Pig Fat Pigs - Jabberwocky

P is for Pig Fat Pigs

I found this beauty in the treasure trove of weird and rare records that is Forever Records. Besides the great band name what caught my eye about this record was a blurb that said something about "punkish lounge music" and a reference to the Lounge Lizards. I inquired further with Taro the owner of Forever Records and Osaka's No.1 source on obscure music and he described it as "junk jazz" and name dropped Tom Waits which was enough to make me drop some cash on this mysterious find.

Turns out my intuition payed dividends. Unfortunatley despite scowering the net I've managed to turn up almost no information on the band so all I've got to go on are the scraps of info contained in the liner notes. The band were (are...?) a Kyoto 5 piece (guit, bass, drums, organ, sax) who as was promised play some excellent Tom Waits-esque Junk Jazz. It seems most of the songs were composed by bassist Shimizu Kosuke (Who now plays in accordion/contrabass duo Milk!Mama who are also well worth checking out.) while the lyrics and vocals are handled by Shiraishi Takahide. The vocals are mostly sung in a gravely, jibberish approximation of what I asume is supposed to sound like English with occasional sentences and phrases emerging from the cacophony of harsh, slightly off-tune and out of time guitars, sax and clinking-clanking junkyard percussion. "Life's too short to fuck your mom" is one that springs out from the opening track "Bore Bore" a twisted, elephant man like bastardisation of the Pink Panther theme. It's the exact sort of thing I can imagine Tom Waits sitting around tapping his crusty, yellow tabacco stained toes to while sipping on a bottle of illuminous green moonshine. You would be advised to do likewise. 

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Gnu - Suro

G is for Gnu 

Tokyo based Gnu (Pronounced as "Nu" the G is silent.) are a semi-improv unit formed by avant garde Jazz performer and composer Okura Masahiko in 1997. The band have had a couple of different lineups over the years switching bassists, drummers and guitarists with Okura being the only constant member. In 1998 Itoken joined the band as their drummer and in 2001 the ensemble began using a dual drum setup by throwing Kumada Takashi into the mix. The current 5 man lineup being Okura on Sax, Clarinet and Synth, Itoken and Kumada on drums, Taneishi Yukiya on bass and Chiba Hiroki on violin, contra bass and electronics.

The bands angular jazz/math-rock is probably most easily compared to genre figureheads Tortoise. The music is composed but live the arrangements of the songs are improvised with Okura taking the role of composer/master of ceremonies by communicating through hand gestures the length, tempo and dynamics of musical phrases and which players are playing etc.

Released in 2003 "Suro" is the bands 3rd studio album. The album represents a nice middle ground between its more accessible 2007 followup "Event" and the their most recent 2009 album the very cerebral sounding "Knowns". The dual drumming is fairly subtle on this release but check out "Knowns" to see the impressively nuanced beat juggling the band have developed over the years. 

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Tayutau - Ichinichi No Naka O, Hanauta Dekimeru (たゆたう - いちにちのながさを、はなうたできめる)

Spring is finally here in Japan and we're right on the midst of cherry blossom season which made me dig out this album again. Tayutau make what is probably best described as weirdo or bizarro folk music. Hiroko Nishimoto (Guitar vocals) and Akiko Igaki (Violin, toys, object) make up this charming Kyoto pair. The duo combine the use of toys, objects and field recordings with their breezy, playful folk music to wonderful effect. Perfect for spring drives through the countryside and relaxing in the park.

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Kudou Reiko - Kusa (工藤礼子 - 草)

I thought I would continue the Kudou family tangent by posting a few more albums from the Kudou household. Kudou Reiko is probably best know as the wife of Kudou Tori the man behind Maher Shalal Hash Baz but is also a very respected musician in her own right. She first began making waves on Tokyo's avant-garde underground back in the late 70's but her output has despite her longevity been pretty sparse. After meeting her husband Tori at a Hadaka No Rallizes concert concert in Kyoto the 2 teamed up to create the legendary "Tenno" album under the name Noise. Reiko then began writing and performing with Tori's Maher Shalal Hash Baz. Kusa is her 4th solo album released back in 2006 and also features Tori and Namio on a number of tracks.  It's easy to see the influence Reiko's own music has had on her son Namio. Rather than the cheery, upbeat ensemble pop tunes of her husband, Reiko's compositions are much more stripped back and fragile sounding but still harness some of the same clumsiness that is so intrinsic to Hash Baz's sound. Sadly it seems Reiko is just as elusive as her husband as I haven't been able to find any official website or myspace site and clips of her on youtube

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NISEUO cosmic-chang mothership progress - NISEUO cosmic-chang mothership progress

Niseuo are as mystical and strange as their name implies. I don't know a whole lot about the band besides the fact that they were conceived somewhere around 2002 from the darkest bowels of Kansai's underground. Their music is difficult to classify but is very reminscent of the junk town blues and sleazy off-kilter jazz of Tom Waits and Captain Beefheart. Or "Science-Fiction space opera" as the band like to describe their own music. The vocalist channels the spirit of Tom Waits/Beefheart by snearing jibberish in a rough, gruff gutterel grunt that wouldn't sound out of place as the voice track for some ugly alien race in a Star Wars movie. It's a wild and sometimes uncomfortable ride but one I'm sure you won't regret taking. So hop onboard the mothership Niseuo and take a journey into the dark, twisted recesses of someones freak show mind.

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Maruo Maruko - Kameko No Sora (丸尾丸子- カメ子の空)

Thought I'd bring in the new year with something a little special. This is a 2009 self released album from the wonderful Maruo Maruko. This time around we have 7 studio recorded tracks which some tracks from her first CDR making a return but featuring different instruments and arrangements. Maruo is in my opinion one of the best singer/songwriters in Japan at the moment. Her music has such a beautiful sense of melody and a truly hypnotic understanding of understatement and space. Not to mention that spinetingling voice of hers. Music to get lost in. 
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Gezan - Warhol's Hole (下山 - ウォーホールの穴)

Something a bit special this time. This is a rip of a DVDR given away by the band at their most recent show. Gezan have been together for just under a year but are fast making a name for themselves thanks to stunts like this. Warhol's Hole sees the band unleashing their unholy, psychadelic musical vandalism on a terrorised and unsuspecting public in the middle of downtown Osaka. I've uploaded a WMV vesion of the video and an MP4 version of the video for Mac and ipod. Quite surprisingly no one actually got arrested duing the recording of this. Fans of Les Rallizes Denude (Hadaka No Raliizes) and LSD March should be into this.

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Inuhiko - Obachan Kara Moratta Coat O Sutemashita (犬彦- おばちゃんからもらったコートを捨てました)

What do you get when you combine twisted Japanese nursery rhymes with brutal hardcore drumming? One of the most ingeniously discordant sonic mismatches to grace my battered eardrums in recent months. Inuhiko is Tokyo singer/songwriter Inu Jon (Dog Jon) and Hiko, drummer from renowned Japanese hardcore band Gauze. Inu plays baltic tinged folk songs on the organ while wearing a giant dog costume that resembles the creepy reanimated corpse of Fantastic Mr Fox which makes the band as bizarre and otherworldy looking as they sound. It's an aquired tastes but this is an absolute must listen.

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Shitappa Oyabun - Shitappa Oyabun (したっぱ親分)

Kyoto's Shitappa Oyabun are one of my favourite bands on the Osaka underground circuit. The trio have existed in various forms for almost 4 years now but have existed in their current lineup for about 2 years. Fans of Oshiri Pen Penz and Kyojin Yueni Dekai will definatey dig this band. They combine the skittery off beat guitar melodies of the Pen Penz with the more percussive heavy drive of Kyojin. This self released CDR contains 6 surprisingly good quality studio recordings but unfortunatley no track listing or info.

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LSD March - Live 2010

I'm sure LSD March needs little introduction but for the uninitiated LSD March is a band which revolves around core member Michishita Shunsuke. Michishita's music varies between stripped down acid-folk funeral dirges and face melting psychedelic freakouts. The line up of the band is constantly changing and quite often features guest musicians. But while LSD March has a bit of a cult following outside Japan his CDs are notoriously hard to get hold of. Fortunatley Michishita was giving out CDRs of live recordings at his most recent gig. Unfortunatley however there's no track listing and no info on exactly when or where the recording was made. What I can tell you though is that it features the wonderful Maruo Maruko on guest vocals and guitar and that most of the tracks are taken from his most recent album Under Milk Wood . This is also actually one of my favourite LSD recordings. The sound quality isn't great (You can hear the audience cracking open cans of beer.) but it's a good mix of LSD's more introverted folk leanings and his more extroverted guitar strangling. Not to mention Maruo's vocals add a certain warm sanctuary to Michishita's gloomy ballads. So enjoy this rare gem and may ye wallow in it's ice cold misery. T'is the season!

Music Trivia: Michishita Shunsuke is also Oshiri Pen Penz sound engineer.

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Kyozin Yueni Dekai - Tatemono (巨人ゆえにデカイ - たてもの)

...and yet another band whom are also good friends with Afrirampo and legends on the Osaka underground scene. Kyozin along with bands like Afrirampo, Oshiri Pen Penz, Bogulta and Watushi Zombie are what became known as the Kansai "Zero Generation" The generation of up and coming young bands who formed around the early to mid 00's and were heavily influenced by the likes of other Osaka underground legends like the Boredoms and Acid Mothers Temple. Unfortunatley it seems that Afrirampo were the only band to make the leap over the pond and make a name for themselves outside of Japan. So hopefully I can rectify this. (Not that Afrirampo aren't deserving of their unexpected success.) Translated into English the amusingly monikered Kyozin Yueni Dekai means "They're called giants because they're huge". Following they're namesake the guitarist of this drums and guitars duo wears a massive pair of stilts at their shows. I just wonder where he managed to get the pants from.

Kyozin's music is a little hard to describe but is very much in the same vain as the Oshiri Pen Pens. Chunky, muted, atonal guitars fumble over screamed, chanted and howled lyrics that make pretty much no sense and quite frequently diverge into a totally made up language. (Atleast I'm pretty sure it's not a real language. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.) All of it is just about held together by some very impressive and sturdy drumming. Kyozin's drummer Shinji Wada has played in the most recent lineup of DMBQ since the death of Shonen Knife's touring drummer "China" back in 2005. Fuck it! Just listen to it. It's cool.

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Maruo Maruko - Daisan Hankyu No Radio (丸尾丸子- 第三半球のラヂヲ)

Maruko plays an intimate, nostalgic form of Japanese folk music with a slightly avant garde twist. Maruko a Kyoto native and multi instrumentalist utilizes guitar, accordian and toy instruments and even manages to play a Jew's harp while singing. This is her first self released CDR of live recordings from 2008. 

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