Japan IV

Japan IV, again all vinyl rips, rather time consuming but hey those Beatniks were terribly cool in their day, and dare i say still have held some aura..the beat generation..existentialism big questions , break on thru to the other side..Miharu Koshi is H Hosono's muze and she will not dissapoint you either. Those frank Chickens have taken themselves always more serious then their name or lyrics suggest. Masami Tsuchiya had been flirting with andronygy like David Sylvian or his mate on this album Ryuichi Sakamoto Bowie comes to mind but the music is great.Yukihiro Takahashi the singing YMO drummer shows what he can do with a little help from his friends. Lastly an outside extra as it is a comedy radioshow mainly in Japanese, so get it and tell your friends what it is about..

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Beatniks - Exitentialism (81)
Miharu Koshi - Tutu (83)
We Are Frank Chickens (84)
Masami Tsuchiya - Rice Music ( 82)
Yukihiro Takahashi - Neuromancer (81)
Snakeman Show - Bootleg (83)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Beatniks - Exitentialism ( 81 * 57mb)

In 1981, elsewhere in Japan, the not-nearly-as-popular-but-still-great Moon Riders had just released the highly regarded "Camera Egal Stylo," which marked their about-face into new-wave, and were working on the highly-regarded album "Mania Maniera," which was apparently too bizarre to release upon its completion in 1982. Lots of elevated regard was floating around between YMO and them apparently. Therefore no surprise that the 1981 album by the Beatniks, the on-again-off-again collaboration between YMO frontman and drummer Yukihiro Takahashi and head Moon Rider (and Earthbound soundtrack scribe, to you video game fans) Keiichi Suzuki, is as fantastic as it is.

The oddly named "Exitentialism" (yes, ExiTENtialism...don't ask me!) is, to be sure, a bit tilted in the YMO direction. YMO, and especially Takahashi, were stars; the Moon Riders were and are Not. Consequently, Exitentialism is a bit of a 60%/30% split in Takahashi's favor--not a huge problem, as by this point Keiichi Suzuki's voice was at the beginning of its steady decline. As an album, Exitentialism plays like a combination of YMO's "BGM" (think U-T and Cue), the Moon Riders' "Camera Egal Stylo". They released 4 more albums over the 2 decades that followed. Exitentialist A Go Go [1987] , Another High Exit [1994], The Show Vol.4 Yohji Yamamoto Collection Music [1996] , M.R.I. Musical Resonance Imaging [2001] . Easy does it...



01 - Le Sang Du Poete (2:24)
02 - No Way Out (4:05)
03 - Ark Diamant (4:00)
04 - Now And Then... (3:52)
05 - Loopy (2:58)
06 - Une Femme N'est Pas Un Homme (3:26)
07 - Mirroris (3:27)
08 - Le Robinet (3:01)
09 - L'etoile De Mer (3:36)
10 - Inevitable (5:38)

Beatniks @ Amazon

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Miharu Koshi - Tutu (83 * 67mb)

Miharu Koshi made her debut as Kayo-kyoku idol singer and started her artistic activity with the YEN label as she became crazy about multiple recording with synthesizers. She's become one of the most intriquing characters in Japanese electronic music culture, almost always involved when there is something going on with Haruomi "Harry" Hosono, Hosono Jr, or Ryuichi Sakamoto. She has collaborated with Thomas Dolby as well.

Her style is really interesting and fresh and new. She often sings in German or in French. Wonderfully ambient and intriguing. tracks made with old analog synthesizers programmed by Hosono are really fantastic and you can recognize them to be Harry's work just as soon as you hear them. Haruomi Hosono's Omni Sight Seeing was another CD I found in which Miharu Koshi beautiful voice and genuine style shines through. Tutu is her 4th album she's been releasing a steady stream of albums since 1979 Her latest album is Corset (2003) which was produced by Haruomi Hosono naturally.



01 - L'Amour Toujours (3:44)
02 - Laetitia (5:50)
03 - Scandal Night (4:19)
04 - L'amour... Ariuwa Kuro No Irony (5:25)
05 - Sugar Me (3:38)
06 - Pussycat (4:47)
07 - Keep On Dancing (5:06)
08 - Nichiyo Wa Ikanai (5:20)
09 - Petit Paradis (4:11)

Miharu @ Base
Miharu @ Amazon

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Frank Chickens - We Are Frank Chickens (84 * 71mb)

A three-month vacation Kazuko had been planning turned into a four-year absence from her native Japan, during which she brought all the joys of Japanese youth culture to the jaded London punk scene. Hooking up with two other vibrant Japanese women – Kazumi Taguchi and Moriko Iwatsudo – Kazuko Hohki created The Frank Chickens and produced work that took avant-garde pop from the bargain bins of the 1980s and launched it into the next millennium. Using fashion, art and electronics, The Chickens pioneered future pop.

With their brilliant use of simplistic drama, fast wit and spontaneity making for a fun live show, they were invited to support, The Smiths on another successful jaunt around the country. A second collaboration with Beresford and Toop produced the excellent GET CHICKENIZED (1987) with subject matter even more mind-bending than before. It included tales of runaway lesbians and female wrestlers, ironic rap (“Yellow Toast”), and a traditional tune from the Chindon Ya – Japanese street advertisers.



01 - Cheeba Cheeba Chimpira (4:47)
02 - Mothra (4:59)
03 - Green Banana (3:41)
04 - Madam Fatal (6:37)
05 - We Are Ninja (3:23)
06 - Yellow Detective (3:56)
07 - Shellfish Bamboo (4:18)
08 - Pikadon (3:37)
09 - We Are Frank Chickens (4:42)
10 - Saké Ballad (3:09)

We Are Frank Chickens @ Base
We Are Frank Chickens @ Amazon

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Masami Tsuchiya - Rice Music (82 * 279mb)

Bowiesque guitarist Masami Tsuchiya, leader from the Ippu Do. . Tsuchiya's voice is high but gutsy and always in control (even when yelling) — on Rice Music his first solo LP Masami gets lots of help from YMO's Ryuichi Sakamoto, and several tracks include members of Japan (the band) and Bill Nelson on e-bow guitar. He toured with Japan during the oil on canvas tour. He returned to Ippu Do but in 85 said goodbye.



01 - Rice Music (4:00)
02 - Se! Se! Se! (4:19)
03 - Haina-Haila (4:32)
04 - Tao-Tao (4:03)
05 - Neo-Rice Music (1:58)
06 - Kafka (4:27)
07 - Rice Dog Jam (4:30)
08 - Secret Party (4:11)
09 - Silent Object (2:21)
10 - Night In The Park (5:53)


***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Yukihiro Takahashi - Neuromancer (81  flac 270mb)

Yukihiro Takahashi first came to prominence as the drummer of The Sadistic Mika Band, and became known to western audiences after this band (led by Kazuhiko Katoh, formerly of The Folk Crusaders) toured and recorded in the United Kingdom. After the Sadistic Mika Band disbanded, some of the members (including Takahashi) formed another band called The Sadistics, who released several albums. Finally Takahashi recorded his first solo album Saravah in 1978, later that year. he joined Ryuichi Sakamoto and Haruomi Hosono to form the Yellow Magic Orchestra.

After the Yellow Magic Orchestra disbanded in the mid 80s, Takahashi went solo and released a large number of solo albums, primarily intended for the Japanese market. Takahashi has collaborated extensively with other musicians, including Bill Nelson, Iva Davies of Icehouse, Keiichi Suzuki of the Moon Riders (often as a duo dubbed "The Beatniks," although Suzuki essentially functioned as a member of Takahashi's backing band during the Moon Riders' brief hiatus) and in particular Steve Jansen.



01 - Glass (6:01)
02 - Grand Espoir (4:38)
03 - Connection (5:03)
04 - New (Red) Roses (3:46)
05 - Extra-Ordinary (4:22)
06 - Drip Dry Eyes (5:29)
07 - Curtains (3:41)
08 - Charge (2:33)
09 - Something In The Air (4:50)

Yukihiro @ Base
Yukihiro @ Amazon

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Snakeman show - Bootleg (83 * 76mb)

This is a little extra for my Japanese visitors as all the gags from the Snakeman radio show are in Japanese, and well the rest of us will be lost without translation, however there's a nice YMO 5 min.megamix to start of the album..introduced by wolfman jack. The cover art ain't half bad either..



1 - Snakeman Show Introduction
2 - YMO Medley
2.1-Technopolis
2.2-Rydeen
2.3-Tong-Poo
2.4-Nice Age
2.5-Behind The Mask
2.6-Insomnia
2.7-Multiplies
2.8-Citizen Of Science
2.9-Multiplies
2.10-Solid State Survivor
2.11-Absolute Ego Dance
2.12-Firecrackers

3 - Snakeman show Gag 1
4 - Snakeman show Gag 2
5 - Snakeman show Gag 3
6 - Snakeman show Gag 4
7 - Snakeman show Gag 5
8 - Snakeman show Gag 6
9 - Snakeman show Gag 7

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
* All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !