TIPOGRAPHICA-THE MAN WHO DOES NOT NOD, CD, 1995, JAPAN

Of all of Zappa's heir apparents, to my ears, Tipographica win hands down for their higher key and often mind melting whirlwinds of avant prog motion. Next to Koenjihyakkei, these boys represented for me the highest water mark of Japan's avant prog explosion during the 90's and this incredible live document finds them spinning on a dime as effectively in a live setting as in a studio. With it's endless twisting and inward folding structures, the Ruth Underwood-driven light-speed instrumental runs from, say, Apostrophe's "St. Alphonzo's Pancake Breakfast" might serve as a convenient point of reference here, though Tipographica also specialize in a sort of destabilized mock-drunken wooze and lurch and occasional bouts of offhand breeziness that are uniquely theirs alone. For further elucidation, their sublime first and second studio albums can be found on, respectively, the Delerium Dust and Sakalli blogs, but this is as good a point of entry for the uninitiated as any. My highest recommendation!

Get part one Here

Get part two Here