Out to Lunch “Junk Scrap Dust”

No cover this time, because I haven’t scanned it in from this cassette, but it’s not a very distinguished cover anyway so… A few years back (unfortunately I don’t remember precisely when) I picked up this cassette at a Tokyo store, because the title Junk Scrap Dust seemed pretty promising. The band name Out to Lunch sounded a bit punk rock, but the title made me think that maybe something else was going on. And indeed, once I opened the insert the only information there was the song titles and a list of the instruments: Bass, Keyboards, and Drums. And the music was pretty rough and avant. Side A contained two long tracks, while side B was “Bonus Tracks” according to the insert and had the three title songs, much more obscure and abstract than the primary songs on the first side.

The keyboards veer from organ-like textures to what seem to be samples of everything from metallic crunches to airplane crashes…who knows. The drums can break down into freeform destruction, and the bass just kind of fills in the blanks. It’s fun stuff, but I’ve never found more information about the band since then. Anyone with info, get in touch!

In the meantime, here’s the first song — enjoy.

Listen to “Dokonimonai” by Out to Lunch.

Pugs “Bite the Red Knee”

I’ll have to write more in the future about the inimitable Hoppy Kamiyama, head of the God Mountain label, producer and keyboardist extraordinaire, and as far as I know the highest-profile transvestite in the Japanese indie scene. A terrific guy, he’s been a busy part of the Tokyo music world since his time in the 80s with J-Pop band Pink, with whom he played keyboards (his frequent collaborator Steve Eto was the band’s percussionist). After founding the God Mountain label (Kamiyama meaning literally “god mountain”) in 1992, he released a number of CDs by his projects including Optical*8, Pugs, and Saboten among others. God Mountain also released albums by bands including the fantastic DemiSemiQuaver, Salk Vacchin, and eX-Girl.

The Pugs were a crazed art-punk band, conducted by Hoppy and sung by the beautifully nutso Honey K. Their shows were big fun, and the music’s carnivalesque twists and turns reflect that. This album, Pugs Bite the Red Knee, remains the easiest to find, having been released by the Tone Casualties label (their Casual Tonalities division) out of L.A. And it’s a great one, with the opening “Mari in Love” a brilliant concoction of punk, new wave, and samba, of all things. If you’re a fan of DemiSemiQuaver, Nina Hagen, and the like, you should certainly track down a Pugs album. Enjoy.

Listen to “Mari in Love”

Kuroyurishimai

The duo of Juri and Lisa, aka Kuroyurishimai (Black Lily Sisters), released several albums during the 90s, primarily on the SSE label. Steeped in gothic atmospherics, the music evolved from a vaguely pop-infused debut to progressively more classical in nature. Based primarily on Lisa’s keyboards and Juri’s words and vocals, the two often included other musicians as well, from bass and percussion to violin and additional synthesizers.

When I call their music “gothic” I don’t mean goth as in Sisters of Mercy or any of the electronic crap that’s come to own that adjective. I’m thinking more in terms of actual gothic feeling — this is cathedral music suited for Notre Dame. Perhaps Dead Can Dance aren’t so far off, but Kuroyurishima avoid the coffee shop world music air that often plagued DCD. The piano and vocals in these songs reverberate as if in a church setting, with sublime, gorgeous harmonies.

A little while ago I got a copy from Lisa of the “Special Present CD”, a not-for-sale collection of tracks from 1990-1996 that appeared on various compilations or were unreleased, including “Blue Forest”, which I included on the Land of the Rising Noise Vol 2 CD that I released in 1996. The CD’s a short set of 11 pieces, including a number from hard-to-find compilations from SSE. I’m not sure why it’s not for sale, since it would be nice for more people to hear this.

Kuroyurishimai haven’t worked as a duo for a number of years now, but I know that Lisa at least continues to play, with occasional live shows in Tokyo though no releases recently. I’ll try to find out what her plans may be, and what Juri’s currently up to. Visit Sibylla for more information including their discography.

Listen to “Under the Moon”

ememe “i write great novels too”

After I reviewed a previous CD from Hiroshi Nomura, aka ememe, I was pleased to receive another package from him. It’s been a shamefully long time since then, but better late than never to spread the word about this uncategorizable artist. There’s no doubt that this won’t be too everyone’s liking, but it’s unique and quirky, and will certainly catch the ears of some.

This was released as a vinyl LP, because as Hiroshi says: “…record shops give audition services to the customers.” CD stores don’t always, but apparently most vinyl shops in Japan will let you give a spin to anything in order to preview it. Interesting.

Hiroshi has dubbed this music “rap house” which doesn’t, to me, quite fit the sound but then again I’m not sure what does. I suppose there are vocals that might be called rapping at times, and there’s lots of weird electronics, but it doesn’t sound housey to me. Who knows, though, just check out the track and see what you think. The song, and the album, are both called “i write great novels too” (ememe is a strictly lower-case artist) because “In fact I write novels in Japanese. And in the skit of this record, I advertise my novels to get a publishing company. But the lyrics are meaningless and have no relation to the contents of my novels and my literary talent…Please just enjoy the music.”

So there you go. Visit Gaiahood Records for more information.

Listen: “i write great novels too”

Marble Sheep “Message from Oarfish”

Identified here with the modern, shorter version of their original name — Marble Sheep and the Rundown Sun’s Children — Ken Matsutani’s psych-rock group has gotten punkier than ever (Matsutani also runs the intriguing Captain Trip label). Released outside Japan on Germany’s Funfundvierzig label, the eight songs here are mainly shorter blasts of High Rise-style psych, though certainly with a more pop sensibility. Imagine if the Ramones broke into wah-wah guitar eruptions periodically, and you’ll start to get the picture.

Marble Sheep have had a long career, and have gone through a number of changes. Their earliest incarnation was along a rather noisy, tripped-out angle, and then in the 90s Matsutani went through an overtly Grateful Dead-influenced period that, to be honest, didn’t really hold my interest. I saw them in Tokyo in 1992 and while the liquid light show was nice, the sound was a fairly bland psych pastiche. Around 2000 or so, however, they seemed to get their energy back, and the Stone Marby album showed some good promise again. Since then, the band have gotten substantially punkier, with fine results, and this album from last year (though it may have been released in 2006 in Japan; my promo copy here doesn’t have much info) is pretty heavy.

“Tears” opens the album with 12 minutes of space voyaging, but most of the other tracks are kept at pretty short lengths until the closing “From the Centre”. Even the 6-minute semi-ballad “Savior of Street” deftly balances melodic vocals with thick fuzzed-out guitar and heavy, crashing rhythms. Overall, good stuff that’s nice to hear coming from a band just reaching the end of its second decade!

Listen: “Skull Cool”

Courtis/Yamamoto/Yoshimi “Live at Kanadian”

Quite a supergroup of sorts, this one-off performance at restaurant/live house Kanadian in Osaka must have been a packed house. I’ve been to Kanadian once or twice over the years — it’s a cozy Indian-style restaurant that was at one time managed by Grind Orchestra (and ex-Boredoms) singer Yoshikawa. I’m not sure if it still is. In any case, Anla Courtis may be familiar to many as formerly being in Brazil’s Reynols, while the others likely need no introduction to readers of this blog: Yoshimi of Boredoms and OOIOO, and Seiichi Yamamoto of Omoide Hatoba, Rovo, and many others (and, yes, ex-Boredoms but I think he’s pretty tired of still being associated with a group he left a decade ago).

Here, we get four long pieces with the various permutations of the trio: Courtis & Yamamoto, Courtis & Yoshimi, Yoshimi & Yamamoto, and then a longer 26-minute excursion with all three of them. The proceedings throughout range from dizzying free-twisted sounds to occasional drone dreamscapes. Little of it is easy listening, and it will generally appeal to fans of the freest playing. It’s not noise, it’s more something like audio surrealism. The first track is most abstract, the second somewhat
dreamy, the third the jazziest in a strange way, and the fourth somewhat hits all of the above during its extended length.

Listen: Live at Kanadian Track 4 (excerpt)

Sodom “TV Murder”

Back in the 1980s, perhaps the most consistently challenging and intriguing label in Japan was Trans Records. I’m not entirely sure how many albums the label released, but nearly every one that I have, some of which were thankfully re-issued in the 90s by the follow-up label SSE, is excellent. Sodom’s TV Murder was the second LP released by Trans, in 1985, and is a fantastic blend of punk-industrial, with tribal elements amidst its factory-floor ambience. I have no idea whether any of the members went on to do anything else. The credits list Zazie (vocals), Konan (keyboard & guitar), Hayato (drums), and Bara (bass), with producer M. Kitamura, the head of the label (also member of the great YBO2 and later founder of the SSE label).

Listen: “TV Murder”

Houseside “Mindwar”

Going back to 1994 here, the fabulous SSE label (founded by the late, great Musashi Kitamura of YBO2 and others) released this vaguely mysterious album that nobody seems to have heard of. At first glance, given the band name, title, and cover art you’d be forgiven for expecting it to be an electronic thing, but in fact these six long tracks are a pretty rough sort of post-punk/cosmic rock kind of thing, and respectable indeed. From the aptly-titled opening song, “Headphone Trance” through “Hell Fire” to the concluding “The Devine (sic) Engine,” this trio covers a lot of avant-rock ground. I haven’t come across the members elsewhere, so I’m not sure what ever happened to them, and as far as I know this is the only release from Houseside: Aya Honda, Hiroki Kaminaga, and Mamoru Shimoshige (no instruments listed). If anyone knows more, please comment! I’d be quite curious to learn any other details.

Listen: The Third Hallucination

Four-Dimensions Twist

This CDR, released by Roman Records, is an intriguing collection of nominally singer-songwriter works, but with an unusual style filled with space, ringing notes, and vocals that do often harken back to the master of them all, Kan Mikami — though these singers are generally much less intense. Two tracks from the ubiquitous Suzuki Junzo start things off, one of them a fiery semi-fuzz storm, the other a more placid hum. Kubota Kenji has four songs, in a way somewhat Lou Reed-ish in style.

Jugz offer four songs as well, in a gentle and spare manner. Konishi Hisakazu and Honda Keiichiro sing and play guitar and banjo, sometimes with a jangly sprightliness, more often in a melancholy way. Rocket Son (yes, that’s the name given, not a group) finishes the collection with three pieces, picking and strumming in an old-fashioned Americana style with a bluesy vocal delivery.

Sites: Suzuki Junzo, Jugz, Rocket Son

Listen: “Karappo no Mizugame” by Jugz

Overhang Party Live Before and After

Catching up on things that I’ve had awaiting a writeup… There’s this stellar double-CD of live recordings from the formidable Overhang Party, released by Musik Atlach. With 10 songs, 5 on each disc, these pieces from 2004-2006 see leader Fukuoka Rinji with two different lineups and, hence sound to some extent. The first disc is with second guitarist Suzuki Junzo, Sachiko on bass, and Akiyama Kimiyasu on drums. The second disc has Sachiko adding occasional violin, with the second guitar role filled by Yamanouchi Akira and drums from Yamazaki Iwao.

Both discs are filled with long psychedelic excursions, of course, but the second has a more shambling, atmospheric feel perhaps — including the closer “Prayer of a Fool”, over 20 minutes of drone voyaging. Fans of things psych will find a lot to like throughout: those with a more rockist bent may prefer the first disc, while those preferring a zoneout will go for the second. I’m happy to have both available.

Visit Overhang Party on MySpace and Musik Atlach for more information.

Listen: Tokyo Zero-Fighter