Japan Sushi

Japan Sushi, well i expected a longer stay in the hospital, that didnt come about, so i might aswell do a regular post on a slightly short notice. Again all vinyl rips , all with an arty touch, some tastes to be acquired..

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Japanese sushis..

Toshinori Kondo - Taihen (84)
EP-4 - Lingua Franca-X (83)
E.D.P.S - Blue Sphinx (83)
Haruomi Hosono - Philharmony (82)
Sheena & The Rokkets (80)

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

Toshinori Kondo - Taihen ( 84* 228mb)

Toshinori Kondo (December 15, 1948 ) is an avant-garde and jazz trumpeter and the most celebrated improvising musician of his country. He has lived in Japan, New York City, and Amsterdam. In college he was a member of the band "Funky Beaters" and by 1976 he was a member of an ensemble which gained some notice in his native Japan. His early influences were Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis. That said, his style is quite distinct from theirs and influenced by his religious studies, among other things. In the mid-1970s his career gained new momentum on moving to NYC, where he worked with members of the 'Downtown' scene, including Bill Laswell and John Zorn; his first solo album coming out in 1979. Back in Japan, Kondo formed International Music Activities (IMA). Releasing "What Are You Talking About?" (IMA, 1983). "Kuuchuu Fuyuu" (Domo, 1983 - Absord, 1999). Taihen (Polydor, 1984) backed the trumpet with the rock format of guitar-drum-bass. Metal Position (EFA, 1985) used a similar setting with the addition of Haruo Togashi's synthesizer and piano. Konton (Epic, 1986) featured a line-up of trumpet, keyboards, guitar and drums. His proximity to rock music was confirmed by the EP China Boogie (Polydor, 1985), featuring Bill Laswell, Anton Fier, Fred Frith, etc.Later he moved to the Netherlands where he lives today. He has kept a comparatively low profile in the Netherlands and has little to no connections to the Dutch jazz scene. In 2002 he worked on an international peace festival in Hiroshima after being approached by the Dalai Lama about organizing one. He has also done musical, and possibly acting, work for Japanese crime films. He is currently known for Free jazz and electronica music. In these, or related, capacities he has worked with DJ Krush and Tom Cora. He is also known for being avant-garde and was a former member of Praxis.



01 - Taihen (7:42)
02 - The Day After (6:36)
03 - Takao Blue (5:59)
04 - A Song For Buddha (7:11)
05 - Oiwake (5:42)
06 - Shosuke-San (7:22)

Kondo @ MySpace
Kondo @ Amazon

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

EP-4 - Lingua Franca-X ( 95 * 30mb)

Experimental, Funk, Cold Wave, members ; Kaoru Sato (Voc), BANANA Kawashima ( keyboards).], Tatsuo Kohki (gitar), Yung Tsubotaj (Percussion), Tohru Sanjo ( drums), Koh Sakuma (bass). Couldnt find much else on them besides being from Kyoto and this discography. Seifuku Nikutai ( 83), Released as cassette book. Multilevel Holarchy ( 83), Lingua Franca ( 83), The Crystal Monster (85), Five To One ( 85) , Lingua Franca X ( 93) Released as book, Found Tapes ( 94 ) .



01 - Coco (8:00)
02 - dB (5:17)
03 - Zoy (4:42)

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

E.D.P.S - BLUE SPHINX ( 83 * 61mb)

E.D.P.S. was lead by Tsunematsu Masatoshi and is qualifiable as art-punk/wave I guess



1 - To Rule The Night 4:48
2 - Death Composition 4:27
3 - Be Your Slave 4:32
4 - This Time 3:42
5 - Ma Wa Re 3:04
6 - Sphinx 2:44
7 - Namari No Yoni 4:51
8 - It's Your Kingdom 7:42
9 - Too Much Dream 6:28

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

Haruomi Hosono - Philharmony ( 82 flac 251mb)

Mr. Hosono started his musical activity with Apryl Fool, a legendary psychedelic rock band, in 1969. Since then, he has played a critical role in Japanese music history moving to Happy End, Tin Pan Alley, Y.M.O. He also established \EN label (with Mr. Takahashi) and Non Standard, and he is eager to discover new artistic talents.

Philharmony captures Hosono's genius, as he deftly uses the (then) emerging technology of digital sampling, it was originally recorded way back in 1982 and represents the first time digital sampling was ever used to construct an entire musical album. It begins with Picnic, a quirky little instrumental that is neither ambient nor structured, but in a league, like so many of Hosono's works, all by itself. The second track, Funiculi Funicula, is a uniquely Japanese and more uniquely Hosono-esque "adaptation" of the traditional Italian folk song.
The real ambient pieces on the album, Birthday Party and Air-Condition, are typical Hosono all the way - eerie, dark, a-musical, enthralling, and even aggressive; finally disintegrating into a loose cloud of fractured noise. These two tracks are actually the antithesis of the harmonic, relaxing, passive, and even genteel ambient style developed by that other musical trailblazer of the 70's and 80's. Brian Eno, this is most definitely NOT! The title track is simply incredible. Philharmony is a brilliant display of musical technology for technology's sake, as Hosono uses only a digitally sampled voice to construct the entire piece. More Hosono later this month.



01 - Picnic 1:58)
02 - Funiculi Funicura (4:35)
03 - Luminescent/Hotaru (4:25)
04 - Platonic (4:24)
05 - In Limbo (2:26)
06 - Living Dining Kitchen (3:48)
07 - Birthday Party (3:52)
08 - Sports Men (4:06)
09 - Philharmony (3:27)
10 - Air-Condition (4:38)
bonus Videogame music EP ( ogg 24mb)
11 - Super Xevious (8:50)
12 - Gaplus (5:20
13 - Tower of Draga (1:46)

Hosono @ Amazon

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

Sheena and The Rokkets (80 * 54mb )

Mentai Rock is the name given to the collection of Japanese artists who gained national popularity during the late 1970's. Continuing through the early 80's, the collective had little in common other than their origin - the Hakata ward of Fukuoka City. The phrase, Mentai Rock, was derived from the name of a local delicacy, mentaiko, made from roe. Many believed that their origin also had a common influence on the overall sound, despite the wide variety of genres represented, one of its bigget names was Sheena and the Rokkets. They supported Elvis Costello on his 78 Japan tour, which was their first ever tour, they recorded this their first album after that and saw it released spring 79. Alfa records picked them up , and their next albums "Synkou Pack" "Channel Goo" "Pinup Baby Blues" and "NEW HIPPIES" followed the next 5 years. Inbetween Sheena did a soloalbum"BEAUTIFUL" with Haruomi Hosono



01 - Batman theme
02 - You May Dream
03 - Sentimental Fool
04 - Omae Ga Hoshii (one more time)
05 - Lazy Crazy Blues
06 - Moonlight Dance
07 - Stiff Lips
08 - Heaven or Hell
09 - I Got You, I Feel Good
10 - You Really Got Me
11 - Radio Junk
12 - Rocket Factory

Sheena @ Amazon

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