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].

 

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].

 

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.

 

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!

 

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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].

 

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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’.

 

                                                                                                           Y

 

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                                                                      

 

Zeni Geva – formed in 1987 by guitarist Kazuyuki K. Null [K.K. Null], with Mitsuru Tabata and Eito Noro. Their sound is generally chunky, fierce and aggressive industrialoid punk-metal with an experimental/progressive flavour buried within the sonic assault. They had no bassist, instead using down-tuned guitar. Their albums were ‘How to Kill’ [Nux, 1987], ‘Vast Impotenz’ [Nux, 1988], ‘Maximum Money Monster’ [Pathological, 1990], ‘Total Castration’ [Public Bath, 1992], ‘Nai-Ha’ [NG, 1993; a mini album, reissued by Skin Graft, 1996], ‘All Right You Little Bastards’ [NG, 1993], ‘Desire For Agony’ [Alternative Tentacles, 1993], ‘Freedom Bondage’ [Alternative Tentacles, 1995] and ‘10,000 Light Years’ [Neurot, 2001]. K.K. Null has also made solo albums which are generally more experimental and abstract than his work with Zeni Geva, but reputedly declining in quality over time.

 

      MOPS                  TREMBLING      TERUS SYMPHONIA YUYU UCHIDA & YONIN BAYASHI  YASUMI KUNI

STRAIN                                                       FLOWERS

        Itjanaika                 Anthem to raise dead          The gate                      Challenge          Dangerous situation     Yasumi No

 

S-present

;l.

Acid Mothers Temple – a band/collective formed in 1996 by visionary self-taught free rock guitarist Kawabata Makoto, ex-Ankoku Kakumei Kyodotai [see above] and numerous other groups. He wanted the band to bring to life the kind of totally wild psychedelic music that he had always wanted to hear but never been able to find. They are also known as the Acid Mothers Soul Collective. The first album, ‘Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O.’ [PSF, 1997], played all as one track, which makes it tough luck if you can’t handle the total onslaught and want to skip to a mellow bit! There are two main vibes going on here – totally insane acid noise guitar & electronics freakouts over simple and repetitive grooves, and delicious mellow spacey interludes in which to catch your breath. The former feels like flying into the sun on LSD, and seems to

get more and more intense as the album plays; the latter gives a bit of a nod to Gong, as does the style of lettering on the track-listing. ‘Pataphysical Freakout Mu!!’ [PSF, 1999] was a bit less intense [and that’s still pretty intense], and a bit shambolic like they’d fried too many nerve-endings with their too much-too soon high-octane overdrive, but still a good one. ‘Troubadours From Another Heavenly World’ [PSF, 2000] followed in a similar vein. ‘La Nòvia’ [Eclipse, 2000] supposedly explored the lost folk music of Occitania, and musically, most of the album is one long track sometimes reminiscent of Soft [see below] circa ‘Shamanic Waveform’. It’s a beautiful and uncharacteristically restrained mellow

psychedelic jam, occasionally building to some mind-boggling harder freakout sections. The CD issue has a few extra tracks in a similarly mellow druggy mood. ‘Absolutely Freak Out – Zap Your Mind!’ [Static Caravan/Resonant, 2001] was a double album with lots more variety and spontaneity than on previous albums. ‘New Geocentric World’ [Squealer, 2001] was a little more accessible [only a little!], following a similar grouping of styles to the first few albums, but with more focus in places. Other albums include ‘In C’ [Eclipse, 2001], ‘Electric Heavyland’ [Alien8, 2002] etc etc. These guys release so much stuff it’s hard to keep up!

Adachi Kyodai – formed by two brothers who both play guitar. Their music is fairly concise, jazzy progressive rock influenced by King Crimson, Jethro Tull and John McLaughlin. They’ve released two albums, ‘Blood and Instinct’ [2001] and ‘Adachi Kyodai’ [Musea, 2003].

Altered States – an offshoot from Ground Zero [Otomo Yoshihide’s band]. They play a kind of progressive rock that has been described as a mix of King Crimson, Boredoms, free jazz and psychedelia; Frolk Haven have been compared to Altered States, if you’ve heard that band. They’ve released many albums – ‘Altered States’ [Zenbei, 1992], ‘Lithuania and Estonia Live’ [Trigram, 1994], ‘Mosaic’ [God Mountain, 1995], ‘4’ [Zenbei, 1996], ‘Café 9.15’ [Phenotype/Disk Union, 1996; with Ned Rothenberg], ‘6’ [Zenbei, 1997] and ‘Plays Standards’ [Eyewill, 1999].

Amygdala – a heavy zeuhl/RIO group comparable to Univers Zero, Present and Magma, and supposedly very good – I haven’t heard them yet. Their only albums to date are ‘Amygdala’ [Soleil Zeuhl, 2004; I couldn’t find mention of this on the Soleil Zeuhl web-site, though] and ‘Algemeine Angaben’ [2004].

Fumitaka Anzai – a composer and keyboardist who is well-known for his work on anime soundtracks, particularly in the 80’s. He’s also performed with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, and wrote the theme music for the ’85 expo in Japan. In 1999, he started his own label. His first album was ‘Kyrie: Canto Cybernetico’ [Apricot Systematic Recordings, 1999] contains a unique mix of symphonic prog, cosmic synthesiser music, drum’n’bass etc. with operatic female vocals. His second album was ‘Exclusive Sequences’ [Apricot Systematic Recordings/CD Baby, 2001].

Ars Nova – formed in 1983, with numerous line-up changes ensuing. These three ladies play progressive rock very much inspired by keyboard-fronted old-school classical prog such as ELP and Le Orme, but with a bit of their own touch. Their music [based on ‘Android Domina’, the only album of theirs I’ve heard] sometimes pretty intense and impressive, sometimes pretty cheesy, and largely instrumental. Their first album was ‘Fear and Anxiety’ [Made in Japan Records, 1992], followed by ‘Transi’ [Made in Japan, 1994], ‘Goddess of Darkness’ [Made in Japan/Musea, 1996], ‘Reu Nu Pert Em Hru’ (‘The Book of the Dead’) [Made in Japan/Musea/AMP/Black Widow, 1998], ‘Android Domina’ [Musea/Black

Widow, 2001] and ‘Lacrimaria’ [Made in Japan, 2001].

A-theta – a mellow symphonic prog group led by keyboardist Yoko Royama from Vermillion Sands. Their first album was ‘Seeds of the Dream’ [Musea, 2000], and includes numerous guests including Akihisa Tsuboy, violinist from KBB [see below]. The music has been compared to Renaissance and Vermillion Sands.

Bandvivil – a trio formed by guitarist Issei Takami. Their album ‘Junaokissei’ [Musea Parallele/InterMusic, 2004] is reputedly intense and adventurous instrumental music inspired by Hendrix, Zappa, King Crimson and Brand X.

Il Berlione – an RIO-progressive group who have been compared to Henry Cow, Hatfield &the North, National Health, Kenso, Happy Family and Lacrymosa. Their first album was ‘Il Berlione’ [Belle Antique, 1992]; the follow-up, ‘In 453 Minutes of Infernal Cooking’ [Belle Antique, 1994], has been described as disappointing compared to the debut, focusing on more of a boring fusion style.

Blazing Bronze – a dark progressive group with symphonic and jazz touches, as well as lots of synths. Their first album dead Challenge situation

was ‘Dominion of the East’ [Independent, 2001], followed by the even darker ‘Death Collection’ [Independent, 2001] and ‘Unscientific’ [2002].

Bondage Fruit – a heavy rocking experimental zeuhl band, who have been described as a cross between Happy Family and Kenso. Their albums include ‘Bondage Fruit’ [Maboroshi No Sekai, 1995], ‘II’ [Maboroshi No Sekai, 1996], which is sometimes said to be their best album, ‘Récit’ [Maboroshi No Sekai, 1997], a live album, ‘IV’ [Maboroshi No Sekai, 1999], and ‘Skin’ [Maboroshi No Sekai, 2002], which is reputedly the most experimental, and is all-instrumental.

Boris – a slow, heavy experimental group influenced by The Melvins but even more stretched-out and minimal – some have compared them to Sleep in their general approach. Their first album was ‘Absolutego’ [Fangs Anal Satan, 1996], followed by a split album – ‘Boris/Abones’ [Fangs Anal Satan, 1997]. Their next was a collaboration with Keiji Haino – ‘Black - Implication Flooding’ [Inoxia, 1998], followed by ‘Amplifier Worship’ [Mangrove, 1998]. Next was another split album - Boris vs Choukoku No Niwa – ‘More Echoes, Touching Air Landscape’ [Inoxia, 1999]. On ‘Flood’ [MIDI Creative, 2001] they had mellowed somewhat, with one 70-minute semi-acoustic piece. ‘Heavy Rocks’ [Fangs Anal

Satan, 2002] reputedly embraced ‘stoner rock’ and 60’s garage band styles. Another two collaborations with Merzbow were next – the doomy ‘Megatone’ [Inoxia, 2002] and the more active and psychedelic ‘04092001’ [Inoxia, 2005], which was released on LP only. Other releases to date are ‘Akuma No Uta’ [DIW Phalanx, 2003], a mini-album; ‘At Last – Feedbacker’ [DIW Phalanx, 2004]; ‘The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked’ [Kult of Nihilow, 2004], an EP; and ‘Mabuta No Ura’ [Catune, 2005], a movie soundtrack which is reputedly pretty mellow.

Budderfly – a group consisting of members of Six North, led by bassist Hideyuki Shima. Their album ‘Budderfly’ [Musea/Poseidon, 2005] contains live jams and reputedly varies between jazz-rock, jazz-metal and spacey excursions.

Castle in the Air – a symphonic progressive metal group, who have been compared to Novela and Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force. They made only one album that I know of – ‘Castle in the Air’ [Made in Japan, 1999]. Keyboard player Yuhki Nakajima joined Marge Litch [see above] after Castle in the Air broke up.

Cinderella Search – a UK-styled symphonic prog band with English vocals and violin. They have been compared in various ways to Genesis, Tony Banks, Camel and UK. They have only two albums that I know of, ‘Cinderella Search’ [Made in Japan, 1993] and ‘Stories of Luminous Garden’ [Made in Japan, 2001].

Cinema – a progressive rock group formed by ex-members of Fromage [see above]. They play in a symphonic/classical prog style, with violin, viola, cello, bouzouki and ocarina in the brew. Their first album was ‘The Seven Stories’ [Belle Antique/Made in Japan, 1995], followed by ‘Into the State of Flux’ [Belle Antique/Musea, 2000] and ‘Mindscape’ [Belle Antique, 2002; reissued by Musea, 2004].

Construction – the only recording I’m aware of by this obscure new-ish psychedelic rock band is the live ‘Fade Out’, on the ‘Tokyo Flashback 4’ PSF sampler. It’s a great jammy track that sounds simple yet fairly complex at the same time, building to a Neu-meets-Hawkwind-meets-Simply Saucer-like climax.

Coral Caves – an electronic group using a great array of analog and midi synths, and computer processing. The band is actually just one person, Toshiyuki Fujita, although he calls himself Fujita Satoshi here. Coral Caves is named after a lyric in Pink Floyd’s ‘Echoes’, and is influenced by 70’s progressive rock and New Age music. The only album that I know of is the debut ‘Voice From a Distance’ [Musea Dreaming, 2000]. The Exposé web site referred to it as being in “the space between Yanni, Kitaro and [Rick] Wakeman”. Others bring up comparisons such as a more rock-oriented Vangelis, and 90’s Tangerine Dream.

Cosmic Invention – a short-lived ‘supergroup’ formed by Masaki Batoh [Ghost – see below], Michio Kurihara [White Heaven – see above] & Futoshi Okano [Subvert Blaze], with other members of Ghost, Overhang Party, Kakashi & Yura Yura Kingdom. Their album ‘Help Your Satori Mind’ [The Now Sound, 1997] is a varied and enjoyable one, seemingly some kind of homage to their 70’s psychedelic heroes. The title track sounds like Flower Travellin’ Band jamming with Foodbrain! Some of the album ventures into heady 70’s Miles Davis psychedelic jazz rock territory pretty effectively, as well as some out-there space rock explorations with a nod to Pink Floyd. Some tracks are in the Ghost song-style, and as such there are commercial touches here and there which in my opinion slightly damage the album’s credibility. According to the liner notes, track 5 is written by Boz Scaggs!

Daiichi-Hakkensha (First Discoverer) – a four-piece group who [based on the track I’ve heard on the ‘Tokyo Flashback 3’ PSF sampler] played a kind of atmospheric free-form psychedelic music. They sound to me like a more basic Taj Mahal Travellers kind of thing, but with acoustic guitar and semi-spoken narrative vocals.

Daimonji – apparently a hardcore blend of zeuhl, RIO and jazz styles, featuring drummer Tatsuya Yoshida of Ruins, with Hoppy Kamiyama on keyboards and Nasuno Mitsunu on bass. The first album was ‘Improg’ [Poseidon/Musea, 2003], which has very long tracks [between roughly 14 and 22 minutes]. Recently this was followed up by ‘Into a Blind Alley’ [God Mountain, 2004].

Dub Sonic Roots – a large collective using massive percussive grooves combined with electronic fucking-around and free-jazz sax. Their album ‘Live at the Uplink Factory November 3, 1996’ (with Nerve Net Noise) [Zero Gravity] also features a jam with noisy electronics group Nerve Net Noise, as well as a track with Nerve Net Noise by themselves. Dub Sonic Roots also sometimes play as Dub Sonic Warriors or Dub Sonic Starship Arkestra [as well as probably other names], depending on the mood.

Dub Sonic Starship Arkestra – an offshoot of Dub Sonic Roots, perhaps simply the same group. I find their album ‘For Psychobuddhfaridrumachinespace Age’ [1997] much more varied and enjoyable than the other Dub Sonic Roots albums I’ve heard. It’s a pretty weird trip, running through trippy experimental jazz grooves, dijeridu and electronics mystical dronings, and further percussion/sax/double bass/electronics freeform workouts. This CD is pretty hard to find, and the copy I bought didn’t even come with a cover insert or any information!

L’Evoluzione – a heavy progressive band that has been compared to Dream Theater, or prog such as Banco crossed with metal such as Metallica. The only album that I know of is ‘Antibiotic Rhythm’ [Castle Records, 1999]. Keyboardist Yoshihiro Kataoka was previously in Round House [see above].

Fairy – a symphonic prog group including Hiroyuki Ishizawa and Masahiro Uemura from Dharani. Formed in 1988, they soon broke up with some members forming the group Io [see below]. A few years later they got back together and made an album, ‘Hesperia’ [1994], before splitting for good. Uemura went on to make computer game music and formed the project Kalo [see below].

Floating Flower – a psychedelic folk group with female vocals, consisting of Kawabata Makoto [Acid Mothers Temple – see above], Tetsuya Kaneko and Yuki; they formed in 1998. Albums so far are ‘1st’ [Acid Mothers Temple, 1998, CDR; reissued on LP by Eclipse, 2000] and ‘2’ [Acid Mothers Temple, 1999; CD-R] – both of which were reissued together on 1 CD [Black Plastic Sounds, 2002].

Fox Hole Commune [F.H.C.] – a frantic progressive band using Chapman stick, bass, violin, banjo, synths and drums. Their album ‘One Locus Consisting of Three Fragments’ [Musea, 2003] is reputedly great, and very complex and unique.

Tetsuo Furudate – an experimental/avant-garde musician. I think his first two albums were ‘L’arret de Mort’ [1992] and ‘MacBeth’ [SSE Communications, 1993]. ‘(X).X Is Not a Man Or X Is Mortal’ [Staalplaat/God Factory, 2000] was recorded live in 1998, and is reputedly dark ambient industrial orchestral music. Following this was ‘Othello as Noise Opera’ [Les Disques Du Soleil et de l’Acier, 2001]. ‘World As Will’ (with Zbigniew Karkowski) [Staalplaat, 1998] and ‘World As Will II’ [23Five, 2003] are reputedly intense works with electronics and elements of Wagner. On ‘Autrement Qu’être’ (with Sumihisa Arima and Pneuma – see above) [DSA, 1995] Furudate provides guitar, violin, sampler and

voice; Arima provides computer, sampler, keyboards and piano, with Pneuma on electronics, percussion and bowed string. The Forced Exposure web site describes it as “doomy sound patchworks, utilizing subtle collage techniques and the massive layering of modern Euro classical bents (Penderecki, etc.)”. (Penderecki, etc.)”. Some of it reminds me of Igor Wakhevitch circa ‘Les Fous D’Or’ and ‘Nagual’. It was recorded live in Tokyo in ’94 and ’95, and is really outthere! There’s also a part II of this on the same label.

Gestalt – a unique progressive band with spacey and zeuhl sounds in the mix. There’s only one album that I know of, ‘Gomorrah Vs Khan’ [Musea, 1999].

Ghost – formed in 1984, originally playing just free improvised music. By the time they began recording they had also incorporated composed and structured material. Basically they’re a psychedelic band with folk, rock, progressive and experimental facets. They utilize a wide range of instruments including acoustic and electric guitar, bass, drums, percussion, banjo, hurdy gurdy, keyboards, electronics, wind instruments etc. The music often has a fairly serious, mystical and spiritual feel of a kind. This appears to be in line with the intentions of the group for their expression in music. All of the albums also have moments where the band do more ‘commercial’ sounding songs, and these bits [which by and large I don’t like] are the only thing holding me back from declaring myself a fully-fledged Ghost fan. Their first album was ‘Ghost’ [PSF, 1990], followed by ‘Second Time Around’ [PSF, 1992], ‘Temple Stone’ [PSF, 1994], ‘Lama Rabi Rabi’ [Drag City, 1996], ‘Snuffbox Immanence’ [Drag City, 1999] and the double album ‘Tune In, Turn On, Free Tibet’ [Drag City, 1999], which ended with a very lengthy, experimental and tripped out slab of brainmelt. The recent double album ‘Hypnotic Underworld’ [P-Vine/Drag City, 2004] is arguably Ghost’s best yet. It runs the full gamut of their styles in top form, often venturing more into progressive rock and trippy jazz rock territory. There are still a few more ‘commercial’ sounding songs which I don’t like, but the rest comes highly recommended.

Golden Avant-Garde – a side-project of the Lacrymosa [see above] leader Chihiro S. Their album ‘Golden Avant- Garde’ [Belle Antique, 1994] was recorded between 1988-91; it is reputedly complex RIO-progressive fusion with electronic effects and samples, that they described at the time as ‘cyber-rock’.

Tadashi Goto – a talented musician who played all the instruments on his first album ‘Soundscape’ [Musea/Intermusic, 2005]; however, everything is reproduced by synthesizers, which is all he plays. The music is reputedly a blend of jazzfusion and symphonic prog.

Green Milk From the Planet Orange – a psychedelic group formed in 2001 by Dead K and A [both ex-No Rest For The Dead, a grindcore band], later joined by bassist Benjian. They proudly proclaim themselves to be “the new wave of progressive rock”. Their first release was the CD-R ‘The Shape Of Rock To Come’ [Ancient, 2001], followed by ‘Birth of the Neon Trip’ [Ancient, 2002], also a CD-R, which introduced keyboards and trumpet into the mix. By ‘He’s Crying “Look”’ [Beta-Lactam Ring, 2003], their first ‘proper’ full-length release, Benjian had been replaced. This album received a lot of attention, and it’s a really good release [as well as the only one I’ve heard so far] containing lengthy and

varied tracks of largely-instrumental psychedelic rock and spaced-out explorations. ‘A Day In The Planet Orange’ [Ancient, 2004] was a CD-R demo containing one lengthy [41:25] track – but why release a demo at this point? Their latest album was ‘City Calls Revolution’ [Beta-Lactam Ring, 2005].

Group Therapy – a psychedelic avant-jazz group, reputedly sounding like a mix of Passport, Sun Ra and James Blood Ulmer. ‘Atlantis’ [Mellow, 1998] and the live ‘Digitalive’ [GT, 2000] had more of a fusion approach; ‘Melatomania’ [Mellow, 2001] leans more towards progressive ‘art rock’.

Gyaatees – a group consisting of mentally-handicapped priests [yes, I’m not just saying that] with guest musicians. They apparently make some kind of spiritual freeform music. They released 2 albums – ‘1’ [Captain Trip, 199?] and ‘2 – Gyaatees Meets Mani Neumeier’ [Captain Trip, 1999] – before they were joined by bassist Motoharu Yoshizawa [see below] for ‘3 - Welcome/Last Live’ [Captain Trip, year?]. A few months after the recording, Yoshizawa died. Gyaatees recorded only one more album that I know of, ‘4 – Live at Show Boat’ [Captain Trip, year?].

Hanadensha – side project of the bassist from The Boredoms [see above]. He’s released numerous albums, including ‘The Golden Age of Heavy Blood’ [Alchemy Records, 1992], ‘Hanaden Bless All’ [Alchemy, 1993] [double], ‘Narcotic Guitar: Imaginary Movie Soundtracks’ [WEA Japan, 1996], ‘Astral Pygmy Wave’ [Circle Sunshine, 1997], ‘Acoustic Mothership’ [Circle Sunshine, 1997] and ‘Doobie Shining Love’ [Circle Sunshine, 1997]. Of these, I’ve only heard ‘Acoustic Mothership’, which is really excellent, tripped-out experimental electronic rock that is processed almost beyond recognition as having any rock basis. It doesn’t really sound like anyone else that comes to mind.

Happy Family – one of the best newer Japanese progressive bands, these guys played a complex and meaty, mainly instrumental music that is heavily influenced by Magma and heavy King Crimson. Not counting 2 early cassettes (‘Happy Family’ [1990] and ‘Flying Spirit Dance’ [live; 1994]) they only released two albums, ‘Happy Family’ [Cuneiform, 1995] and ‘Toscco’ [Cuneiform, 1997]. Some folks might be put off by the cheesy keyboard sounds, which are only dominating in a couple of the shorter tracks, though apart from that the quality of the music is very high indeed! Perhaps most enjoyable to people who like the idea of Koenjihyakkei [see below] but find them a bit too demented and relentless to get into. I love ‘em both! The band seems to be defunct although there’s always the hope they might put something new together.

Aki Hata – a symphonic vocal prog artist who has been compared to Fromage and Shingetsu [see above]. There are four albums that I know of – ‘Kan Oke Jima’ [Arc, 199?], ‘Sekai-nante Oari-nasai’ [Arc, 199?], ‘Lass Die Welt Untergehen’ [Arc, 1996] and ‘L’ile Aux Trente Circueils’ [1999].

Head Pop Up – a complex, dynamic progressive rock band with two keyboardists. They reputedly have zeuhl, Canterbury and jazz rock overtones. They have one album that I know of, ‘Tokusen Burari Tabi’ [Poseidon, 2003], but they’ve apparently been playing together since the early 90’s.

Hikyo String Quintet – the only recording I’m aware of by this group is ‘Strings Quintet No. 1’ on the ‘Tokyo Flashback 4’ PSF sampler. As their name suggests, they’re a string quintet, but they play an intriguing improvisedsounding avant-garde chamber music with excellent musicianship and a great ability to create a moody and psychedelic atmosphere from such a conventional-seeming group format.

Io – an obscure prog band consisting of some members of Fairy [see above]. They made on album, ‘Glass Castle’ [1990], which I know nothing about.

Kadura – a space rock group with the unique use of a zurna [a double-reeded horn]. They made only one album that I know of, ‘From the Depths of the Other Space’ [Charnel Music, 1997].

Kalo – a broadly symphonic prog group which is a project of keyboardist/guitarist/programmer Masahiro Uemura [ex- Fairy, Io – see above]. Kalo has one album that I know of, ‘Spiral Dream’ [Musea/Intermusic, 2004]. Apparently it lacks a particular style or direction, dabbling in a bit of everything proggy.

KBB – formed in 1992 by guitarist/violinist Akihisa Tsuboy. They play instrumental progressive rock with prominent violin and improvisation, and symphonic and fusion elements. The only albums I know of are ‘Lost & Found’ [Musea, 2000] and ‘Four Corner’s Sky’ [Musea, 2003].

Kinzokuebisu – a progressive rock group with lots of mellotron, apparently comparable to Genesis and Anekdoten [though not as dark]. They’ve made one album that I know of, ‘Hakootoko’ [Vital, 2003].

Makoto Kitayama – the ex-singer from Shingetsu [see above]. I haven’t been able to find out much of anything about this person, who has at least one album that came out as by Makoto Kitayama with Shingetsu Project – ‘Hiraku Sazanami’ [Musea, 1998]. It reputedly contains symphonic progressive rock with some comparisons to King Crimson, and was recorded between 1972 and 1996.

Koenjihyakkei – a side-project formed by Ruins drummer Tatsuya Yoshida to play full-band stuff that’s more ‘proggy’ than other Ruins stuff – particularly in the zeuhl mold. The first two albums featured keyboardist/vocalist Aki Kubota from Bondage Fruit [see above], who also sang on Ruins’ ‘Symphonica’ [see above]. The only albums I’ve heard are ‘Hundred Sights of Koenji’ [God Mountain, 1994] and ‘Nivraym’ [Magaibutsu/Infinite, 2000], both of which are really dense, complex and over-the-top intense [Nivraym more so – ‘Hundred Sights’ is more varied and has some respite from the assault on the senses]. The only other albums I know of are ‘II’ aka ‘Viva Koenji!’ [God Mountain, 1997] and ‘Angherr Shisspa’ [Magaibutsu, 2005].

Korekyojin – another Yoshida side-project, this group only released two albums that I know of. ‘Korekyojin’ [Tzadik, 1999] is a full-band [trio] outing, sometimes slightly reminiscent of Ruins’ ‘Symphonica’ album, though more stylistically diverse and leaning towards RIO prog. It still has that Ruins jumpiness, but the music is a little bit more accessible [only a little bit!]. Pretty hard to describe, but recommended highly! The guitarist is Natsuki Kido from Bondage Fruit [see above], and the bassist is Nansuno Mitsuro from Altered States [see above] and Ground Zero. More

recently came the albums ‘Arabesque’ [Magaibitsu, 2004] and ‘Isotope’ [Tzadik, 2005].

Lu7 – a light, melodic progressive rock group with jazzy leanings. They have one album, ‘L’Esprit de l’Exil’ [Musea/Intermusic, 2005].

Machine and the Synergetic Nuts – a heavy Canterbury-inspired progressive group with a jazz-fusion edge, formed in 1997. Comparisons include Soft Machine, Nucleus, Passport and Zappa fused with Happy Family or Korekyojin. Their first album was ‘Machine and the Synergetic Nuts’ [Alibaba, 2003], followed by the even better ‘Leap Second Forward’ [Cuneiform, 2005].

Mizukagami – a complex, original symphonic prog group with one album so far – ‘Mizukagami’ [Musea/Poseidon, 2003]. It’s been compared to Vermillion Sands and Shingetsu [see above].

Molca – a folk-jazz group with progressive leanings, taking in ‘ethnic’ folk music styles from all over the world. There is one album that I know of, ‘Ethnic Fusion - Super Ethnic Flavor’ [Musea/Poseidon, 2004].

Mongol – a symphonic-fusion progressive band who have been compared to Kenso, Ain Soph [see above], UK and Dream Theater. They have only one album that I know of, ‘Doppler 444’ [Belle Antique, 1997].

Mono – perhaps classifiable as an experimental ‘post-rock’ band, their first two albums were ‘Under the Pipal Tree’ [Tzadik, 2001] and ‘One Step More and You Die’ [Rykodis/Arena Rock, 2003]. They recorded ‘Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined’ [Fujipacific Music/Virgin, 2004 – rec. 2000-2001] with a string quartet and Steve Albini [though I’m not sure if he plays on it or just helped them with recording – the relevant part of the liner notes is obscured on a dark background and is partly unreadable]. The music on this album is beautiful, slowly unfolding instrumental stuff [kind of modern symphonic avant-prog in slo-mo], occasionally building to clanging furious

guitar climaxes. They have at least one other album out, ‘New York Soundtracks’ [Human Highway, 2004].

Morsof – a progressive jazz rock group with some free jazz leanings. Their album ‘Heap’ [Musea/Poseidon, 2003] is reputedly comparable to Soft Machine, Henry Cow and Passport.

Motor Humming – an ‘avant-prog’ group influenced by Ruins, Boredoms and John Zorn’s Naked City, amongst other things. Their first album was ‘Musical Aluminum’ [Tzadik, 1999]; I’m not sure if they’ve released anything else yet.

Mu Mu – an ‘avant-jazz’ trio using keyboards, trombone and drums; the drummer also plays in P.O.N. [see below]. Apparently broadly comparable to John Zorn’s Naked City, I’m not sure if this band has any albums out.

Seiji Nagai – ex-Taj Mahal Travellers member who released an album, ‘Electronic Noise Improvisation’ [Doppelganger, 1999], which in the words of Julian Cope is “a wild journey through a ring-modulated primal swamp infested with treated pianos, insane drummers, boiling bubbling synthesizers, ring-modulated mandolinists, and strange ever-upwardly shifting electronic FX”.

Kazunao Nagata – an experimental electronic musician, active since the mid-90’s, who runs 2 labels – Transonic and Zero Gravity. He features in some groups on his labels, as well as releasing his own solo performances. The most predominant of these are ‘The World of Electronic Sound’ series, which go up to volume 4. Of those that I’ve heard, basically what you get is lots of electronic fucking-around with no real direction or attempts at musical coherence. It can be quite enjoyable if you like electronic music of all kinds but I find these albums get a bit samey by the time they’re about half way through playing. All of the Zero Gravity releases have very distinctive and effective artwork – hard to describe, but a web search should pick up some examples. Those perhaps of more interest to psychedelic/progressive electronic freaks are mentioned above and below [Dub Sonic Roots, Strange Garden, Trio Rakant]. Many of the other releases are either fairly quiet and minimal, or high-frequency and fucked-up. Some of it’s quite good, but if I start listing every Japanese electronic group or artist I’ll be here forever!

Nijiumu – one of Keiji Haino’s [see above] side projects. Their debut was ‘Nijiumu’ [PSF, 1990], followed by ‘Era of Sad Wings’ [PSF, 1993], which comes recommended by Alan Cummings as a “contemplative fusion of electronic washes, ethnic instruments and deeply echoed vocals”.

Ohkami No Jikan – a psychedelic group formed by Kawabata Makoto [see above] and Asahito Najo from High Rise. I’ve only heard one track by them, from the ‘Tokyo Flashback 2’ PSF sampler, and no longer with Makoto in the group. Starting out as a hypnotic inner-space groove reminiscent of live Can, the track [‘Thin City Part 2’] soon morphs into a blistering acid guitar freakout. They have at least one album, ‘Mort Nuit’ [Fractal, 2002].

O-U – I haven’t been able to find out much about this band, who certainly don’t have a name that allows for easy internet searching! They have made at least one album, ‘O-U’ [Poseidon, 2003], reputedly containing a complex mix of RIO, jazz rock and classical music with an avant-garde approach.

Overhang Party – formed by guitarist and vocalist Rinji Fukuoka. From the little I’ve heard they play a kind of psychedelic rock occasionally a little reminiscent of the White Heaven I’ve heard, but heavier and less commercial. Their albums are ‘Overhang Party’ [private?, 1993], ‘2’ [Pataphysique, 1994], ‘Live at Show Boat 8/22 1994’ [Pataphysique, 1995], ‘4’ [Pataphysique, 1998] and the 2-CD + 7” ‘Otherside Of’ [Pataphysique, 2000]

Pochakaite Malko – an instrumental prog band with two keyboard players, and a heavy symphonic approach. They’ve been compared to Magma, Happy Family and ELP and are reputedly great. They’ve released two albums so far – ‘Pochakaite Malko’ [Infinite, 2002] and ‘Laya’ [Tutinoko, 2004], which features Akihisa Tsuboy from KBB [see above] on violin.

P.O.N. – formed as an offshoot of Ground Zero [Otomo Yoshihide’s group], with the guitarist being ex-Bondage Fruit [see above]. Using sax, drums and guitar they apparently play a complex kind of John Zorn’s Naked City-influenced experimental/progressive jazz rock. I’m not sure if they released any albums.

Priority – a trio led by guitarist Takumi Seino, also of Six North and Budderfly. They’ve made at least one album, ‘Light is Decomposed Into Fragments’ [Musea, 2001]. The music is reputedly abstract jazz rock with progressive and improvisational aspects, and has been compared in part to Pat Metheny.

Pryme Tyme – a heavy guitar-fronted progressive fusion band with one album that I know of, ‘Pryme Tyme’ [2000].

Ruinzhatova – another Ruins side-project, consisting of Tatsuya Yoshida and Hisashi Sasaki from Ruins, Seiichi Yamamoto from The Boredoms and Atsushi Tsuyama from Acid Mothers Temple [see above]. The album ‘Close to the RH’ [Tractor, 2003] contains frenzied interpretations of prog and psych songs.

Motoi Sakuraba – keyboardist from prog band Deja-vu [see above]. He made some contributions to the v/a Italian prog tribute album ‘Pazzo Fanfano di Musica’ [Crime, 1989], also featuring Outer Limits, Teru’s Symphonia, Mr. Sirius and Kanon [which consisted of members of Outer Limits]. ‘Gikyoku Onsou’ [Made in Japan/Musea, 1990] was his first solo album. Around this time he also started composing and recording music for video games, and there are many CD’s available containing this music. ‘Force of Light’ [Musea, 1998] is instrumental and was adapted from one of his computer game soundtracks. It has been described as mechanical, maniacal and bombastic, although with some moments of calm. By this time he was also making music for TV shows and anime.

Masaharu Sato – ex-drummer from Bi Kyo Ran [see above]. His first solo album ‘Tappi’ [2001] was made with Bernard Paganotti [ex-Magma, Weidorje, Paga Group] and others. It’s reputedly progressive rock with jazz and eastern influences.

Jyoji Sawada – an experimental/electronic musician and composer who also plays double bass, amongst other things. He’s made numerous albums, perhaps the best known being his third, ‘Enfant Terrible’ [Sonore, 2000]. It’s apparently a ‘futuristic fairy-tale’ inspired by travels to tropical lands, with sounds including Brazilian music, chamber music, jazz, gamelan, tape collages and electronics. ‘Base of Fiction’ [1994] was more rock-edged, with members of Ruins, Boredoms and Ground Zero playing on some tracks.

Seikazoku – an interesting Ruins/Acid Mothers Temple [see above] side project, being a chaotic experimental psychedelic rock band consisting of Tatsuya Yoshida [drums, percussion, oboe, bouzouki, keyboards, voc.], Kawabata Makoto [guitar, violin, sarangi, hyoutan syamisen, keyboards, voc.] and Tsuyama Atsushi [bass, guitar, drums, violin, keyboards, kazoo, voc.]. Their album ‘Out Takes ’66-‘78’ [Fractal Records, 1996] and the crediting of the tracks [eg. 1. live recorded at Avalon Ball Room, San Francisco, 24th May ‘67] gives the impression that these are long-lost live

archive recordings of a previously unknown vintage band. If that were the case then history would need some re-writing, but it later becomes quite clear that all of it was recorded as improvisations in 1996. Why the misleading album name and notes when they give it away anyway, if you read the notes properly? Beats me. The music is pretty good, though!

SF – I’ve been unable to find any info on this band, and I’m not even sure where they fit chronologically, but they made at least one album – ‘Process’ – which is reputedly a lot like Far East Family Band [see above].

Side Steps – an instrumental progressive fusion group formed in 1990, who have been compared to Kenso [see above] and Brand X. They’ve released at least 8 albums, including ‘Steps on Edge’ [1994; reissued Musea, 2003], ‘Out & Out’ [Musea, 1998], ‘Points of View’ [Musea, 2001] and ‘Alive’ [Musea] – I’ve found it pretty hard to discover anything more about their discography.

Six North – an unusual progressive group who have been compared in part to Weidorje and Mr. Sirius [see above]. They are led by bassist/composer Hideyuki Shima. Their debut ‘I’m Here In My Heart’ [Stream Line/Musea, 2000] is apparently a unique symphonic progressive album with elements of jazz-fusion and RIO. The next album ‘Prayer’ [Musea/Poseidon, 2003] was reputedly spacier, and features Dave Sinclair of Caravan guesting on one track.

Soft – a great experimental psychedelic band, formed in 1993 in Kyoto. Their first album was ‘Shamanic Waveform’ [Inoxia, 1997], which plays more or less as one long piece, although it’s broken up into numerous tracks. It flows from serene cosmic meditations to frantic, over-the-top heavy rock outs and psychedelic weirdness. Other albums, which I haven’t heard, include ‘Sunbox’ [Comma, 1999], ‘Bonjour Bonshanfarm’ [Comma, 2000] and ‘Otodama’ [Comma, 2001]. The band features someone named Sab on Moog – I wonder if this is the same Sab or SAB

mentioned above?

Starless – a symphonic hard prog band, comparable to Teru’s Symphonia, Marge Litch and Novela [see above]. ‘Song of Silence/Wish’ [Musea] is a reissue of their 1992 album and an EP from the same year; I’m not sure if they released anything else.

Strange Garden – one of the more interesting groups on the Zero Gravity label. Their first album, which I haven’t heard, was ‘For Speaker System’ [Zero Gravity, 199?]. The only other album I’m aware of is ‘Mumbo Jumbo (Ritual of the Back Yard)’ [Zero Gravity, 1997]. It’s a really interesting album of varied electroacoustic experimental sounds and moods, very unusual and very listenable if you like things that are offbeat. The first track for example goes from an offkilter sax/bass/percussion/electronics workout into a deep trippy section with treated throat chanting monks, exotic percussion etc. giving the feeling of being ferried to some mysterious place through an underground channel. Six band members are credited, as well as “some strange people”, utilizing bass, alto sax, percussion, kalimba, synthesizer, rhythm machine, electronics, effects, tapes, sampler, kazoo, bell, key and drill. The saxophonist on this [Masahiko Okura] also plays on the Trio Rakant album [see below].

String Arguments – a project of Six North [see above] mainman Hideyuki Shima. The live ‘The Encounter’ [Musea, 2002] again has jazz-fusion, classical prog and RIO influences but is reputedly quite different to Six North or other Shima projects.

Sweet and Honey – a psychedelic rock group formed in 1989 by Junichi Yamamoto. In 1991 the guitarist was replaced by Masoki Batoh of Ghost [see above]. As far as I know their sole recorded legacy was ‘Live At Your Cosmic Mind’ [Now Sound, 1993], which I think was released after the band had broken up. It’s a great enthusiastic live album, swinging between extremes of fast hardcore punky stoner rock-outs and mellower, heavily stoned Floydian space grooves.

Time Strings Travellers – originally inspired by progressive jazz rock such as Miles Davis and Weather Report, this band made two albums – ‘Time Strings Travellers’ [1995, cassette] and ‘Second Action’ [1996, cassette] – before becoming a more original instrumental group for ‘Still Songs’ [1999?]. They describe it as ‘neo popular music’ with an Asian feel and pop stylings – though it’s also been described as hypnotic and exotic spacey prog!

Tipographica – formed in 1986 by guitarist Tsuneo Imahori. Their music was reputedly complex and often dissonant progressive rock in an RIO kind of vein. Comparisons include Henry Cow, Hatfield & the North, Picchio dal Pozzo and Zappa. They released a few albums that I know of – ‘Tipographica’ [God Mountain, 1993], ‘God Says I Can’t Dance’ [Mellow, 1994; reissued Pony/Canyon, 1996], ‘The Man Who Does Not Nod’ [Pony/Canyon, 1995] and ‘Floating Opera’ [Sistema, 1997]. They broke up in 1998.

Trembling Strain – a cosmic-avant-folk group formed by synth player Pneuma [see above], later taking on a little Third Ear Band influence. They have numerous albums, including ‘Four Pictures’ [1994], ‘Music For Aerial Sculptures’ [1994], ‘Fu-ka - Anthem to Raise the Dead’ [1995], ‘Bottom of Empty’ [1996], ‘Tower’ [Heresie, 1997] and [as Akira and the Trembling Strain] ‘Dwelling of Telescopefish’ [1999].

Trio96 – an instrumental jazz-rock-fusion group, a little progressive with some RIO leanings. They have a couple of albums, ‘Quartet ‘99’ [Musea/Poseidon, 1999; reissued 2004 – or, recorded in ’99 but released for first time in ‘04] and ‘Duo ‘03’ [Musea/Poseidon, 2003]; they are a trio on neither of these, although they were when they formed!

Trio Rakant – an electronic experimental duo who released only one album that I know of, the wonderful ‘Kokorosususu’ [Zero Gravity, 1997]. Along with Strange Garden [see above] Trio Rakant were one of the better groups on the Zero Gravity label, in my opinion. This album is a lengthy collection of deep inner-space electronic weavings with acoustic elements expertly spun in, including guest musicians on sax, bass, and treated guitar loops on some tracks. At times meditative, at other times dissonant and challenging [a bit like some Interstellar Cementmixers, and sometimes with the vibe of Taj Mahal Travellers getting a look into cyberspace].

Tsurubami – formed in 1994 by Kawabata Makoto & Hiroshi Higashi [from Acid Mothers Temple – see above] with drummer Nobuko Emi. They have a strong cosmic/spiritual intent in their deep, droning soundscapes. Albums include ‘Tsurubami’ [Tenkyo No To, 1995 – cassette only], ‘Tenkyo No To’ [Acid Mothers Temple, 1998 – CDR], ‘Kaina’ [Last Visible Dog, 2000 – CDR, reissued on CD in 2003], ‘Hanshoh No Omoi’ [Acid Mothers Temple, 2001], ‘Tsukuyomi Ni’ [Riot Season, 2003] and ‘Gekkyukekkaichi’ [Strange Attractors Audio House, 2003].

Unbeltipo – a guitar/bass/drums trio playing complex space rock with comparisons to Ozric Tentacles and King Crimson – or, a solo project of ex-Tipographica [see above] guitarist Tsuneo Imahori, with guest musicians, in prog-jazzdrum’n’bass realms like Squarepusher, depending on who you believe. I haven’t heard them yet, myself. I’ve been unable to find much information in English, but there are at least two albums – ‘Unbeltipo’ [Sistema, 1999] and ‘Joujoushka #1’ [2003]. The first featured guest musicians on flute, trumpet, sax, bass, turntables, percussion, drums and programmed drums.

Wappa Gappa – a symphonic prog-jazz group formed in 1992 by bassist Keizo Endo. Apparently they are Mongolian, but they sing in Japanese and they are often thought of as a Japanese band. Their music has been described as Pageantmeets- Kenso [see above]. They’ve released three albums – ‘Yamataikoku’ [Air From Mt. Fuji, 1996], ‘A Myth’ [Musea, 1998] and ‘Gappa’ [Musea, 2004].

Taiho Yamada – an electronic music composer based in Los Angeles, born in Michigan. ‘Stages’ [Think Tank Media, 1999] is a compilation of material recorded as soundtracks for live theatre, that has been compared to Kitaro, Yellow Magic Orchestra [see above], Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk and Brian Eno.

Zypressen – a chamber rock group comparable to Tipographica and Lacrymosa [see above] in style. They have one album that I know of, ‘Zypressen’ [Belle Antique, 1996].

 

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