Boris - Heavy Rocks

Switching to heavier sounds, I know this is tnot the latest album by Boris. But a year has passed since I first heard the track "Korosu" on the compilation I've posted here, and I'm still hooked up on the album. Coming from a Queens of the Stone Age kind of time greatly helped my acceptance of the album. It's stoney, it's heavy, and it's an album with good quality.
There wasn't any reviews on the web that I could find, and I'm not musically savvy enough to write one. So no review this time.

Boris - Heavy Rocks (2002) - Quattro/Uk Discs



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Koenji Hyakkei - Angherr Shisspa (2005)

I must confess that ever since I discovered Ruins, I have been stalking throughout the internet the band's drummer and currently single member Tatsuya Yoshida. The best of it was that the more I discovered, the more there was to discover. But finding something about Yoshida's other project, Koenji Hyakkei, was a little hard at first, and an endeavour that I thought to be jinxed. Everytime I found a link, it was either broken, down, not working properly and god knows what else. But finally, after much rummaging through the middle pages of google searches, I came up with their latest album, Angherr Shisspa. I finally got lucky. But, to be honest, I didn't like the sound at first. Although I was already used to different music, chaotic melodies or even the lack of such, I wasn't prepared to such a heavy use of singing, at least without more Kobaian in the middle.
But, goddammit, I didn't come so hardly to find the album just to dismiss it. So I gave it another try. And another. And Yet another, until I found myself whistling the tunes on the street. Of course, after this, I haven't managed to put it down. It's not just good, it has the weird zeuhl vibe, delves a bit into lyrical singing, and comes up with stunning songs that just want to go on and on. The voice becomes truly an instrument in this album, and doesn't just ride the wave the other instruments create.
Enjoy the album, and if you don't like it at first, give it another try. And another. And yet another.

Here's a better review from Prog Archives:

After a 4 year break, Yoshida Tatsuya's Koenjihyakkei (the Japanese Magma) return with an excellent new album, a new line up and a different sound. Bassist Sakamoto Kengo remains, but the female front line is all new. Yamamoto Kyoko is the main vocalist and sounds like an operatically trained soprano. Kanazawa Miyako plays keyboards, and where her predecessor used mainly 70s sounding electric keyboards, she concentrates mostly on piano with a few synth flourishes here and there. Komori Keiko plays soprano sax and clarinet, and possibly also also some other reed instruments. Underpinning it all is the relentless, virtuosic drumming of Yoshida Tatsuya, who is still the main composer. All members of the band sing, which allows for some stunning vocal arrangements. Where the sound of Nivrayam called the later Magma of Udu Wudu and Attahk to mind, Angherr Shisspa recalls the instrumental backing of 1001Degrees Centigrade (particularly the interplay between piano and reeds) and the massed vocals of Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh.

The album opens withTziidall Raszhisst, the celestial soprano of Kyoko floating over a delicate piano/synth backing before the rhythm section crash in and voice and soprano sax chase each other over an impossibly tight piano/bass/drums backing, interspersed with the occasional chorale. Kengo's bass takes the lead during a brief Ruins style interlude before the band return to the main theme and the album is still less than 4 minutes into its playing time. This pretty much sets the scene for what is to follow - pieces in complex time signatures which change every 12 - 16 bars, the whole thing played with near mathematical precision but also with great feeling.

Rattims Friezz, the album's second track, was composed by Kengo but complements Yoshida's compositional style beautifully. If anything there is a more overt jazz influence here, but it's very much in keeping with the album as a whole.

Grahbem Jorgazz is a contribution from keyboard player Miyako, and moves more towards the austere modernism of Art Zoyd or Henry Cow and which pushes Kyoko's voice towards the to of its range.

The real gem on the album is Fettim Paillu, the fourth track. It opens with a lengthy (by Yoshida's standards) voice/piano duet which shows just how much he has matured as a composer. The entry of bass, drums and sax pushes us back into familiar Zeuhl territory, especially when Yoshida delivers a Christian Vander style lead vocal which is a highly effective contrast to the soaring soprano, while the arrangement recalls some of Shub Niggurath's wilder moments. About half way through there is a beautiful piano/clarinet interlude which veers between jazz and contemporary classicism. A brief reprise of the opening piano/vocal interlude follows, before the manic frenzy makes a brief return. This could be Yoshida's finest composition to date.

Qivem Vrasstor opens with a highly effective call and response of the main theme, with female voice and soprano sax being echoed by male voice, bass and drums. The relative simplicity and clarity of this track is on a par with Christian Vander's Wurdah Itah, although the arrangement is slightly more fleshed out.

The only below par track is Mbingvahre, another contribution from Kengo which starts out with some massed chanting and rudimentary percussion before veering off in to an Acid Mother's Temple style freak out. As a stand alone track it's highly effective, but it disrupts the flow of an otherwise seamlessly sequenced album.

The title track is a return to the style of the earlier pieces, with Keiko switching to what sounds like tenor sax to produce some Coltrane like squalls, and with Miyako adding rather more synth to the sound. This track contains perhaps the best sax/vocal interplay on the album, punctuated with Yoshida's ride cymbal. There's also a nicely judged jazzy interlude which is allowed to run its course and showcases Kengo's bass playing.

Wammilica Iffirom closes the album, and by this stage there are no more surprises in store. Keiko uses an echo unit to build up a more meaty sax sound, and each band member gets a turn in the spotlight. The tempo slows down dramatically towards the end, and the band play what sounds suspiciously like Kreuhn Kohrmann Iss De Hundin (the end of Magma's MDK) before returning to the main theme.

This album falls just short of being a masterpiece - the inclusion of Mbinvahre causes the album to lose direction, but otherwise it's a near flawless piece of work. There are a few nods towards Magma, but as ever Koenjihyakkei have their own take on Zeuhl. This album also sees a maturing of their musical style - while there are plenty of sudden twists and turns, they're also prepared to let the quieter, more melodic interludes unfold and develop at their own pace. 4.5 stars - if you're only going to buy one Japanese Zeuhl album, this is the one to get.

Koenji Hyakkei - Angherr Shisspa (2005) - Skin Graft Records



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V/A - Japanese Underground Compilation

This one is a mistery to me.
I was browsing through the files of a user in soulseek, and stumbled upon this. After downloading it, I heard it many times, and, eventually, some of the bands began to grow on me. So it was my rough first time with Melt Banana, Boredoms, Ruins, Otomo Yoshihide and Boris, to name a few.
I went around the web, looking for some information on it, but couldn't find any.
So, this time, it's up to me to pass it on, so that, who knows, maybe someone will listen to a band on the album for a first time too and fall in love with it.
Should this link or any other be broken, leave a comment and I will do my best to upload the file again.

V/A - Japanese Underground Compilation

Afrirampo

Coming all the way from Osaka, Japan, Afrirampo are a duo - Oni on the guitar and Pikachu on the drums.
Urusa in Japan is a rocky album, filled with screams and hard riffs. Did I mention it has screams? It's not my favourite, but it's a fine album.
Suuto Breakor, on the other hand, I can't put down. I'm addicted to their little screams (yes, I have a thing with japanese women screaming, bear with me). The first track is especially good, and you are transported to a jungle (or zoo), filled with shouting monkeys. From that, they manage to create a nice beat that transforms throughout the album. It's great fun.


From Nippop:

Wild, crazy and highly entertaining Afrirampo have quickly made an impact in Japan and abroad. The young female duo hails from Osaka, a city known for its lack of restraint and hearty sense of humor. Afrirampo indeed have been described as filling “a long-standing idiot savant gap on the Osaka underground scene”. Guitarist/ vocalist Oni and drummer/vocalist Pika (sometimes listed as Pikacyu) first teamed up in May of 2002, when they were both still teenagers. They first played together during a loose jam held in a park near Osaka Castle, which mostly involved drumming and dancing. Today they perform dressed in red, which theoretically enhances their senses, and with their faces heavily made-up. Even though the musical training is, in their words “for small”, they manage to drag all sorts of sounds out of their instruments and do so with boundless energy. Somehow they manage to be both cute and barbaric at the same time. Afrirampo it seems largely improvise their performances, often very noisily, giving their steadily growing audience the impression that anything may happen next. By August 2003 their reputation was such that they were getting bookings in the States. In June of 2004 Afrirampo decided to move to Cameroon for three months and live amongst researchers and Pygmy tribespeople. This jungle bound experience further inspired them to have open minds and to play with abandon. In August they returned to tour the US with Lightning Bolt, and then toured in Europe with Sonic Youth. Oni and Pica also made friends with many of Japan’s most far out musicians, including legendary weirdo Keiji Haino, Jojo Hiroshige of Hijokaidan, former Boredom Toyohito Yoshikawa, Munehiro Narita of High Rise, and especially Acid Mothers Temple . Acid Mothers Temple in fact released some of Afrirampo’s early recordings on their indie label AMT. Afrirampo also released a mini album on Osaka indie Gyunne in July 2004, and have a few even more obscure releases, some released as by “A”. And of course cuts on albums released in Poland. In April 2005 Afrirampo released their first full album, URUSAINJAPAN, on Kioon/Sony. They also have the album Kore Ga Mayaku Da (This Is The Drug) available in the States on John Zorn’s Tzadik label.

Urusa in Japan - 2005

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Suuto Breakor- 2007

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Ruins - Tzomborgha (2002)

Hello, and welcome to the first post of Alt FM.



For some months now, I've grown more and more interested in music, especially the kind of music that people around me don't listen. This led to the discovery of the multitude of blogs that are floating on the web, blogs that especiallize in providing music. Again, a kind of music that people around me don't listen to. So I've decided I'd like to share what I've been discovering. Once more, I'd like to make relevant the fact that all the files that I post are for promotional purposes. If you like it, buy it!!!

It's only natural, then, that I share with you one of my favourite bands. Ruins' Tzomborgha is the band's latest album. The first time I heard, I must confess I burst out laughing. A fresh new sound, with an invented language, provided me with the kind of escape I had been looking for in music. At the time, I was tired of listening to the same old lyrics, encompassed by attempts to create new music. Here is what allmusic says about the album:

Like some twisted version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" played by a collaboration between the Boredoms and the Bonzo Dog Band, Ruins' Tzomborgha is a fascinating and nerve-racking mix of back and forth shouting matches, falsetto vocables, and out-of-control bass and drum jams. Somehow the nonsense seems cohesive and, by the end, oddly coherent. With constantly changing time signatures, none of this could really be called catchy or accessible, but it is challenging and rewarding. Tracks like "Skhanddraviza" sound like prog rock from another dimension, with touches of King Crimson, Genesis, and Queen. "Pachtseills" sounds like the Minutemen played on a nursery-school turntable at the wrong speed. They even play a Black Sabbath medley and a Mahavishnu Orchestra medley. Sound confusing? It is. The fact that this Japanese noise band can be so off the wall yet so evocative of both arena rock favorites and iconoclastic punk makes no sense at all. But true to its name, Ruins manages to take the building blocks of fallen music genres and stack them into something totally new and unexpected.

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For the first time listeners:

Allmusic's entry on Ruins
Wikipedia's entry on Ruins