Japan'archives mailorderIkuro Takahashi CD「高橋幾郎ライブ 「しりえないものとずっと」 Unknown Things and forever
Do you need to introduce the legendary Ikuro Takahashi ? He played with High Rise, Kousokuya, Fushitsusha, LSD March Ché SHIZU…
Here we have a CD with some solo on drums, oscillators and some tracks with an “ensemble” with Hizumi Karakawa, Kota Inukai (Mura), Toshi Tanaki (who played with hiroshi Kawani and Michio Kadotoni / Rotting Telepathies )… 40 years of activity ! We love him.
$19
Makoto Kawashima CD “Homo Sacer” P.S.F records 2015
First album (since re-released on vinyl by black Editions) and last CD on the legendary P.S.F records label
$22
Otomo Yoshihide – Makoto Kawashima CD Duo – Homo sacer
Fantastic meeting between 2 generations
$18
Makoto Kawashima CDR Circle – Curve $15
Makoto Kawashima CDR Solo- Unification
$15
Ochibonoame CD “Syuyukan” – Homo Sacer
Second release
$19
Ochibonoame CD “Ochibonoame” – Homo Sacer
Ochibonoame is trio with Makoto Kawashima, Louis Inage & Naoto Yamagishi
Fantastic first meeting, free and it leaves me breathless !
$19
Mai Mao LP Ricshari – An’archives
Silkscreened jacket & obi (textured tan or black) by Alan Sherry, inserts and a postcard –
liner notes by Jon Dale, ltd to 285
An’archives are thrilled to announce the release of Ricshari, the first LP from Japanese free improvising duo MAI MAO. Consisting of Shizuo Uchida of Hasegawa-Shizuo, Albedo Gravitas, archeus, Kito Muzukumi Rouber, TERROR SHIT, UH, etc. on bass, and Kyosuke Terada, of HUH (who have their own release due on An’archives soon), TERROR SHIT, Bay City Rolaz, Praymate, The Obey Unit, etc. on guitar, they’ve previously released two wild cassettes, Curvature Improvement Plan (Haang niap, 2020) and Folk Dope Rally (2021), both documenting one-take improvisations from live gigs. Ricshari was recorded by Nobuki Nishiyama in January 2021, and is proof, if any was needed, that this duo is one of the most fiercely unique, out-there units currently extant – in Japan, or anywhere, for that matter.
The music of MAI MAO seems to proceed by opposites and juxtaposition, shifting from frantic, hectic runs of splattering note spray to moments of granular stasis, where Uchida and Terada coax their instruments into and out of deep wells of silence, or rest, temporarily, in a lagoon of fermenting fuzz. Spiralling kinetics are largely the order of the day, though – the opener, “Chew a flying flash prayer”, skitters here and there, guitar and bass jumping over one another in games of leapfrog and Twister, finding new ways to perplex and puzzle the listener, and perhaps each other in the process, Uchida and Terada fully committed to the short-circuiting spirit of the moment.
The energy here is hyperactive, but it also speaks of a curious and committed attention to improvisatory responsiveness, one that’s just as likely to fork off into different directions in a split second – it’s real edge-of-the-seat stuff, as though the hands are moving too fast for the mind to follow. That’s all the better, then, to let the gush of genuinely free-thinking, devoted duo improvisation to fly at its most playful and intelligent. File next to the likes of Davey Williams & LaDonna Smith and their TransMuseq companions, or the wickedly perplexing bass-synth/trombone duets of Dave Dove Paul Duo, and you’ve some idea of what’s going on here, provisionally at least, ‘cos this one’s an enthralling, yet welcoming, head-scratcher of the highest calibre.
OUT OF PRINT
Daisaku Yoshino CD/LP “Lamp Manufacturing Factory” Super Fuji
Daisaku Yoshino’s early work “Yoshino Daisaku Lamp Manufacturing Factory” (independently released in 1974), which has continued to perform live mainly in Yokohama since the early 70’s, later became popular mainly in Europe as a masterpiece of acid folk. high and well known. Expressing a philosophical world of poetry reminiscent of modern poetry with straight American rock, dynamic and thirsty country rock, and acid-folk techniques, they were evaluated as “Jacks Meets Sunset Band”. Hideyuki Tanigawa of the legendary rock band “Oh! Morning Band”, who overwhelmed Tokyo bands at the 70’s Yokohama guitarist Takashi Asayama and Noon Hibiya’s rock festival and was highly praised by Makoto Kubota.
LP $39
or 2CD $29 deluxe edition
Shin Otowa LP/CD “Wasuregatami” Super Fuji
“Wasuregatami” is an independently produced album (1974) by Makoto Otowa, a singer-songwriter who is known for providing the lyrics to Kubota Makoto’s first solo album “Machiboke” (1973). It can be said that this work is a pair album with “Machiboke” with the same lyrics and different songs at the beginning and end of the B side. Starting with Makoto Kubota, who made full use of the 12-string guitar and contributed to the overall sound so much that it could be said that she was the producer, Hiroma Fujita, who creates a fantastic space with a slide guitar, and Takashi Onzo, who has a calm and breezy bass. The members of the Yuyake Band, such as , will play the entire performance, and although they are simple, they will expand the world of Otowa’s songs richly and greatly, inviting our consciousness to the world that spreads far beyond “the other side”, but It gives you amazing peace of mind.
LP (comes in a nice tip on jacket) $39 or CD $22
Le Son de L’os LP “old Sun” – New vague records 2012
Le son de l’os could be seen picking up where Onna-Kodomo left off in the mid-1990s or early Nijiumu.
Current line-up is Yuko Hasegawa (Onna Kodomo), Shizuo Uchida (Kito Mizukumi Rouber / Hasegawa-Shizuo / Suishou No Fune) & Mashiro Deguchi (Gendai Sokkyo), the band was signed for a first album on P.S.F. 2 years ago. If you are in Nijiumu, in nighty improvisations, slowed down kind of blues or miniatures folk songs with bass, vocals, guitar…
Ltd to 285, comes in a nice silkscreened cover done by Alan Sherry, dedicated to our friend Joel Nickelson who died before he had completed his first 2 releases on his label. Thanks to Alan who has helped Joel’s family to finish and sell this project along Majutsu No Niwa reissue
SOLD OUT
Art Zyklus CD A group of Experimental Music – Edition Omega Point
In the mid 1960’s, there was a collective of contemporary musicians in Osaka, called Art Zyklus. Because Hajime Yamashita, one of the core members, had sold a part of his privately stored sound source over the Internet, the whole picture of amazing and completely unknown activities was revealed. The release compiled works created by Art Zyklus as well as Yamashita. Worth mentioning is that ‘Music for Electric Metronomes’ by Toshi Ichiyanagi was premiered in Japan. Apart from that, the fact that Yamashita founded his own electronic music studio was unprecedented at the time. Also, it was revolutionary that he generously showed his knowledge of electronic music by playing on an electronic device such as a self-built theremin, when performing a concert.
CD $20
Special ltd edition with poster & bonus CDR $42
Toshi Ichiyanagi CD A pianist – Edition Omega Point
The composer Toshi Ichiyanagi is, needless to say, also a pianist. We have collected recordings of h
is performances demonstrating his superb skills and ability. “Music for Piano No. 8,” on which he is
accompanied by Sumihisa Arima, a frequent collaborator, on electronic devices, is particularly note
worthy. His cool-headed improvisation in the gallery reminds us of David Tudor, with whom he shares
a deep resonance as a pianist. A rare recording of Sylvano Bussotti’s “Five Piano Pieces for David T
udor,” which was written specifically for Tudor, has also been recovered !
CD $20
Special Edition with bonus CDR $35
Toshi Ichiyanagi CD Computer Space – Edition Omega Point
Premiere release! Two sound compositions discovered at Toshi Ichiyanagi’s home in 2018 to be released for the first time! One is an unknown early work created on a computer and the other is material for an experimental short film by Toshio Matsumoto. Particularly, the former piece was revolutionary. the quirky sound he made on the computer at the time was unheard of especially because a computer could only create simple sounds then. Moreover, it also includes an unknown electronic ambient piece reminiscent of a bird tweeting as well as a reissued version of an accompanying single of a mythical self-published book, which inspired Yoji Kuri’s animation work known as “Tragedy on G string”!
Computer Space (1970)
There is a piece called “Music for Living Space” (1969), which recreated human spoken words. It is an electronic music piece that Ichiyanagi produced almost solely with a computer. “Computer Space” is created in the same era, therefore it was impossible to create a complexed sound. However, echoes and rapid pitch changes are heard in the middle of the recording (there is also voice like sounds intermixed). Since similar phrases are repeating, it is considered that he created various short phrases to edit on an analogue tape then bind them together. Sound materials for “Metastasis” (1971) It is considered as sound material for a short film by an experimental filmmaker, Toshio Matsumoto. The discovered sound material is only 30 seconds long, which contains two different electronics sounds. The (b) sound repeats more often as a part of minimalistic pattern to create a work of about 10 minutes. Using a fade-in/fade-out arrangement made me think it might have some special intention? title and year unknown These works archived in Sogetsu Foundation contain electronic sounds which are considered to be created by changing tones of real bird tweets. The sound repeats itself in a straightforward manner, while changing its foam somewhat. Originally, there are many pieces that last for 1 or 2 minutes. For this CD, some of them were strung together. A piece using parts of popular music that was created for Expo’70 Takara Beautilion contains similar sounds to that. Ichiyanagi also contributed another ambient music composition played on another floor of the building, however it is not included to this CD, according to the artist. For String #2 + Stanzas (Both in 1961, Simultaneous performance) This piece is the music used in the film however it is originally a recording of a public performance at Sogetsu Art Center and edited to a few minutes shorter. The original sound material was included in an accompanying single of a book, “Yabunirami-No-Concert”, which Yoji Kuri self-published in 1966 before he created an animation. This book contains 10 pages of a series of ink drawings, which is completely different from “Tragedy on G string”. This CD has a reissued version of the original sound material. The time could be between 1961 and 1964 when Ono was in Japan. It is considered that Kenji Kobayashi was on Violin and Ichiyanagi was on Piano in an internal rendition style were together with Yoko Ono on vocal.
$20
Naoki Zushi CD +CS box “For My friends sleep” Neurec
Comes in a 17 x 23 cm box
$40 we only have a very few
Naoki Zushi CD box “Nocturnes” Neurec
Comes in a 17 x 23 cm box
$32
精魂 (Seiko) CD 愉楽 – Infogarage
Seiko is the duo of Haino Keiji with Okinawa Girl Electric Saya with voices, synth, hurdy gurdy, flute, percussion and more..
Only a few copies available $31
Yuji Takahashi CD “Meikai no Heso” Edition Omega Point
A collection of small pieces of tape music by renowned composers, that haven’t been talked about very much. All of them are premiere release on disc.
tr.1 Yuji Takahashi (1938 -), Meikai no Heso (The Umbilicus of Limbo, 1963)
It is also known as Window to Antonin Artaud, or The Umbilicus of Limbo. it was performed in a version of tape and instruments – poetry reading of the French poet Antonin Artaud, which was modified on the tape, and bass instruments as well as percussion instruments. This is a live recording of Musicians Group: New Direction at Sogetsu Art Center, conducted by Toshi Ichiyanagi. At the beginning of the concert, Kuniharu Akiyama gave his commentary about the piece.
tr.2 Kuniharu Akiyama (1929 – 1996), Jo-un Keiji sho (1987) It is a segment of a body of work Sound Gift, that was commissioned by WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk) for a show to celebrate John Cage’s 75th birthday. A short text, “Kumo Kumo-wo Joshi Keiji-suru (Kumo=Clouds, Keiji=Cage)”, which was a poetry reading by Akiyama, was looped in the tape, which then overlapped with Haiku about clouds (including English and German), words related to Zen ( in which Cage immersed himself), and sounds. By the way, an English version of Haiku was read by Ayuo Takahashi.
tr.3 Yoriaki Matsudaira (1931 -), Constellation (1984)
This is a work by using UPIC device developed by Iannis Xenakis (which can translate graphical images into sound). Here is Matsudaira’s commentary.
“I decided to draw the constellation which we can see in Japan, and chose to fade in colours depending on the brightness of each star. Each of us was supposed to indicate the tone by images, and I remember that I decided to divide the sky into four sections to change the tone little by little.
tr.4 Yoshio Hachimura (1938 – 1985), Catch in the air (1973It was produced in 1973 at NHK Studio of Electronic Music. Some Japanese traditional instruments, piccolo, tuba, violin, piano as well as electronic sounds were edited on the tape. Its sharp materialistic sound is characteristic of this composer.
tr.5 Toshi Ichiyanagi (1933 -), Music for Film Shikisokuzekuu (1974) The visual of Shikisokuzekuu is described as follows; A letter of Heart Sūtra is projected one by one on the screen rapidly. From the middle of the film, religious paintings appeared with subliminal effect, and flickering vivid colours were added. That gave the audience a dizzy sensation.” The music is mixed barbaric rhythm, electronic sound and Japanese traditionalnt.
$20
Special edition with bonus CDR $35
Somei Satoh CD “Echoes” – Edition Omega Point
Emerald Tablet + Echoes
$22
Kuniharu Akiyama CD “Environmental Music of dining Room” Edition Omega Point
$22
Joji Yuasa CD “Music for film Gengitsu” Edition Omega Point
In 2017, Genjitsu was shown at the Kobe Planet Film Archive. It is a film created in 1966 by a director Tetsuji Takechi, known as a legend of Showa eroticism. But this film has been hidden somewhere somehow from the public for a long time. The film’s story focuses around a prostitute and has a strong fantasy literature style to it as one may have guessed from its title Genjitsu (Sun dog; an optical phenomenon that consists of a light source alongside of the Sun in rare climate condition).
Actually, among some music tapes that I got from Mr. Yuasa, there was indeed one with the same title. However, since the existence of the tape recording was unknown at the time, I was convinced that it wasn’t “tape music” and I left it untouched for quite a while. Hearing news of the film screening made me check what is on this tape carefully. Overall, the sounds were “prosy” with a lot of silence as well as reoccurring sounds of a prepared piano and sounds created presumably by playing inside of the piano (it is likely to have been amplified). But they were also an accumulation of experimental sounds with elements of tape music such as parallel playback with vocal pieces, delay (or tape echo) and ring modulator. In chapter 2, female jazz vocal is inserted.
According to the Kobe Planet Film Archive, the following names are included in the players list. Toshi Ichiyanagi (maybe inside play of piano), Masao Yagi (jazz piano in chapter 2), Yasukazu Amemiya (percussion).
Fantastic !
Regular edition $20
special edition with bonus CDR $50
Joji Yuasa – Kuniharu Akiyama CD “Music for puppet Thetre Hitomi-za” Edition Omega Point
$20
Joji Yuasa CD “Ai no ue” Editions Omega point
2nd Edition
Aoi no ue composed 1961 for voice and tape and based on The tales of Genji written by Murasaki Shikibu in 11th century.
My blue sky (No.1) composed 1975 for tape.
Tape parts realized at NHK Electronic music studio.
Edition Omega Point Archive Series OPA-001.
Limited edition of 500 copies.
$20
Puppet Wipes LP “The stones are marching & they can be a handful” Siltbreeze
Puppet Wipes is the latest source of audio levitation for Arielle McCuaig (Hairnet,Janitor Scum, Vacuum Rebuilders) & Kayla MacNeill (Singing Lawn Chair, Vacuum Rebuilders) who conjure up their extraordinary odds bodkins out of Calgary, Alberta. Label fact checkers will note that Puppet Wipes are the 1st Canadian band ever signed to the Siltbreeze roster. That only took three decades. Anyway, their debut cassette from a couple years back, ‘It’s Called Punk, Are You Stupid?’-supposedly recorded in an hour-was a fetching melange of art damaged hoopla that sounded like it might’ve taken a spin around the Amos & Sara/It’s War Boys universe. On this one, the course settings remain seemingly intact, yet further realized. Plus it took a tad longer than 3600 seconds to behold. There’s a quote by the master of superfluousness, May Benot, that goes, ‘When the unconventionalists convey their art, which is by nature, unconventional, then does unconventionalism become part of a post conventionalist-conventionista?” Whatever you say, Mrs. Doublespeak. I’m not sure I even know what that means, but if I were a betting man, I’d say Puppet Wipes have it in spades.
Edition of 250, comes with 11″x17″ poster/insert. RIYL; Lemon Kittens, Your Mom Too, Doof, Dave E. McManus, XV.
$23
Japan'archives mailorder 