JUKE/19-1978-1982, 5xCD BOXSET, 1996, JAPAN

Presaging the emergence of the whole Boredoms/UFO or Die mayhem-in-the-romper-room aesthetic by some 10 or so years (Juke/19 leader Shinro Ohtake would go on to collaborate with Eye on the Pipeline CD/book project in 1996, making the connection explicit) Juke/19 delights in creating willfully imbecilic universes of sound where episodes of absurdist brilliance sit jowl to jowl with passels of merely passable midrange howl, though these sudden right turns from cantankerous cacophony to gleefully cartoonish instant compositions create some gripping tension, as these ruptures in tone occur with a logic palpable only to those involved. As everything from mulched video game marching music for mongoloids to what sounds like Sally Smmit being tasered by Maurizio Bianchi emerge at unexpected intervals from the din, you begin to get the sense of some very alien minds at work here. Everything I've just said fails to adequately account for the contents of disc three here though (1981's "Pieces"), which sits at an esoteric-bordering-on-occult right angle to all the rest of the boxset's contents both in it's seriousness and eerieness and which strongly calls to mind the ceremonial, processional and very Dome-like work of the stunning Japanese outfit The Mask Of The Imperial Family before hazing out into a fathoms deep cavern of claustrophobic resonances. Strongly compelling stuff here, folks.

Get disc one (Juke/19) Here

Get disc two (Ninety Seven Circles) Here

Get disc three (Pieces) Here

Get disc four (Soundtrack) Here

Get disc five (19/Single: 4 Titles) Here