Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re - Pregnant Fantasy (2004)

" Hailing from musical hotbed Japan, Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re is an all-girl rock trio culling influences from a number of musical camps, most predominantly rock and punk. Pregnant Fantasy varies somewhat, from the garage rock of "Lingerie Shop" and "Ebihara Shinji" to the experimental avant-rock of "Manhole" and the fucked-up ska/metal spasmodics on "Tea Time Ska". Behind it all are the singers' cutesy voices (think Enon), lending a deliberate accessibility to the melting pot of styles. The formula works surprisingly well, avoiding falling into the experimental abyss of tedium but keeping things offbeat enough to warrant a special kind of attention. If crashing rhythms and revved-up guitars fit in snugly with cheery, girly vocals in your dictionary of rock, then Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re's Pregnant Fantasy needs to make its way into your collection. Now."

http://lix.in/-2b74bc

Shuji Inaba - Yoenzange (2006)

"He plays the guitar in a style that is related to American & British folk music, but his vocals and lyrics are uniquely Japanese. His primary predecessor is Kazuki Tomokawa, also known as “the screaming philosopher” for his extreme vocal delivery. Like Tomokawa, Inaba has a rough but flexible voice that can switch from melody to a rough bark or a strained scream and then switch right back again. Inaba’s voice sounds rougher and older, but also more melodic. While Tomokawa sounds like a predecessor to hardcore punk, Inaba sounds like a grandfather whose voice has gained in character what it has lost in range.

Inaba sings in Japanese, but the lyrics are in the liner notes in both Japanese and English. Like in traditional Japanese poetry, nature is used as a starting point to discuss other topics. For Inaba, the topics he chooses are often political in nature, although in a more subtle way than the stereotypical protest folk singer. In “Catching Evening Cicadas,” Inaba uses the inability of city dwellers to spend a summer evening catching cicadas to comment on modern life’s growing disconnection with nature.

The opening track, “Fate and Fortune,” is a 13 minute epic that sums up the ideas of the album and also serves as the best track. Inaba touches on all his vocal styles, and his guitar moves from melodic lines to frantic strumming to near silence. The 5 seconds that start at the 2:15 mark where all you can hear is the reverberation of the strings and you’re waiting for the guitar to come back in is one of the most haunting moments of anticipation I’ve heard this year.

The other tracks on the album are all far shorter and reinforce the ideas that Inaba has already presented, but they also expand on them in several unique ways. “Let's Play” has lightly swinging almost-Eastern European rhythm that sounds like a Japanese take on Jewish folk music. “My Apple” is the most musically upbeat and melodic, even though it relays a typically depressing tale.

The second half of the album moves in to more minimal territory. “Afterimage of an Echo ~ Hiroshima” is appropriately spare and focused on the vocals, but the track that follows it, “Inasa Beach”, makes for a more harrowing listen. The rest of the disk continues with the simple, quiet guitar playing that puts the focus on Inaba's expressive vocals. “Coleacanth” does have some very nice blues influenced guitar lines at the end, though.

Note should be made of the quality of the recording. This is a remastered and reissued edition of a CD-R Last Visible Dog released a few years ago. I haven’t heard the original, but the sound on this edition is stunning. The guitar sound warm and full, like your ear is right next to the resonant chamber. From the quality of the songs and recording to the gorgeous artwork and enlightening liner notes, this is one of the strongest releases (new or reissued) I’ve heard all year long."

http://lix.in/-2cfb3f

Kousokuya - Echoes From Deep Underground (2007)

"For those that don't know Kousokuya are a cult garage pysch rock trio formed in the 1970s in the Tokyo underground music scene by main member, and recently deceased Jutok Kaneko. Despite having existed for 20-plus years, the band's output has been fairly sparse with a few releases on PSF and one domestic US release on the Forced Exposure label. Originally the archive release was to be comprised of a fantastic live performance on CD from Osaka in 2001, but having discovered the existence of video footage from the same performance, a bonus DVD was added to the mix. This release represents to date the only video document of Jutok and Kousokuya released in official capacity and realistically represent a chance for fans of obscure psych to see a band, and artist, that basically played outside of Japan only a handful of times. This pressing of 700 copies comes packaged in heavy black stock covers with metallic silver and gloss varnish and silkscreen work by the wonderful Alan Sherry of Siwa Records. The CD and DVD come in black envelopes held together by a silkscreened obi strip."


CD:
http://lix.in/-2d8fa8

DVD:
http://lix.in/-309ccc

Musica Transonic - Introducing Musica Transonic (1995)

"Debut CD by a Tokyo supergroup featuring Asahito Nanjo (High Rise) on bass, Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins) on drums, and Kawabata Makoto (Toho Sara, AMT) on guitar. Totally distorted monster heaviness in an early High Rise meets Ruins mode. Essential."

http://lix.in/23216bdc

Yuki Katori - Waltz (Tomokawa cover)