the of mirror eye

* Do RI Ru: Come (4.0 mb)
* Ziggy Atem & CIA Dry Ice System: Z.E.R.A. Wink (4.5 mb)
* The Grape Juice: Grape Juice (8.0 mb)
* Sean Parker: Message (6.0 mb)
From Osaka International Pirate Radio : Exile Osaka

Back when I was still a little pup (well, a sophomore in college) I was still enmeshed in the college indie music scene and not bothering to explore much beyond those comfy confines. Until I saw an issue of Exile Osaka: Japan Hardboiled Mondo Trash. I’m not sure where I found a copy or how it got in my hands, but it instantly struck a chord with me. The magazine was started by Matt Exile, a spry young fellow who was teaching English in Osaka, Japan. He had an interest in the noise/punk/hardcore scene in Osaka and documented his findings. Mr. Exile told such great tales of depravity and craziness in the Japanese music scene that I just had to explore more. Too bad he’s not publishing that ‘zine anymore. I wonder what he’s up to?

At any rate. These tracks here are from a Matt Exile produced cd compilation/mini-zine and is full of excellent damaged noise musics from Japanese bands. Here’s band descriptions straight from the mini-zine.

Do RI Ru -> Do RI Ru is, (or was, I should say, as the band is on an extended hiatus) made up of Kigami on vocals, Masuke on bass (see Moga The Y5), Koji on guitar (he now works in a sports shop), Yoshi Yoshi on drums (currently in Spasmom and Grind Orchestra) and Kawaguchi on sax who has since returned to his hometown. Well, I did one of those band descriptions in which I listed the members and the instruments they play. How original. Do Ri Ru was a great HC band and I hope they’ll play again one day. “Open the Door” is the lead off track from their one and only cassette. Masuke remixed it for this CD.

Ziggy Atem & CIA Dry Ice System -> Ziggy Atem is not from this planet. I was able to gleam some more information about Ziggy from Dexi Journal, a zine put out by Matsumoto. “Ziggy Atem is a schizophrenic who has spent time in and out of mental hospitals. He claims that he has spent half of his thirty years as an alien from outer space who is living on earth. Ziggy is not a violent person, but he did smash his television set and break all of his beloved records. Ziggy believes that Ian Curtis is still alive and living in Switzerland. He insists that Lou Reed contributed backing vocals to a song by a Japanese idol named Koizumi Kyoko. Ziggy says things that are difficult for the people of Earth to understand and that makes him interesting.” Ziggy has recently appeared on national television with a very popular comedy duo called Ninety-Nine. Afterwards, Ziggy decided to change his name to Saturn Alpha Bell Atem and the name of his band to Saturn Nolis Package. Z.E.R.A. Wink was recorded for this comp. and is Ziggy…er, Saturn’s first ever appearance on CD. Which makes this here baby one of them collectors items that you read about.

The Grape Juice -> A few years ago I was at a record store in osaka called Woodstock and picked up a free compilation tape from Nagoya with three bands on it - The Grape Juice, Monochrome Picture and The Sexline. I wasn’t expected it to be any good, I was just happy to get a free cassette that I could use to dub a CD onto. I listened to it on a walkman and immediately became a fan. The Grape Juice ultra lo-fi jangly pop with just the right amount of distortion is fantastic. The song that’s on this CD is from that demo. I reviewed the cassette but never got around to contacting the label until about eight months later. A week after that I received a big package with 50 vinyl 7 inches, 3 t-shirts and a couple of cassettes. There was a note from Kiyokazu Murata, the man behing Grape Juice and Monochrome Picture (The Sexline is a solo project by Hashimoto, the other member of Grape Juice who contributed the noise on this track). In his letter, Murata told me that his relative took his guitar so he hasn’t been able to play music or write songs for about a year.

Sean Parker -> A number of the select few who received “advance copies” of this CD listed these two tracks as their favorites. Who’s in Periscope? And who’s this Sean Parker? How come I never heard of them? “Periscope” is Sean Parker with drummer Chris Olsen. “Sean Parker” is Sean Parker with drummer Chris Olsen. Okay, that’s a little confusing. Let me pull Sean’s dossier from our huge mainframe computer. “Sean Parker was born in 1971. His father is Australian. His mother is Japanese. He grew up in Hong Kong. He attended University in NY. There he met Chris Olsen. They recorded a bunch of stuff in Sean’s basement. Periscope is an improvisational unit. “Your Leather Outfit” was recorded in one take and mixed the same day. Sean played guitar, bass, and musette with Chris contributing drums and percussion. For “Message” Sean on alto clarinet, guitar, bass, vibraphone and percussion. Chris played drums. Sean spent the last few months in Tokyo and recorded with a couple of musicians from New Zealand. He’s since returned to NY and is currently mixing new tracks in his basement once again.

(From Exile Osaka Mini-Zine)

And there you have it. A mini overview of Japan Hardboiled Mono Trash from Osaka and beyond. Enjoy!

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* Ashtray Navigations: Mysterious Starling Music (7.0 mb) | Mysterious Starling Island (4.0 mb)
* Peter Wright: Metal Feathers Can Fly (7.5 mb)
From The Invisible Pyramid: Elegy Box : Last Visible Dog : LVD 080-086

Just like everyone else who’s reviewed this release, I realize the futility of trying to pick “best tracks” or “favorites” or deliver a play-by-play of the entire contents of this incredible 6cd (over 7 hours of music) boxset of goodness. Last Visible Dog have really outdone themselves (and everyone else) this time with this release. This Providence based label has already been at the forefront of the free/rural/psychedelic folk scene for a long time now. The concept was simple. Give 31 artists free reign to develop 20 minutes of music with the writings of Loren Eiseley as inspiration. And with this list of musical contributors, a veritable who’s who of the scene, there was guaranteed success. And honestly, this release is absolutely essential for anyone who has even a passing interest in this genre.

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* Fushitsusha: I-I (23.0 mb)
From Untitled : PSF Records : PSFD-3/4

If one is to address the psychedelic musics of Japan, then Keiji Haino should be at the top of that list. He’s been at the forefront of the psychedelic music scene since the early ’70’s and shows no signs of slowing down (149 releases and counting). This man is simply amazing, a living legend. There’s really no way that I can even come close to describing the power that Keiji Haino possesses. No way to really describe just how completely he can master anything that he gets his hands on. Or the way that his sound is so unique and complete that he’s been able to examine the same musical themes for over 30 years and still not be done exploring them. He’s been known to play marathon 7 hour concerts, schedule two concerts in one night at two different venues, or play solo with a sampler and over 40 instruments.

Haino’s music, whether solo or within a group, is an overwhelming force. It can take unprepared listeners completely off their feet. The sheer volume of his guitar playing, added to the astonishingly raw emotion of his vocals, creates a clear impression that one is witnessing the closest rock equivalent to Primal Scream therapy. In fact, this is partly true; all performances, all recordings, are completely improvised and never repeated.

(Phil Freeman)

Fushitsusha is his “rock” group and has been performing, in various incarnations, since the late ’70’s. And even though this isn’t really saying all that much, this group could be considered his most accessible. The music here is still very strange and alien. Keiji Haino takes rock as his starting point. but jumps quickly into the stratosphere. This is an absolutely amazing document and, no matter how many times I listen to it, there’s always something new to hear.

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* Vince Guaraldi Trio: O Tannenbaum (6.5 mb) | Linus And Lucy (4.5 mb) | Christmas Time Is Coming (8.5 mb) | Skating (3.5 mb)
From A Charlie Brown Christmas : Fantasy Records : 8431

It seems that people are putting their Holiday decorations up earlier and earlier. Now, Halloween is barely finished and people have their lights up, their trees up and deorated, and their large, blown up Santa Clauses on the front lawn. All these lights always bring to mind the classic movies that I would watch in order to escape the family dramas: A Charlie Brown Christmas and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. It was Charlie Brown though, who I always wanted to watch. In large part I think, because of this soundtrack. This is an absolutely timeless classic. These jazz renderings of popular holiday songs by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, while slightly schmaltzy, are still both humorous and sophisticated.

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* Beans Hambone & El Morrow: Beans (2.5 mb)
* Grant Brothers & Their Music: Tell It To Me (2.5 mb)
* Kirk McGee & Blythe Poteet: C-H-I-C-K-E-N Spells Chicken (2.5 mb)
* Jim Jackson: I Heard The Voice Of A Porkchop (2.5 mb)
From Good For What Ails You (Music Of The Medicine Shows 1926-1937) : Old Hat Records : Old Hat CD-1005

I was shopping the other day when I came across this curio sub-titled Music Of The Medicine Shows 1926-1937. The cover featured this strange looking duo with one fellow playing the banjo and with two dogs sitting faithfully to their sides. My interest was immediately piqued and I quickly plunked down the required ducats for the CD. And boy am I ever glad that I did. This has been on near constant rotation in my cd player for awhile now.

This collection of ye olde timey songs is a fantastic overview of what was going on “back in the day”. All the way back when hucksters could make their own patent medicine and sell them at travelling Medicine Shows. The purpose of the musicians was to draw and loosen up the crowd. And then when the crowds were sufficiently entertained, the “doctor” would make a grand entrance and start extolling the virtues of his medicine.

In the days before electronic mass media, the traveling medicine shows spread entertainment across America, and music was always a crucial ingredient. Onstage, musicians served up a variety of comic songs, parodies, popular favorites, novelties, folk songs, dance tunes, and instrumental specialties. Later, new musical forms, such as jazz and blues, were added to the bill. The shows died out by mid-20th century, but not before a handful of seasoned veterans left their musical legacy on phonograph records.
The primary motive of every medicine show was to peddle the assorted nostrums and tonics of the flamboyant quacks whose sales pitch was dictated by the credo: “Never use one word, when four will suffice.” The free program of music and comedy was designed to draw a crowd and weaken sales resistance before the “learned professor” made his dramatic appearance on the platform to lecture the populace on their numerous ailments, and to offer his unique remedy - for a price.

(from Old Hat Records website)

These songs absolutely blow my mind because even though they were played and recorded some 80 years ago, they’re still way more interesting than most of the aural crap being produced today. And somehow, the songs manage to be both incredibly strange and strangely familiar, all at the same time.

So, we’ve got Beans Hambone & El Morrow singing an ode complete with Biblical references to that musical fruit, the bean. Next we’ve got the Grant Brothers singing about the evils of cocaine. Followed by Kirk McGee & Blythe Poteet teaching us how to spell chicken. And last but not least, we’ve got Jim Jackson (perhaps foreshadowing the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster?!?!) and his parody of I Heard The Voice Of Jesus Say.

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Ok. The Thing (look here) with Joe McPhee are gods!! They have one of the most high energy show that I’ve ever seen. Paal Nilssen-Love is probably one of the tightest, most powerfullest drummers I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing. Even if you don’t like the genre of free jazz, you should see them anyways. They’re that good.

* Tale Ognenovski: Jazz Composition No. 1 (3.5 mb) | Jazz Composition No. 8 (2.5 mb) | Brusnichko Oro (3.0 mb)
From Jazz, Macedonian Folk Dances And Classical Music : Independent Records : IR04542

Here is proof.

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[And for the first time ever, we've got a special guest poster! She may be a little too wordy, but hey them's the breaks.]