Monthly Archives: March 2020

Takashi Masubuchi & Shizuo Uchida

Takashi Masubuchi & Shizuo Uchida CD “Dripping Nocturne” Headlights records
Takashi Masubuchi – acoustic guitar
Shizuo Uchida – acoustic bass
Enigmatic duo, Shizuo is one of the most prolific musician for 3 decades, he played with Nijiumu and has a very personnal sound with gaps of silence and strangeness. Takashi Masubuchi is less well known for us but he’s a discreet guitarist and plays like a slowed down abstract blues. Here there’s sometimes some chaotic & percussive moments but we stay in a half awakened state.
$13
Dripping Nocturne cover

Kumio Kurachi CD

Kumio Kurachi CD “Sound of turning Earth” Bison records

After 11 albums and unknown quantities of cassettes, compilations and split releases, Sound of Turning Earth is the first release outside of Japan for one of the most original figures in Japanese music, Kumio Kurachi. Recorded by Jim O’Rourke at his home studio, Sound of Turning Earth is Kurachi solo on vocals and guitar, mixing surreal lyrics and theatrical vocal personas with unorthodox tunings inspired by Japan’s national instrument, the koto. Lyrically Kurachi draws life from the small events of life, the hira, – the joy of choosing a lipstick in springtime, the business of changing the tatami, raindrops deciding whether to fall as snow. Set to his own brand of progressive folk in the Hirajōshi scale and laced with winding melodies which can be hard to forget, Kurachi maps his own territory for the people who inhabit his everyday.

Kumio Kurachi has performed actively in Japan since the 80’s, and still plays shows in Fukuoka regularly. Past collaborators include Taku Unami and Tatsuhisa Yamamoto. He has played with Tenniscoats, Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Katsura Yamauchi, Tori Kudo, Jim O’Rourke and Eiko Ishibashi. If you like odd birds, outsiders,  weird folk, this album is really for you. A very nice discovery, comes in Deluxe Gatefold CD with fold out poster & 3 double sided art cards featuring Kurachi’s illustrations. 

$15

Kumio Kurachi Kumio Kurachi 2

Akio Suzuki Analopos CD – Merzbow

Akio Suzuki CD + Booklet “Analopos” Room 40

Matte laminate CD, embossed artwork, insert card and 28 page book which includes exclusive photographs and an extensive interview conducted by Aki Onda about the history of the Analapos

In 1979, Akio Suzuki recorded a performance, ’New Sense Of Hearing’, at the Nagoya American Centre. During the performance, Suzuki used voice, turntables, glass harmonica and his self-designed instrument the Analapos to create a series of improvised pieces that effectively charted out his sonic investigations for the proceeding decades.

In 1980 these recordings were issued by ALM records as Analapos, the first work made publicly available by Akio Suzuki.

For going on six decades now, Akio Suzuki has been responsible for creating amongst the most otherworldly, yet deeply affective sound works of his generation. As a musician, sculptor and sound artist, Suzuki’s work threads an important linkage between Eastern and Western sound art practices. His approaches, that focus primarily on intense states of listening, ’throwing and following’ and a relentless sense of open curiosity, have allowed him to continuously deepen his work.

Originally published in an edition of just 200 copies in 1980, Analapos has been out of print literally since its release. Clocking in an over an hour, the original pressing of the recordings to a single LP, presented some technical limitations.

This 40th anniversary edition of Analapos is entirely remastered and is published with a booklet that includes a long form interview with Akio Suzuki conducted by sound artist and collaborator Aki Onda, plus extensive photographic documentation of the development of the Analapos. The publication of this edition is announced in conjunction with the Sense Of Ekō retrospective exhibition which opens at The Substation in Melbourne late January.

$19

Akio Suzuki CD ALM Akio Suzuki CD ALM 2

Merzbow CD “StereoAkuma” Room 40

Monochrome printed, matte Laminate embossed cover, insert card

$13

Merzbow_StereoAkuma-768x768

White Heaven & Go Hirano

White Heaven LP “Out” Black Editions

Deluxe edition featuring pure black paper cover and insert with metallic gold ink and all new artwork.
Digital download is included. Pressed to high quality vinyl at RTI.

First released in 1991 by Tokyo’s P.S.F. Records and pressed in an edition of 500 copies the original LP has become a holy grail in underground circles, with only a scant few copies ever making it outside of Japan. Built on the chemistry between You Ishihara’s lysergic lyricism and the blistering leads of one of Japan’s undisputed guitar gods Michio Kurihara, Out is an absolute classic. It is one of the few albums to successfully join a deep love of classic rock n’ roll with the rapturous energy of punk and openness of the avant-garde.

$27

White Heaven LP

Go Hirano LP “Corridor of Daylight” Black Editions

GO HIRANO’s third album, Corridor of Daylights, is a quiet work of dreamlike brilliance. A home field recording where fragile piano melodies float alongside wind-chimes and wistful melodicas — insects hum in the distance and a breeze gently rustles as summer day eases toward evening. Originally released in Japan by P.S.F. Records in 2004, Corridor of Daylights is a beautiful, soulful dispatch from early aughts Tokyo.In the already eclectic spectrum of music released by the revered Tokyo based P.S.F. label, Go Hirano’s three releases are true outliers in the catalog’s thirty year history.

Deluxe edition featuring pearlescent paper, metallic inks and foil stamped letters as well as two inserts including a newly translated illustrated story booklet. Digital download is included. Pressed to high quality vinyl at RTI.

$27

Go Hirano LP BE2 Go Hirano LP BE