures. The disc then finishes up with the sounds of Free Music Space 6, a large ensemble improv blow-out entitled, "Bound, Opened".
The cd booklet contains super personal and detailed liner notes in tiny, tiny type from Sonoda himself, with his recollections of the era, discussion of various personalities including of course Ozawa, and track-by-track commentary on the material included herein. Interesting as that all is, you definitely don't need to know what's in the liner notes, or even what we've mentioned in this review, in terms of historical context or whatever, to enjoy the sounds on this disc. Like we said, just playing it in the store got people plenty intrigued. The unique vibrations from far away and long ago documented here still resonate and compel.
MPEG Stream: FREE MUSIC SPACE 1 "Dusk, Darkness, Then Dawn"
MPEG Stream: FREE MUSIC REVOLT (REHEARSAL) "Poly-Performance"
MPEG Stream: ANARKISS "Piss-Soaked Lake"

SOUTH SATURN DELTA Experience The Concreteness (Cold Spring) cd 15.98

SPACE MACHINE 2 (MIDI Creative) cd 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
You're out in space, at the bridge of a pod-shaped starship, blinking lights and cosmic sights on the viewscreen. THIS is the soundtrack. Or, you're exploring deep into inner space, in a isolation tank, or a drugged trance, watching colors play inside your closed eyelids. Again, THIS is the soundtrack. Assuming in either case you're got headphones on, hooked up to Space Machine 2!
Total kosmiche electronics action here, vintage analog synths doing their spaced-out bleepage and bloopage thing under the long-haired guidance of Maso Yamazuki, a Japanese psychedelic noisician extraordinare. This disc was released back in 2002, as part of Space Machine mastermind Maso Yamazaki's special "15th Anniversary Freakout Triplex" series, which also featured cds by two of his other acts, Masonna and Christine 23 Onna. We reviewed Christine 23 Onna's Acid Eater a few weeks ago and promised we'd get to the others in the Triplex soon, now that we're finally able to get a hold of 'em, expensive imports that they are. Space Machine, Maso's tribute to the likes of Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream, has always been a favorite 'round here, and right now this particular Space Machine album is the only one that seems to be in print! If you're a fan already, you know what to expect. This features four tracks, several of them quite lengthy, of wonderfully indulgent synthesizer knob-twiddling, soothing oscillations and droning textures... headphones, please!
MPEG Stream: "track 2"
MPEG Stream: "track 3"

SPACE MACHINE 3 (Important) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We had this on vinyl a while back, but now it's finally been re-issued on cd! The latest blast of analog synth madness from Takushi Yamazaki, othewise known as Masonna, the one man Japanoise wrecking crew, with a belt full of effects and a wall of white noise unparalleled. But don't expect any of that noise here. Space Machine is the vehicle that Yamazaki uses to indulge his fetish for rare seventies analog synths and all the spacy madness that they can conjure up. This is all swoosh and whir, bleep and swoop, like Acid Mothers Temple at their most unstructured, or better yet, like the music at the planetarium when you're soaring through galaxies, into the farthest reaches of the universe. Contains all of Yamazaki's "3" studio sessions as well as some live mayhem featuring Acid Mothers Temple's Kawabata Makoto. This should definitely hit the spot for those of you craving some freaked out buzzing blooping bliss.
MPEG Stream: "track 1"
MPEG Stream: "track 2"

SPACE MACHINE 3 (Tiliqua) 2lp 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Latest blast of analog synth madness from Takushi Yamazaki, othewise known as Masonna, the one man Japanoise wrecking crew, with a belt full of effects and a wall of white noise unparalleled. But don't expect any of that noise here. Space Machine is the vehicle that Yamazaki uses to indulge his fetish for rare seventies analog synths and all the spacy madness that they can conjure up. This is all swoosh and whir, bleep and swoop, like Acid Mothers Temple at their most unstructured, or better yet, like the music at the planetarium when you're soaring through galaxies, into the farthest reaches of the universe. Gorgeous double lp on orange vinyl in a nice gatefold sleeve. Two sides of solo studio recordings, two sides of live mayhem, four sides of far out, freaked out buzzing blooping bliss.

SPACE MACHINE Cosmos From Diode Ladder Filter (Alchemy) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Osaka-based artist Takushi "Maso" Yamazaki has taken quite a turn these past couple of years. His more well-known alter-ego Masonna is best known for ear shredding cut'n'paste sonic assaults. Masonna's live performances consisted of Yamazaki screaming into two or three microphones, hurling himself onto effects boxes and destroying just about anything in his way. Yamazaki's interest in analogue electronics and modular synthesis was evident on his collaboration with Fusao Toda (of Angel 'In Heavy Syrup) -- Christine 23 Onna's "Shiny Crystal Planet" -- a hyper blend of '60s exotic breaks flooded with psychedelic synthesizers and tons of echo. As Space Echo, Yamazaki goes one on one with The Putney, a compact modular synthesizer developed in 1969 by EMS, as well as the Doepfer A-100 Modular system and a slew of echo machines for total tripped out effect! Not rhythmic like Christine 23 Onna, but very similar in Yamazaki's tweaked out knob twiddling and full on psych-distorto overload. The first in Alchemy's Inner Mind Music Series of cosmic psychedelia themed sonicscapes.
RealAudio clip: "6"

SPACE MACHINE Modular Series - Model-101 (Dimension Degenerator) (P Tapes) 3" cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Space Machine is Takushi "Maso" Yamazaki's outlet for the use and abuse of vintage analog synth equipment, where he leaves aside the violence and extremity of his work as Masonna in the "Japanese noise" idiom and instead attempts to channel the spirit of early '70s German electronic experimentalists like Klaus Schulze and Conrad Schnitzler. After three previous full-length recordings (Cosmos From Diode Ladder Filter on Alchemy being our fave) now comes the first two installments in a series of 3" eps, each of which sees Space Machine operating as a duo of Maso plus guest.
For Model-101, the guest is Hiroshi Hasegawa of C.C.C.C./Astro. He also plays the synthesizer. Recorded live at Penguin House in Tokyo, February 2004, this starts with a whoosh and whooshes onward and upward. It's a nice, dense twenty or so minutes of droning, whirring, bleeping spaced-out spirals of psychedelic synth!
On Model-102, Yamazaki and his synths team up with Acid Mothers Temple guitarist Makoto Kawabata for nearly twenty minutes of interstellar exploration, recorded live at Cafe Futuro in Osaka, Japan in April 2003. That it's recorded live in a cafe is evident on the disc, what with the murmer of conversation heard in the background, as Maso and Makoto and their machines hum and drone and drift and glow in the foreground. Abstract yet effective, it's actually incredibly mesmerizing and soothing. Of the two 3" discs, Model-101 is the more bleepy and loud and science fiction soundtracky, while Model-102 is quieter and perhaps less cliched. Both are recommended to all Space Machine/AMT/sci-fi synth fans.
MPEG Stream: "Dimension Degenerator"

SPACE MACHINE Modular Series - Model-102 (Orbit Vector Generator) (P Tapes) 3" cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Space Machine is Takushi "Maso" Yamazaki's outlet for the use and abuse of vintage analog synth equipment, where he leaves aside the violence and extremity of his work as Masonna in the "Japanese noise" idiom and instead attempts to channel the spirit of early '70s German electronic experimentalists like Klaus Schulze and Conrad Schnitzler. After three previous full-length recordings (Cosmos From Diode Ladder Filter on Alchemy being our fave) now comes a series of 3" eps, each of which see Space Machine operating as a duo of Maso plus guest.
For Model-101, the guest is Hiroshi Hasegawa of C.C.C.C./Astro. He also plays the synthesizer. Recorded live at Penguin House in Tokyo, February 2004, this starts with a whoosh and whooshes onward and upward. It's a nice, dense twenty or so minutes of droning, spaced-out spirals of psychedelic synth!
On Model-102, Yamazaki and his synths team up with Acid Mothers Temple guitarist Makoto Kawabata for nearly twenty minutes of interstellar exploration, recorded live at Cafe Futuro in Osaka, Japan in April 2003. That it's recorded live in a cafe is evident on the disc, what with the murmer of conversation heard in the background, as Maso and Makoto and their machines hum and drone and drift and glow in the foreground. Abstract yet effective, it's actually incredibly mesmerizing and soothing. Of the two 3" discs, Model-101 is the more bleepy and loud and science fiction soundtracky. Quieter and less cliched perhaps is Model-102. Both are recommended to all Space Machine/AMT/sci-fi synth fans.
MPEG Stream: "Orbit Vector Generator"

SPACE MACHINE Modular Series - Model-201 (Space-Time Echo) (P Tapes) 3" cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
More analog synth hi-jinx from Japan's Space Machine (the retro electronica obsessed alter ego of Takushi Yamazaki aka Masonna). The nifty Modular Series of 3" cds, the first two of which paired Yamazaki and his synths up with equally psychedelic sparring partners, sees Yamazaki going solo for installments number three and four. Model-201 is the third in the series, and it's an impressive, oppressive 13+ minutes of squelching, zinging, droning electronics (specifically, Yamazaki's credited with playing the Maestro Echoplex EP-3 and P-tronic Sound Lab Mini-Synth here), not unlike the sound of a series of flying saucers taking off and landing at a busy Area 51 UFO base. Soothing music for your inner malfunctioning robot.
MPEG Stream: "Space-Time Echo"

SPACE MACHINE Modular Series - Model-202 (Zone Of Avoidance) (P Tapes) 3" cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
More analog synth hi-jinx from Japan's Space Machine (the retro electronica obsessed alter ego of Takushi Yamazaki aka Masonna). The nifty Modular Series of 3" cds, the first two of which paired Yamazaki and his synths up with equally psychedelic sparring partners, sees Yamazaki going solo for installments number three and four. Model-202, Zone Of Avoidance is the fourth in the series, with Yamazaki utilizing Roland System 100, System 100M, and RE-501 to create close to twenty minutes of jittery, minimally repetitive dronage that arcs into a realm of Jurassic birdcalls as recorded by dying, batteries-running-down technology...or something. And just as Space Machine fetishizes their vintage equipment, P Tapes have managed to make these attractively designed 3" discs into fetish objects themselves for fans of this sort of electronic voodoo.
MPEG Stream: "Zone Of Avoidance"

SPACE STREAKINGS (Skin Graft) 7"+comic book 5.50
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Japanese outerspace looniness.

SPEED, GLUE & SHINKI Eve (Phoenix) cd 17.98
The re-reissue-ance of a lot of crucial '70s Japanese psych rock documents continues apace, with this seminal stoner rock release now on cd (and lp) again via the Phoenix label. Originally released in the musically bountiful year of 1971, Eve was the debut from a psychedelic power trio that made no secret of their predilection for recreational pharmaceuticals, and preferences therefor. "Glue" was bassist Masayoshi Kabe's nickname, "Speed" that of singing drummer Joey Smith. Guitarist Shinki Chen (formerly of Food Brain, as was Kabe) lacks a nickname, so we dunno his drug of choice, but it's obvious he's really into Jimi Hendrix...
Obligatory citation of Julian Cope's Japrocksampler ranking: tied (with Flower Travellin' Band's Satori) for number ONE out of fifty!!! So, yeah, this is considered by some (including us) to be an essential - though we wouldn't personally rate on par with Satori, or for that matter ahead of Speed Glue & Shinki's own self-titled sophomore album, or some others on Cope's list, but it would be up there, nonetheless. 'Specially perfect when you're in the mood for some druggily spaced out, heavy cowbell knockin' acid blooze rawk splurge, laced with loping riffs and lackadaisical vocals, with titles that (of course) couldn't be any more overtly oriented towards the subject of gettin' high, such as "Mr. Walking Drugstore Man" and "Stoned Out Of My Mind"! But you, the listener, needn't be stoned, this music is head noddingly hypnotic all by itself, just turn it up and let yourself veg out to it, all the way through to the relaxing coda of the album's final
track, "Someday We'll All Fall Down", a quietly lovely, folky acoustic number with a doubtlessly prophetic title. Along the way, enjoy garagey rave-ups like "Ode To The Bad People" and lumbering blues blasters like "Big Headed Woman".
The seven tracks here are primal "proto-metal" (VERY proto) for fans of Blue Cheer, Blues Addicts, Moses, Modulo 1000, Human Instinct, Juan De La Cruz (the Filipino band with whom SG&S's drummer Joey Smith later played), Flied Egg (also reissued and reviewed this list), and others of that wasted, rock n' roll ilk from around the world.
Nicely packaged in a mini-LP style gatefold sleeve for the compact disc. Gatefold sleeve for the vinyl version too.
MPEG Stream: "Mr. Walking Drugstore Man"
MPEG Stream: "Stoned Out Of My Mind"
MPEG Stream: "Ode To The Bad People"

SPEED, GLUE & SHINKI Eve (Phoenix) lp 24.00
The re-reissue-ance of a lot of crucial '70s Japanese psych rock documents continues apace, with this seminal stoner rock release now on cd (and lp) again via the Phoenix label. Originally released in the musically bountiful year of 1971, Eve was the debut from a psychedelic power trio that made no secret of their predilection for recreational pharmaceuticals, and preferences therefor. "Glue" was bassist Masayoshi Kabe's nickname, "Speed" that of singing drummer Joey Smith. Guitarist Shinki Chen (formerly of Food Brain, as was Kabe) lacks a nickname, so we dunno his drug of choice, but it's obvious he's really into Jimi Hendrix...
Obligatory citation of Julian Cope's Japrocksampler ranking: tied (with Flower Travellin' Band's Satori) for number ONE out of fifty!!! So, yeah, this is considered by some (including us) to be an essential - though we wouldn't personally rate on par with Satori, or for that matter ahead of Speed Glue & Shinki's own self-titled sophomore album, or some others on Cope's list, but it would be up there, nonetheless. 'Specially perfect when you're in the mood for some druggily spaced out, heavy cowbell knockin' acid blooze rawk splurge, laced with loping riffs and lackadaisical vocals, with titles that (of course) couldn't be any more overtly oriented towards the subject of gettin' high, such as "Mr. Walking Drugstore Man" and "Stoned Out Of My Mind"! But you, the listener, needn't be stoned, this music is head noddingly hypnotic all by itself, just turn it up and let yourself veg out to it, all the way through to the relaxing coda of the album's final
track, "Someday We'll All Fall Down", a quietly lovely, folky acoustic number with a doubtlessly prophetic title. Along the way, enjoy garagey rave-ups like "Ode To The Bad People" and lumbering blues blasters like "Big Headed Woman".
The seven tracks here are primal "proto-metal" (VERY proto) for fans of Blue Cheer, Blues Addicts, Moses, Modulo 1000, Human Instinct, Juan De La Cruz (the Filipino band with whom SG&S's drummer Joey Smith later played), Flied Egg (also reissued and reviewed this list), and others of that wasted, rock n' roll ilk from around the world.
Nicely packaged in a mini-LP style gatefold sleeve for the compact disc. Gatefold sleeve for the vinyl version too.
MPEG Stream: "Mr. Walking Drugstore Man"
MPEG Stream: "Stoned Out Of My Mind"
MPEG Stream: "Ode To The Bad People"

SPEED, GLUE & SHINKI s/t (Phoenix) cd 17.98
Another Japanese seventies psych classic reissued! This is an old fave, in part 'cause of the appealing tiger cover painting and in part 'cause of, well, how ridiculously badass and bad-acidly ridiculous it is. Here's some of what we said about this the last time we had a cd reissue of it to list...
Sniffin & Snortin (parts 1 and 2!), Run & Hide, Bad Woman, Don't Say No, Wanna Take You Home...sound good? Those are some of the song titles on this classic women-and-drugs obsessed dumbo-rock Japanese psych album. It stars guitar whiz and massive stoner Shinki Chen (also of Foodbrain and oodles of other obscure Japanese psych outfits), bassist Masayoshi Kabe (from Food Brain too), and singing drummer Joey 'Pepe' Smith - a Vietnam vet whom you might know from the Filipino band Juan De La Cruz, one of the few outfits ever whose outputs maybe tops this for sheer truly stoned rock retardation (a good thing).
Actually, you'll hear at least one tune, "Wanna Take You Home", also recorded by Juan De La Cruz on this, the second SG&S album, originally released as a double LP in 1972. Speed, Glue & Shinki, as you might imagine from their name, were a goddamn weird, messed up, completely wacked heavy psych/blues/prog band. So messed up that this time out, guest musicians wrote (and performed?) most of it! But it doesn't matter. And even when Joey plugs in a Moog synth to do a whole solo LP side devoted to the Sun, Planets, Life, Moon, and Angels (really, he does!), this never ever remotely gets pretentious and proggy (not that we don't like proggy). It just can't. Speed Glue & Shinki are primal, so primal, too primal. At least one track hints at the Stooges, some others Zeppelin, while the rest approximates a brain-damaged James Gang. Record collector types might recall the fancy, expensive Shadoks LP reissue that was available several years ago for about two seconds. We were enthralled with the lovely tiger cover art and the ridiculous rock and have been hoping ever since to bring in a cd version...
Julian Cope's Japrocksampler Top 50 ranking: #15! (He puts their debut, Eve, at #1, tied with Flower Travellin' Band's Satori, but actually we prefer this to Eve... though both Speed Glue & Shinki records are way cool, even if neither we'd put quite in the company of Satori).
MPEG Stream: "Red Doll"
MPEG Stream: "Song For An Angel"
MPEG Stream: "Search For Love"
MPEG Stream: "Life"

SPEED, GLUE & SHINKI s/t (Phoenix) 2lp 34.00
Now also available on vinyl!! Gatefold cover, and not quite as expensive as the earlier lp reish on Shadoks...
Another Japanese seventies psych classic reissued! This is an old fave, in part 'cause of the appealing tiger cover painting and in part 'cause of, well, how ridiculously badass and bad-acidly ridiculous it is. Here's some of what we said about this the last time we had a cd reissue...
Sniffin & Snortin (parts 1 and 2!), Run & Hide, Bad Woman, Don't Say No, Wanna Take You Home...sound good? Those are some of the song titles on this classic women-and-drugs obsessed dumbo-rock Japanese psych album. It stars guitar whiz and massive stoner Shinki Chen (also of Foodbrain and oodles of other obscure Japanese psych outfits), bassist Masayoshi Kabe (from Food Brain too), and singing drummer Joey 'Pepe' Smith - a Vietnam vet whom you might know from the Filipino band Juan De La Cruz, one of the few outfits ever whose outputs maybe tops this for sheer truly stoned rock retardation (a good thing).
Actually, you'll hear at least one tune, "Wanna Take You Home", also recorded by Juan De La Cruz on this, the second SG&S album, originally released as a double LP in 1972. Speed, Glue & Shinki, as you might imagine from their name, were a goddamn weird, messed up, completely wacked heavy psych/blues/prog band. So messed up that this time out, guest musicians wrote (and performed?) most of it! But it doesn't matter. And even when Joey plugs in a Moog synth to do a whole solo LP side devoted to the Sun, Planets, Life, Moon, and Angels (really, he does!), this never ever remotely gets pretentious and proggy (not that we don't like proggy). It just can't. Speed Glue & Shinki are primal, so primal, too primal. At least one track hints at the Stooges, some others Zeppelin, while the rest approximates a brain-damaged James Gang. Record collector types might recall the fancy, expensive Shadoks lp reissue that was available several years ago for about two seconds. We were enthralled with the lovely tiger cover art and the ridiculous rock and have been hoping ever since to bring in a cd version...
Julian Cope's Japrocksampler Top 50 ranking: #15! (He puts their debut, Eve, at #1, tied with Flower Travellin' Band's Satori, but actually we prefer this to Eve... though both Speed Glue & Shinki records are way cool, even if neither we'd put quite in the company of Satori).
MPEG Stream: "Red Doll"
MPEG Stream: "Song For An Angel"
MPEG Stream: "Search For Love"
MPEG Stream: "Life"

SPIRACLE Ananta (The Helen Scarsdale Agency) 2cd 16.98
We missed out completely on the Ananta cd-r that Spiracle first released through the Mystery Sea label a few years back. It was limited to 100 copies and quickly disappeared, much to our chagrin. Fortunately, Helen Scarsdale in her sage wisdom has just reissued that static drone opus with a second disc that reworks the original material while keeping the same intent.
Hitoshi Kojo is man behind Spiracle, having wandered from his native Japan to Central Europe where he's been collaborating with the likes of Michael Northam, Maurizio Bianchi, John Grzinich, and Murmer. Much of his work deals with acoustic drone construction, with some of his records taking up the mantle of beautiful tactile noises like those generated by Organum, Jonathan Coleclough, and Andrew Chalk. Ananta, now presented as a double disc, is an album with a purpose; or at least it has a purpose for Kojo as he's one who has trouble falling asleep. So he composed this album as a narcotizing agent to lull him into a deep sleep. But this is also a man who is a night owl, so the time when he's usually falling asleep is when the sun is just beginning to rise. So for this composition, Kojo tuned his drones to match the ruby reds and golden yellows of daybreak. The Mystery Sea Version of Ananta is a linear construct of softened static with wisps of sustained tones spiralling in and out of the mix. The composition shimmers along this focused path with few variations, reflecting a rigor of process much like the champions of minimalism (e.g. Charlemagne Palestine, Roland Kayn, Yoshi Wada) but with a delicate approach found in the likes of Stars Of The Lid. The Strato Version found on the other disc smoothes out the static into a rich undulating surface of warm golden tones, that could easily be an ambient lullaby to accompany a daydream whilst napping at the beach. So, so beautiful!
The Helen Scarsdale reissue does increase the distribution of this disc, although not by much... there's only 300 of these beauties kicking around!
MPEG Stream: "Strato Version"
MPEG Stream: "Mystery Sea Version"

SPIRACLE Iris (Clouds Of Static) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Spiracle's 20 minute composition Iris was actually released well over a year ago, but Clouds Of Static has been dormant ever since Mnortham abdicated his position as the artistic director for the label. It's a real shame, as there were some real gems which might have come out on the label, with recordings by Murmer and John Duncan and talks of reissuing the brilliant first cd-r from Of (aka Loren Chasse). Yet, none of that will probably come to pass; and it was quite possible that the remaining stock of what was released through Clouds Of Static may have languished in some Swiss castle (quite literally) for years. Fortunately, we were able to uncover a few copies of Iris by Spiracle (aka Hitoshi Kojo, whose collaboration with Maurizio Bianchi is reviewed elsewhere on this list). Taking cues from David Jackman's arsenal of growling harmonics from bowed metals, Ellen Fullman's long-stringed instruments, and Akio Suzuki's impeccable ear for tactile events, Hitoshi offers a dynamic drone composition of compacted layers of acoustic sound with slowly scraped strings amassing into a sustained drone made porous by tumbling fistfuls of sand poured out upon the floor and a weirdly compelling flanging bellow. We only got a dozen or so of these in; and we don't plan on storming any Swiss castle anytime soon, so these few copies are probably all that we'll be able to get!
MPEG Stream: "Iris"

SPLENDOR MYSTIC SOLIS Heavy Acid Blowout Tensions (Galactic Zoodisk) lp 14.98
Well, there may not be a new Acid Mothers Temple record this list, but for those of you who find such news disappointing will surely be satisfied with this lp in the interim. SMS features 2/3 of the holy trinity of Japanese psych rock, Kawabata Makoto of Acid Mothers Temple, and Nahnjo Asahito of Mainliner, High Rise, Musica Transonic, etc., missing only the freak out guitar and whale-call wails of Keiji Haino. Oh, so close to being the record that would send all you Japan-psych-freaks over the edge. Haino, Kawabata, Nanjo...I don't think the world could handle it. Instead, the band is rounded out by Shimura Koji from White Heaven, High Rise, and Mainliner, Sasaki Hisashi of the Ruins, and Chicago psychrock freak Plastic Crimewave. And what you get is just what you might expect, massive, rambling, spaced out psychedelic jams, three guitars wide, roiling and seething, rocking and frenzied, occasionally drifting into wild and dreamy cosmic blissouts.

STARS, THE Perfect Place To Hideaway (Pedal Records) cd 19.98
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Perfect Place To Hideaway is the second full-length album from way-cool Japanese psych scene vets The Stars, a band featuring former members of Tokyo flashbackers White Heaven. Guitarist Michio Kurihara (also of Ghost) is perhaps the best known -- you may recall we recently reviewed his fine solo album Sunset Notes, another Pedal Records release. This ain't White Heaven mark II though, as their inspiration stems not so much anymore from west coast '60s psych like The Doors and Quicksilver Messenger Service but just as much from downtown NYC in the '70s -- Television, No Wave, and maybe even avant-disco dance music... But don't worry, The Stars first and foremost are a guitar band. And guitars can be dangerous things. Much of the time, The Stars are happy just demonstrating the truth of that statement. But there's shiny pop moments here that let singer You Ishihara act the crooning rock star, and some simple blissful ones too. These varied six tracks include the moody groove of the 11-minute "Subway (aka Night Walker)", the crashing, apocalyptic, distorto stomp of "Ice Blues" (THE track for those who want to hear Kurihara wail White Heaven style), the angular repetition of "Double Sider", the too-funky "Lemonade", the placid instrumental "Electron Spin Carnnival", and gentle coda "The World I Left Behind".
MPEG Stream: "Ice Blues"
MPEG Stream: "Double Sider"

STARS, THE Will (Pedal) cd 19.98
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1st full length from this Tokyo new wave psych act, featuring former members of White Heaven.

STRAWBERRY PATH When The Raven Has Come To Earth (Universal Japan) cd 22.00
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Now we've got a nice Japanese cd reissue of this (previously, but no longer, available on the somewhat shady Radioactive label). It's more expensive but better. Our review of it before ran something like this:
Some fairly heavy (maaaan) stoner psych blues rawk action here from 1971. Yep, seventy-one. We won't try to tell you that the lone album from Japan's Strawberry Path was one of the best rock releases of '71, 'cause of course there were so many great albums out that year. But if you're a fan of heavy rock of the era, especially the weirder stuff from overseas, you should check 'em out. There's plenty of wailing guitar and jammin' organ on here, but also some mellow moves too so it's maybe more '60s than '70s sounding, and VERY Jimi Hendrix influenced. And we'd guess they were also into such Western acts as Steppenwolf, early Deep Purple, Grand Funk and possibly Black Sabbath. In the realm of early '70s Japanese hard psych they're on par with Speed, Glue & Shinki and Foodbrain, but not quite as as solid as the best Flower Travellin' Band or Blues Creation. These guys (a duo of Shigeru "Jimmy" Narumo on guitars and keys, and Hiro Tsunoda on drums and vocals, helped out by various guests) went on to form the even heavier Flied Egg, who released an LP on Vertigo, a track from which is heard on Andy Votel's Vertigo Mixed disc in fact. This is totally in that Vertigo vein, with classical flourishes of flute and strings, hard-rockin' boogie blues riffage, wild vocals, kickin' drum breaks, acoustic interludes... it's an acid-prog mix that isn't always in the proto-metal direction we might want but we'll take what we can get. Plus you've gotta love the song titles, which are either really cool and weird like "Maximum Speed Of Muji Bird (45 Seconds Of Schizophrenic Sabbath)" or totally indicative of what you'd expect like "I Gotta See My Gypsy Woman" and "Mary Jane On My Mind". Woah, yeah.
Recently we've reviewed the two excellent Flied Egg albums, reissued on cd by Universal Japan, as is this -- if you dug those, Strawberry Path is also up your alley (Path?).
MPEG Stream: "Woman Called Yellow 'Z'"
MPEG Stream: "Mary Jane On My Mind"