Category: Japan

Makoto Kubota :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

Posted on

When asked what he’s most proud of in his five decade career in music, the answer doesn’t come easy for Makoto Kubota. The prolific Kyoto-born singer, songwriter, and producer has never been one to look back at his past work, and like his longtime friend and collaborator Haruomi Hosono, Kubota remains eternally humble, preferring to let the music do the talking. Until now.

We had a long, wide-ranging conversation with Kubota, lasting until the wee hours of the morning. Below are excerpts from the four hour chat—one of very few interviews with Kubota that has been translated into English.

Shintaro Sakamoto :: Boat

Posted on

Japanese singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shintaro Sakamoto continues to mold his muse, via the release of the “Boat” 7″. Even better news? Sakamoto is slated to hit the US next month with a handful of live dates on both coasts. A rare stateside treat …

Akira Toyoda :: Benkei

Posted on

Recorded in New York City, smack in the middle of the 1980s, Benkei deftly sidesteps the era’s too frequent production woes. In sharp contrast, the record presents aesthetically perennial. As a piece, Benkei emanates a presence, an atmosphere that in no way feels ad hoc, but one more befitting a group of serial collaborators. This is both a testament to Toyoda as a bandleader and the players innate communion and agility throughout.

Tokyo Flashback: P.S.F. – Psychedelic Speed Freaks

Posted on

For about a quarter century, P.S.F. Records was an amazingly reliable source for Japan’s wildest underground sounds. The label’s founder, Hideo Ikeezumi, passed away in 2017, but he’s paid fitting tribute to on Black Editions’ new volume in the supremely heady Tokyo Flashback series, Psychedelic Speed Freaks (Black Editions reissued the original Tokyo Flashback last year.) A lavishly packaged four-LP set made up entirely of previously unreleased material, it showcases the awesome breadth of the P.S.F. discography, ranging from Fillmore East-ready jams (Ghost, White Heaven) to hair-raising free jazz (Masayoshi Urabe, Maher Shalal Hash Baz). There’s even room for unclassifiable excursions, like the positively wonderfully spacey solo accordion offering from á qui avec Gabriel. This isn’t just a compilation—it’s an odyssey.

Susumu Yokota :: Acid Mt. Fuji 赤富士

Posted on

Originally released in 1994, and reissued last year via the Berlin-based Midgar Records, Acid Mt. Fuji marked the debut lp of the late Japanese producer Susumu Yokota. Atmospheric and awash in a myriad of electronic, ambient, textures, the record more than earns its title. Buoyed by an atypical amalgam of numinous field recordings, drones, drum machines, and samples, Fuji’s hour and 14 minute runtime is very much indeed a trip….

Itsuro Shimoda :: Everybody Anyone (1973)

Posted on

“Everybody Anyone”, via Itsuro Shimoda’s Love Songs And Lamentations, 1973. After a year of intent listening, framing what I imagined the haunted Japanese lyrical content to be, I did the unimaginable (no, obvious) and Googled it. And up came Youtube with a translation via the comments section. In short, the aural sense of longing/searching was spot on.