TRAVELLIN BAND MAKO
Anywhere Does the cosmic shepherd Flower Travellin Band First album Super record Sagittari
Late 1970’s-1980’s
A
After Dinner – formed in 1982 by vocalist Haco, After Dinner were an avant-garde progressive group inspired by Art Bears, and Haco’s vocals have been compared to those of Art Bears’ Dagmar Krause. They released three albums that I know of, ‘After Dinner’ [ReR, 1984], ‘Paradise of Replica’ [ReR, 1989] and ‘Tribalism’ [label? 1994]. I’ve heard only the first of these, which does have some broad similarities to Art Bears, but is more diverse and experimental, often downright odd! It has been reissued on CD by ReR with an album’s worth of live bonus material recorded between 1986- 1990 [‘Live Editions’].
Ain Soph – a Canterbury-styled progressive group, formed in 1970 as Heaven and Earth Creation; they changed their name to Ain Soph in 1977. They are not to be confused with the Italian ‘avant-rock’ group of the same name. Their first album was ‘A Story of Mysterious Forest’ [King Nexus, 1980]. Numerous other albums have followed – ‘Hat and Field’ [King Nexus, 1986], ‘Marine Menagerie’ [Made in Japan, 1991], ‘Ride on a Camel – Special Live’ [Belle Antique, 1991; rec. 1976-78], ‘Five Evolved From Nine’ [Made in Japan, 1993], ‘Mysterious Triangle – Special Live Vol. 2’ [Belle Antique, 1993] and ‘Quicksand – Special Live Vol. 3’ [Belle Antique, 1994].
Ankoku Kakumei Kyodotai (Dark Revolutionary Collective) – formed by guitarist Kawabata Makoto [then 13] with friends, who were all non-musicians at the time and thus taught themselves by improvising from scratch, even making some of their own instruments at first out of necessity. The intent at the beginning was to fuse hard rock with electronics – eg. Makoto’s idea was Deep Purple + Stockhausen. Add to this that their music was improvised but groping towards form, we can only guess what they sounded like, although they were unpopular perhaps due to clashing with current trends. They played together and did gigs between Nara and Osaka for numerous years, in the process starting their own cassette label R.E.P. [Revolutionary Extrication Project] on which they released their own recordings. Their debut tape ‘Ankoku Kakumei Kyodotai’ [R.E.P., 198?] was recorded in Makoto’s high school lab store room, using beakers and pots as percussion along with electronics; it’s reputedly a bit like early Nurse With Wound meets Amon Düül. This has only been reissued as part of the limited edition Makoto 10-CD box set ‘Learning From the Past’ [label? year?] and as an LP picture disc on the Italian Qbico label. Makoto has also made solo releases as well as with his famed group Acid
Mothers Temple and other projects [see below].
Astral Temple – some kind of electronic progressive group involving Hiro Kawahara from Osiris & Heretic [see below]. They released three albums on cassette only – ‘Shadow Illusion’ [1981], ‘Vista Under Arc Light’ [1982] and ‘100% Odd Lots Session’ [1982].
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Asturias – a progressive group inspired by Camel and Mike Oldfield. They released two albums, ‘Circle in the Forest’ [King, 1988] and ‘Brilliant Streams’ [King, 1990], before breaking up. They reformed recently as more of a chamber music ensemble, and released another album, ‘Bird Eyes View’ [Musea/Poseidon, 2005], which is unfortunately only 25 minutes long.
Aunt Sally – these guys were apparently some kind of rockin’, freaked-out ‘No Wave’ band, fronted by Phew. She later recorded some solo albums, the first of which – ‘Phew’ [Pass Records, 1981] was made with the assistance of Conny Plank, Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit. Their only album released at the time was ‘Aunt Sally’ [Vanity Records, 1978], which was largely ignored due to poor distribution. It has been reissued by Undo. Recently, a CD of live recordings has surfaced, ‘Live 1978-1979’ [P-Vine].
Azoth – a symphonic progressive jazz rock group who have been making demos since the late 80’s, but only recently released an album – ‘The Awkward Age’s End’ [2004]. Guitarist Masahiro Noda had also been in Interface [see below].
B
Back Ground Music – this group released an album ‘B.G.M.’ [Vanity, 1980] on the experimental Vanity label, and by extension may well be of interest. It’s been described as ‘minimal experimental techno pop’. However, there’s a Yellow Magic Orchestra [see below] album of the same title that I’ve seen dated as from 1981, and I’m forced to wonder if this is the same thing but with the date of release gotten wrong.
Bellaphon – a symphonic prog band inspired largely by Camel, featuring bassist Masahiro Torigaki from Ain Soph [see above]. They only have two albums that I know of, ‘Firefly’ [Made in Japan, 1987; reissued Musea, 1996] and ‘Delphi’ [Belle Antique, 1995].
Benikarin – a progressive rock band formed in 1984, featuring the drummer of Interface [see below]. I’ve got no idea what they sound like. They’ve made numerous albums - ‘Tekkin Omnibus I’ [1987, cassette], ‘Yellow Sky/Long For Lan’ [1988, cassette], ‘Melodies Park II’ [BBM, 1989], ‘Yellow Sky’ [1989, cassette, remixed instrumental], ‘Benikarin’ [1990, cassette; reissued on CD – Horen, 2001] and ‘Long Into the Edge’ [Long-In, 1991].
Bi Kyo Ran – an excellent progressive rock group very much influenced by mid-70’s King Crimson, focusing on guitar/bass/drums dynamics. They’ve released numerous albums, including ‘Madoromi Live’ [1977], ‘Bi Kyo Ran’ [Nexus, 1982], ‘Parallax’ [Nexus, 1983], ‘Fairy Tale’ [1987], ‘Who Ma Live Vol. 2’ [Belle Antique, 1988], ‘Go- Un’ [1995], ‘Ran Live Vol. 3’ [1995] and ‘Deep Live’ [1995].
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Blood [Bludd?] Sucker – Hans Pokora listed this in one of his ‘Record Collectors Dreams’ books as Bludd Sucker, but looking at the cover he reproduced it looks like he just misread it due to the way it was written – it looks like Blood Sucker to me. They released one album that I know of, ‘Blood Sucker’ [ALM, 1978], reputedly some kind of hard rock.
The Boredoms – a legendary group formed in 1986, including 2 ex-Hanataresh members, Yamatsuka/Yamantaka/Yamataka Eye and Ikuo Taketani, as well as guitarist Tabara Mata [who soon left to join Zeni Geva – see below] and bassist Hosoi. Numerous line-up changes have taken place over the years, with Eye remaining constant, and these days the group is very percussion-heavy. Over the years they’ve mutated constantly, from avant-punk to disjointed psychedelic avant-punk-prog-rock to enlightened inner-space rock for the new era. Not counting cassettes,
singles and EP’s, these are their albums - ‘Osorezan no Stooges Kyo’ [Selfish, 1988]; ‘Soul Discharge ‘99’ [Selfish, 1989]; ‘Pop Tatari’ [WEA Japan, 1992]; ‘Wow 2’ [Avant, 1993] (live in studio, supervised by John Zorn); ‘Onanie Bomb Meets the Sexpistols’ [numerous labels, 1994]; ‘Chocolate Synthesizer’ [100%/WEA, 1994]; ‘Super æ’ [WEA, 1998] clearly hints at the masterwork to follow, with lots of pure-vibed harmonious psychedelic stuff, as well as lots of cut-up and fucked-up weirdness reminiscent of their older stuff; ‘Vision Creation Newsun’ [WEA, 1999] (2-CD limited edition box set version); ‘Vision Creation Newsun’ [WEA, 2000] was the group’s masterwork in the opinion of many
[although alienating some fans of the earlier stuff]. I kind of got the impression from listening to it on mushrooms that the group had collectively reached a state of enlightenment! It flows more or less as a unified thematic whole, very organic yet high-tech at the same time. It’s a pure-vibed white light psychedelic epic, largely undescribable but with occasional reference points [or perhaps tributes] to bands such as Hawkwind and Neu! Music for a new age [not a New Age!].
There are numerous ‘EPs’ in the ‘Super Roots’ series dating from 1993-1999, some of which are very short, others fulllength releases which shouldn’t be called EP’s. There are also several remix albums of recent material, ‘Rebore Vol. 1’ [WEA, 2000] (remixed by DJ Unkle), ‘Rebore Vol. 2’ [WEA, 2000] (remixed by DJ Ken Ishii), ‘Rebore Vol. 3’ [Warner Japan, 2001] (remixed by DJ Krush) and ‘Rebore Vol. 0: Vision Recreation by Eye’ [Warner Japan, 2001] (remixed by Eye). These days the group is known as V∞rdoms, and they apparently plan not to make albums but just play live. However, they recently released a new album as The Boredoms – ‘Seadrum/House Of Sun’ [Warner Bros, 2004], which I have been told was recorded a few years earlier. It features just two long tracks, the titles of which are found in the album title. Seadrum was partly recorded literally in the ocean[!], with the accent on percussion and whole-earth vibes, all treated and mixed in the more recent hallucinogenic Boredoms fashion. House Of Sun is more relaxed, meditative and cosmic – simply beautiful, like the very mellow side of early Ash Ra Tempel and Achim Reichel perhaps. There are also countless Boredoms offshoots and side projects, sometimes venturing into radically different styles, of which only a few are mentioned elsewhere here.
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Brast Burn – an obscure underground avant-garde psychedelic outfit who made one album, ‘Debon’ [Voice, 1976]. It featured 2 lengthy tracks of largely repetitive, mantric, stoned folk grooves with percussion, keyboards, guitar, bass and plenty of sound effects and trippy mixing. Some of it’s like some Magical Power Mako; a lot of it is reminiscent of numerous of the more interesting progressive psych-folk and ‘krautrock’ bands [such as Amon Düül I & II, Lula Cortes e ze Ramalho]. The album attracted the attention of Nurse With Wound due to its weirdness, and is name-dropped on the famous ‘NWW list’. It was reissued on CD in a limited edition by Paradigm Discs in 1998. This group was apparently
associated in some way with Karuna Khyal [see below], and may be the same people.
C
Chakra – a keyboard-dominated progressive rock band with few vocals, who have been compared to ELP and ‘Relayer’-era Yes. Not to be confused with the US prog band of the same name. Their first album was ‘Chakra’ [Victor, 1980], produced by Makoto Yano from Moonriders [see below]. On ‘Satekoso’ [Victor, 1981] they were joined by Hideki Matsutake and Haruomi Hosono from Yellow Magic Orchestra [see below]; this album was reputedly more experimental. Their last album ‘Nanyo de Yoisho’ [VAP, 1983] was a mini-album, and the group was now only two people, using guest musicians to complete the recordings. By this time they were much more pop-oriented, and the group soon fell apart
Chronicle – an offshoot of Far Out [see above]. After that group broke up/changed into Far East Family Band [see above], Chronicle was formed by bassist/vocalist Kei Ishikawa and drummer/vocalist Osamu Takeda [and 2 other fellow countrymen], who had moved to California, frustrated with record company disinterest at home. They played electronic space rock in a similar vein to Far East Family Band, although with their own sound, and more song-based. They also shared the uneasy blending of soppy/cheesy commercially oriented balladry and really cool spacey stuff. The liner notes to their 3rd album claims that Ishikawa and Takeda had both been in Far Out and FEFB, but Takeda was not credited on
the Far Out album, nor on any FEFB albums that I know of. Chronicle released at least three albums – ‘Live at Whisky A Go-Go’ [Express, 1975], ‘Imawa Tokino Subete’ [1975] and ‘Like a Message From the Stars’ [All Ears Records, 1977].
Condition Green – a hard rock group. I’ve seen their [first?] album ‘Life of Change’ [See Saw, 1978] referred to as ‘psychedelic’ or ‘heavy progressive’; hard rock/metal reviewer Martin Popoff, who sometimes has confounding tastes and opinions even to some other metal heads let alone stuff with progressive or psychedelic edges [so it’s hard to know what to make of this], described it as “a sour mix of past due date power trio styles like a bad boogie ride on the Zeppelin. Add to that a predilection for jazzy Hendrix chording, a busy drummer and a lead singer who plays congas, and you’ve got a Santana album as interpreted by Robin Trower”, and rated it poorly, all of which may be good news or
bad news, depending on where you stand. The next album ‘Mixed Up’ [label?, 1978] has been compared to Grand Funk and Ted Nugent. It’s been reissued on CD by Pony Can.
Crosswind – formed by guitarist Ginji Ogawa in 1976. They played progressive rock of some kind and made at least three albums – ‘Crosswind’ [1978], ‘II’ [1979] and ‘Sosite Yumuno Kunie’ [1982]. Ogawa also performed in Carmen Maki’s band [see above]. After Crosswind broke up in 1984, Ogawa formed several other bands and began a solo career. In 2001 he re-emerged with Ginji Ogawa Band, playing prog apparently comparable to Camel, Yes, Focus, Rush & Jethro Tull.
D
Dada – an electronic group who have been described as ‘a Japanese Fripp & Eno’, and have also been compared to Ashra and Pôle. From what I’ve heard so far, the Fripp & Eno comparison only stands up as far as that the band was a synth/guitar duo - Kenji Konishi on synths and Mutsuhiko Izumi on guitar. Their debut, ‘Jyo’ [Vanity, 1978], was the first release on the Vanity label. This was followed by ‘Dada’ [Vanity, 1978], the live ‘Joheki’ (cassette) [Belle Antique, 1979], ‘Dada’ [King-Nexus, 1981; not sure if this is a reissue of the ’78 s/t album] and ‘Castle Wall’ [Belle Antique, 1984], a collection of previously unreleased material produced by H. Tamaki [see below]. This was reissued on CD in
1994. While some of it is pretty cheesy with icky early 80’s synth tones and melodies predominant, most of ‘Castle Wall’ is pretty top-notch spaced-out stuff, though with a few slight tape flaws here & there. Some of it reminded me a bit of some Pôle, Vangelis, late-70’s Tangerine Dream and Spacecraft, some of it perhaps like Carpe Diem stripped back to just the keyboards & guitar. Konishi later joined P-Model and Shifukudan; Izumi later joined After Dinner [see above] and Kennedy [see below].
Deja-vu – symphonic prog band formed in 1984 by university students; they had previously been called Clashed Ice, as a part of the university’s progressive music club. Deja-vu made one album, ‘Baroque in the Future’ [Made in Japan, 1988; reissued Musea, 1998]. They broke up in 1989 while making a second album. Keyboardist Motoi Sakuraba [see below] went on to a solo career. Ken Ishita [bassist on some tracks] also played with Ars Nova. Keyboardist Tomoki Ueno also played with Outer Limits, Gerard and Marge Litch. Drummer Genta Kudo also played drums and acoustic guitar with Due, Eiko Plus, Vermillion Sands and Kirche.
Dr. Jeckyl & Mr. Hyde – some kind of electronic progressive group involving Hiro Kawahara from Osiris [see below]. They released four cassette-only albums – the imaginatively-titled ‘1’ [1981], ‘2’ [1982], ‘3’ [1982] and ‘4’ [1982].
E
The East Bionic Symphonia – not really a proper band, but a temporary musical presentation staged for the graduation of Kazuo Imai and fellow students from the art school workshops of Takehisa Kosugi [see above]. These concerts of collective free-improvisation were called East Bionic Symphonia. They made a live recording, ‘Recorded Live’ [ALM, 1976], featuring 10 members playing all manner of instruments and objects over 2 lengthy jams. This sounds very much like a largely mellow Taj Mahal Travellers [see above]. After this, the group seems to have dissolved, with Imai playing with the Kosugi-less Taj Mahal Travellers and later with a variety of other avant-garde musicians. Another EBS member, Chie Mukai, went on to form her own ‘folk-psych’ group Che-SHIZU.
F
Flying Teacup – a progressive band of some kind who made at least one album, ‘Flying Teacup’ [Private, 1981]; I would guess from the name that they were inspired by Gong, and I hope so, too! More Gong-inspired bands can’t be a bad thin
Fromage – a melodic symphonic prog band with lots of vocals and solos, and a slightly poppy touch; they’ve been compared to numerous UK neo-prog bands of the same period. Formed in the late 70’s, they initially featured guitarist Ikkou Nakajima [later in Pageant – see below] and keyboardist Toshio Egawa [Gerard, Novela, Scheherezade], though both had left before the first album. Fromage made three albums – ‘Ondine’ [Belle Antique, 1984], ‘Ophelia’ [Belle Antique, 1988] and ‘Tsukini-Hoeru’ [1990]. They broke up around 1993, and some members went on to Cinema [see below].
Jun Fukamachi & 21st Century Band – Fukamachi is a keyboardist with jazz roots. I think his first album was ‘Introducing Jun Fukamachi’ [Toshiba, 1975], which reputedly contained ‘instrumental progressive jazz rock with great guitar work’. This was followed by ‘Rokuyu’ [1975], ‘Introducing Ponta Nuramachi’ [1976] – a duo with a drummer, Fukamachi playing Hammond, Moog and other synths, reputedly progressive jazz rock in style – ‘Second Phase’ [1977] and ‘Crossover’ [Kitty Records, 1977], which features Tony Levin on bass (on some tracks), as well as many other American musicians. Around this point he seems to have moved to the US and he went on to record numerous albums of funky fusion with noted US musicians [such as the Brecker brothers]. ‘Quark’ [1980] reputedly contained synth music and no fusion.
Fushitsusha – a noisy free ‘psychedelic’ rock group formed in 1978 by permanently black-bedecked guitarist Keiji Haino [ex-Lost Aaraaff, see above]. What I’ve heard has been largely, to my ears, pretty much unlistenable [beyond a point] feedback-laden sheets of guitar noise, with barely a cohesive groove of any kind audible from beneath it all. Les Rallizes Denudes did that sort of thing much better, I think. However, Haino fans insist that there’s more to it than that but I can’t see why anyone would want to own more than one of these albums, and I find it hard to want to even listen to a whole Fushitsusha album all the way through before getting bored with the noisy monotony of it all. This group has released many albums, and all of the ones I’ve seen are almost [or entirely] all-black. Alan Cummings recommended their 2nd ‘Live’ 2-CD set released on PSF [year?] as a good starting point.
G
G.A.O.S. – an instrumental progressive fusion band with two guitarists and no keyboards; they’ve been compared to Brand X, Side Steps and Kenso [see below]. They made at least one album, ‘G.A.O.S.’ [1987; reissued by Musea Parallele, 2001].
Geinoh Yamashirogumi (Yamashiro Art Group) – originally an experimental/avant garde musical collective formed in the mid-1950’s, intending to ‘destroy accepted values in the world of choral music’. [I’ve put them here because it took them a while to release anything, as far as I know]. In 1966 Shoji Yamashiro took over as composer, arranger, producer and ‘sound architect’ of the collective. In 1974 they changed their name to Geino Yamashirogumi, though I don’t know what they were called before; by this time they had absorbed many diverse vocal influences, such as from Bali and Bulgaria. The group consists of hundreds of people ‘from all walks of life’, many of them professionals in fields of science. Most of these people work in the vocal performances. They have become known for their ‘skilful fusion of traditional music with high technology’. The collective is also home to 2 organisations, Festival Arts Research Institute and Civilization Sciences Research Institute. The first album has come to be regarded as a bit of a classic – ‘Osorezan/Do No Kenbai’ [Invitation, 1976]. It contains only 2 lengthy tracks of weird experimental music with creative mixing, exotic instrumentation and strange ritual vocals. The first track ‘Osorezan’ (‘Mt. Fear’) is utterly weird, beginning with an anguished scream and moving through various shorter sections from there. Some of it is really eerie and full-on, like a bad trip, other parts feature soft synthesizer tones and tripped-out guitars, some parts hint slightly at New Age world fusion but weird-ass, and there’s even some relaxed and funky jazz-fusion backing in one place. The sounds here and there remind us that we are nearing the 80’s, but it never gets cheesy. This is perhaps one of the most intense pieces of music I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard a lot of intense stuff of all styles. The second track is group vocal work with a ritual/shamanic feel; the back art work shows them sitting in a circle with arms raised in the air, wearing only pants and headbands – I presume this is how they look when performing something like this. Numerous other albums followed which I know little or nothing about, such as ‘Live’ [Invitation, 1978], ‘Shonentachi Eno Chikyu Sanka’ [Invitation, 1979], ‘Reverberation of Earth’ [Invitation, year?] and ‘Yamato Gensho’ [Invitation, year?]. ‘Rinne Kohkyogaku’ (Reincarnated Orchestra) [Invitation, 1986] is a concept piece about the eternal cycles of birth, death and rebirth. ‘Ecophony Gaia’ [Invitation, 1990] is a 70-minute ‘macrosymphony homage to the Earth’s ecosystem’. In 1988, Geinoh Yamashirogumi made the great music for the soundtrack to the popular anime film, ‘Akira’, one of the few soundtracks that stands up well on its own as an album. There is a regular soundtrack version, including some dialogue and sound effects from the film, and the ‘Akira Symphonic Suite’ version, which is longer and features only the full, original versions of the music from the soundtrack. All of these albums have been reissued on CD by Victor.
Gerard – a symphonic progressive rock group formed in the early 80’s by keyboardist Toshio Egawa, who had just left Novela. They’ve been compared to Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson and Genesis. They’ve released quite a few albums – ‘Gerard’ [1984], ‘Empty Lie, Empty Dream’ [1985], ‘Irony of Fate’ [1991], ‘Save Knight By The Knight’ [1994], ‘Evidence of True Love’ [1994; a mini-CD], ‘The Pendulum’ [1996], ‘Pandora’s Box’ [1997], ‘Meridian’ [1998], ‘Live at Marseille’ [1998], ‘The Ruins of a Glass Fortress’ [Musea, 2000], ‘Sighs of the Water’ [2002] and ‘Power of Infinity’ [Musea, 2005].
H
Heretic – sometimes referred to as Japan’s Heldon, and admired by Heldon’s Richard Pinhas. Heretic were a highly regarded Kyoto progressive electronic rock band formed by Hiro Kawahara, ex-Osiris [see below], and influenced by Heldon, King Crimson & Ashra. They’ve put out numerous albums which I haven’t heard – ‘Interface’ [Sound of Poppy, 1985], ‘Escape Sequence’ [Belle Antique, 1988], ‘1984-88’ [Belle Antique, 1994 – compilation of previous 2 LP’s plus an extra track], ‘Past In Future’ [CDR, 1996], ‘Yayoi Dream’ [Belle Antique, 1996] and ‘Drugging For M’ [Belle Antique, 1997].
Haruomi Hosono – starting out as bassist for Apryl Fool, then Happy End [see above], Hosono later helped form Yellow Magic Orchestra [see below] and became well known as a successful and innovative electronic musician and producer. His first solo album was ‘Hosono House’ [King, 1973], but it reputedly contains commercial vocal r&b. He formed a group, Tin Pan Alley, with whom he released a few albums of ‘tropical’ music – ‘Caramel Mama’ [Panam, 1974?], ‘2’ [Panam, 1975?], ‘Izumi Yukimura Super Generation’ [1974?], ‘Norio Maeda and Tin Pan Alley’ [197?] and ‘Yellow Magic Carnival’ [1975]. During the same period he made another solo album in a similar vein to the Tin Pan Alley stuff – ‘Tropical Dandy’ [Panam/Crown, 1975]. This was followed by ‘Taian Yoko’ [Crown, 1976?], as Bon Voyage Co., and ‘Paraiso’ [Alfa, 1978], as Harry Hosono and the Yellow Magic Band. The latter features soon-to-be Yellow Magic Orchestra members on one track, and finally introduces some synth, but reputedly doesn’t sound much like YMO. ‘Pacific’ [CBS, 1978] came out as by Haruomi Hosono, Shigeru Suzuki and Tatsuro Yamashita, all of whom had been in Tin Pan Alley. The music is ‘exotica’ with each musician doing their own tracks, and with YMO’s Ryuichi Sakamoto [see below] on synths as a session muso. Hosono’s first masterpiece is often considered to be ‘Cochin Moon’ [King, 1978], which came out as by Hosono & Yokoo. In actuality, [Tadanori] Yokoo [see Toshi Ichiyanagi above] only did the cover art, and does not contribute to the music. Sakamoto, Hideki Matsutake [YMO, Logic System] and Shuka Nishihara also play on the album. It’s a very inventive and exotic electronic work that is highly regarded, and for good reason! As tripped-out synth albums go, this is a glittering jewel. Some parts are a kind of proto-trance-techno, others hint at Bruce Haack and Kraftwerk with their playful cheesiness, and it’s thoroughly enjoyable throughout. It has recently been
reissued on CD by King. ‘The Aegean Sea’ [CBS, 1979] came out as by Hosono, Takahiko Ishikawa and Masataka Matsutohya; it was similar to
‘Pacific’ conceptually, but sounding a bit different again. By this point Hosono was playing with YMO; it was a few years until he released another solo album, ‘Philharmony’ [Alfa/Yen, 1982]. It reputedly contains electronic ambient music and ‘quirky’ songs. Hosono went on to release many albums, also making music for anime, TV, movies, video games etc. He also started a funky ‘technopop’/hip-hop group, Friends of Earth a.k.a. F.O.E.#1.
I
Interface – a heavy progressive band formed in the mid-80’s; guitar synth player Masahiro Noda had previously been bassist in Azoth [see above]. At first they played punky new wave and heavy rock, but soon they incorporated a strong King Crimson influence. Noda and stick player Kouji Ishii played on the Heretic album ‘Drugging For M’. Drummer Katsuyori Aihara is also in progressive rock band Benikarin. They’ve released at least 3 albums including ‘Interface’ [199?], ‘II’ [199?] and ‘III’ [Mellow, 2000].
Akira Ito – a former member of the Far East Family Band [see above], who embarked on a solo career making what has been described as ‘floating electronics’ using analogue synths, and sometimes guitar, bass, drums and choral vocals. ‘Inner Light Of Life’ [1978], ‘Akira Ito’ [1981] and ‘Hiisurutokoro No Tenshi’ [1982; soundtrack] were followed by ‘Mugenko’ [Nippon Columbia, 1982], which includes piano, violin, guitar, bass [from Keiju Ishikawa, who played on Hiro Yanagida’s debut album – see above] and synth. Other albums include ‘Mind Music’ [King, 1983], ‘Bosatu’ [King, 1984] and ‘Japanesque’ [King, 1984]. I’ve also seen his name spelled Akira Itoh.
K
Karuna Khyal – an obscure underground avant garde psychedelic outfit, apparently associated in some way with Brast Burn [see above], and perhaps the same people. They released one album, ‘Alomoni 1985’ [Voice, 1976], which was musically in a broadly similar vein to Brast Burn’s album, but more repetitive and with less folky references and sometimes hinting at weirder Faust. In some respects it lacks the exotic layered depth of Brast Burn, but is also a bit stranger and in places, more seriously shamanic. It was reissued on CD in a limited edition by Paradigm Discs in 1998.
Kennedy – a progressive rock group consisting of guitarist Mitsuhiko Izumi [ex-Dada, After Dinner – see above], keyboardist Juju Kitaoka, saxophonist Kohji Itoh and drummer Takashi Yasuda. They released only two albums that I know of. Their debut was ‘Twinkling Nasa’ [King-Nexus, 1986], reputedly ‘spacey with mellotron’. ‘Kennedy!’ [Monolith, 1987; reissued by Musea, 1999] is live, and is mostly pretty driving stuff, obviously influenced by King Crimson and Mahavishnu Orchestra, though with [sometimes cheesy] 80’s new wave edges. They even cover a
Mahavishnu song [‘Birds of Fire’], as well as an old Dada track [‘The Flying Ship’]. The album has a great cover, showing a network of golden radiant Buddhas!
Kenso – a progressive rock group who are still around now, I think. I haven’t heard any of their music but it is reputedly a blend of jazz-rock-fusion and symphonic prog. Their first album was ‘Kenso’ [Pam, 1980], followed by ‘II’ [1983], ‘III’ [1985], ‘Music For Five Unknown Musicians’ [1986], ‘Self Portrait’ [1987], ‘Sparta’ [1989], ‘Yume No Oka’ [1991], ‘Sora Ni Hikaru’ [1992], ‘Live 92’ [1993], ‘Inei No Fue (Early Live 2)’ [1994], ‘Early Live’ [1995] and ‘In The West’ [1997 – live].
Kitaro – real name Masanori Takahashi, he was previously in the Far East Family Band. After that group broke up, he began a long and successful solo career. In general his music could be said to fall squarely in the New Age category – however, some of his music is quite enjoyable for fans of mellow ambient cosmic synthesizer music, and it sometimes has a distinctly Japanese touch to the sound. His first album was ‘Astral Voyage’ [1978], followed by ‘Oasis’ [1979], one of his better albums. A string of other albums followed, such as ‘Full Moon Story’ [1979], ‘Silk Road Vol. 1 & 2’ [1980], ‘Silk Road Suite’ [1980], ‘In Person Digital’ [1980], ‘Tunhuang/Tonko’ [1981], ‘Ki’ [1981] and many more up to the present day. I believe he has also worked on soundtracks.
Kousokuya – a ‘psychedelic inner-space rock’ group formed in the late 70’s. They took a while to record an album, ‘1st’ [PSF, 1990]. I don’t know of any other albums except a collaboration with Masayoshi Urabe [who’s known for doing pretty full-on noisy stuff with saxophone and objects] – ‘The Dark Spot’ [PSF, year?]. I’ve heard one track by them from the ‘Tokyo Flashback 2’ PSF sampler, which was basically trudging, chaotic downer acid rock with fuzz bass and guitar all over the place, although mellower and spacier at the beginning. I imagine Terry Brooks & Strange might have sounded like this after 10 bong hits too many!
L
Lacrymosa – these guys played a mostly sedate form of RIO that leans towards chamber music, but with a bit of an avant-garde edge. They’re often compared to Univers Zero. They released several albums that I know of, ‘Lacrymosa’ [1984], ‘Budbear’ [1984], ‘Gishin Onki’ [1985] and ‘Joy Of The Wrecked Ship’ [1994].
M
Madorami – a pre-Bi Kyo Ran group [see above]. Their album ‘The Hardest Live ‘76’ [label? year?] is apparently mostly King Crimson covers with a few originals.
Magdalena – a song-based progressive rock group influenced by UK symphonic prog; not to be confused with the Basque group of the same name. They made one album, ‘Magdalena’ [Musea, 1987]. They broke up in 1988, and vocalist Megumi Tokuhisa joined Teru’s Symphonia [see below].
Maher Shalal Hash Baz – a cult ‘avant-psychedelic’ underground band centered around guitarist/vocalist Tori Kudo. From the little I’ve heard they sound pretty sloppy, half-baked and uninspired, with the occasional shimmer of something beautiful. Their style has all kinds of elements to it and can’t be easily summed up. Some people attribute genius to this group – I think such people would probably attribute genius to a child’s crayon scrawls if they were passed off as the work of an adult avant-garde artist. Maybe I’m being too unkind – but I wouldn’t hesitate to make the same comments about supposed genius when referring to ultra-crap group Reynols. According to PSF, “call Maher inept and you miss the
point entirely”. Well, so be it… Their releases include ‘M.S.H.B. Vol. 1’ [cassette; D’s Label, 1985], ‘Pass Over Musings’ [cassette; D’s Label, 1985], ‘January 14th, 1989 Maher Goes to Gothic Country’ [Org Records, 1991], ‘Return Visit To Rockmass’ [3-LP/3-CD; Org Records, 1997] and ‘From a Summer to Another Summer (An Egypt to Another Egypt’ [Geographic, 2000]
Mahoujin – this all-instrumental progressive rock group made one album, ‘Babylonia Suite’ [1978]. It’s apparently a bit like ELP, and features a similar [or identical] instrumental line-up.
Kawabata Makoto – guitarist/vocalist from Ankoku Kakumei Kyodotai [see above] and later Acid Mothers Temple [see below] and other groups. In 1978 he made his first solo album ‘Psychedelic Noise Freak’ on cassette, reputedly containing synthesizer and voice as well as a cover of Kiss’s ‘Love Gun’! It was made available as part of the limited edition 10-CD Makoto box set, ‘Learning From The Past’ [label? year?]. Around 1993 he formed Toho Sara with Asahito Nanjo of High Rise. They apparently used ‘ethnic’ instruments in their collective freak-outs; I’m yet to hear any
of their music. Along with Nanjo he also formed numerous other off-shoots such as Ohkami No Jikan [see below], Musica Transonic and Mainliner, the latter originally with Ruins drummer Tatsuya Yoshida who left before they recorded an album. Of these I’ve only heard stuff by Musica Transonic & Mainliner, who basically play whole albums of high-octane, fairly rudimentary and repetitive loud grinding rock riffs recorded constantly in the red – pretty much one riff per song. During his tenure with these groups he also formed Acid Mothers Temple [see below], for which he is best known. He continues to release a torrent of stuff in different guises.
Mandrake – a 70’s symphonic prog group, influenced by King Crimson. As far as I know, they didn’t get anything released until much later – ‘Unreleased Materials Vol. I’ [Belle Antique, 1997] and ‘Unreleased Materials Vol. II’ [Marquee/Avalon, 1997]. Somehow this band later transformed into the late 70’s/early 80’s ‘techno punk/pop’ group P-Model.
Marble Sheep – formed in 1987. Apparently this group started out as a Blue Cheer-inspired psychedelic rock band, though they soon changed to a more jammy, accessible psych rock style reminiscent in parts of the Grateful Dead. They’ve released many albums, including ‘Marble Sheep & The Run-Down Sun’s Children’ [Alchemy, 1990], ‘Big Deal’ [Captain Trip, 1992], ‘Old From New Heads’ [Captain Trip, 1993], ‘Twiga’ [Captain Trip, 1993], ‘Whirl Live’ [2- CD; Captain Trip, 1994], ‘Psychedelic Paradise’ [Captain Trip, 1995], ‘Shinjuku Loft’ [Cold Spring/Captain Trip, 1995], ‘Circle Vs. Marble Sheep’ [Captain Trip, 1998], ‘Stone Marby’ [Captain Trip, 2001] and ‘For Demolition Of A Spiritual Framework’ [Captain Trip, 2003]
Marge Litch – a symphonic prog-metal group. Keyboardist Tomoki Ueno had been in Deja-vu [see above]. Their albums include ‘Rainbow Knight’ [1986], ‘Star Light’ [1987], ‘The Force of Trinity’ [1988], ‘Mage Lich’ [sic.?] [1989], ‘Prologue’ [1989], ‘Fantasien’ [1991], ‘The Ring of Truth’ [Made in Japan, 1992], the 2-CD ‘Crystal Heart in the Fountain’ [Made in Japan, 1995], ‘Fantasien’ re-recorded [Musea, 1998] and ‘Particulioh’ [2000]. Keyboardist Yuhki Nakajima joined after Castle in the Air [see below] broke up.
Maria – a symphonic progressive rock band who made one album, ‘Maria’ [1976], reputedly featuring prominent guitar and keyboards interplay.
Hideki Matsutake – a producer and computer-programmer [for music] who trained under Tomita [see above]. From 1978 he was involved with the Yellow Magic Orchestra [see below]. He made some obscure albums some time in the late 70’s, such as ‘Pop Memories on Moog III’ [1976], ‘The Beatles World on Moog III’ [1976], ‘Pyramid Power – Meditation’ [CBS Sony, 1978], ‘Fantasia – The Invitation to the Stars’ [Teichiku, 1978], ‘Edo’ [Columbia, 1978], ‘007 Digital Moon’ [CBS Sony, 1979] (as H. Matsutake & K.I. Capsule) and a Japanese-only titled album [Columbia, 1979]. ‘Edo’ was made with Chojuro Kondoj & Masashi Komatsubara, and contained music made with Moog synthesizer and
traditional Japanese instruments, reputedly comparable in parts to some Tomita and Tangerine Dream. ‘The Fantasia’ is apparently cheesy easy-listening songs played on synthesizer. Both albums have been reissued on CD by P-Vine. There is also a recent CD, ‘Contrast ECD’ [P-Vine, 2000] that I don’t know anything about. Matsutake also made albums with Logic System [which he formed in 1981], Akihabara Electric Circus and Beat Musik.
Midas – another symphonic progressive rock group. They’ve released a few albums – ‘Beyond the Clean Air’ [Made in Japan, 1988], ‘Midas II’ [Belle Antique, 1996], ‘Third Operation’ [Belle Antique, 1999], ‘International Popular Album’ [King, 2000] and ‘In Concert (Live)’ [Belle Antique, 2002].
Minotaurus – I know nothing about this group except that their album ‘Super Fighter’s Theme’ [1979] was included in a list of Japanese progressive rock. Not to be confused with the German prog band of the same name.
Fumio Miyashita – this guy formed Far Out and the Far East Family Band [see above]. He studied acupuncture in the US in the late 70’s and returned to Japan in 1981 as a music therapist, releasing many albums of tranquil, meditative electronic music on his own label, Biwa. The best known of these are ‘Meditation – Meisou’, ‘Birth – Tanjou’ and ‘Peace – Yasuragi’, and many were released just as by ‘Fumio’.
Moon Dancer – a group I know nothing about except that they released an album, ‘Moon Dancer’ [Alfa, 1979], reputedly ‘melodic rock/pop with hints of light symphonic progressive rock’.
Moonriders – a ‘new wave/techno/punk/pop/folk’ group somehow connected with keyboardist Makoto Yano [I thought perhaps he was in the group at some point], who had a career in the late 70’s/early 80’s as a pioneer in ‘ethno-techno’. They somehow grew out of an earlier band, Hachimitsu-Pie (‘Honey Pie’), who released an album in 1973 of stuff apparently influenced by The Band. Moonriders albums include ‘Moonriders’ [Crown, 1977], ‘Istanbul Mambo’ [Crown, 1977], ‘Nouvelles Vagues’ [Crown, 1978], ‘Modern Music’ [Crown, 1979], ‘Camera Egal Stylo’ [Crown, 1980] and ‘Mania Maniera’ [Canyon, 1982]. This latter album is apparently more experimental and avant-garde. Moonriders kept releasing albums into the 90’s.
Mr. Sirius – a symphonic prog band with jazzy and Canterbury touches. Their first release was an LP – ‘Eternal Jealousy’ [1986]. They made three albums – ‘Barren Dream’ [Made in Japan, 1986], ‘Dirge’ [King, 1990] and ‘Incredible Tour’ [Made in Japan, 1994; rec. ’89-‘91]. ‘Crystal Voyage’ [1990] compiled recordings from earlier, when they were called Sirius. Singer Hiroko Nagai was also in Pageant [see below].
Mugen – a symphonic prog band formed in 1978, influenced by Tony Banks, Genesis, Le Orme and The Enid. Their first album was ‘Symphonia Della Luna’ [Made in Japan/Musea, 1984], followed by ‘Leda et le Cygne’ [Made in Japan, 1986], often considered their best. This album featured guests from Outer Limits and Pageant. The third album was ‘The Princess of Kingdom Gone’ [Made in Japan, 1988]. ‘Vento di Primavera’ [label? year?] appears to contain recordings dating from before the first album.
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Nord – an obscure experimental group formed in 1980 by Satoshi Katayama and Hiroshi Oikawa. Together they released one album, ‘Nord #1’ [Pinakotheca Records, 1981] in a limited edition of 300 copies. The Soundohm website says “side one is meditative, with repetitive electronic loops. Second long side is a terrific noisy space drone”. They went their separate ways in 1982, but both continued to perform individually as Nord. Oikawa recorded again with his newlyformed label, LSD Records. This Nord released ‘LSD’ [LSD Records, 1984] in a limited edition of 200 copies, which has been described on the Soundohm website as a “beautiful electronic/psychedelic soundtrip”; and ‘3/Ego Trip’ [LSD
Records] in a limited edition of 100. There are also three live cassettes on the ZSF label, featuring Nord/Oikawa with Merzbow and [on one tape] K.K. Null of Zeni Geva [see below]. Katayama also issued a cassette as Nord – ‘Live Materials 1980-1993’ [Vanilla Records, 1994] – in a limited edition of 150 copies.
Normal Brain – these guys have been described as ‘techno-pop with a computer voice’! They released one album that I know of, ‘Ready Made’ [Vanity, 1981], mentioned here mainly because it was on the experimental Vanity label.
Novela – formed in 1979 as an amalgamation of hard rock band San Sui Kan and hard prog band Scheherezade [see below]. In their early years they were more progressive-rock styled; some have compared them to Renaissance, Genesis, Yes, Rush and Rainbow. In the second half of the 80’s they became more pop-oriented. Their albums include ‘Miwakugeki’ [1980], ‘In the Night’ [1980], ‘Requiem’ [1981; a mini-LP], ‘Paradise Lost’ [1981], ‘Sanctuary’ [1983], ‘Harmageddon Story’ [1983], ‘From the Mystic World [1984; live], ‘Harmageddon Story 2’ [1984], ‘Brain of
Balance’ [1986], ‘Land of Time’ [1986; mini-LP] and ‘Words’ [1986]. Guitarist Terutsugu Hirayama went on to Teru’s Symphonia [see below]. Keyboardist Toshio Egawa formed the group Gerard [see above].
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Olive – this group made at least one album, ‘Olive’ [Studio 3, 1976], reputedly containing hard progressive rock.
Osiris – an electronic progressive group formed around 1978 by Hiro Kawahara and friends. They made many albums in a short period – ‘Journey to New World’ [cassette, 1979], ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ [cassette, 1979], ‘Osiris Mythology’ [cassette, 1979], ‘Astral Temple’ [cassette, 1980], ‘Rhapsody For You’ [cassette, 1980], ‘The Restoration of Soul’ [cassette, 1980], ‘In And Out’ [cassette, 1980], ‘In The Mist Of Time’ [Sound Of Poppy, 1980 (‘progressive’)], ‘El Rayo de Luna I’ [cassette, 1981], ‘El Rayo de Luna II’ [cassette, 1981], ‘A Failed Play’ [cassette, 1982] and ‘Echo Troublant’ [cassette, 1982]. At the same time in the early 80’s, Kawahara was in the groups Astral Temple and Dr. Jeckyl & Mr. Hyde, later forming Heretic [see above].
Outer Limits – a symphonic prog band featuring mellotron and violin. I haven’t heard any yet, though the music is reputedly comparable to early King Crimson, PFM and UK. They released numerous albums in the second half of the 80’s – ‘Misty Moon’ [1985], ‘A Boy Playing the Magical Bugle Horn’ [1986], ‘The Scene of Pale Blue’ [1987] which is generally considered their best, ‘Silver Apples On The Moon’ [1989] and ‘Outer Mania’ [1989].
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Pageant – a symphonic progressive rock band who have been compared to Genesis, Yes, Renaissance and early 80’s Rush. Their albums include ‘La Mosaique de la Reverie’ [1986], ‘Abysmal Masquerade’ [Made in Japan, 1987; reissued by Musea, 2000], the EP collection ‘Kamen no Egao’ [1987] which might be the same as ‘Abysmal Masquerade’, ‘Live and Rare’ [1989] and ‘The Pay For Dreamer’s Sin’ [Spalax, 1989]
Paikappu – a spacey progressive band using traditional Japanese instruments along with modern instruments, including ‘80’s’ keyboards. They’ve been compared to Camel, Gandalf, Terpandre, Kenso and Pulsar. They recorded an album in 1984 that wasn’t released until later – ‘Paikappu’ [Mellow].
Pale Acute Moon – a symphonic prog group formed in 1984, who have been compared to Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, Pink Floyd and Keith Emerson. They made only one album, ‘Newtopia’ [Monolith, 1985]. It was reissued by King in 1988, and Musea in 2000. Keyboardist Motoi Semba was also in Teru’s Symphonia [see below], Kennedy [see above] and Shonen Knife.
Pneuma – a German-styled synth musician, reputedly comparable to Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream. ‘Psychabuse’ [Marquee/Belle Antique, 1995] collected recordings from 1979-85. He also made three albums with a vocalist, Takami – ‘Y de Noir II’, ‘Tennshi-ko’ and ‘Yume no Kirigishi’ [see below]. He later formed Trembling Strain, did an album with Tetsuo Furudate [see below for both] and also researches cognitive science, psychiatric linguistics and clinical medicine.
Prism – apparently a rather Santana-esque fusion band, initially featuring guitarist Katsutoshi Morizono [ex-Yonin Bayashi – see above], who left after the 1st album. They stood out a little by having 2 guitarists and 2 keyboardists. They released a fair few albums – ‘Prism’ [1977], ‘Second Thoughts/Second Move’ [1978], ‘III’ [1979], ‘Live Alive (Absolutely)’ [1981], ‘Mother Earth’ [1990], ‘A Personal Change’ [1992], ‘Jam’ [1994], ‘Whiter’ [1998], ‘In The Last Resort’ [2001] and ‘MJU’ [2003]. I don’t know if this Prism has anything to do with the US AOR band or the obscure US prog band.
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Quaser – formed in 1977, initially influenced by ELP, and broke up in the early 80’s. However they reformed in 1993 and have since made three albums – ‘Out From Quaser’ [Marquee/Belle Antique, 1994], ‘Remergence’ [Marquee/Belle Antique, 1999] and ‘Phase Transition’ [Flap, 2003]. Their music is reputedly European-influenced symphonic progressive rock that’s sometimes heavy. Guitarist Masmai Katsuura was also in Ain Soph [see above].
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R.N.A. Organism/EP-4 – R.N.A. Organism released one album, ‘Meets P.O.P.O.’ [Vanity, 1980], before transforming into EP-4. The music has been described as a kind of new wave heavy funk. EP-4 released numerous albums – ‘Seifuku Nikutai’ [1983], ‘Multilevel Holarchy’ [1983], ‘Lingua Franca 1’ [1983], ‘The Crystal Monster’ [1985], ‘Five To One’ [Hot Records (Australia), 1985], ‘Lingua Franca X’ [1993] and ‘Found Tapes’ [1994].
Round House – a fiery instrumental progressive jazz rock group formed in 1976. They may or may not have released an album at the time [I’ve seen conflicting claims], and broke up in 1979, but live recordings from 1978 have been released on CD as ‘Jin-zo-Ni-n-gen’ [Music Term Presents/Poseidon, 2003]. It reputedly has live bootleg sound but is musically great, mixing symphonic, metal and jazz progressive styles. Keyboardist Yoshihiro Kataoka later ended up in L’Evoluzione [see below]. The band reformed and released at least two more albums, ‘Live@2001 in Osaka’ [Music Term Presents, 2001] and ‘Wings to Rest’ [Poseidon, 2002], which reputedly has a jazzy, almost Santana-like flavour and has been claimed to date from 1979.
Ruins – formed in 1985 by drummer Tatsuya Yoshida, with a continuing line of bass players, Ruins have almost always been a duo. The main exception is the album ‘Symphonica’, which features numerous guest musicians with heaps of keyboards, and hints towards Yoshida’s later side-project Koenjihyakkei [see below]. Yoshida’s musical inspirations are basically complex progressive rock such as Magma, Area, Gentle Giant and ELP, but delivered with a blinding in-yerface punk-metal-ish speed and fury. Like Magma, Ruins’ vocals are delivered in an incomprehensible language of their own design. Many of their tunes feature so many tight changes and fiddly runs it boggles the mind to imagine how these guys are able to learn to play this music. Indeed, live recordings demonstrate that there is no studio trickery involved – these guys really can play like demons possessed, with the complexity of mathematicians! Yoshida and some of the bassists he has played with have branched out into numerous other collaborations and special projects, some of which are mentioned elsewhere here [mostly in the next section]. Full album releases only [there are EP’s and other things dating back to 1986] are ‘Stonehenge’ [Shimmy Disc, 1990], ‘Early Works’ [Bloody Butterfly, 1991], ‘Burning Stone’ [Shimmy Disc, 1992], ‘II & 19 Numbers’ [SSE Communications, 1993], ‘Infect’ [SSE, 1993], ‘Graviyaunosch’ [Nipp Guitar, 1993], ‘Hyderomastgroningem’ [Tzadik, 1995], ‘Refusal Fossil’ [Skin Graft, 1997; a collection of live and unreleased out-takes], ‘Vrresto’ [Sonore/Magaibutsu, 1998], ‘Symphonica’ [Tzadik, 1998], ‘Mandala 2000/Live at Kichijoji Mandala II’ [2001], ‘Pallaschtom’ [Sonore/Magaibutsu, 2000; reissued on Skin Graft, 2005] and ‘Tzomborgha’ [Ipecac, 2002]. ‘Symphonica’ was much proggier than usual, featuring keyboards and two female vocalists. ‘Pallaschtom’ contained only three tracks – a prog medley, a hard rock medley and a classical medley. More recent releases such as ‘Tzomborgha’ have toned down the clamorous assault slightly and brought in more diverse sounds in parts – Ruins just keep getting better! ‘1986-1992’ [2002] is a compilation of early stuff, some of it pretty rare.
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SAB – a very obscure trio, fronted by SAB [Sab?], who recorded only one album that I know of, ‘Crystallization’ [Vanity, 1978]. It’s reputedly high-quality experimental cosmic music, with plenty of synthesizers, electronics and assorted effects and interesting mixing. A CD reissue is supposedly in preparation.
Sagittarian – a largely-instrumental symphonic progressive rock group who made only one album that I know of, ‘Sagittarian’ [Aries, 1984]. It reputedly sounds a bit like Camel, Genesis and early Novalis. There is a CD reissue of this on Mellow.
Ryuichi Sakamoto – a classically-trained keyboardist/composer with tendencies towards electronic and ethnic music. He’s known as one of the fathers of ‘techno-pop’. His first solo album was ‘Thousand Knives Of’ (‘Sen No Naifu’) [Nippon Columbia/Denon, 1978], which has been described as having an ‘instrumental techno sound influenced by contemporary music [Xenakis and so on]’, or ‘clearly influenced by German synth music of the past decade’. At the same time he had formed ‘techno-pop’ group Yellow Magic Orchestra [see below] with 2 others who guested on this album. Soon after he recorded some albums with guitarist Kazumi Watanabe, who had played on ‘Thousand Knives Of’.
‘Tokyo Joe’ [Nippon Columbia, 1978] came out as by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Kazumi Watanabe, and is apparently fusion. He also collaborated with Watanabe’s jazz-fusion group Kylyn. His next album of interest was ‘B-2 Unit’ [Alfa, 1980], reputedly containing ‘hard-edged electronics’ and ‘avant-garde and abstract sound in dub style’. He has made numerous other solo albums which I also know little about. He made the music for the film ‘Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence’ [1983], as well as acting in it as one of the main characters, and also made the music for ‘The Last Emperor’ and numerous other films.
Scheherezade – a progressive hard rock band from the late 70’s who were reputedly pretty good. They’ve released at least one album but I lack any details for it. In 1979 they merged with members of San Sui Kan to become Novela [see above].
Shingetsu – a complex symphonic prog band influenced by Genesis. Their albums are ‘Shingetsu’ [Marquee/Belle Antique, 1979], ‘Akai me no Kagami Live ‘79’ [Belle Antique, 1979], ‘Kagaku no Yoro’ [Belle Antique, 19??; also included material from the pre-Shingetsu band Serenade] and ‘Live ABC Kaikan Hall, Tokyo 1979’. After this, some members went on to the group Outer Limits [see above].
Social Tension – a prog trio inspired by ELP and UK, and who have been compared to Ars Nova and Gerard. They made two albums, ‘MacBethia’ [1989] and ‘It Reminds Me Of Those Days’ [1990]. ‘It Reminds Me Of MacBethia’ [Musea] is a compilation of both albums.
Space Circus – a progressive fusion band straying into cosmic territory, with prominent Moog, violin & guitar. They released 2 albums that I know of, ‘Funky Caravan’ [1977] and ‘Fantastic Arrival’ [1978].
Speed – formed in 1976 by Shinichi Aoki [ex-Murahachibu] & Kengo, playing loud rock’n’roll. Their album ‘Kiss On Live At Shinjuku Loft ‘85’ has been reissued on CD by Captain Trip.
Damo Suzuki – Damo is an experimental vocalist perhaps best known for his years with German group Can; this stuff won’t be discussed here. After leaving Can, Suzuki became a Jehovah’s Witness and didn’t release any music for a while. The sojourn ended in 1984 when he joined the group Dunkelziffer, who have been described as ‘percussive space reggae’. They made a few albums with him – ‘In The Night’ [1984; reissued by Captain Trip], ‘III’ [1986; reissued by Captain Trip] and ‘Live 85’ [Captain Trip, 1997]. More recently, Suzuki has been playing with the psychedelic group Cul-De Sac, as well as the Damo Suzuki Band [featuring Jaki Liebezeit, and two ex-members of Dunkelziffer] and his
own Network, groups of musicians all over the world who form a unique backing jam band whenever he comes to town to play.
Sympathy Nervous – this group released the album ‘Sympathy Nervous’ [Vanity, 1980] on the collectable experimental Vanity label, and therefore may be of some interest. The music has been described as ‘rhythmic-based dark synth-pop’. There was also a 2-LP release, also self-titled, which came out in 1996 on Nova Zembra; this might be a compilation.
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Ayuo Takahashi – a prolific composer, who has released many of his albums just as ‘Ayuo’. His first was ‘Silent Film’ [MIDI Inc, 1984], recorded in New York City, and featuring Takehisa Kosugi [see above] on violin and Carlos Alomar [from David Bowie’s group] on guitar; it was produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto [see above]. ‘Memory Theatre’ [MIDI Inc, 1985] was a concept album based on a story by playwright Koharu Kisaragi; it featured Sakamoto and many others. ‘Nova Carmina’ [MIDI Inc, 1986] featured Maddy Prior and Peter Hammill. ‘Blue Eyes, Black
Hair’ [Belle Antique, 1995] was a rock opera recorded live in 1989. It featured Takahashi’s band Rok Groupa, including drummer Masaharu Sato [see below; from Bi Kyo Ran]. ‘Heavenly Garden Orchestra’ [FOA, 1995] contains instrumentals and songs, some of which were made for films, theater and ballet. ‘Eurasian Journey’ [JVC Victor, 1997] again featured Peter Hammill, and contains music based on ancient Asian and European melodic forms. ‘Eastern Tradition’ [Belle Antique, 1998] focuses on just traditional Japanese music, and was mostly recorded in 1991. ‘Izutsu’ [Tzadik, 2000] is an opera based on a Noh play, and features koto, voice, hurdy gurdy, sitar, guitar, Celtic harp and other traditional instruments. ‘Earth Guitar’ [MIDI Inc, 2000] features a great host of musicians, again including Peter Hammill. ‘Red Moon’ [Tzadik, 2005] is credited to Ayuo and Ohta Hiromi.
Takami – a female vocalist using dark atmospheres, reputedly a little comparable to Nico. Albums include ‘Y de Noir II’ [1983; reissued Belle Antique, 1995], ‘Yume no Kirigishi’ [1985; reissued Belle Antique, 1995] and ‘Teneshi Kou’ [Belle Antique], which I’ve also seen listed as ‘Tenshi-kou’. Synthesist Pneuma [see above] played on all of these albums.
H. Tamaki & S.M.T. – Hiroki Tamaki is a violinist who started composing aged 10. He played in the Tokyo Symphony, but later dropped out of the formal classical music world. In 1970, he played electric violin on Hiro Yanagida’s first solo album, ‘Milk Time’ [see above]. At some point Tamaki formed the group S.M.T. [no idea what that stands for] and made an unusual album, ‘Time Paradox’ [Columbia, 1975]. Every track is different, ranging from symphonic/classical progressive rock, Vivaldi-like stuff, trippy eastern mind-melt, funky jazz rock with wacked-out electronics etc. mostly with prominent electric violin and [usually] subtle use of Moog. Some of it is a bit too cheesy for my tastes, but I find a
lot of the album very enjoyable, and some of it is just awesome. It was reissued on CD by P-Vine. Other albums followed, though I’m not sure if they came out as by H. Tamaki or H. Tamaki & S.M.T. – ‘Kumoino- Hototogisukoko’ [1979] and ‘Zonzai No Uta’ [1980]. Tamaki has also made a lot of music for films and television.
Teru’s Symphonia – a lush symphonic prog band who have been compared to Marillion, and later, The Enid, Outer Limits, Mr. Sirius and Pale Acute Moon. They have released many albums over the years – ‘Teru’s Symphonia’ [1985], ‘Egg the Universe’ [King/Crime, 1988], ‘Human Race Party’ [King/Nexus, 1989], ‘Fable on the Seven Pillows’ [Made In Japan/Symphonia, 1991], ‘Clockworked Earth’ [Made in Japan/Symphonia, 1993], ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Camel’ [Musea, 1997] and ‘The Gate’ [Musea, 1999].
Tolerance – this group released the albums ‘Anonym’ [Vanity, 1980] and ‘Divin’ [Vanity, 1981] on the experimental Vanity label, and thus might be of interest. Their music has been described as ‘proto ambient techno’.
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Vermillion Sands – a lush symphonic prog band who are renowned by fans of the genre. Their sound has been compared to that of Renaissance and Camel. They only made one album that I know of, ‘Water Blue’ [Made in Japan, 1989; reissued by Musea, 1999].
Vienna – a hard, energetic symphonic prog band formed by guitarist Yukihiro Fujimura [ex-Gerard – see above]. Their music has been compared to that of Gerard. They’ve made four albums that I know of – ‘Overture’ [King/Crime, 1988], ‘Step Into...’ [King/Crime, 1988], ‘Progress – Last Live’ [King/Crime, 1989] and ‘Unknown’ [Protect, 1998].
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White Heaven – a well-known psychedelic rock group formed in 1985, with a style derived from US west coast psych rock [including Blue Cheer and San Diego band Iron Butterfly] and a guitarist obviously obsessed with John Cippolina. Later on they became more progressive-rock oriented, though still psychedelic. From the little I’ve heard, their style is similar to the more accessible side of Ghost [see above], and fittingly there have been other collaborations between members of the two groups [see Cosmic Invention below]. White Heaven also included guitarist Michio Kurihara [from Ghost, Marble Sheep, The Stars, and solo], at least on the first album. Albums include ‘Out’ [PSF, 1991; rec. ‘86], ‘Electric Cool Acid’ [Noon, 1995] – which contains live recordings from 1987-88, ‘Levitation’ [Now Sound, 1997; rec. 1988] and ‘Next to Nothing’ [Noon, 1994].
Wuthering – a hard progressive rock group who have been compared to Novela. I’ve been unable to find out anything about them, except that they released at least two albums – ‘The Gate of Fate’ and ‘The Land of Dilettante’.
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Michinori Yamamoto – I’ve seen this album listed as being progressive rock – ‘Hohoemi’ [1975] – but I can’t find out anything about it.
Yellow Magic Orchestra – a well known quirky Kraftwerk-like avant-garde electro-pop group, often known as YMO for short. They were formed in 1978 by Ryuichi Sakamoto [see above], Haruomi Hosono[see above] and Yukihiro Takahashi. Their first album was ‘Yellow Magic Orchestra’ [1978]. The next, ‘Solid State Survivor’ [1979], sold very well and led to the band going on a world tour. Following albums include ‘Public Pressure’ [1980], ‘Xoo Multiplies’ [1980], BGM [1981; is this the ‘Background Music’ album – see above?], ‘Technodelic’ [1981], ‘Service’ [1983], ‘After Service’ [1983], ‘People With Nice Smiles’ [1983], ‘Naughty Boys’ [1983], ‘Fakerholic’ [1991], ‘Technodon’ [1993] and ‘Live At The Greak [sp.?] Theater 1997’ [1997].
Z