Debon
Label: Paradigm Discs
Format: CD
Genre: Music from Japan
In stock
Brast Burn was a legendarily obscure Japanese ensemble that existed in the first half (I presume) of the 1970s. For many years, they were known only as an entry in the notorious Nurse With Wound list, with no way for anyone to check them out. Thus this CD. First off, I'll say that it sounds really good. One would never guess that it was a transfer from vinyl. Brast Burn has been cited/promoted at various times as the "Japanese Faust". I feel that this is incorrect. A better analogy would be to the ritual/hypnotic Suzuki-era Can: to Soundtracks and the Ethnological Forgery Series. But the analogy is imperfect because Debon ranges over fairly eclectic territory, taking in slide blues, parodies of 1969-71 Pink Floyd, and some truly blasted overdrive guitar (here the Faust reference makes a little sense). Side A is where they indulge their jokier aspects - including an irritatingly persistent way with the percussion (precursor to electronica/sampledelica?) and that "ironic" slide guitar. Side B is a minor masterpiece, travelling from tribal forgery to a lovely Near Eastern ballad thing to the fuzz extravaganzas that eventually close out the album (abruptly). Individual indexing of "songs" within the two (22-minute plus) "sides" would have been helpful.
Cat. number: PD 07
Year: 2003