PTA's - Tiger / Fukumen Toshi 7" (Cragale, 1986)

Tracklisting

Side A

Tiger

Side B

Fukumen Toshi
   

Released on Cragale in 1986, this is (as far as I know) the last PTA's release. Some of the same rollicking post-punk present on "New Songs" is here, though very much "reigned in" after having 5 years to become instrumentally proficient. Not such a good thing though, as I found their meandering, one-note strategies to be the totality of their charm, but the good isn't completely gone. The call and response elements of "Tiger" are fun, and the admittedly Edge-like guitarisms of "Fukumen Toshi" paired up with some archetypal Japanese melodies works for me in doses. Worth checking out, though possibly past it's prime.
 

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P.T.A's - New Songs 7" flexi (Cragale, 1981)

Tracklisting

Side A
Ishizue
Nagai Owakare

Side B
3 - K

Here's the first release from this gender-balanced group on the excellent and diverse Cragale imprint. Skeletal and motorik post-punk grooves with eerie, wispy melodies above and woozy abstract rustlings threatening to blow the supports. Sinister, edge-of-your-seat stuff -- and their best recording, I say!

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Habit of Sex

Here's a fantastic blog that I think any reader of Stalking Duppi will appreciate: HABIT OF SEX, run by nattliga_toner (who modestly did not advertise in his post of Yoran's "Montparnasse"). H.O.S. specializes in the darker, gothier sectors of Japanese underground music, featuring releases on cult labels like Wechselbalg, and even some early visual-kei. Especially check out his post of Funeral Party's "Embryo" 7" -- mind-melting stuff!

Also, nattliga_toner and I will periodically be doing guest posts on each others sites. We've already exchanged 2 Yoran singles, and there are many good things to follow.

Yoran - Montparnasse 7" EP (Unbalance, 1981)

Tracklisting

Side A
Concert Maillol
Je Derve Avec Láir

Side B
Montparnasse
La Bou.....

First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for being given the privilege to post on this very fine blog. I'll try to make my posts here as worthwhile as my record collection and writing abilities allow!

- - -

This is the first solo output by Yoran, released shortly after his stint as a bassist with punk rockers Laughin' Nose. Released on Naoto Hayashis legendary Unbalance label (famous for putting out Hijokaidans first album, among other things, during its brief existence) in 1981, this very singular EP is a far cry from both his previous and subsequent musical efforts.

The tracks contained here are comprised of cut-up and collaged recordings from various unspecified french movies intertwined with the occasional spoken word segments - all seemingly recorded using a cheap-o cassette player making for quite the lo-fi work. Nevertheless, "Montparnasse" harbors a very intriguing surreal atmosphere - just check out the later part of "Concert Maillol" with it's haunting looped piano, indistinct sound samples and Yorans bizarre hummings, mumblings and fumblings (of the tape recorder). I think this would sit well as the soundtrack to any fever dream.

Another favorite is the melancholic and paranoid title track and the ethereal dialogue-ladden murkiness of "Je Derve Avec Láir", but reviews of individual tracks feel pointless as this is definitely meant to be consumed whole. For maximum impact; play this very late at night.

"Montparnasse" was followed up by two more singles (of a totally different nature, I should add) before Yoran temporarily disappeared from the music scene. He later reemerged as a trance DJ under the moniker Yoji Biomehanika and regularly plays at raves all over the world. Nevertheless, I'd say that his main musical legacy lie within the three singles he put out in the early eighties.

Again, I'd wish to give my thanks for being granted to post here on Stalking Duppi, and I sincerely hope you'll all enjoy this outlandish little EP.

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The Gurdjieff - self-titled 7" EP (Night Gallery Records, 1985)

Tracklisting

Side A
S.P.I.Ritual
Optical Illusion

Side B
Oratorio
Animal Language

As far as I know, this is the only recording from "The Gurdjieff" outside of their/his/her appearance on the "Individual Music Osaka" cassette book released by Yuzuru Agi after the dissolution of Vanity Records. Released on the very odd Night Gallery label (run by guitarist of Auschwitz, I think), that also released Yoran, Duppi, and others before switching entirely to heavy metal. A strange trajectory...

The Gurdjieff is especially bizarre, skirting the line between morose minimal synth and all-out electro-industrial noise. The phrase "Maurizio Bianchi in Dracula's castle" is strangely applicable. Back cover has "THANKS TO NORMAL•B" printed underneath the song titles. I wasn't sure if that was a direct reference to Normal Brain (from Vanity Records) until I noticed a Texas Instruments Speak & Spell buried in the mix on "Oratorio". Not to be missed. Enjoy!

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Wha-Ha-Ha / Sakata Orchestra split 7" (Better Days Records, 1981)

Tracklisting

Side A
Wha-Ha-Ha - Onna De Yokota

Side B
Sakata Orchestra - Wha-Ha-Ha Ondo

This is one of the more obscure records from the art-pop-prog-jazz nutzoid group Wha-Ha-Ha, here backed with Sakata Orchestra, virtually the same band as far as I can tell. Imagine a Picky Picnic with serious chops and you're almost there.

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Amaryllis - Oto-san 7" (Amaryllis Records, 1985)

Tracklisting

Side A
Oto-san

Side B
Sensei (Sono No Ichi)
Shinya No Dekigoto

How about that cover, eh? This group was from Kyoto, home to an incredible experimental scene in the 80s. Much of this scene is documented in the "Foam" 2LP comp on Ylem records, produced and curated by Kaoru Sato of EP-4 and R.N.A. Organism. Sato's name on a record causes a giant exclamation mark to appear above my head, and you'll know why after hearing this.

I'll come right out and say that this is one of my favorite 7"s ever. 10 minutes of hallucinatory mania starting with "Oto-san" on the A-side, a driving, post-punky track that goes way overboard in every department. The nuttiness is ratcheted up a notch from the get-go on side B, the first track seeming to perpetually be in a state of trying to decide whether it wants to be 33⅓ or 45rpm, with echo-guitar and plink-plonk synths only adding to the dizziness. B2 throws in out-of-the-blue classical samples and a few abused instruments, punctuating vocalist Alice Sailor's surreal wails. Stupefying.

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Voice - self-titled 10" EP (Kitchen Records, 198?)

Tracklisting

Side A
Betsudo No Nakano Shiawase (Happiness in Bed at Night)
Kiyanbasu No Hiroin (Heroine of the Canvas)

Side B
Tazogawa No Hamabe (Beach of the Dusk)
Maruseiyu (Marseilles)

This tolerable slice of new-wave is mostly interesting for being on the Kitchen Records label, known to "Indies" collectors and blogophiles as the label that released a Variètè flexi and the (Vanity Records related) MLD 7". Unfortunately, the rest of the Kitchen discography is less inspired. Not to say that you shouldn't check this out - just know that this drifts in to some rather cloying, XTC-sounding territory.

I don't recognize any of the band member's names, but I noticed that Keiichi Ohta was responsible for the art direction. Ohta was a member of Guernica with Jun Togawa, and released a great solo album. He's sure to pop up again on this blog...

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EDIT: This one is starting to grow on me...

Picky Picnic - Cynical Hysteria World 2x7" (Panic Records, 1986)

Tracklisting

Side A
Fanfare / どんぐり行進曲

Side B
It's a Hysterical Place
Tsuntapunk
びょうき

Side C
トリップ・サンドイッチ

Side D
Go Go Twins
(仮) 放課後

This group is often compared to the Residents, but I find their sonic palette to be idiosyncratically Japanese. The kindergarten-prog thing going on here sets them comfortably beside the avant-naïve stylings of their brethren in Wha-Ha-Ha, yet there's just enough of a punk aesthetic there to attach them to German label-mates Der Plan, Pyrolator, and the rest of the Ata Tak crew.

This double 7" EP (I believe it's their final release) sees the usual duo of Kaoru Todoroki and Yuji Asuka teamed up with famed animator/illustrator Kiriko Kubo, probably known best in the states for doing the album art for John Zorn's Cobra. It's a match made in heaven, really. In fact, a few of Kiriko's works have titles very similar to those of Picky Picnic (Cynical Hysterie Hour, Kuru Kuru Cynical), causing me to wonder just how close their relationship was. Sadly, Picky Picnic would disband shortly after this recording for reasons unknown.

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Phew - Finale / Urahara 7" (Pass Records, 1980)

Tracklisting

Side A
終曲 (Shuukyoku, trans. "Finale")

Side B
うらはら (Urahara, trans. ???)

1st solo recording by Phew (Hiromi Moritani), formerly of no-wave group Aunt Sally, on the essential Pass Records label (PAS-203). Ryuichi Sakamoto, helming the mix, does brilliant work here, especially on the fractured "Urahara", replete with discordant piano, plink-plonk synthwork (reminiscent of his B-2 Unit LP), and Phew's inimitable deadpan chant. No doubt this is what caught the ear of Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit, who would later join her on her follow-up LP.

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