Nagisa Ni Te - Live Oct 19 1996 Koenji Showboat

Sorry for lack of posting, but it has been a busy few weeks and such. Anyways, this one is the awesome Nagisa Ni Te, recorded live on Oct 19 1996. I got this one from Eric Pogo which I believe he snagged when he was in Japan in the late nineties. Not sure the actual linage of this or anything, but all signs point to it being recorded by Eric's pal Youji. Great folky awesome full band set with lots of fuzzy guitar solos, big open chords and soaring vocals for a great heartfelt mix of Japanese language jams and grooves. Most of the songs are from their fantastic On The Love Beach album from 1995.

Here is some background from the Jagjaguwar site:

Here is the Nagisa Ni te story: in the beginning Shinji Shibayama performed "hyped up dada-psych" in the early 1980's as part of Idiot O'Clock and then the more toned-down Hallelujahs. He also founded and still runs Org Records, the label responsible for bringing Eastern psych powers Maher Shalal Hash Baz to the world. With Maher Shalal Hash Baz's help, with the musical contributions of many of their collective friends, and with the assistance of Shibayama's now full-fledged cohort Masako Takeda in all things Nagisa Ni te, Shibayama recorded and released On The Love Beach, a beautiful, slow and entrancing work pulling equally from American and British rock traditions. Thus was born Nagisa Ni te, which means "on the beach" in Japanese, an homage of sorts to Neil Young's 1975 masterpiece. Their psych folk tendencies notwithstanding, Nagisa Ni te also did well to take cues from the avant rock world around them at the time, comfortably implementing the minimalist credo "less is more" throughout this record.

Enjoy! Spring or winter, it is all good. Fragile and confident!

Nagisa Ni Te - Live Oct 19 1996 Koenji Showboat

Birds of Maya @ Kung Fu Necktie Tomorrow (Dec 1)

Stoked!

We Have Heaven, Fursaxa @ Secret Arts Space Nov 5 2010

Almost a year to the day after the awesome Fursaxa/We Have Heaven/Marble Sheep show at the Secret Arts Space comes this nice and mellow couchcore show. First Friday in Bethlehem, but we still snagged great parking, said howdy to Eric and quickly hit the "Your Welcome Inn" for some beers and Eddy Grant, Curtis Mayfield and uh, 311 on the jukebox. And smoking! A smoky walk back to the Arts Space, we caught up with K-town native Mike WKDU and blabbed about Pettibon with Eric. Then it was on to We Have Heaven doing it up. I definitely dig the fuller sound of the violin mixed with the minimalism of the (effected)guitars and loops and (usually brushed) drums. Really sublime and lilting, nice. Eric seemed to have some guitar problems, but the overall sound/vibe was great and kept moving forwards.





We hit the bar again for a quick a beer and missed Zomes for the most part. We caught about 3 minutes of his droned out keyboard heavy set.

Tara did a solo set as Fursaxa. The last time we saw her, she was playing with a harp and cello, this time around it was all loops and effects, voice and bells. Really stunning, the vocal loops especially were echoed to infinity and created a great background to work with. If you are gonna talk about "blissed out drone" you have to sit on a comfy velvety couch and get transported by the Fursaxa deal.






A fun night, lots of good vibes and good folks.

UPDATE: Mike added some audio and visuals from the evening on his awesome blog, Freedom Has No Bounds.

Acid Mothers Sunday Vol 31: Mainliner - Attack Nog

What? Two Acid Mothers Sundays in two days!? Halloween spirit or something. Anyways, this one is only one song and clocks in under 4 minutes, so don't get your hopes up. I was bumbling around the music library closet and happened upon Freakout Revisited, "The bootleg of the bootleg La Musica Box Set Psychedelic Freakout (LMB 041-050)..." Might as well let the liners for this 10 CD set continue:

"... described as: '1980-1990s studio & live, unreleased materials - heavy, garage, space, avant-garde, mondo & folk.' The collection is, in fact, compiled at least 90% from Galatic Zoo Dossier cassettes 1-4 and various other cassettes supplied to Nanjo Asahito by Plastic Crimewave... Asahito did not ask or tell Plastic Crimewave about this box set..."

So, anyways, Plastic Crimewave reissued this on his own with anointed/correct liners, etc. and it looks like it is still available. Tons and tons of great stuff from Mr. Crimewave himself, plus Fursaxa, Warrior Pants II, Musica Transonic, Maher Shalal Hash Baz and more.

One of the few songs Nanjo added to the box is this totally in the red Mainliner jam, "Attack Nog." One of their most High Rise moments for sure. This one is from the "Trouble Fill My Spoon" disc.

Mainliner - Attack Nog (Freakout Revisited)

Acid Mothers Sunday Vol 30: Kawabata Makoto - Jisetsu (AMCD-019)

It is a slow, sconed day today at the compound and this ulta minimal Kawabata Makoto release from 10 years ago is really hitting the spot, so why not celebrate Acid Mothers Sunday Halloween a day early? It certainly is a dark one.

Jisetsu is solo Kawabata playing suruthibox, "an Indian drone machine" according to the AMT website. A single, 40+ minute drone, this one is as barely there as it gets, but still a rewarding listen when in the right vibe/mood/imbalance. A low throb that goes back and forth with pulses and delay and variating highs and lows. Not sure if the Drone-on readers poll was still around in 2000, but this one shoulda placed high for sure.

According to the same data sheet "is this what's left once you rip all musical form away from Toho Sara!?" and that seems as good a place to start/end with this one. Released on CDr in an numbered edition of 100 on AMT's label with the catalog number AMTCD-019 as part of the Acid Mothers Temple Gold Disc Series. Mellow Out!

Kawabata Makoto - Jisetsu (AMTCD-019)

Fabulous Diamonds @ Fire Oct 26 2010 (photos)

Really awesome and really loud, the incredibly charming Fabulous Diamonds were fantastic last night at Fire. So simple, but so wide open. Really tranced out dubby Krauty jams with those beyond echoed keyboards turning into fractals right there! If you dig their records, go see them! I can't imagine anyone would be disappointed.

Rancid Vat - Hostile City USA (Video)

A couple of days ago I was searching for the awesome awesome awesome Rancid Vat song "Hostile City USA" on youtube with no dice. Unreal! Probably the best, and certainly the best-known song from the Philly era of Rancid Vat and it wasn't showing up anywhere! Totally awesome punk fueled mayhem about the city scientifically proven to be "the most hostile city in the USA" back in 1994 via a Gallup Poll commissioned by Duke University. With lots (too many?) folks (Roller Skating clubs, Death Metal Fests, etc.) taking up the Hostile City banner, I am 99% sure Rancid Vat were the first ones to flip it this way. And they get no fucking credit! The best song about the city of Brotherly Love since "Fall In Philadelphia" and the best punk song about Philadelphia EVER and there is barely any recognition! This song was available on a 7" and on their awesome 31 Flavors of Hostility CD as well as the compilation The Cheesesteak Years. You can buy these releases here, direct from Rancid Vat main man, Thee Whiskey Rebel.

Anyways, I put together a slide show of some Rancid Vat pics I had laying around and here is the result. Enjoy! The Cosmic Commander of Wrestling was one of the best singers/frontmen I have ever seen, the Philly lineup of Rancid Vat was just amazing, Punk as fuck, way late into the game. Alas, all good things... The main Vat'ers, Thee Whiskey Rebel and Marla Vee split Philly for Texas and haven't looked back. Who can blame them?

Circle Pit and Fabulous Diamonds In Philly This week

Ok, finally got some confirmation on this. Circle Pit are at the El Bar on Sunday, Oct 24th and Fabulous Diamonds are on Oct 26th at Fire. Whew!

Acid Mothers Sunday Vol 29: AMT & The Melting Paraiso Early Recordings Disc 3

Ok, this time around we dig back into the vaults for some Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso tracks from 1995-96. These two long jammers were originally released on a cassette in an edition of 10 and then reissued on the triple LP version of Synesthetic Recordings' The Early Acid Mothers Temple Recordings 1995-1997. As far as I can tell that edition (pressing of 100) is sold out, so I am posting those tracks here. It looks like the two LP version is still available though. If you dig the early extra noisy AMT sound, I can't recommend this one enough, so classic. The songs posted here are taken from the LP, not the cassette.

I don't think "Freakout Mu" appeared anywhere else, but it is a great 18 minute slice of the noisy pre-Tsuyama AMT, so much synth and effects, insane! "Speed Guru" is quite different than the version that wound up on the first AMT PSF release. Absolutely dizzying backwards riffing, hypnotizing and swirling and shit, harsssh at times, but still a fucking celebration!

Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. - Early Recordings LP #3

Notekillers @ The M Room Sept 23 2010 (Photos)

Here are some pics of the mighty Notekillers playing the Prophase Music showcase last night. Just unreal. Alas, the rest of my pics really suck, but a great night. A good time was had by all! See the Notekillers live!

Acid Mothers Sunday Vol 28: Okhami No Jikan - Black Tape (LA-068)

The connection to Acid Mothers Temple on this installment is a bit tenuous, as the lineup to Nanjo Asahito's Okami No Jikan was supposed to be secretive and clouded in black mystery and such, we can only speculate. I honestly hear/don't hear some of Kawabata's playing on these jams, so there is the disclaimer. "May not contain any AMT"

A friend bought this tape at a High Rise show in 1999 at the Khyber Pass to the best of my recollection. I borrowed and transferred to CDr around the same time, but neglected to scan in the cover, so this one is coverless. My apologies. I am sure it was black. This one contains two more versions of their signature tune, "Israel." Both clock in at 15 minutes plus with the second version sounding more like a live recording than the first. It also sounds a bit more like Nanjo's guitar playing. Both jams feature the slow/heavy drums and bass riffage with insane amounts of guitar + effects just blown the fuck over top. And some quiet vocals in there at points. Here is what the La Musica catalog from the time had to say:

068. OHKAMI NO JIKAN / Black Tape
Complete reisue of a mysterious cassette that was only sold at gigs in 1992. Their earliest cool and heavy studio demo recordings featuring the original line-up. The original release was limited to 30 copies.

Man, I wish Nanjo wasn't missing from action. There really seems to be no one like him and in spite of the rumored rip offs and stuff, he did an amazing amount of work to popularize the Japanese underground world wide. I await his return with some sort of black metal superfuzz kill group. Mysterious to a fault? Anyone with more Ohkami or the awesome sounding spin off groups Ohkami No Bohyo or Ten No Ohkami, please post them somewhere and drop me a line or leave a comment. Thanks and enjoy!

Ohkam No Jikan - Black Tape (LA -068)

Prophase Music Showcase @ M Room Sept 23rd: Notekillers, Kohoutek, Dark Sea Dream, American Speedway

Less than a week away... woooo!

Mondo Drag @ the Grape Room Sept 15 (Photos)

Here are some pics from Mondo Drag's awesome set last night at the Grape Room in Manayunk. First time I saw them with their keyboard player and he adds an awes dimension to their sound for sure. Just an amazing fucking band, yalls. If you are in Brooklyn tonight (Sept 16) go see them at Union Pool opening for the equally rad La Otracina (record release show).

Strapping Fieldhands on tour Sept 2010

Hey check it out!

Long time Nice Pooper Pals, the Strapping Fieldhands are doing a short tour starting tomorrow at Kung Fu Necktie!


Strapping Fieldhands - Fall Tour 2010

We would like to welcome our friends from the UK -The Doozer ** on a few select shows.

September
11 Sat. - Kung Fu Necktie - Phila. PA **
12 Sun. - Bruar Falls - Brooklyn , NY **
17 Fri. - Secret Project Robot- Brooklyn, NY **
20 Mon. - Grog Shop - Cleveland , OH.
22 Weds. - Cafe Bourbon Street - Columbus, OH
24 Fri. - GonerFest 7- Hi Tone-Memphis, TN. (more info)
25 Sat. - 529 - Atlanta , GA.
26 Sun. - The Milestone - Charlotte, NC
27 Mon. - Nightlight - Chapel Hill, NC

October
9 Sat. - Cake Shop , NYC

Bardo Pond - Live WKDU Oct 23 1997

Happy Labor Day! Here is one from the peoples' band, Bardo Pond. Still kicking after how many years into "the game?" Anyway, I was going through some CDrs and came across this. I remember I taped it off of the radio when it aired. Not sure if it was recorded earlier or live, but live in the studio regardless with a first airing on October 23rd 1997. I assume this on the Drug Music show, but not quite positive. Anyway, totally classic late 90s philly-ness, Bardo Pond and WKDU. At some point I transfered that tape to CDr, and here it is. I am not that familiar with Bardo's titles or discography from this era, so if anyone wants to help in the comments, please do. Thanks! Regardless, this is a jammer for sure... Now download this, eat chocolate, watch the Phils double header and enjoy!

Bardo Pond - Live WDKU Oct 23 1997

Notekillers - Airport (Video)

Well, damn, that is quite good. And awesome! And it reminds me of Musica Transonic a little bit, even!

A studio version of this jam will be on the new Notekillers album, We're Here to Help on LP and CD from Prophase Music, out in November 2010!

And you can see these gents kick it live at the Prophase Music showcase at the M Room in Philly on Sept 23rd 2010.

Mondo Drag @ the Grape Room Manayunk Sept 15

Tons of shows coming up in Sept, but just wanted to mention this one so it doesn't fall off the radar. The mighty Mondo Drag return to Philly on Sept 15 at the Grape Room in Manayunk. Formerly the Grape Street Pub. Wooo!

Eric DeJesus Reading at Brickbat Books Aug 28, plus Dragon Turtle and Fursxa

Awesome, Eric (The Dealers, Easy, Raw Pogo zine, We Have Heaven, Mugface, etc.) is gonna be reading from his book, We Won't Be Here Forever (American Typewriter) at Brickbat Books in Philly on Aug 28th. Plus Dragon Turtle and Fursaxa... And yeah, it is the day after Tesco Vee reads from the Touch and Go book.

Acid Mothers Sunday Vol 27: Musica Transonic - Euro Speed Freedelic Boogie

This time around we have a CDr of studio recordings from Musica Transonic, the awesome trio of Nanjo (High Rise, Mainliner, etc.), Kawabata (Acid Mothers Temple, Mainliner, etc.) and Yoshida (Ruins, Sax Ruins, etc.). With the none more true title of Euro Speed Freedelic Boogie, this one was part of the Steal Space Underground box (LMB 051-060) on Nanjo's La Musica label. According to the photocopied data sheet, these jams were recorded at Abbey Road studios. Not sure if these songs ever made it on to any other releases, but here you go.

Musica Transonic - Euro Speed Freedelic Boogie CDr

Ruiz Rulez

Mondo Drag - Fade Out (video)

Awes video for one of the best jams on Mondo Drag's New Rituals

Prophase Music Showcase: Sept 23 2010 @ the M Room

This is gonna be super awesome, of course!

Sept 23rd at the M Room:

Notekillers
American Speedway
Dark Sea Dream
Kohoutek

More info coming...

New on Prophase: Janina Angel Bath - Gyspy Woman LP

Well, well... doesn't this just look amazing!?



That's right, it's Janina Angel Bath's Gypsy Woman, on vinyl at last! A 12" and a 10" in an awesome heavy gatefold sleeve, this one looks as good as it sounds. Ethereal scapes and vocals mixing in that awesome super psych deal, like REAL acid folk but so much more. Tabla, sitars, guitars, harp (I think?) and lots of other stuff went into the cauldron for this one. Psych the fuck out at 3AM and all that shit! Some of it reminds me of the Cocteau Twins, some of it reminds me of Fursaxa, throw in some Nico (if only she did a duo LP with Angus MacLise) and some Pocahaunted and all sorts of mystical fairy stuff. 500 pressed with like 400 being available at retail, I guess the 100 are promos? Anyways, it SOUNDS better on this deal, too. Buy it now direct from Prophase here.

And here is one of my favorite tracks...

Janina Angel Bath - Medieval Passage

Antiseen, Bad Vibes & The Workhorse 3 @ the Balcony July 10 2010 (review & pics)

Wow, another Philly Antiseen show! That makes two in the same year, before that it was five fucking years between shows! Do you know how lucky you people are!? And a Bad Vibes reunion!

We did roll in late because the Phils went into extra innings so we missed The Workhorse 3 unfortunately. Heard they were great and the CD on DRP is cool.

Anyways, we got some Guinness and ran into Seth from the old days of WKDU, The Dreck Merchants (!!) and the Astrocade, a most awes surprise indeed. And we talked about Bill from Harry Pussy who is playing at Brickbat Books on July 22nd. Yeah! So we moved to the floor for the Bad Vibes as they started my fave BV jam "You're My Fucking Problem" (again, you can download all their stuff here). Unfortunately there were some sound probs, but it was a great opener. More unfortunate was the big baldy guys just ramming into people and making us spill our Guinness. What the fuck!? I am somewhat torn about bitching about people doing the punker dance and such, not to sound like an old fogey, but there is definitely a difference between a 16 yr old kid running around, stage diving and a bunch of 200 lb grown ass men running full blast into your faithful editor. And the "put your arms around your buddy and run into a bunch of spectators" was always gay. Even at Kitschchao shows! So yeah, beers spilled and a foot stepped on, but no real damage, but completely annoying. But in spite of that silliness, the Bad Vibes were fucking great. The bass player is just killer, those are the riffs of the band, and Gavin is a scary as fuck front man. I know they were under appreciated when they existed but damn, what a killer fucking bummer punk band still flying and frying the (black) flag.




And after a quick smoke and another beer, it was time for Antiseen. They keep on keeping on and all those cliches and such... but really, in this era of hardcore bands doing reunions and shit (not that I am against that at all, see ya at the Pagan Babies show in Sept!), Jeff Clayton and Joe Young have keep the Antiseen death train on the tracks for over 25 years! And damn, it has been an incredible ride. One of the frustrating parts of being an Antiseen fan is that they have so many good songs that often get ignored from the stage, but tonight they opened up with two I hadn't seen them do yet, "Death Train Comin'" and "Alpha Male." I definitely was losing my shit for "Alpha Male" from their last full length, Badwill Ambassadors. That is another key to the Antiseen puzzle, they have somehow beat the odds and continue to release vital music without watering down their "brand." Hell their records keep getting better and better in my view and who the fuck else can you say that about?



The new drummer and bassist are no longer new and sounded great, the well-oiled machine we have come to expect. Ya know Clayton and Joe aren't going out with any hacks! The hits continued with "Queen City Stomp," "Cactus Jack," "Nothings Cool" and the new jam "Curses." Luckily the excited dudes from earlier calmed down or left and the floor was a relatively safe place to watch the destruction. Right as the band was playing Nice Pooper/summer of beads fave "Hippy Punk" the fucking Cosmic Commander of Wrestling rolled in in all his glory. Perfect! Rest of the set was fucking great, killer renditions of "Today Your Love -> Stormtrooper," "I Don't Like You" and of course the real deal anthem "Fuck All Y'all." Sure, I woulda loved to have heard "Run My World," "Sod," "Talk Show Trash," "Walking Dead," and probably like a dozen more, but I am not complaining at all. If anything, this was an 80% different set from the Khyber show a few months ago, right fuckin' on!






After the show, blabbed with Cosmo (he had just come from seeing Further!) and Clayton, but Seth had skipped out, hopefully back to his lair to get those Ascension and Dreck Merchants tapes. An easy drive and a night of ringing ears awaited us, but I am quite ready for the next Antiseen show, and if I was a super hack this is where I would say "Y'all Come Back Now, Ya Hear?" so count yourselves lucky I am only a general issue hack. Bang Bang!!

This Saturday: Antiseen, Bad Vibes and The Workhorse III @ the Troc

Super excited for the return of the only real punk band left! This Saturday, July 10th at the Troc, well the Balcony Bar anyways. Rare reunion show from the Bad Vibes opening, fuck yeah. Go download their stuff here, All The Right Ways to Do You Wrong is one of thee best Philly punk albums of all time. Also on the bill is the Workhorse III with Eric Perfect from Rancid Vat and Limecell on drums.

Hey Now, What's That Sound?

Hissssssssssssssssssssssssss

Touch & Go: The Book!

Just got my copy and holy shit!!!! All I wanna do is bail and go sit in the a/c and be awesome and awesome and read this telephone book of greatness!

A proper review later...

UPDATE: According to this, Tesco is gonna be doing a reading at Brickbat books on August 27th with a Tesco Vee's Hate Police show that night at the Northstar with American Speedway.

Happy Stoked Overalls Dude Day!

Afrirampo Call It Quits

This happened last week it seems, but the awesome duo of Oni and Pikachu have called it a day.

They were great. Alas.

Separated at Birth?

Pagan Babies - Last CD/DVD

Philly's awes and gnarly Pagan Babies get the full reissue treatment from DRP Records, coming out July 13th. I was a pretty big sucker for these guys back in 87-88, I mean they were on Positive Force and actually played Central PA. And the one dude wore a Flyers jersey. So... yep. Enjoy! They did a reunion show in 2007 at the Church and will be doing a release show for this one somewhere sometime...

Acid Mothers Sunday Vol 26: Miminokoto - That Spiral Orbit

Happy Father's Day all you dads and such... This time around, we have an mp3 from long time Japanese Psych'sters, Miminokoto. The Acid Mothers Temple connection is drummer Shimura Koji, currently behind the kit for AMT and Miminokoto.



Miminokoto has been through line up changes and have a bunch of records out on PSF and Last Visible Dog, but this track comes from their 2010 release Chofu, Ekoda, Koenji: Live In & Around Tokyo on Plunk's Plan Records. Dreamy psych and great guitar playing from long time Nice Pooper pal, Suzuki Junzo (you can also catch Suzuki playing with Kawabata on the Astral Traveling Unit CD on Archive). Suzuki Junzo also creates some incredible psych folk with the Cosmic Inferno's Tabata in 20 Guilders. Whew!

Anyways, I love the weird ass bass or whatever it is on this song, almost as confusing as the first hearing of the jug on the 13th Floor Elevators' songs. A off kilter almost "Shakedown Street" wah wah plink wamp while the rest of the song reminds me of... David Crosby's "Cowboy Movie." Something of a trend in this house recently. Loose and trippy and awesome, a bit dark and still that weird hopefulness I get from the best of Japanese psych. Definitely something for fans of the more mellow side of White Heaven.

I think Eclipse carries this one, but if not, get in touch directly with Suzuki via his blog, Tapes-Echoes. I have ordered lots of stuff from him over the past few years and the turnaround is always quick and the music is always awesome!

Miminokoto - That Spiral Orbit

It's coming...

... as we proceed to give ya what ya need...



And yes, the awesome Yahowha 13 mini documentary, Fire Water Air will be screened at this groovy event.

Pocahaunted @ Kung Fu Necktie on June 15

Yay, super excited for this one. I really dig their new record a lot, though a commenter on Last.fm said "more drone, less surf" or some shit, so what do I know?

Also on the bill, Dark Circles from the LV, Siltbreezers U.S. Girls and Ether Island.

Pocahaunted - All Of Is Of from Not Not Fun on Vimeo.

Strapping Fieldhands, Floating Action Songs at Shaking Through

Awes, new songs for download. All the info here:


Strapping Fieldhands

Floating Action

Acid Mothers Sunday Vol 25: Tsurubami KFJC May 19 2003

Hey now, a tad early, but for this Mothers' Day edition of Acid Mothers Sunday we have a live set from Tsurubami recorded and aired on May 19 2003 via KFJC. Must have been a treat to see/hear them live, hopefully us East Coasters will get the chance someday. Anyways, the AMT connections are Kawabata on guitar and Hiroshi on guitar and keyboards (I think) with the drumming of Nobuko Emi. Anyways, two long, dark swirling and piercing pieces, apologies for a bit of digital noise here and there.

Here are some words from Kawabata on Tsurubami from the liners of the Do Whatever You
Want... compilation:

As long as we three have life on this planet the group will continue to exist. Here's a summary of our mission:
According to the theory of Inyo Gogyo, everything that exists in the world can be expressed by Yin and Yang, the two principles. (even computers work in this way). Everything is created from Yin and Yang, and the interactions of the Five Elements - wood, fire, earth, metal, water. The workings of the universe can be understood through a knowledge of the Two Principles and Five Elements. The form of everything on Earth and in the heavens is created by Yin and Yang, while the workings of the world occur through the Five Elements. If we take it that sound is one particle of time, then the energy of sound flows from the deepest past into the far future. And that also suggests that the purpose of ritual and prayer is to recreate the energy that existed at the beginning of the cosmos. Rituals and prayer function to reawaken that which existed at the beginning, to open the doors of this world, and to make that energy flow once more. Through the holy sound of Ohm, can we glimpse the eternal, escape the constraints of time (past, present, and future), and come to meet the Buddha?
For us, Tsurubami is a place of eternal spiritual training, a place where everything must be laid bare. This band itself is the last and greatest stronghold of group existence. I see it as a place where we can experiment with a form of improvised playing based on paranormal communication which has existed since the time of the troubadours.

Yep!

Tsurubami - Live May 19 2003 KFJC

Oh Hells Yeah, ANTiSEEN coming back to Philly July 10 2010

Just got an email stating that ANTiSEEN, the only real punk band left (my words, not the email's) are coming back to Hostile City USA, July 10 to play the Troc... I will post details as I get 'em...

Five fucking years without Antiseen in Philly and now two shows in the span of a year. Awwright!

Dark Sea Dream - Behind The Eyes

Trust Aquarian hipped me to Dark Sea Dream after encountering them at the DC stop of the Yahowha 13 East Coast tour in 2009. I am not sure if he actually said the words "wind tunnel," but that sticks out for some reason. His tales of the band hitting insanely loud peaks, taking the best trance inducing aspects of showgazey stuff with long jams sounded right up my alley for sure, though I didn't get to see them and still haven't... one of these days. Anyways, part of the intrigue was that the Yahowha 13 dudes absolutely loved 'em and Trust said they were zoning out and grooving with the vibes in a most awesome manner... The live recordings and CDr I heard were pretty great, as were the tales of their SXSW domination. And of course the house jams Trust captured with the Dark Sea Dream dudes jamming with Yahowha 13, Janina Angel Bath and Grant Hart! The Prophase Power Boogie Band!

Hopefully those recordings and something new coming this year on Prophase. Also in the hopefully category, an appearance on the often-delayed psych Grateful Dead covers comp I have been putting together. This live jam is from their limited to 100 CDr 2010 SXSW tour CD. Totally reminds me of a bleak(er) Crazy Horse or David Crosby's "Cowboy Movie" (a jam they turned Trust on to, who then laid it on me, definitely a glaring hole in my burnt collection!) on a slow boil. Some depths of Fushitshua vocals and I am on board for sure. The studio (I think) version of the same song from their Harsh Times CDr is longer and has a different mood, and I recommend it as well.


Dark Sea Dream - Behind The Eyes (live)

The Tobacco Man

Watched parts of Redneck Zombies last night, haven't seen it in years. First time I saw it, I was crazy do'sed, blew my mind!! Anyways, this scene still terrifies me and weirds me out... bad vibes!

Acid Mothers Sunday Vol 24: Zu-Kanka live March 15 2001 Nagoya Japan

I am not sure when or with whom I traded for this one, but I got this in the early 2000s and digitized it around then as well. Not much info to to go on, but a great live recording (soundboard? I have no idea of the lineage, sorry) of a short-lived Makoto Kawabata project featuring Shoji Hano on drums and Koji Shimura on bass.

The sound is jazzy, which makes sense considering Hano's background (Derek Baily, Peter Brotzmann, Nicky Scopelitis), though he also played and toured with High Rise. Similar to Musica Transonic but much less fuzz frenzy and lots more fluid. It sounds improvised as riffs get teased and taken over and under, jamming if you will. And yes, that is the Latino Cool of current Melting Paraiso drummer, Koji Shimura on bass! Definitely a surprise, but some searching reveals he did some time as White Heaven's bass player in the nineties. His playing is bouncy and deft, very different from Nanjo/Musica Transonic's bludgeon bass. Kawabata's playing is very clean, Fender Strat with little effects. Almost funky in parts. They also do a few songs twice, not really sure why on that either. If anyone knows anything more about this, please drop a line. Otherwise, enjoying some of the more trad end of Kawabata's playing with two of Japan's best drummers (though one is playing bass).

Zu-Kanka - Live March 15 2001 Tokuzo Nagoya Japan

Makoto Kawabata - Guitar
Shoji Hano - Drums, Vocals
Koji Shimura - Bass

Acid Mothers Temple UK & Euro Tour May and June 2010

Here you go! Go see them, the North American tour has been awesome!

May 20 Spazio 211, Turin - Italy
May 21 Festintenda, Mortegliano (UD) - Italy
May 22 CSC, S.Vito di Leguzzano (VI) - Italy
May 25 Corsica Studios, London - UK
May 26 Hare & Hounds, Birmingham - UK
May 27 Engine Room, Brighton - UK
May 28 The Croft, Bristol - UK
May 30 Bullingdon Army, Oxford - UK
Jun 01 Oetinger Villa, Darmstadt - Germany
Jun 02 La Zone, LiïÈe - Belgium
Jun 03 Villette Sonique Festival, Paris - France
Jun 04 Sala Caracol, Madrid - Spain
Jun 05 Ground Festival, Lyon - France

Acid Mothers Temple: April 9 2010 Philly Johnny Brenda's (lame photos)

Alas, my pics came out pretty crappy, the smoke machine kinda blazed out my resolution or some shit... but damn, it was quite a show for sure. We rolled down with Trust Aquarian behind the wheel, got that door to door treatment! I was insanely excited after the super awesome show in Brooklyn on Wednesday and it was good to be back on home turf with lots of pals and such in the crowd. It was a Stoudt's Gold night for me and we quaffed while blabbing with a visiting Lux and the 1994 West Philly Posse.

After some beers and smokes, we headed upstairs just as the show was about to sell out, but hey thanks Jasso from Over-Gain Opitmal Death for the guest list action, much appreciated! Very crowded, but a nice buzz had me cutting through this silliness to a nice spot in the back for the ultra Mainliner tribute buzzsaw action of OGOD. Serious riff damage, ala High Rise and the whole Nanjo world, very very black and burnt!

More beers and then up front for Acid Mothers! Loud as always, the force of the amps blew some foam off my pint! A great opening jam lead to some weird free jazz spazz improv stuff, a battle between Tsuyama and Kawabata. If the Brooklyn show was like Pink Floyd (the jams all bled together for me, one long trance throb whirl), the Philly show was like the free jazz improv noise night. Lots of clashing sounds and spastics and Tsuyama on sax, crazy! My dessert really started to kick in just in time for a killer "Pink Lady Lemonade" with the now-its-a-song "The End" jam in the middle. Things really took off on the space rock tip after this with a long Krauty "Cometary Orbital" into "Speed Guru" with Kawabata swinging his guitar, hanging it from the speakers... and pulling out another guitar and continuing the jams! A massive "Dark Stars in the Dazzling Sky" encore and we were spent! Damn! Lots of talk with Jasso and the AMT guys and their driver Justin and pics and beers and finally it was time for the Prophase limo to drop us back up to the psychkave. My ears are still ringing and I am wading through a shit load of merch and thinking about going to see them tonight in Baltimore... Bang Bang!!



UPDATE: Some video of the opening jam courtesy of Ivymike777!

Acid Mothers Temple: April 7 2010 Knitting Factory Brooklyn (photos)

New York Times Review

UPDATE: Great audience recording of this show up on archive.org. Thanks Acid Jack!

Yahowha 13 - 2013

So, just in time for the Prophase/Alien8 showcase at SXSW, Trust Aquarian got it together and turned around this 2CD/1DVD package from the Yahowha 13 recordings and films from the last year. One disc is live tracks from their 2009 East Coast tour, one disc is studio tracks recorded at Welfare Line studios on that that same 2009 jaunt. Check out the live jam "Can We Go Now?" at the bottom of this post.

The DVD is about 20 minutes and was shot during the same time, featuring interviews and live footage. It is a short, but very well done and an awesome introduction to the band, but holds lots of cool moments (and even some answers!) for old fans as well. Everyone I know who has seen it has been blown away; the only complaint being "more, please!" The 3 disc digipack has some wild liner notes from Djin, too. Check it out:

This timely and spontaneous drawing forth of the divine creative consciousness in sound from YaHoWha13 is titled “YAHOWHA 2013” for several reasons. It is in alignment with a popular current topic of human interest concerning the Mayan Calendar from which the date of 2012, of this millennium, is indicated figuratively as a time of a “new or renewing sun” by the Mayan elders (heaven knows we could use a renewal) when their 5700 year old calendar’s dating comes to an end. This is where we, “The Aging of Aquarius”, survivors of the 60’s re-awakening to the Age of the Water Bearer, might actually have a second coming. What’s the Aquarian Age? It’s when the prevailing mental attitudes upon the Goddess Earth emanating from that galactic sector of intelligence causes people to find it easier to be at peace, compassionate and in acceptance of one another, among other virtues, one to one and nation to nation.

Yeah!

This one is an edition of 500 with about 300 left after SXSW. You can get via the Prophase site here. Some of these jams may appear on forthcoming releases in a differently mastered form, but we shall see. For now though... don't sleep on this one!


Yahowha 13 - Can We Go Now?
Recorded live March 2009

Janina Angel Bath - Life Everlasting Flowers (video)

From Janina Angel Bath's Gypsy Woman on Prophase Music... CD out now, LP coming soon...

AMT in the newz!

Prophase/Alien8 Acid Mothers night gets some love from Japan Times article on Japanese bands at SXSW

The best Japanese performance, and one of the top shows at the fest, came from Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO on SXSW's opening night at bar Rusty Spurs. Just before starting, band founder Makoto Kawabata said to the soundman, "Can you push my guitar sound to the audience as loud as possible, please" as the crowd grinned in anticipation.

All in their 40s or older, the quartet began the first of several fantastic psychedelic jams with the insanely high volume causing the floor to shake and bits of dirt to fall from the ceiling. With things winding down, Kawabata and bassist Atsushi Tsuyama climbed atop the speakers at the sides of the stage. Kawabata began rubbing his instrument along the ceiling and then on the speaker adding a greater experimental edge to the proceedings. The audience roared their approval, but their cheers were buried under an avalanche of feedback.

Read the whole thing as they say, especially Kawabata's take on Japan Nite.

Also! The March 24th 2010 AMT at the Bottom of the Hill has been posted to archive.org, thanks Michael Z!

Acid Mothers Temple Live action... March 22 2010

From Monday in LA... thanks to Claudezachery/Dan!

Make sure you see them on tour!

Acid Mothers Temple 2010 USA Tour Dates UPDATED

Hey all,

Starting at SXSW next week and they are off! Dig it! Also, you can pick up the vinyl of Are We Experimental? and the Kawabata/Michishita LP Maru Sankaku Shikaku (Circle Triangle Square), too!


Wed 17 March "SXSW" Rusty Spurs - Austin TX (at 1:00 a.m.)
Thu 18 March "SXSW" Canvas - Austin TX (at 4:15 p.m.)
Thu 18 March "SXSW" ESCAPES III - Austin TX (at 7:30 p.m.)
Fri 19 March "SXSW" Design within Reach - Austin TX (at 6:20 p.m.)
Fri 19 March "SXSW" Club 1808 II - Austin TX (at 1:00 a.m.)
Sat 20 March "MtyMx Festival" Autocinema Las Torres - Monterrey Mexico ttp://toddpnyc.com/mtymx/
Sun 21 March "WXSW Fest" Plush - Tucson AZ ttp://www.plushtucson.com/
Mon 22 March Casbah - San Diego CA ttp://www.casbahmusic.com/
Tue 23 March Spaceland - Los Angeles CA ttp://www.clubspaceland.com/
Wed 24 March Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco CA ttp://www.bottomofthehill.com/
Fri 26 March Mississippi Studios - Portland OR ttp://www.mississippistudios.com/
Sat 27 March Biltmore Cabaret - Vancouver BC ttp://www.biltmorecabaret.com/
Sun 28 March Sunset Tavern - Seattle WA ttp://www.sunsettavern.com/
Wed 31 March 7th Street Entry - Minneapolis MN ttp://www.first-avenue.com/
Thu 01 April The Picador - Iowa City IA ttp://www.myspace.com/thepicador
Fri 02 April Empty Bottle - Chicago IL ttp://www.emptybottle.com/home.php
Sat 03 April Crofoot Ballroom Pike Room - Pontiac MI ttp://www.thecrofoot.com/
Sun 04 April El Mocambo - Toronto ON ttp://www.elmocambo.ca/
Mon 05 April La Sala Rossa - Montreal PQ ttp://www.casadelpopolo.com/
Tue 06 April Middle East Upstairs - Cambridge MA ttp://www.mideastclub.com/
Wed 07 April Knitting Factory - Brooklyn NY ttp://bk.knittingfactory.com/
Thu 08 April DC9 - Washington DC ttp://www.dcnine.com/
Fri 09 April Johnny Brendas - Philadelphia PA ttp://www.johnnybrendas.com/
Sat 10 April Ottobar - Baltimore MD ttp://www.theottobar.com/
Sun 11 April Local 506 - Chapel Hill NC ttp://www.local506.com/
Mon 12 April Pilot Light - Knoxville TN ttp://www.thepilotlight.com/
Tue 13 April Grey Eagle Tavern - Asheville NC ttp://www.thegreyeagle.com/
Wed 14 April Cosmic Charlie's - Lexington KY ttp://cosmic-charlies.com/
Thu 15 April Hi-Tone Cafe - Memphis TN ttp://www.hitonememphis.com/
Fri 16 April The Loft - Dallas TX ttp://www.theloftdallas.com/
Sat 17 April Emos Alternative Lounge - Austin TX ttp://www.emosaustin.com/

Acid Mothers Sunday vol 23: Take Up Thy Kaleidoscope (excerpt)

For this this Acid Mothers Sunday, we go back to the originals, Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. and an excerpt of the bonus track to the should-be-in-this-week double vinyl version of Are We Experimental? on Prophase Music. "Take Up Thy Kaleidoscope" clocks in at 20 minutes or so, taking up one side of the double vinyl reissue (mastered for vinyl by Yoshida Tatsuya).

This is the first five minutes, a slow building, bluesy (for AMT) jam that gets more and more insane as the track goes on. Lots of panning and craziness and even some references to past AMT classics near the end. Kind of the opposite of a lot of the proper album (which featured shorter songs and more music concrete and less actual jamming), making it a great edition to the regular CD. Once again, they save some of their best stuff for vinyl only bonus tracks, it seems.

The double LP gatefold colored vinyl deal will be ready for the AMT show at SXSW so you can get it there (and AMT will have it on their USA/Canda 2010 Tour). As soon as a purchase link goes up on the Prophase site I will post it (here). 500 of these pressed and pretty much going insanely fast, so get 'em while you can. Dig some of the color schemes below:






(sorry for the goofy song naming by the way)

Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. - Take Up Thy Kaleidoscope (excerpt)

UPDATE: I received my copies this week and they look amazing. The green/orange record is the most psychedelic looking slab of vinyl I have ever seen. UNREAL!!! Anyways, you can now buy one via Prophase, these are going super fast so get on board now!

UPDATE II: A reader asked about the colored vinyl counts, 500 total pressed:
150 on Blue
150 on Green
200 on Luscious Purple