Another pretty great one from this Japanese quartet of dual guitars, bass and drums. There is some additional instrumentation (a string quartet!), but this is mostly the long, droning-yet-consistantly interesting work that we've come to expect from...

"A mistaken but widely-held view of Japanese music is that it consists of two completely separate and non-communicating areas: on one hand the disposable J-pop music scene based on Western models, on the other the traditional classical music world with...

Third and generally considered the best album by this 1980's Japanese symphonic rock band that features keyboardist Katsuhiko Hayashi and vocalist Takashi Nakamura, +, on this album, violinist Takashi Kawaguchi (Outer Limits), acoustic guitarist/flutist..

The guitarist of Korekyojinn and Bondage Fruit performs solo. "Akira Komatsu it is thick, from Kazutoki coba and plum Tsu the Carmen maquis, support of the singer who was said quiet style and [yadoranka] high the solo first work of the ogre non month...

"Nazoranai is the supergroup of Keiji Haino, Oren Ambarchi and Stephen O'Malley. For close to four decades, Haino has been a legendary figure in Japan's avant-garde community through his commanding presence in the band Fushitsusha and numerous solo ventures. Ambarchi, a prolific electro-acoustic composer of heavy ambience and hypno-rock, has long stood at the leading edge of Australia's experimental music scene, while O'Malley remains a principle architect for the drone/doom metal project Sunn O))) in...

"Ni Hao!'s long awaited second release features more delightful music from this powerful rock unit out of Kansai. Now a duo, the music continues the direction of the first release with virtuosic short pieces filled with stop and start precision...

“The reissue of impossible-to-find cult album Lady Maid by Japanese outfit Normal Brain. Originally released in 1981 as a limited vinyl pressing of 300 copies on Agi Yuzuru's fabled experimental label Vanity Records (R.N.A. Organism, Dada, Sympathy Nervous, Tolerance), Lady Maid is a testament to the creativity of the early '80s Japanese electronic and experimental scene, encapsulating a prolific era when audio gear became affordable for musicians to explore sounds in the comfort of their home, free...

"Wewantsounds presents the release of Touch, a selection of sought-after tracks produced by Yuji Ohno, one of the most revered producers and arrangers on the Nippon music scene. His blend of jazz, space funk and disco have long been sought-after by DJs around the world and Wewanstounds has been given unique access to the Nippon Columbia vaults and to Mr. Ohno himself to come with a versatile selection from his '70s body of work, all bearing his uniquely recognizable sound. The set includes works with...

Excellent, contemporary Japanese art-punk sounds. It’s simultaneously kind of basic while being musically tricky and is a bit of a small classic of its kind, I think!

“Nijimusi is the 8th release from OOIOO. Led by YoshimiO, they're a band that has stayed relevant long past many of their contemporaries thru constant re-inventions & explorations. It's recorded with a more traditional rock set up of two guitars, bass & drums, but thanks to an improvisational recording process and technical prowess...

"Pikacyu-Makoto is an intergalactic love and peace duo, featuring two figureheads of underground Japanese music: Pika from Afrirampo and Makoto Kawabata of legendary psychedelic avatars Acid Mothers Temple.
As a duo they embrace both sides of the coin -- drums and guitar, chaos and order, male and female, yin and yang, the angel and the devil. Pika brings her skills of mystifying performance to the table, all free-drum bluster and vocals veering between shrine maiden and wild spirit. Kawabata's...

"This is the eagerly-awaited debut album from Japanese underground legends Makoto Kawabata (Acid Mothers Temple/Mainliner) and Pikacyu (Afrirampo). Combining their trademark master musicianship, out-there sonic attack and off-the-wall weirdness...

On the back of the 2014 Rock In Opposition Festival in Japan and their album "Welcome In The Void", Richard Pinhas and Yoshida Tatsuya did a Japanese tour lasting about 2 weeks.
In order to have some fun, fresh merch to sell to the fans, Yoshida released this live album on his Magaibutsu label on CD, taken from several shows during their Japanese tour and showing off aspects of their work together. It has now been issued on vinyl.

"French psych-experimental-rock genius Richard Pinhas in collaboration with Sax Ruins drummer, Tatsuya Yoshida, and saxophonist, Ryoko Ono. Recorded live at Tusk Festival, at Gateshead Old Town Hall, on October 10, 2015. Richard Pinhas, the founder of '70s legends Heldon, is one of France's best known experimental musicians and is a key figure in development of rock music fusing with electronic music. Yoshida Tatsuya is one of the most innovative musicians of the Japanese experimental music scene...

"Perhaps the most legendary of all Japanese rock musicians, Shinki Chen is Japan's most celebrated guitarist. Before going on to form Food Brain, Speed, Glue & Shinki et al, Shinki worked with vocalist Eiji Takamura, who took the stage name 'Chibo'...

A co-production with Poseidon from Japan, this is a trio consisting of Totoki Yukiko-female vocals, concertina (an old folk-style accordion) harmonium & percussion, Sasaki Emi-accordion, glockenspiel, psaltery, toys, percussion & vocals and Oguma Eiji...

Quikion are a quirky, charming trio from Japan (have you noticed that 'quirky' and 'charming' describes a decent percentage of Japanese new-music? It's an interesting phenomenon.)...

Hand numbered, blue vinyl edition.

"Massive slabs of distortion inhabit every seam of this monstrously linear album"-Julian Cope. Japrocksampler

"Legendary Japanese rock outfit Les Rallizes Denudés were formed in 1967 and incredibly, for a group that had only one official release (Oz Days Live, a double vinyl compilation release in 1973), played their last gig almost 30 years later in October 1996. The band's name apparently means "fucked up and naked," which more than adequately...

“In 1980, Les Rallizes Dénudés welcomed guitarist Fujio Yamaguchi (The Dynamites, Murahachibu, Teardrops) to it's fold. The unconventional pairing of inimitable Rallizes frontman Mizutani with Fujio's unrestrained, bluesier styles ushered in a new era for the band that excited fans old and new. This unique arrangement lasted lasted less than a year, but the lineup would leave behind a long-lasting impact among Rallizes fans that can still be felt to this day.
Among the seven gigs played by the...

"Ring is probably one of the oldest Japanese Progressive rock bands, that existed prior to the golden age of the local scene, that took place during the Eighties. Jointly published by the Musea and Poseidon labels, "The Empire Of Necromancers" was init...

Round House were one of the best West Japanese progressive rock bands. The band made an unexpected reunion in 2000, and are now performing actively. "The structure of the music, dramatic and tight in the vein of of Return to Forever, topped with wailin...

Some of the very best musicians in Japan, veterans of such bands as Bondage Fruit, the Boredoms, Bazooka Joe, Demi Semi Quaver...have come together in Rovo, a virtuosic trance-rock group based in Tokyo. This dynamic set collects the best of their legendary two-night run at New York City's premier new music club, Tonic. Beautifully recorded and impeccably mixed by Rovo mastermind, violinist Katsui Yuji in Japan, Tonic 2001 captures the firey brilliance of this dazzling band like no studio recording ever...

The truly amazing bass/drums duo where drummer/composer Yoshida Tatsuya first made his mark and appeared on people's radar, who were obviously influenced by punk, math rock, Magma & This Heat.
"Along with the Boredoms, Naked City and very few others, this amazing drums/bass duo are masters of quick-change, stop/start tempos, time-signatures and textures. Ruins' explosive and intricately composed tunes are sung in a peculiar language of their own invention." [note: which sounds a LOT like Kobaian]....

This is something like their 16th CD, I think (!) & represents a strong return to form, as the duo of Yoshida Tatsuya (drums, percussion, vocal) and Sasaki Hisashi (6 string bass, MIDI controller, vocal) just TEAR through it all, mixing thrash, Zeuhl, ...

''A new direction for this innovative group , which until now has worked solely as a duo. Augmenting their core unit of drums and bass with two female vocalists and a keyboard player of astonishing virtuosity, these brilliant orchestral arrangements of...

"Sajjanu is a ripping new unit from Tokyo that performs incredibly complex through-composed compositions with few if any repetition. Performed with an intensity and power that is absolutely staggering, this trio of two guitars and drums sounds like a...