Music from Japan

Butcher and Nakamura first played together in 2002 at 'Super Deluxe' in Tokyo at the invitation of promoter Hisashi Teruchi. The concert was released as half of 'Cavern with Nightlife' prompting Jason Bivins (Dusted Magazine) to write : 'Not only is Nakamura one of the worlds great improvisers working today, I am hugely impressed with Butchers ability to work in concert with him. Whisper soft soprano squeaks and gently coaxed feedback saxophone meld fluidly, seamlessly with the stripped-metal to…

And that's the story of jazz... Get it? Well, maybe you had to be there when legendary saxophonist Akira Sakata, guitarist Jim O'Rourke and bombast rhythm crew of percussionist Chris Corsano and double bassist Darin Gray (aka Chikamorachi) jumped in the van for a Japanese tour. This two CD set documents their 2008 jaunt -- not the first and far from last -- in blistering detail. Shades of Last Exit, Coltrane's Live in Seattle and even Kousokuya appear here but this quartet has nailed its own uni…

Using his no-input mixing board Toshimaru Nakamura, perhaps the ultimate Onkyo artist, spent two years creating this work, which is also the second release in the Erstsolo series. Nakamura constructs this 46 minute piece from recordings of his mixer, which generates a combination of hum, glitch, buzz and subliminally disruptive sound. He develops the results into gentle and non-violent textural and impressionistic music that unfolds in a meditative and absorbing manner. That Nakamura c…

and/OAR (via either/OAR) is very pleased to present what is without a  doubt among the very best of both artist's electronic-based work. Throughout much of this highly charged release, brooding clouds of swarming tones and drones envelope the listener, either inducing a hypnotic trance or a deep contemplative listening state.This work is the result of a mail exchange. At first, Kiyoshi created the feedback sound in the studio using a suspended microphone, mixer and some effects. Sometimes drum s…

Originally self-published as a very limited triple 3" CDR release in May, 2009, Celer's Levitation And Breaking Points is now available again on CD - this time limited to 300 copies. Surely one of Celer's most subtly beautiful and uplifting albums out of an already beautiful, highly prolific and much celebrated discography of work. Especially magical o listen to in the early evening as the sunlight fades below the horizon... a balm for the soul.

 Between August 1980 and March 1981, Les Rallizes Dénudés (or The Naked Larryz, as the long-lost acetate they are rumored to have recorded for Virgin Records in the mid-'70s dubbed them) played seven concerts in and around Tokyo. Never officially released, illicit ninth generation cassette copies circulated in Japanese fan circles for many years, attaining a whispered, Holy Grail status amongst initiates to the Rallizes cult. High quality soundboard versions were finally released by the se…

Fourth J.A. Caesar album, originally issued on Victor in 1978. More crazy theatrical prog, but less bombed than the above, and seemingly more reliant on missing visual imagery. "This is another J. A. Caesar's album. Though we can not find his name on the cover, he composed all the tunes. A recorded live album and the music in the album must be very magical. Now is the time you have to estimate his genius for this unknown Japanese artist."

First proper studio album by Rudolf Eb.Er / R&G since '23 Brutal-Humouroid Dramas' (TA052) from 2005. Psycho-active Audio-Art composed and mixed 2010-2011 by Rudolf Eb.er in Osaka. CD in 6-panel fullcolour digipak.

The Guitar Solo album was produced by Takeshi Fujii, the producer of the legendary jazz label "Three Blind Myth", in June 1981.  Takayanagi responded to the request with "Lonely Woman" recorded in August 1982. As stated in the liner notes of this work, Takayanagi said: "In my two years of fighting against illness, my thoughts have changed, and now I'm thinking rather than making a group album. The form of solo would be appropriate to put it together" and he worked on the guitar solo as the first…

Masami Akita alias Merzbow, the king of noise music, the defender of the vegan cause, the animals lover is coming back with a cosmic and devastating magma, a spinning metal tapestry-work with loops of echoes in a whale rutting way. As usual, to be listened to very loudly. Mix realized at Munemihouse in Tokyo during the month of April in 2011.

Second official release from CX records, Italy. “Guya” new and unreleased track from the master of japanese noise Masami Akita, 18 minutes of noise bliss, a powerful sonic  trip structured by feedbacks, digital and analog electronics. A devastating masterpiece. 3 new tracks recorded, composed and mixed in Berlin, Rome and Tokyo by Cris X/Cristiano Luciani in collaboration with underground japanese musicians, Keiko Higuchi (vocals, piano, lyrics) and Sachiko (vocals, electronics): a dark and visi…

Jigokuhen is the final instalment in Masami Akita's 15 part Bird Series for Important Records. Inspired by Olivier Messaien's Catalogue D'Oiseaux, the Bird Series saw the release of one CD per month for 13 months while a 14th disc was released free via download to series subscribers and on CDr with the purchase of Merzbow's EcoBag. This 14th Bird Series release is being issued on the 2 year anniversary of the start of the Bird Series and in conjuntion with Vampilla's new album on Important …

Originally released in 2006 on the Univive label, Phoenix Records presents this highly-collectible, numbered limited edition 5LP box set of three live gigs spanning 1974-1977 and live material from a 1980 gig of legendary Japanese rock outfit Les Rallizes Dénudés. The group was formed in 1967 and incredibly, for a group that had only one official release (Oz Days Live, a double vinyl compilation release in 1973), played their last gig almost 30 years later in October 1996. As news of new ro…

Another crucial release from the highly influential and reclusive Japanese psychedelic noise band Les Rallizes Dénudés. Originally formed in 1967, the band was known for its ties to avant-garde theater groups (as typified by Shuji Terayama's troupe) and leftist political groups, and their feedback-drenched live shows and use of strobe lights and mirror balls onstage earned them comparisons with The Velvet Underground. In 1970, bass player Moriaki Wakabayashi was involved in the hijacking of J…

Comes in Stoughton mini-LP gatefold sleeve with 6 double-sided cardstock prints.

'Six tracks. Recorded at the studio of Extrapool in Nijmegen for a series of 'Brombron' project in October 2009. Mixed and produced by Kazuyuki Kishino at Prima Natura Studio.' label info

Shortly after ordering this 14 CD set; I read a newspaper article about the plight of the Eurasian cuckoo whose habitat is being gradually destroyed both in Britain and abroad. It is this type of threat to birdlife that inspired Japanese ‘noise music’ meister and long-time animal activist Masami Akita’s (aka Merzbow) 2009 album series, “13 Japanese Birds”. Now the entire set, plus a new CDR and piece of screen print art-work have been reissued as “13 Birds In A Bag”, with a navy blue eco-f…

The 1982 debut of Osaka's Hijokaidan, the self-styled King of Noise, here in a 40th anniversary edition. Compiled from 1981 live recordings of their notorious early shows, it is a primal document of noise's violent youth, predating the debut LPs of Sonic Youth and Swans. On Jojo Hiroshige's Alchemy.

** long op, few copies back in stock** Originally released in 1986 as an LP on Alchemy Records. With a cover and title paying homage to their krautrock heroes Faust, Hijokaidan's Tapes is a crucial entry in their discography, a record originally released in 1986 as sort of a career retrospective to date, comprising tracks from various eras and lineups, all only previously available on cassette. It starts off way back in 1979 with Hijokaidan's first ever recording, the studio-destroying (so …

Classic Hijokaidan with the line-up of Junko, Jojo, Mikawa. Recorded at Gorilla, February 1989, Remastered by T.Kotani (Omega Sound). One 74 minute long piec