CD Reviews - March 2009

By JP DuQuette and Jonti Davies

DeliciouSweets
Nanashoku Hazumu Makkuro Sekai
Chaam Records

Ah yes, this is what I expect from the Japanese underground: a batshit insane psychedelic phantasmagorical all-girl retro cabaret. Here’s a band that will make Tarentino and Japsploitation soundtrack otaku drool from the first note on, a late 60s parody/tribute performance troupe that owes as much to The Fugs and Zappa as it does to enka and Wada Akiko-style rhythm and blues. So what does this mean, aside from bizarre pics of white-faced women with false eyelashes performing in fishnet stockings, babushkas and vaudevillian clown pants? Well, there’s also tons of sexy, goofy, genki amateurish singing, occasional gargling, guitar freak-outs, Buddhist prayer drums and an ever present Hammond organ (good God…). I think you’re starting to get the picture. Oh yes, and what crazy cultural artifact would be complete without a cover of "Tequila"? Though the album is perfect wake-and-bake BGM, the satirical specifics will admittedly be lost on even the most hardcore J-ongaku geeks. Fear not, though - you probably don’t need to get all the references to join in on the bizarre fun. I’d give your left nut to see these wildcats in the sweaty flesh, and if I were you, I’d start counting the days till their next show: your starting point should probably be their English page. Quote: "Due to their visceral performances the group also refers to itself as ‘The Human Smell Cabaret’." And did I mention they’ve performed at Yasukuni Shrine? Outstandingly odd. JP


Yellow Magic Orchestra
LondonYMO
Avex

Considering Takahashi, Sakamoto and Hosono have been at the whole musical thing since the beginning of the 70s, you’d think they’d be sucking pretty bad right now. Surprise: they still rule. Perhaps their break up in the mid-80s had something to do with this, but these 3 guys have managed to stay relevant for far longer than anyone could have expected. I can only guess it was their synchronous appreciation for glitch-hop that got them working together again, but whatever the impetus, they are now performing again, and LondonYMO is one of a brace of 2-CD live sets celebrating their reunion. It’s a hardcore YMO fans' dream - at least half of the tracks are reworked versions of some of their rare solo material. Hosono’s "Sportsman" is pure electro-pop cuteness; "Mars", "Chronograph", "Flakes" from Sketch Show are hauntingly beautiful; and Sakamoto’s spoken word "War and Peace" is given a nice tweaking as well. Sakamoto standard "Riot in Lagos" has a funky, early 70s Herbie Hancock flavor, and the new version of their classic "Rydeen" is total class. The only possible complaint: the convergence of catalogued influences from each member  sometimes overloads the tracks with ideas. Where once was simple Kraftwerk-esque simplicity, we now find jazz, world music, Ambient Techno, new age and new wave influences all battling for attention. But despite this (and a few 'adult contemporary' moments), YMO still continue to shame the musical world with their greatness. JP


The Watanabes
Independent Social Power
Bicycler Records

When "Getting Over Yuka" made its way onto last year’s Gaijin Sounds CD, I can’t say I was jumping up and down with excitement. I prefer my rock either down and dirty or pretentious and proggy; acoustic ballads about old girlfriends ("You promised me we’d got to the Tokyo Towwwwwwwwwwer!") make me want to get out my plastic clown hammer and start banging some coconuts. So it was with some trepidation that I threw Independent Social Power into the old iTunes. The verdict: better than I expected, I guess. The revamped version of that aforementioned track is definitely less annoying in its latest incarnation, and the rest of the album isn’t terrible either. Frankly, I feel our esteemed previous editors’ Smiths references are off base, though; despite the regional references, offhand delivery and the general melancholic bent of the lyrics, The Watanabes are not flamboyant and gay in early 80s London: they are slightly spoiled and nostalgic in 21st Century Tokyo. Ignore the lyrical gloom, though, and the album is musically a surprisingly pleasant ride, and I can well imagine throwing this on during a Sunday morning house cleaning session (in fact, I’ve done just that). And though I can't help but make a face at the multiple layers of whiney irony in "Nice Guy", I admit to thoroughly enjoying the rocking "This Year". So thumbs up on balance, gentlemen - but for the record I'd prefer more screaming, distortion and 30-minute solos next time. JP


Susumu Yokota
Mother
Lo Recordings

I used to spend so many winter evenings in the UK sat in front of an open fire, drinking single-malt scotch with friends while Susumu Yokota vinyl blazed in the background, that even Yokota's new music sounds irrevocably like Whisky Music (whatever that might be). Over the past 25 years or so, Susumu Yokota has plundered just about every hidden treasure of Ambient, electronica, house, and minimal - and he ain't finished plunderin' yet. 2001's career high, Sakura, is about as zen as electronic music gets before you decide to buy a dozen 'Buddha Machines' (Google it) and leave 'em droning around the house and garden. Mother, on the mother hand, finds dear old Susumu doing his best Matthew Herbert impersonation, bringing in a cast of underground-notable singers (including members of Efterklang and The Chap) to add some breath and words to his cleverly structured instrumental pyramids. It's difficult to pick out a single theme on this album: it sounds a lot like an audio scrapbook of songsketches that were jotted down completely at random (probably after more than a few Laphroaig doubles). That means you can expect to hear ideas from the 'Freak folk', 'Bubbling electronica', 'Nature music' and, uh, 'Schmaltz groove' entries in Yokota's unique lexicon of sounds. Pretty eclectic stuff. Occasionally Mother is a bit too precious - you have to be careful to tiptoe your way across the eggshell floors of tracks such as "Bonda" and "Warmth" - but it's always beautiful and, most remarkably, none of the guest singers will make you want to throw up. Jonti


DJ Kentaro
Tuff Cuts
Pressure Sounds/Beatink

Let’s face it: you can become a reasonably popular dance/house DJ just by mastering the art of beat-matching, occasionally bobbing your head and playing endless ‘uppers'. On the flipside, hip-hop DJs like the kid Kentaro here need to pull way more tricks on the 1200s than they’re given credit for. So what happens when DJ Kentaro - grandmaster of scratch ‘n’ spin techniques and former DMC World DJ Champion, he'll have you know - winds up mixing a whole album full of classic dub and reggae for the UK’s premier Jamaican reissues label (on its Japanese imprint)? Something crucial, man - that’s what! Kentaro was toying with the idea of setting up his own reggae soundsystem way back when; instead, he followed a different career tangent and became the go-to man for hip-hop parties around the world. But no mistake, his early love of Jamaican music shines through on Tuff Cuts. Versions and dubs of timeless selections from the likes of Prince Far I, King Tubby, Lee "Scratch" Perry and The Revolutionaries spar against each other and remain buoyant while the man on the decks works his magic to keep his unexpected inbound breaks just out of earshot until… BAM! It’s the element of surprise as much as the running order that keeps Tuff Cuts ticking over so sweetly, and I can comfortably say you will not hear a more innovative mash-up of killer Jamaican sounds all year. Jonti

LSD March
Under Milk Wood
Important Records

In the bizarro underworld of the Japanese psych-folk-drone scene, Himeji-based LSD March are to Acid Mothers Temple what The Kinks were to The Beatles: quietly superior storytellers and rockers of greater refinement. The spooky spoken passages and double-tracked Happy End-style vocal refrains on Under Milk Wood are probably not suitable for before-bedtime listening unless you're deliberately setting out to chase a vivid deep-forest nightmare. There are some great track titles here - "Bishonure no Kimi" is a fave; I think that translates to "Soaking-Wet You" - and there's plenty of this dark humor across the album to balance the dark seriousness that cloaks its weirdest sections. Sometimes the slow, s-l-o-w grooves of Under Milk Wood's tracks seem likely to lead them to a premature halt, but they keep on chugging along in spite of themselves. The percussion and drumming elements help a lot. Clever fills revive songs just when they're about to zone out completely, and there's a constant tickle of what sound like shells, sweet wrappers and toilet brushes as back-up. I guess this is the sound of LSD on the march? Jonti

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