Psychedelic Japan, Part 1

The Holmes Archive of Electronic Music

Episode 81

Psychedelic Japan, Part 1

Playlist

1. Flower Travellin’ Band, “Satori Part 2” from Satori (1971 Atlantic). Japanese rock band formed in 1970 which broke up in 1973 and reformed in 2008. Guitarist Hideki Ishima is a founding member. Moving from Sapporo to Tokyo in the mid-sixties, he played with the Group Sounds band The Outlaws from 1966 to 1969. Following that he joined The Flowers, who later became Flower Travellin' Band. He is also known for inventing the sitarla, a cross between an electric guitar and a sitar. 7:04 English translation of the lyrics:

There is no up or down

Your truth is the only master

Death is made by the living

Pain is only intense to you

The sun shines every day

The sun shines every day

Freedom, freedom!

2. The Taj-Mahal Travelers “Between 7:03~7:15P.M.” from July 15, 1972 (1972 CBS/sony). This album was recorded live at Sohgetsu Hall, Tokyo, Japan, July, 1972. Formed in 1969 this group produced entirely improvised music with a remarkably celestial sound. The ensemble regularly played throughout Japan. In 1971, on the way back from touring Europe, they financed a trip to India to see the Taj-Mahal. Upon returning, they played a benefit concert on July 15, 1972 to help pay for their return to U.K. The track heard hear was part of that live performance. Electronic Contrabass, Santoor (Suntool), Harmonica, Sheet Iron, Ryo Koike; Guitar, Percussion, Michihiro Kimura; Electronic Trumpet, Harmonica, Castanets, Seiji Nagai; Vibraphone, Santoor (Suntool), Yukio Tsuchiya; Electronic Violin, Radio Oscillators, Voice, Takehisa Kosugi; Vocals, Tokio Hasegawa. 11:17
3. Far East Family Band, “Entering/Times” from Parallel World (1976 Mu Land). Far East Family Band was a Japanese Psychedelic-Progressive-Rock band, founded 1975. Psychedelia with synths. Recorded November 15th to December 5th 1976 at the Manor Studio, UK. Music By, Arranged By, Far East Family Band; Music producer, Fumio Miyashita; Recording producer, Recorded and computer mix by, Klaus Schulze. Band included keyboardist Kitaro until this, their third album produced by Schulze. Kitaro was inspired to venture out into solo electronic work after this album. 15:26
4. Les Rallizes Denudes (Lay RAL-lees DEN-yoo-day) “Strung Out Deeper Than The Night,” recorded live in 1977. From a bootleg recording of “Heavier Than a Death in the Family” (2002 Not on Label). This Japanese experimental rock band formed in November 1967 at Doshisha University in Kyoto, moved to Tokyo, and was led by Takashi Mizutani (1948-2019). Performed their last gig in October 1996. 15:28 English translation of the lyrics for this song:

Deeper than the night, darker than the darkness

You woke up with blood and madness

Spread your black wings under the burning sky

You are what I want After the black sun rises

I'll meet you every time I go in the flames of ice

midnight white venom

A white horse runs through my body

The hungry beast that died in the rain

fly out the window

you shatter the mirror

you shatter the night

A whispering angel surrounds you

I send my blue breath to your center

You're what I want After the black sun rises

Enveloping you, your breath

send to your center

Deeper than night and darker than darkness

When you woke up, you took death and madness

5. Fushitsusha, “3. すきにやればいい” (“Do It When You Want”) from Invincible (First Live)/不失者 (1989 P.S.F. Records). Guitarist Keiji Haino founded Fushitsusha in 1978. This undated track is probably from 1978 and is part of a double album of live performances spanning the previous ten years that he released in 1989. Guitar, harmonica, Keiji Haino; drums, Seijiro Muryama; drums, Akui; bass, Yasushi Ozawa; guitar, Maki Miura. 11:36
6. High Rise “Induced Depression” from Psychedelic Speed Freaks (1984 P.S.F. Records). First recording, bootleg album. Japanese psychedelic rock band. Formed in 1982 by Asahito Nanjo and Munehiro Narita under the name Psychedelic Speed Freaks. They changed their name to High Rise when the group released their debut album in 1984. Bass, Vocals, Asahito Nanjo; Guitar (Motorcycle Fuzztone), Munehiro Narita. 3:13
7. Ghost, “Escaped And Lost Down In Medina” from Hypnotic Underworld (2004 Drag City). Japanese experimental rock and improvisation group formed in Tokyo in 1984 and disbanded in 2014.Their gradual evolution from a guitar-based band with assorted acoustic instruments (e.g., oboe, cello, recorder) and atmosphere (e.g., water, wind) to the inclusion of electronics began in the early 2000s. I think this is their first album that actually credits synthesizers and other electronics. Acoustic Guitar (6- and 12-String), Vocals, Masaki Batoh; Drums, Tabla, Percussion, Junzo Tateiwa; Electric Bass, Contrabass, Cello, Takuyuki Moriya; Electric Guitar, Michio Kurihara; Piano, Mellotron, Korg MS-20 Synthesizer, Organ, Lute, Recorder, Celtic Harp, Kazuo Ogino; Theremin, Flute, Saxophone, Tin Whistle, Bouzouki, Other, Producer, Taishi Takizawa; Written by Ghost. 7:10
8. Ghost, “Aramaic Barbarous Dawn” from Hypnotic Underworld (2004 Drag City). 3:15
9. Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O., “In C” from In C (2001 Eclipse Records). Japanese psychedelic rock band founded in 1995 and which exists as a kind of collective with many guests. This unique entry in the Acid Mothers catalog feature an interpretation of the famous Terry Riley minimalist landmark “In C” (1968 Columbia). This version is full of the psychedelic appurtenances you would expect of Acid Mothers and somewhat follows the original score, though much of the scored piece serves as a bed for the other wonderful sounds that swirl about. Bass (Monster), Tsuyama Atsushi; Drums, Ichiraku Yoshimitsu; Electric Guitar, Synthesizer, Higashi Hiroshi; Electric Guitar, Violin, Zuruna, Synthesizer, Kawabata Makoto; Producer, Engineer, Kawabata Makoto; Vibraphone, Glockenspiel, Terukina Noriko; Voice, Cotton Casino. 20:28
10. Kikagaku Moyo, “Kodama“ from Forest Of Lost Children (2014 Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records). Japanese psychedelic rock band formed by Tomo Katsurada and Go Kurosawa in 2012. Bass, Kotsuguy; Drums, Vocals, Go Kurosawa; Engineer, Yui Kimijima; Guitar, Daoud Popal; Sitar, Ryu Kurosawa; Theremin, Voice, Angie Gotopo; Vocals, Guitar, Tomo Katsurada; Written-By Go Kurosawa. Another one of the acclaimed bands in the Japanese progressive psych genre, the word is they are breaking up and play their last show in Tokyo in December 2022. 4:21

Opening background music: Les Rallizes Denudes, “Oz Days (1:33)” and “Wilderness of False Flowers”(7:36) from The Oz Tapes (1973 OZ Records). Recorded at OZ, Kichijoji, Tokyo 1973. Bass, Makoto Kubota; Drums, Shunichiro Shoda; Guitar, Takeshi Nakamura; Vocals, Guitar, Takashi Mizutani.

Opening and closing sequences voiced by Anne Benkovitz.

Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes.

For additional notes, please see my blog, Noise and Notations.