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….
Category: Japan
Maki Asakawa :: Gogo 午後
Night music. Japanese chanteuse and composer Maki Asakawa’s career spanned three decades, experimenting with the forms of jazz, folk, blues and pop. And while adept at all of the aforementioned, the artist was at her […]
Kikagaku Moyo / 幾何学模様 :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Japan has a long and fascinating history with psychedelic music, and its breadth of style is something increasingly reflected in the work of bands like Kikagaku Moyo, who are set to release their latest full length, the […]
The Multiverse of Haruomi “Harry” Hosono
For the past fifty or so years, Haruomi “Harry” Hosono has let his mind wander. That wandering has led him to any number of strange places. He’s made records that sound like Shotgun Willie, and […]
Ryo Kawasaki :: Hawaiian Caravan
Prior to finally landing a physical copy last year, Japanese guitarist Ryo Kawasaki’s 1982 cosmic funk lp, Ryo: Concierto De Aranjuez , lived solely in my car and on my headphones – effectively and perfectly soundtracking all manner of nocturnal […]
Itsuro Shimoda :: Everybody Anyone (1973)
“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.
Minami Deutsch :: With Dim Light
Behold With Dim Light, the excellent new album from Japanese psych-heads, Minami Deutsch. As Kikagaku Moyo and Guruguru Brain honcho, Go Kurosawa, mentioned last year, the band’s self-titled debut was more or less different variations […]
Some For Harry: A Haruomi Hosono Companion
“It was really pure art. Pure art. Anyway, producing great works was the ultimate goal; we had eyes for nothing else. We heard nothing else. We still had no sense of society. There was no […]
Kikagaku Moyo :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Over the past three and a half years, the young, hairy Japanese psychedelic outfit Kikagaku Moyo has quietly amassed a devout cult following via legendary performances across the United States, UK, Europe, and Australia. Not to mention […]
Ryo Fukui :: A Letter From Slowboat
Everyone loves a good origin story. No matter the creative discipline such tales make even the most potent work seem more revelatory. Enter the late Japanese jazz pianist Ryo Fukui . An autodidact, Fukui taught himself piano […]
Sleepwalker :: The Voyage (featuring Pharoah Sanders)
Visiting Tokyo in 2003, Pharoah Sanders sat in with local spiritual jazzists Sleepwalker at a club gig laying down what would become “The Voyage”. Released the following year as a Japanese-only import single, the track later […]
Shintaro Sakamoto :: How To Live With A Phantom
The album that keeps on giving – Shintaro Sakamoto’s 2011 debut, How To Live With A Phantom. Following his two decade involvement with Japanese psych-rockers Yura Yura Teikoku, Sakamoto eased into second gear with Phantom, assembling a heady quilt with nods to euro-lounge, exotica, funk and 70s crystalline pop.
Kikagaku Moyo :: House In The Tall Grass
#image_title One of our favorite sleepers of 2016 — House in the Tall Grass , the latest long-player from Japanese quintet Kikagaku Moyo. Hailing from Tokyo, the group (whose name fittingly translates to “Geometric Patterns”) transmits its waves through a […]
Ambient Japan 1980s: Mariah / Yasuaki Shimizu / Midori Takada
Last year’s Palto Flats reissue of the 1983 lp Mariah — Utakata No Hibi (the final record under that moniker, originally released on the super-cool Better Days label), has spawned a renewed interest in the Japanese composer and bandleader Yasuaki Shimizu — […]
Ongaku 70 :: Vintage Psychedelia In Japan
Enter Stomu Yamash’ta and Osamu Kitajima via Ongaku 70 – an indispensable compilation of Japanese psych/prog I was hipped to years back via Ghost Capital . At thirteen tracks, spanning 1969-1978, the collection also features Akiko Yano, Sadistic Mika […]