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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