Absolute life affirming insanity from the all time Japanese masters of the dada brainwarp. This takes the sugar shocked madness of their Picnic Time tape (which I posted a few months back) and enriches, deepens and polishes their candy coated avant-electropop into something not just insane, but formidably insane. Amidst all the cartoonish grotesque splendor however, there appears a mirage named Aishu No Melody (The Setting Sun In Africa), one of the most hauntingly lovely things I've ever heard, made doubly gut wrenching by it's inexplicable appearance among such abjectly ludicrous company. A godhead album of sick genius that's top 3 for me when discussing ANY era of the Japanese underground music scene.
Note: Link removed, as this is (amazingly!) now back in print as part of the Ata Tak boxset collection series reissued by Suezan Studios
Sick! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteYou guys have an amazing site. Thanks a bunch for, well, everything.
ReplyDeleteI saw you posted the Departmentstore Santas back in April. Any chance you have and can post Guy Goode & His Decentone Orchestra? I've been looking for that for years with no luck.
Once again, thanks for the great site and all of the music!
Jim & Eric, thank you for the 4-6 posts on a pretty much daily basis. That has to be really, REALLY hard work so I want you to know I appreciate everything you guys do very, VERY much!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to listen to this, as I'm pretty unfamiliar with Japanese weird music.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: is this stuff popular in Japan? I mean, do these avant-garde artists keep their day jobs, or do they sell lots of records? I'm just curious about the receptivity to stuff like this over there.
Thanks, as always, for your always educational work.
Pffff...insane.
ReplyDeleteAs always, thx for the work.
This is fantastic. Thank you very much. You both are doing a massive service for everyone.
ReplyDeletelove this record!
ReplyDeleteI look forward to hearing this, sounds worth checking out for sure!
ReplyDeleteOn another note, just wondering what's happening with the promised re-post of the fixed Uppsala and Mammut tracks... Myself and others have been asking about it for a while but no one's answering the queries. Hope there's no problem. I really appreciate what you're sharing here and hope you can keep going. [But mostly I'm still catching up with posts from March!]
best wishes
Chris
Is that the Dominique up there I think it is? ;-)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, yes -- WONDERFUL album, great call to put it up. Made for amazingly amusing morning listening at work. Thanks!
Saccharine-cutsey bonzerkers. What the US spends on the Defense Dept. the Japanese must spend on subsidizing the production of this kind of music.
ReplyDeletePrincess Sparkle Pony: no, this stuff isn't much more popular in Japan then it is here. They are as obsessed with shallow pop teen stars as we are, if not more so. Some Japanese groups like Shonen Knife actually became more popular in the States first.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thanks for this great bit or Residents-esque weirdness.
The cover art only just make we want to have it.
ReplyDeleteAh, thank you, Mr. Fab.
ReplyDeleteAfter listening to this, I'm prepared to call them the Japanese Renaldo and The Loaf. Very enjoyable and constantly surprising/jarring.
This is the best thing I heard in a minute!
ReplyDeletewas blown away by the picky picnic tape. look forward to listening to this!
ReplyDeletegreat material!! I love your blog!!! thanx a lot!!!
ReplyDeleteI've downloaded some of this album in soulseek but the last few tracks i haven't been able to finish.
ReplyDeletethe copy i partially downloaded is slower, recorded at 33 maybe. this sounds 45... the other version actually sounds like it might be the correct speed. this faster version has its saccharine charm for sure, and maybe it is actually supposed to be played like this, but I'm not totally sure which is correct, even tho I would guess the 33rpm version is the right one.
Thanks for all the incredible music!
ReplyDeleteI just got a vinyl copy of this record and it's definitely a 33rpm album, though it sounds great at 45rpm's as well. It's a little confusing because side one says 45 and side two says 33.