Various Artists - Musique Du Jouet

Label : Novel Cell Poem - NCP-010

Country : Japan

Year : 2001

Format : CD

I am still alive and I have seen the comments. Somehow I missed some Google security update wrt Google Drive download links, even had a deadline. Hopefully I can fix this without much trouble, but perhaps this early Christmas present can tide you over. Before yuletide sets in, that is.

This is one CD I've had my eyes on for awhile, never really finding the right Discogs seller or Japanese auction to snipe. Until now, that is. I've laid clear my huge interest in Toypop scene in the past, both through posts on this very blog and lists on another. This CD is a good showcase of the variety of sounds produced in this cross-continent yet seemingly tiny movement, and it makes for a good collected companion to the sort of "thrown-against-the-wall" nature of my playlist. 

As for now, "musique du jouet" still languishes in a sort of obscurity that I hope changes in the future. If only a little bit of exposure, it's a beautiful and rich assortment of sounds for anyone willing to lend an ear. At this point I oughtta write a book on it.

Click the CD

Gary Panter - Pray For Smurph

Label : Overheat Records - OVE-0102

Year : 1983 (RE 2008)

Country : Japan

Format : CD

Here's something I didn't know existed 'til a few months ago. The CD issue of this, that is. I had once heard an old vinyl rip of this album, weirdowave avant-country by the comic artist Panter. An apocryphal Ralph Records curiosity if you will.

Now a local comic book store came upon a batch of these, cutting the price down by magnitudes going by Discogs. It was really serendipitous, I opened a social media app one night (turning morning) and came upon it and gave it an order. The rest is history. 

Now given that this is by an artist of Panter's cache you would expect to find some sweet prints in the booklet. If you have been paying attention to the scans, you would know yourself to be correct. It also came with this sick flag, which I have hanging proudly in my closet at the minute.

This is a definitive "zolo" release, although I see that more as a pure aesthetic than an actual musical genre. If you haven't heard it before and my aforementioned description of the music doesn't register, think of it like the music he designed covers for in the past: Snakefinger, Residents (and Renaldo/the Loaf), Oingo Boingo, the good doctor Eugene Chadbourne, etc.... The herk and the jerk of a twang in a mode of new wave.

Don't be afraid to click the CD!

Harpy - Hot Drive

Label : Self-Released - HP-006

Country : Japan

Year : 1998

Format : CD

Before I start, let me recommend this live performance being offered on Bandcamp by the great itoken. With that giving me a good conscious to share this to you for free, here is a set of tracks recorded in the late 90s by one of my favorite toy/avant/prog groups, a mix of live and studio tracks. 

A zip of this has been floating about the internet for a long while, but only in measly 192 kbps mp3. Today I give to you, in fresh 4K quality, a 96 kbps opus rip!!!!

(FLAC version can be found on slsk if need be)

Here

Circadian Rhythm - 新鮮なかおり

Label : Air Records - AIR-3008

Country : Japan

Year : 1986

Format : 7 inch

Some Eastern hospitality in the form of a cute little 7 inche package. The music is quite comfortable, too. A languid Lacrymosa side project, with pop sensibilities between the avant bursts. It's odd, I quite enjoy the B side and do like the chintzy little melodies of the A-side, but this doesn't grab me as much as I would have anticipated... It has all the niceties of the Japanese new wave in all its [musical description/cliche] and weirdo sensibilities (or zolo, whatever that is). Sort of like a lot of technopop I hear, I would prefer to hear kraftverk or O. My. Dee.

Of course, I could just let it settle. Let it grow on me, yes, grow on me like a, er, mushroom. Yes, yes, yes, yes,  Psilocybin hallucination or insomnia? I'll go with the latter, my circadian clock's only right a couple times per day.

I neglected to scan the back side of this one, wouldn't you believe it? Lucky enough, someone was gracious enough to facilitate the missing spaces to Discogs, making my job halfway obsolete. Oh, if you would like to hear more from this rather obscure outfit I recommend checking out Tony Coulter's show on WFMU. If you bug him enough he might just queue em up.

Here

Marica - 海Jellyfish月

Label : Invitation - CDR-1465

Country : Japan

Year : 1987

Format : CD

Crossarmed and pangless.
Truth be told, I was juggling the notion of whether I should post this here or on my "sister blog", given that this is a bit too poppy for the content here and not quite the "Avant-garde Jazz, Leftfield, Post-Punk" posited by Discogs; truly the treachery of labels there.

Truth be told a second time, this isn't an avantpop romp, but a solid slice of 80s Japanese new-wave. We in the industry (note: not industrial) throw these kinda releases under the nebulous umbrella of "Art Pop". Not quite Kate Bush, but I never listened to her anyway.

So, why wait? Immerse yourself in synthpop goodness... the kids on-line are always impressed by obscure Japanese albums.

Here

ひうがなつ [Hiuganatsu] - 日向夏

Label : Club Lunatica - CL-009

Country : Japan

Year : 2000

Format : CD

So this disc finally came in, after about 2 months worth of travelling over the open seas and across the new frontier I present it you. That's what I get for cheaping out with Surface shipping. See the cover there? That's what the album sounds like: a summer afternoon tinted yellow with the diffusion of sunbeams. The low hanging cloud localised inside the corridor also fits, somehow.

It feels as if this unique scene of Japanese music is always producing surprises, a lot of good stuff here. Accordion heavy, which is always good, and with an immature light. Based on that description alone I've heard this album dozens of times before, and yet it is unique. I am not so sure if this is a scene like I said offhand before or if it is just a coincidental mishmash of likeminded musicians operating at the same time and working with the same tuneful clay. Or maybe that's just what a scene actually is.

I appreciate that they were so kind as to include an English translation of the lyrics, just a nice little touch. Though this is certainly more Francophone than Anglo given the credence towards such musicians as France Gall and Klimperei.

                        Here

Tsukimoto Tadashi [月本正] - だってもう雨だよ, サンシャインガール (It's A Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl)

Label : きなこたけ - きなこ－101

Year : 1997

Country : Japan

Format : CD

Disquiet night, this. Here's another offering from the strange and apparently illustrated avant-whatever musician Tadashi Tsukimoto. In this episode, he covers those fateful years of 1993-96, this time with a little help from his friends. Compared to the wildly popular post from a little while back, this is a behemoth. And rougher, too.

A comparison I've been forcing upon this album is one of age periods. The relatively piecemeal aki shimmydisc which was replete with small ditties and childish folksong is given way to manic free improv and harsh acoustic works. Now, about the comparison. I have said in the past that this album is one of adolescence to its predecessor's infancy and burgeoning youth. Projection? Yeah. 

It should be noted that I have decided to actually get off my ass and post this album in the split middle of the night, as often I do find my best work to be seen due to the spastic neurons firing and nocturnal motivation. I also just got off watching the first four episodes of the new Debiruman animu, so I have a bit of hypersexual and hyperviolent energy in my veins 'swell.

Here

Tsukimoto Tadashi [月本正] - 1983-1985

Label : n/a

Country : Japan

Year : 1987

Format : 7 inch flexi

Probably the sparsest record that's been shown a light on this blog. Each little track comes and goes as the needle crosses borders between grooves, leaving only jilted melodie and lowfi guitar and piano recordings behind.

I said before on a different site recently, this is one for fans of pseudo-children's muzak the likes of Uncle Calvin's Private Life, maybe Dragibus, etc... But this is a much more stripped down version of that kind of stuff, so donut expect some elektrik eccentricism. The influence of nursery chimes is obvious when he himself gives thanks to his childhood on the back cover. Placed above his halcyon days, he also gives thanks to the great D.D. Records, one of the greatest tape labels in Japon's fabled histry.

I believe Tsukimoto appears on the excellent DD comp "Disk Musik", performing a chune not unfamiliar to the stylings posed here. He also appeared on some compilations put out by the also excellent and eclectic Fifth Column label.

Here

Various Artists - Hіstory Of K-НIN Bros. Co. 1982-1994

Label : Super Fuji Discs - FJSP222/231

Country : Japan

Year : 2015

Format : CD

Since I am away on a brief vacation without the comfort of my tape player and turntable, I give you something truly sublime. I've held onto this for a little while, first downloaded from a friend on a familiar private tracker. This is a mammoth 11-hour box set chronicling what I consider the epitome of Japanese eccentric pop scene from the silent 80s throughout the roaring 90s.

I believe this came with a book or something of that nature. If you're interested in that, well you're gonna have to pull out the proverbial wallet for that because the download did not come with scans sadly. Though I don't think most reading can decipher runes, I could be wrong as I often am.

Discs 1-6

Discs 7-11

Various Artists - Cruel Beasts

Label : Maboroshi no Sekai - B...018

Country : Japan

Year : 1994

Format : C45

Something special for your Sunday. I'd like to think this is rare, but for all I know this could be shelf fodder in its homeland. This is an early release on the very cool Maboroshi no Sekai label which produced similar albums of this sonic ilk throughout its continued existence. The sounds presented here are of a diverse type all deriving from that all encompassing "experimental" umbrella. Some tracks branch off from the textures sprouted forth from bands such as the Boredoms and the Ruins, the spectrum of noisy mayhem and technically proficient chaos.

One may recognize some of the names here, with Japanese underground luminaries like Otomo Yoshihide, Koichi Makigami, and Seiichi Yamamoto making an appearance and also one of my favorite groups from that very subterranean artspace, Harpy. In fact, Harpy's percussionist itoken is the one who chose these artists for this tape. You may recognize him from my Zuppa di Pesce posts awhile back, I really respect his work. Some bands included are avant-proggers Soh Band and psych-noisters Children Coup D'Etat, who turn in some impressive performances. A band I don't recognize is Piranezi, jazzy noise rock for busted eardrums. Lots of unheard tracks here, don't miss it.

Here

Lossless, so don't lose out!

Various Artists - Cassette Revolution Vol. 1

Label : Narisu Records - CSRN-2501

Country : Japan

Year : 2014

Format : C50

I forgot to post this one, after all the relative trouble I had to go through to get it. Truthfully speaking, I posted this before on a behind-closed-doors kind of site while neglecting my own pet project. I had forgotten my roots, how shameful of me. Anyway, it's here and I can't complain, I need to keep this place's blood flowing.

This is a bit of an odd tape to post here, as its experimentalisms are more latent compared to most other posts here. Dissonance comes and goes, sometimes in favor of a more JPop approach... But there are some (un)hits here, cool stuff all around. I wonder if the Japanese are going to pick up more on the recent kassette kultur revivalism that's been going around the past few years, at least that's what the indie tabloids say. Not like people haven't been putting out tapes consistently since the CD tried to stifle it.

Since I'm a such a generous host, I've scanned and even tried my hand at cleaning the mini-manga (an omake to the cassette, if you will) that came with it. No TL, though. Even though it looks like basic stuff, I can't really read it. Maybe a scanlation group will pick it up and get in tussles with other factions over it.

Here