Sai Yoshiko - Taiji no Yume (1977)

"Released on September 25th, 1977, "Taiji no Yume" or "Dream of a Fetus" was Sai Yoshiko's third recorded album, following "Mikko". As was the case with her first album, "Taiji no Yume" was also arranged by Ono Yuji who attributes a more supportive aspect to the Sai Yoshiko outer worldly realms. This record was heavily inspired by the pre-war odd ball and ghostly neuro-surgeon-doctor-writer Yumeno Kyusaku, hence the strange atmosphere this disc abides in. Nevertheless the voyage into the mental state of being this disc ventures into fits perfectly with Sai's acid folky approach and dreamy female vocalizations. Quite dark in overall texture. At the time of this recording, she was merely 24 years old. A real stunning female acid folk masterpiece with well balanced psychy touches. Totally obscure, much in demand by Japanese psych heads and rather hard to track down. One of Sai Yoshiko's biggest fans is Jojo Hiroshige from Hijokaidan and Alchemy records, who eventually, 25 years after she recorded this stunning album, dove in the studio with her for the "Crimson Voyage" CD (Alchemy Rec) on which she merely attributed some sighs and moans. This album is really a stunner and a must for people into some more advanced Japanese Underground historical recordings."

http://lix.in/-385103

Suzuki Junzo - November.10.2001

"Tour-only solo album from this excellent Tokyo-based Japanese underground guitarist/vocalist. Junzo's name might ring some bells via his various collaborative projects with Hiroshi Hasegawa of CCCC as part of Astro and Astral Travelling Unit, Mitsuru Tabata of Zeni Geva as part of 20 Guilders and Makoto Kawabata of Acid Mothers Temple as well as his membership of key psych units Overhang Party and Miminokoto. This disc features his "country blues/folk oriented music with improvisation with ACID feeling" recorded live at Penguin House, Koenji, Tokyo November 10th 2001. Some of the convulsive six-string punctuation touches on the ferocious folk-poetry of Kan Mikami but there's also a ton of exquisitely dilated space which Junzo navigates with endless interlocked webs of chiming six-string guitar that's the equal of Christina Carter or Hisato Higuchi. His vocals touch on the more quizzical, breathy style of Keiji Haino and the tracks feel like they plot the vaguest contours of folk-blues logic before piloting deeper into increasingly unanchored explorations of single notes and sudden machine gun retorts isolated in dark, black space."

http://lix.in/-377721

VA - Tokyo Flashback 2 (1992)

Second P.S.F. Sampler with the usual suspects like Kousokuya, Ghost, Fushitsusha and some new ones (Yuragi, Ohkami no Jikan, Yura Yura Teikoku...)

http://lix.in/-32d33c

Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re - Pregnant Fantasy (2004)

" Hailing from musical hotbed Japan, Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re is an all-girl rock trio culling influences from a number of musical camps, most predominantly rock and punk. Pregnant Fantasy varies somewhat, from the garage rock of "Lingerie Shop" and "Ebihara Shinji" to the experimental avant-rock of "Manhole" and the fucked-up ska/metal spasmodics on "Tea Time Ska". Behind it all are the singers' cutesy voices (think Enon), lending a deliberate accessibility to the melting pot of styles. The formula works surprisingly well, avoiding falling into the experimental abyss of tedium but keeping things offbeat enough to warrant a special kind of attention. If crashing rhythms and revved-up guitars fit in snugly with cheery, girly vocals in your dictionary of rock, then Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re's Pregnant Fantasy needs to make its way into your collection. Now."

http://lix.in/-2b74bc

Shuji Inaba - Yoenzange (2006)

"He plays the guitar in a style that is related to American & British folk music, but his vocals and lyrics are uniquely Japanese. His primary predecessor is Kazuki Tomokawa, also known as “the screaming philosopher” for his extreme vocal delivery. Like Tomokawa, Inaba has a rough but flexible voice that can switch from melody to a rough bark or a strained scream and then switch right back again. Inaba’s voice sounds rougher and older, but also more melodic. While Tomokawa sounds like a predecessor to hardcore punk, Inaba sounds like a grandfather whose voice has gained in character what it has lost in range.

Inaba sings in Japanese, but the lyrics are in the liner notes in both Japanese and English. Like in traditional Japanese poetry, nature is used as a starting point to discuss other topics. For Inaba, the topics he chooses are often political in nature, although in a more subtle way than the stereotypical protest folk singer. In “Catching Evening Cicadas,” Inaba uses the inability of city dwellers to spend a summer evening catching cicadas to comment on modern life’s growing disconnection with nature.

The opening track, “Fate and Fortune,” is a 13 minute epic that sums up the ideas of the album and also serves as the best track. Inaba touches on all his vocal styles, and his guitar moves from melodic lines to frantic strumming to near silence. The 5 seconds that start at the 2:15 mark where all you can hear is the reverberation of the strings and you’re waiting for the guitar to come back in is one of the most haunting moments of anticipation I’ve heard this year.

The other tracks on the album are all far shorter and reinforce the ideas that Inaba has already presented, but they also expand on them in several unique ways. “Let's Play” has lightly swinging almost-Eastern European rhythm that sounds like a Japanese take on Jewish folk music. “My Apple” is the most musically upbeat and melodic, even though it relays a typically depressing tale.

The second half of the album moves in to more minimal territory. “Afterimage of an Echo ~ Hiroshima” is appropriately spare and focused on the vocals, but the track that follows it, “Inasa Beach”, makes for a more harrowing listen. The rest of the disk continues with the simple, quiet guitar playing that puts the focus on Inaba's expressive vocals. “Coleacanth” does have some very nice blues influenced guitar lines at the end, though.

Note should be made of the quality of the recording. This is a remastered and reissued edition of a CD-R Last Visible Dog released a few years ago. I haven’t heard the original, but the sound on this edition is stunning. The guitar sound warm and full, like your ear is right next to the resonant chamber. From the quality of the songs and recording to the gorgeous artwork and enlightening liner notes, this is one of the strongest releases (new or reissued) I’ve heard all year long."

http://lix.in/-2cfb3f