La Musica Mystery Box Mystery Solved! La Musica Tapes Vol 3

While going through some old magazines, I found the info sheets from a long ago trade that correspond to the La Musica Mystery Box mentioned here and here. As theorized in the those posts, the info sheets do correspond to La Musica Tapes Vol 3 with the catalog numbers LMB 061-070. That said, the sheets are numbered, but I don't think they correspond completely to the discs. Oi.

Download links for each disc and all of the info sheets at the bottom of the post, but here are my theories on the discs/sheets. Please leave comments if you can help me figure this stuff out! If you can translate any of the Japanese stuff for any of the comps, please post!

Disc One - I think this one is a comp, the only name I can see from the info sheet is Holy Angels. It looks like the info sheet was ripped off from this.

Disc Two - I think this corresponds to the info sheet 2

Disc 3 - Corresponds to info sheet 3

Disc 4 - This is where things get tricky. The info sheet for disc 4 lists 3 tracks by Yamasa. The actual disc has 6 tracks, so I am not sure what this disc is exactly or what info sheet it corresponds to.

Disc 5 - This one has 3 tracks so I think it corresponds to info sheet 4, Yamasa.

Disc 6 - This one has 8 tracks so I think it matches info sheet 5, Kukuri Gakudan.

Disc 7 - Not sure on this one.

Disc 8 - Not sure on this one.

Disc 9 - Kind of sounds like Holy Angels, but I am not sure.

Disc 10 - This one has four tracks and seems like a compilation, so I think it corresponds to info sheet 10.



Disc One
Disc Two
Disc Three
Disc Four
Disc Five
Disc Six
Disc Seven
Disc Eight
Disc Nine
Disc Ten


La Musica Tapes Vol 3 Info Sheets

Acid Mothers Sunday Vol 39: Kawabata Makoto and Kengo Iuchi Live April 4 1999 Nagoya Tokuzo

Dug out some CDrs from old trades while doing some spring cleaning and discovered this 30 minute duo performance from Acid Mothers Temple main man Kawabata Makoto and Japanese "noise folk" artist Kengo Iuchi from 1999. Noisy and thick and sometimes bleak.

Not sure where I got this or the lineage, but this one is in FLAC format. Enjoy!

Kawabata Makoto & Kengo Iuchi Live April 4 1999 Nagoya

Acid Mothers Sunday Vol 37: La Musica Mystery Box Discs 1 and 9

Ok, I am still having trouble figuring out what the hell this box set is. While I am fairly certain it is La Musica Tapes Vol. 3, I am really no closer to figuring out what is what. Here is the only description of the box I have been able to find online:

LMB 061-070 LA MUSICA TAPES vol.3/V.A.
This miracle box set is a comprehensive collection of roots of Japanese psychedelic beatniks
musicians since 50's. SAKAKI NANAO & NIPPONIA NIPPON / KUKURI GAKUDAN /
MENZAIFU / YAMASA / MANJI / HOLY ANGELS / BUZOKU / SUWANOSE
MANDALLA / KAMINARI AKAKARASUZOKU / JIYUH MINKEN.
Cult groups & their sects (who indeed desert from society & act underground without
relations from any scene) are introduced. Japanese representative psychedelic underground
musicians are fully gathered.
Studio & live recordings.
Limited edition of 50 copies.

Here is disc 9 from the box. I am posting this under the Acid Mothers Sunday banner just because... maybe Kawabata is on this? Plus, I posted the other disc under this, so... yeah, let's get as confusing as possible!

Anyways, on first listen this sounded a bit like Holy Angels, but I don't think it is. That said, not sure what this matches up to from the above (and of course there are 10 discs and 11 bands listed on the description). Regardless, the first track has some saxophone on it and sounds way spacey. The second track is a little more free jazz spazz and sounds Kawabata to me.

If you have any ideas about this stuff, please leave comments! Thanks!

La Musica Mystery Box Disc 9

I decided to add disc one as well. This one is all over the place, murky tribal psych, birds chirping, chopped and screwed vocals, violins or something... doesn't really sound like one group. All the more perplexing with Nanjo's habit of putting different groups on one CDr. Help!

La Musica Mystery Box Disc One

Acid Mothers Sunday Vol 36: Mainliner Live July 17 1999

Yep, close to Halloween, so why not feature some more live Mainliner, this time from Chicago's Empty Bottle, July 17 1999. Seems this is from the Ruins/Mainliner/Toho Sara/Splendor Mystic Solis tour of that year (did it make it to Philly?). Recording sounds fucking awesome, great mix. Of course it is not the total in-the-red house fire of the studio recordings, so that part of the Mainliner deal is missing, but Kawabata's guitar is nice and high in the mix, so commence the leveling!

Anyway, I assume this is the touring trio of Nanjo Asahito on bass and vocals, Kawabata Makoto on guitar and Yoshida Tatsuya on drums. Not sure if this was ever put out in one of those 10 CD box sets on La Musica, but it is safe to assume that it was.

Man, I love Kawabata's "bluesy" playing during "Ride Blue." Fuck yeah. And yeah, "Black Sky" is still the urrrrrh riff of inverted doom. Or somethin' tss tss.

Mainliner Live July 17 1999
1. Tsukisasaru
2. Attack
3. Static
4. Ride Blue
5. Black Sky

FLAC

256 mp3

Acid Mothers Sunday Vol 35: NipponiaNippon & Sakaki Nanao (?)

As I mentioned in the previous post I recently dug out some CDrs and cassettes I haven't checked out in ages. One of finds is a 10 CDr La Musica box I traded for around the millennium. Unfortunately I am not sure what it is exactly, the CDrs are only labeled by number, no info sheets, group names, etc. Nor do I recall who I traded with for this one.

All of the evidence points to La Musica Tapes Vol. 3. Here is a rundown on it:

LMB 061-070 LA MUSICA TAPES vol.3/V.A.
This miracle box set is a comprehensive collection of roots of Japanese psychedelic beatniks musicians since 50's. SAKAKI NANAO & NIPPONIA NIPPON / KUKURI GAKUDAN /
MENZAIFU / YAMASA / MANJI / HOLY ANGELS / BUZOKU / SUWANOSE
MANDALLA / KAMINARI AKAKARASUZOKU / JIYUH MINKEN.
Cult groups & their sects (who indeed desert from society & act underground without
relations from any scene) are introduced. Japanese representative psychedelic underground musicians are fully gathered. Studio & live recordings. Limited edition of 50 copies.

I honestly can't be 100% sure this is the same as the 10 unlabeled CDrs I found, but all things point that way. Some of the recordings are very professional studio sounding and kinda commercial and some are live bootleggy sounding jams. Quite the variety. Since this is the return of Acid Mothers Sunday, it is only fitting to post the one disc (labeled disc 8 on the discs I have) I am fairly certain on, as it contains guest guitar from Makoto Kawabata. Pretty sure this is the NipponiaNippon & Sakaki Nanao disc from La Musica Tapes Vol. 3. The droning sound is very similar to the other NipponiaNippon I have heard. Lots of spaced out, echo'd percussion and stringed instruments with some Japanese spoken word over top, which I assume is poet Sakaki Nanao. Here is some info from Kawabata's web site:

Forms the improv group NIPPONIANIPPON with Yokoyama Mabo and other musicians with links to the Japanese beatnik scene. The group plays mainly outdoors and at temples. They also perform with Japanese beat poet Nanao Sakaki.

And here is some info on the cassette they released:

Collaboration between Japan's only beat poet Nanao Sakaki, and the beatnik improvisation group Nipponianippon. A collection of hymns to the unverse, giving thanks to all the gods for earth, sun, sea, the cosmos.

Not sure if this was released in any other fashion, but this one is two tracks, one clocks in at 20 minutes, the other around 10. Anyway, lots of deep psych and mystical mysticalness. Enjoy! I will be posting some other discs from this box for help identifying. If anyone has this box and knows more about it, please get in touch or leave comments. Definitely get in touch if you have the info sheets that came with La Musica Tapes Vol 3, of if you think this is another La Musica Box, lemme know!

La Musica Mystery Box - Disc 8 - NipponiaNippon & Sakaki Nanao

And for our European friends, don't forget to check out Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO's current tour here!

Kawabata & Pikachu USA Tour 2011

On the heels of the current Acid Mothers Temple tour, Kawabata keeps on going with ex-Afrirampo and current Cosmic Inferno drummer Pikachu!



April 28 Oakland CA @ Disco Volante, 347 14th St.

April 29 San Francisco Ca @ Hemlock Tavern

April 30 Portland Or

May 01 Seattle Wa @ Josephine

May 02 Spokane Wa @ warehouse!

May 04 Minneapolis Mn, @ MeXXXa w/ lots

May 05 Iowa City, IA @ The Wherehouse

May 06 Chicago Il @ Rubens Palace

May 07 Detroit Mi @ Scrummage Fest w/ lots

May 08 Cleveland OH, Boo Box

May 09 Bard College @ SMOG w/ bubbly mommy gun, quiet hooves

May 10 Boston MA @ Yes Oui Si Gallery w/ bubbly mommy gun, quiet hooves

May 11 Brooklyn @ Monster Island (ToddP) w/ Prince Rama, bubbly mommy gun, quiet hooves

May 12 Brooklyn Ny @ Death by Audio w/ bubbly mommy gun, Alien whale (colin from usaisamonster), PC Worship, Guardian Alien (greg from liturgy), Perfect Bitch (brooklyn promoter band)

May 13 Philadelphia @ Marvelous Records w/ Dick Neff, bubbly mommy gun -- 208 S. 40th, byob

May 14 Baltimore Md @ Floristree w/ bubbly mommy gun, quiet hooves

May 15 Richmond Va @ Couch Heaven w/ caves caverns, articulate chewbacca

May 16 Chapel Hill @ Night Light w/ Clang Quartet and Three-Brained Robot

May 17 Athens ga @ Farm255 w/ bubbly mommy gun

May 18 Atlanta Ga @ 529 w/ bubbly mommy gun

May 19 Pensacola, FL via Balder- @ 720 Studios

May 20 New Orleans LA @ SIBERIA

May 21 Austin Tx..

May 22 Las Cruces @ house party

May 23 Albuquerque Nm @ The Kosmos w/ Tendorizer, Rainbow Pyramid Ensemble

May 24 Phoenix, AZ @ Trunk Space w/ Wet Hair, Rene Hell

May 25 San Diego Ca

May 26 Los Angeles Ca @ women o crenshaw party

Here is some live stuff from the duo.

UPDATE: Here is the Oakland show.

Acid Mothers Sunday Vol 32: Makoto and Pikachu - Live

Hey all... welcome to 2011, once again sorry for the lack of posts, but you know how it goes. I was going to try to work up a best of 2010 list, but until I get that together, here is a new Acid Mothers Sunday, which I am sure you all prefer anyway. That said, the Purling Hiss album Public Service Announcement is probably my fave release of 2010, so check it out if you care.

Anyway, on to the meat. This time around we have a live set from Makoto & Pikachu. Makoto is of course, Makoto Kawabata from Acid Mothers Temple and Pikachu is Pikachu from the sadly split Afrirampo as well as Acid Mothers Temple & The Cosmic Inferno. This one was on a split (with Human Shower) CDr Kawabata was selling on the 2010 AMT tour. 20 plus minutes of noisy spaced out weirdness from these two. Drums and drum machines, yelling, glissando guitar, laughter and hard rock riffs. A very what the fuck release in the tradition of (a much more fun) Hanatarash. Not sure when or where this was recorded or the limitedness of the CDr, but it is an enjoyable slice of Japanese pie for sure. And the main reason I am putting this one up is because Makoto and Pikachu will be touring the USA in May with Mugu Guymen. It looks like the Philly show will be May 13 2011. They are looking for venues and such, so if you are on facebook, check out this event and get in touch if you can help 'em out.

And of course, don't forget that Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso will be touring the USA and Canada in March/April of 2010.

Makoto and Pikachu - Live

Acid Mothers Temple USA and Canada Tour 2011

Wed 03/23 @ Spaceland Los Angeles CA
Thu 03/24 @ Bottom of the Hill San Francisco CA
Sat 03/26 @ Doug Fir Lounge Portland OR
Sun 03/27 @ The Wild Buffalo Bellingham WA
Mon 03/28 @ Chop Suey Seattle WA
Tue 03/29 @ Biltmore Cabaret Vancouver BC
Thu 03/31 @ Broken City Calgary AB
Fri 04/01 @ The Badlander Missoula MT
Sat 04/02 @ Urban Lounge Salt Lake City UT
Sun 04/03 @ Larimer Lounge Denver CO
Mon 04/04 @ Bourbon Theatre Lincoln NE
Tue 04/05 @ 7th Street Entry Minneapolis MN
Wed 04/06 @ Empty Bottle Chicago IL
Thu 04/07 @ The Strutt Kalamazoo MI
Fri 04/08 @ El Mocambo Toronto ON
Sat 04/09 @ Il Motore Montreal QC
Sun 04/10 @ Great Scott Allston MA
Mon 04/11 @ Daniel Street Milford CT
Tue 04/12 @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn Brooklyn NY
Wed 04/13 @ Johnny Brendas Philadelphia PA
Thu 04/14 @ Red Palace Washington DC
Fri 04/15 @ Ottobar Baltimore MD
Sat 04/16 @ Local 506 Chapel Hill NC
Sun 04/17 @ Pilot Light Knoxville TN
Mon 04/18 @ The Earl Atlanta GA
Tue 04/19 @ One Eyed Jacks New Orleans LA
Wed 04/20 @ Fitzgeralds Houston TX
Thu 04/21 @ The Loft Dallas TX
Fri 04/22 @ Red 7 Austin TX
Sun 04/24 @ Solar Culture Tucson AZ
Mon 04/25 @ Casbah San Diego CA

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)

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 Sunday vol 21: Penguin House Dec 18 2009

Full on blizzard mode here on the East Coast USA... so here is an AMT Sunday a day early. This time around, we have three sets from basically last night at Penguin House in Tokyo Koenji. Miminokoto (with Kawabata), Leningrad Blues Machine and Tsurubami recorded and uploaded by AMT message board poster Fuyuki. Great sets and awesome recordings with an AMT tie in for each band. Kawabata sits in with Miminokoto, Leningrad Blues Machine is Cosmic Inferno bassist Tabata's psych band (and of course we all recall Leningrad Psychedelic Blues Machine) and Tsurubami features Kawabata and Hiroshi from AMT. Whew!

Miminokoto with Kawabata - Live Dec 18 2009 Penguin House

Leningrad Blues Machine - Live Dec 18 2009 Penguin House

Tsurubami - Live Dec 18 2009 Penguin House

(can I just mention the awesome jam about 6 minutes into the Leningrad Blues Machine set sounds like Legion of Mary? Wow.. amazing.)

Thanks again, Fuyuki!

Yesterday I received the new AMT label disc, Acid Mothers Temple with with Ichiraku Yoshimitsu, AMT Festival Vol 7, a 16 track live recording that sounds phenomenal, but wow... check out the artwork!!

Kawabata & Michishita - Maru Sankaku Shikaku (Circle Triangle Square) LP

The super duper awesome and long awaited Kawabata Makoto and Michishita Shinsuke LP Maru Sankaku Shikaku (Circle Triangle Square) just arrived and is available now from ye olde Prophase Music.

Two side long jams created by the Acid Mothers Temple main man Kawbata and Michishita from LSD March. This time around they use acoustic "ethnic" instruments creating some nice havoc in the drone world. Gorgeous green splatter vinyl in a gatefold sleeve! More pics coming later today... also this release is available on iTunes, yalls!

Makoto Kawabata US West Coast Solo Tour 2009

Here ya go!

All dates feature Makoto Kawabata and ?Alos (Stefania Pedretti of OvO, from Italy).



myspace.com/kawabatamakoto

myspace.com/signorinaalos

thu
29-Oct-09
Portland
Berbati's - Fall Into Darkness festival
w/Earth, SubArachnoid Space, Aerial Ruin

fri
30-Oct-09
Seattle
Dissonant Plane Records (7-9)
in-store w/Aerial Ruin

sat
31-Oct-09
Seattle, WA
Rendezvous
w/Amber Asylum, Thrones, Sugar Skulls, Aerial Ruin

sun
1-Nov-09
drive

mon
2-Nov-09
Santa Cruz, CA
Blue Lagoon
w/Mammatus

tue
3-Nov-09
San Francisco, CA
Hemlock
w/3 Leafs

wed
4-Nov-09
Los Angeles, CA
Mountain Bar
w/Exhausted Prayer, Aerial Ruin

thu
5-Nov-09
Fresno, CA
Tokyo Garden
w/Fights Monsters

fri
6-Nov-09
Oakland, CA
Terminal

sat
7-Nov-09
Arcata, CA
Jambalaya

Kawabata & Michishita: Maru Sankaku Shikaku (Circle Triangle Square)

Hey folks... more new vinyl from Prophase!

This one is fucking awesome. Kawabata from Acid Mothers Temple and Mischishita from LSD March doing the duo thing that they have done for the rad Basement Echo release on Important. This time around they use only acoustic instruments and make a mighty wonderful drone, shifting sands with thunder kinda thing. Two 20+ minute long tracks. If this was 1999, this would be number in the droneon year end poll. Utterly fantastic. Japrocksampler groupies will notice and dig on the IN joke of the title as well. Limited to 500 on swirled blue and green vinyl, gatefold sleeve...

Acid Mothers Sunday vol 16: Shogo-Nari & Kawabata Makoto

For this volume of Acid Mothers Sunday we have a rather obscure CDR that I got through Eclipse Records a few years ago and seems to have gone out of print rather quickly. This one was on Zakuro Records and I can't find much info beyond "limited edition, available only at gigs" on discogs.com. Shogo-Nari is a male/female folky duo and this live CD features Kawabata from Acid Mothers Temple on some sublime and gorgeous electric guitar coloring. Some real acid folk! Finally! Somewhat intense vocals and a mellow base of fragile keyboards and guitar round out a rather full sound, with Kawabata not hogging the spotlight at all, but still totally making his presence felt.

This is also the same band known as Syogonari who put out two CDS, both produced by Kawabata. I am not sure the difference in name, but their second CD, Black Blues is fantastic. That said, this live CDR recorded Jan 11 2004 at Kaccyo-buu, Matsusaka, Mie is a more... real listening for me. The recording is excellent and the vibe is very confident and psychedelic as well.





Also, check out this awesome interview with Syogonari/Shogo-Nari with long time Nice Pooper pal, Kevin McCaighy from issue 5 of his awesome and highly recommended fanzine SALT!

I am still trying out the FLAC stuff here, so this one is gonna be in multiple parts...

Shogo-Nari & Kawabata Live Jan 11 2004 part 1
Shogo-Nari & Kawabata Live Jan 11 2004 part 2
Shogo-Nari & Kawabata Live Jan 11 2004 part 3

Acid Mothers Sunday Vol 14: Nishinihon Live March 19 1999

One of my favorite Acid Mothers Temple spinoffs/side projects is the hard rockin' power trio Nishinihon. The trio of Kawabata Makoto (guitars), Tsuyama Atsushi (bass, vocals) and Ichiraku Yoshimitsu (drums) unleashed their album Can You Smell What Art Rock is Cooking? on the Gyunne Casette label in 2000 and it is pretty much the end game of the AMT WWE/WWF pro wrestling/hard rock "thing" ... though I guess their tours in 2002 (last tours with Cotton) may really be the end of that beloved aspect of AMT. And yes, the line up of Kawabata, Tsuyama and Ichiraku is the exact same as the incredible Kawabata Makoto & The Mothers of Invasion's CD Hot Rattlesnakes, but the sound is very different... While the Mothers of Invasion pump out spiraling, dense clouds of guitar frippery/fuckery/head music, Nishinihion go for the throat, or the groin. Big ass manly man riffs in huge portions, steak. Riffs pile up and over the top, air guitar is mandatory. There is definitely a joke feel to a lot of the album, especially with such song titles as "Ah Dinnae wan tae do owt,ba ah still wan money," "Hoos the fuk that et tha rest o man schoo?" and "Let's Zeppelin'," the whole thing is a grimey celebration of the hard rock deal with Kawabata's guitar notes bending to almost comic (instead of cosmic) lengths, making Eddie Van Halen's donkey kong jumps seem tasteful in comparison. If I was gonna say deconstruction, I woulda done it by now. The CD sold out of it's edition of 1000 pretty much upon release. The 2LP version on Static Caravan seems to be sold out as well. A bummer as it is an awesome piece of the AMT puzzle.

Anyways, for Acid Mothers Sunday Vol 14 we have a short Nishinihon live show from March 19 1999. That is the only info on the CDr that I got in a trade in the early 2000s. It seems this was recorded in Nagoya. Kawabata included a Nishinihon "Improvisation" on his Private Tapes 4 CDr and here are the notes on that recording:

4. IMPROVISATION / Nishi Nihon

* Tsuyama Atsushi : vocal, bass
* Ichiraku Yoshimitsu : drums
* Kawabata Makoto : guitar

Recorded live in Nagoya on 19 March 1999. Tsuyama was a bit under the weather so almost all the songs were improvised. Even now we're hardly ever able to play the songs properly - we're usually too drunk so we end up improvising them instead. This track was previously available as an MP3 on the AMT site.

So there you go. Probably the most stoner rock branch of the AMT tree, good and dumb, but awesome. On this download I have included the live show (titles unknown, please help in the comments if you can, tracks 1-6, though the first two tracks are basically tuning/silence), the improvisation from Private Tapes 4 (track 7) and "Super Station (Hell in a Cell Version)" from the long out of print 2001 UK tour single . It seems this version of their best song was recorded live in 2001. Unfortunately it seems Nishinihon has gone back to Western Japan. I can't recall any live shows in Japan and the last info on their page states that a new version of the band formed in 2003 with Okano Futoshi on drums, but that is about it. There is also an awesome, ragged live album recorded with former Rallizes/Niplets guy Hiroshi Nar on Lexicon Devil.

Also check out some of Ichiraku Yoshimitsu's crazy video/drums/etc. stuff on youtube done under the name Dora Video.


Nishinihon - Live March 19 1999 Nagoya, Japan + bonus tracks

Acid Mothers Sunday Vol 12: Nipponianippon Live Dec 10 1994

Ok, for this one, I am not even sure what it is, exactly. I traded for this in the early 2000s and honestly can't remember who I got it from or what the exact story is... The info on the tape says it was recorded at the Holy Trip Festival Dec 10 1994 at Tekurinji Temple with no real band name. And of course, the Acid Mothers Temple connection is Kawabata Makoto playing in this configuration. The players are listed, though time has faded the already tiny printing so these are approximations:

Masriya Yokogama - Perc
Tako- Perc
Kawabata - Sarangi
Daiji Sakakibara- Didgeridoo
Numagi - Sitar
Yohda - Syth

The name "Nipponianippon" does not appear anywhere on the tape. I picked that name because the Nipponianippon track on the Acid Mothers Temple Family compilation set, Do Whatever You Want, Don't Do Whatever You Don't Want!! shares as least some of the members as the tape. As Kawabata's liner notes indicate, they did play at temples and the sounds are similar:

* Yokoyama Mabo : percussion, vocal
* Takobo: percussion
* Sakakibara Daiji : didgeridoo
* Kawabata Makoto : guitar, electric sitar, ocarina


Nipponianippon were an ur-tribal improv group that I used to play with when I was involved with a Japanese hippie commune. The group consists of: Yokoyama Mabo, a percussionist who has toured Eastern Europe with Allen Ginsberg and Nanao Sakaki, as well as playing with the likes of Tsuchitori Toshiyuki and Kitaro; Sakakibara Daiji, who picked up the didgeridoo when he was living with the aborigines in the Australian desert; and well-known session percussionist, Takobo. I filled in on guitar, bouzouki, harmonium, etc. The group played mainly at temples and worked with the Japanese beat poet Nanao Sakaki.

So while not totally the same, close enough? Anyways, part 1 is about 29 minutes long and part 2 is about 10 minutes. The sounds are slow building drones with echoy percussion and pulses of synthy washes. Calming at first, but the intricacies make themselves apparent soon enough. The second part starts out with some more overt tribal percussion, mixing with space noises and big background drones. Sounds pretty much perfect for rocking a temple.

I also dug up a tape of Sweet & Honey, Masaki Batoh's heavy psych band called Trips Festival 1993 that I will be uploading this week. Damn, in 1993-1994, these Japanese Trip Festivals woulda been so up my alley (as they are today, but back then... man, whew!). Not to mention when Kawabata "was involved with a Japanese hippie commune."

Nipponianippon Holy Trip Festival Dec 10 1994 Tekurinji Temple

And don't forget, Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. US & Canada Tour April 2009:

Apr. 2009
3 (fri) @ Echoplex LOS ANGELES CA (http://www.attheecho.com) w/ Kinski, Sonic Suicide Squad
4 (sat) @ Bottom Of The Hill SAN FRANCISCO CA (http://www.bottomofthehill.com) w/ Kinski, Sonic Suicide Squad
5 (sun) @ Holocene PORTLAND OR (http://www.holocene.org) w/ Kinski, Sonic Suicide Squad
6 (mon) @ Sunset Tavern SEATTLE WA (http://www.sunsettavern.com) w/ Kinski, Sonic Suicide Squad
7 (tue) @ Biltmore Cabaret VANCOUVER BC (http://www.biltmorecabaret.com) w/ Kinski, Sonic Suicide Squad
10 (fri) @ 7th Street Entry MINNEAPOLIS MN (http://www.first-avenue.com) w/ Sonic Suicide Squad
11 (sat) @ Empty Bottle CHICAGO IL (http://www.emptybottle.com) w/ Sonic Suicide Squad
12 (sun) @ Grog Shop CLEVELAND OH (http://www.grogshop.gs) w/ Sonic Suicide Squad
13 (mon) @ Magic Stick DETROIT MI (http://www.majesticdetroit.com/stick.asp) w/ Sonic Suicide Squad
14 (tue) @ El Mocambo TORONTO ON (http://www.elmocambo.ca) w/ Sonic Suicide Squad
15 (wed) @ La Sala Rossa MONTREAL PQ (http://www.casadelpopolo.com/contents/lasalarossa) w/ Sonic Suicide Squad
16 (thu) @ Middle East Upstairs CAMBRIDGE MA (http://www.mideastclub.com) w/ Sonic Suicide Squad
17 (fri) @ Mercury Lounge NEW YORK NY (http://www.mercuryloungenyc.com) w/ Sonic Suicide Squad
18 (sat) @ Johnny Brendas PHILADELPHIA PA (http://www.johnnybrendas.com) w/ Sonic Suicide Squad
19 (sun) @ DC9 WASHINGTON DC (http://www.dcnine.com) w/ Sonic Suicide Squad
20 (mon) @ Ottobar BALTIMORE MD (http://www.theottobar.com) w/ Sonic Suicide Squad
21 (tue) @ Local 506 CHAPEL HILL NC (http://www.local506.com) w/ Sonic Suicide Squad
22 (wed) @ The Earl ATLANTA GA (http://www.badearl.com) w/ Sonic Suicide Squad
23 (thu) @ Hi-Tone Cafe MEMPHIS TN (http://www.hitonememphis.com) w/ Sonic Suicide Squad
24 (fri) @ Hailey's DENTON TX (http://www.haileysclub.com) w/ Sonic Suicide Squad
25 (sat) @ Emos Alternative Lounge AUSTIN TX (http://www.emosaustin.comnet/) w/ Sonic Suicide Squad
27 (mon) @ Plush TUCSON AZ (http://www.plushtucson.com) w/ Sonic Suicide Squad
28 (tue) @ Casbah SAN DIEGO CA (http://www.casbahmusic.com) w/ Sonic Suicide Squad

Acid Mothers Sunday Vol 10: Toho Sara

Toho Sara featured Nanjo from High Rise and Kawabata from Acid Mothers Temple (and both of them were in Mainliner). They mostly played acoustic and ethnic instruments to create a mighty drone. Toho Sara had a few CDs out on PSF and Fractile in the mid 90s. Anyway, this release comes to us from Nanjo's La Musica label. A cassette release with the catalog number LA-023. This one is a scraping, droning, wheezing session cut up into 4 songs. Here is the description from the La Musica Catalog:

023. TOHO SARA / Kami no miya
A departure from the norm with members of Group Musica guesting with the Toho Sara regulars. The collaboration between Group Musica, who aim for a mysterious fuion of contemporary classical and improvised music, and Toho Sara is totally unforced and natural, resulting in a new microcosm of sound. The unique melodies of ethnic and Western instruments blend in avant-garde fashion, forming new waves and musical imaes.

So there you go... enjoy!

Toho Sara - Kami No Miya (LA-023)