"Since his early death, Kaoru Abe has attracted much attention and a loyal following among aficionados of free jazz and improvised music, but fans who might be tempted to listen for signs of the alto saxophonist's impending doom in this recording made on August 29, 1978, in Hokkaido might be disappointed, for the simple reason that there's not much music to listen to: 14 and a half minutes of actual playing preceded by a minute and 41 seconds of "rehearsal" (this amounts to little more than a couple of arpe

"Acid Mothers Guru Guru features Mani Neumeier from the legendary and influential German Krautrock group Guru Guru as well as Kawabata Makoto and Atsushi Tsuyama from Japan's holy Acid Mothers Temple. The result is a fiery fantasy filled, loud/soft...

"Another smoker from Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O., in typically fine form. Benzaiten is an In C-style homage to the classic Osamu Kitajima record Benzaiten (1973). Acid Mothers Temple covers the title-track and reprise using...

"Acid Mothers Temple return with an expanded Melting Paraiso U.F.O. line-up, featuring the added guitar skills of Japan underground legend and new full-time member Tabata Mitsuru (Boredoms, Zeni Gava, Leningrad Blues Machine, etc.). IAO Chant from...

"Acid Mothers Temple and Important Records have decided to release the complete Magical Power From Mars in its entirety with the addition of the fourth and final track 'Aladdin Kane.' Magical Power From Mars comes housed with completely new front and back art and no expense was spared on more 3D lenticular covers for the front. This is the complete album available for the first time in its entirety. Magical Power From Mars is an album full of epic statements from the Acid Mothers. Each track has an...

"Recuring Dream And Apocalypse Of Darkness is by far the heaviest Acid Mothers Temple record yet. So heavy, in fact, that Kawabata Makoto jokingly said 'the album is really heavy, maybe a bit like Sunn O))). hahahaha.'...

"Son Of A Bitches Brew is a true electric jazz record from the Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO. Rooted in the sound of Miles Davis' electric era this record melds jazz, funk and psych with AMT's synth swoops, space whispers and cosmic...

"Japan's psychedelic troubadours return with a new album focusing on the folksier galaxy of their tripped-out universe. Highlighting new vocalist Jyonson Tsu, Acid Mothers Temple put the acid back in acid folk with this release! Upping the ante is Geoff Leigh (Henry Cow, Hatfield & The North, Univers Zero) on all tracks! Limited edition of only 800 lps made!”

"Disc 1 tracks the band through the first decade from 1998 to 2007, through rare footage featuring guest appearances from members of Guru Guru, Afrirampo, Ruins and others. Disc 2 features a historic performance of La Novia featuring Occitan Queen of...

Another exciting unit out of the infamous Osaka underground rock scene. Close friends with the Boredoms and Acid Mothers Temple, Afrirampo is a bizarre duo of two twenty year old girls who sing and play guitar and drums like no one else. Scantily clad ...

This is a collection of most of the 1984 album “Glass Tube”, which was After Dinner’s first album + some other stuff, plus 30’ of live material by this Japanese new music rock band, who predated the current huge interest in all things "Japan".
Characterized by leader Haco's vocals, this is subtly detailed, almost pastel, progressive Japanese music; they don’t sound like ANYBODY else!

“Can't say I've heard anything quite like this. Truly awesome in its presentation, it's hard not to want to...

This release is by a Japanese duo that Soleil Zeuhl discovered. Yoshiyuki plays keyboards/synths/programming and Yoshihiro Yamaji plays guitar and bass. All of the drums are programmed, but they do a very good job of it, and this excellent debut does not suffer from 'canned band syndrome'.

"Amygdala is a Japanese band, heavily Zeuhl-influenced (much more on the UZ side than Magma, I'd say), with that RIO edge that seems to be the landmark of the greatest Japanese bands of these last few years...

Kawabata Makoto : guitars (Acid Mothers Temple)
Nakaya Koichi : synthesizer, theremin (Nasca Car)
Okano Furtoshi : drums (Acid Mothers, Ghost)

“Andromelos2 brings an electronic-psychedelic-progressive sound to rival with early Tangerine Dream and early Heldon but in the spirit of Acid Mothers Temple.”

Somehow I don't think Ayuo was thinking of Ameri"The creator of two of the most fascinating releases on the New Japan series (Izutsu and Red Moon) now turns his hand to one of the most curious of all Japanese musical forms, the Noh play. Mixing the....

“Batoh is back! Solo again after last fall’s new Silence album, the Japanese psychedelic guru makes some one-man performances,, with others featuring Ghost and Silence family members, including free drumming legend of Fushitsusha and early Ghost, Hiroyuki Usui. In the richness of an all-analog production, Batoh decries the existential opacity of our latter-day faith, drawing deeply from the musical, linguistic and spiritual traditions of ALL countries, fused into a new music for the believers and non...

"Behind the Shadow Drops is the new solo endeavor from Takaakira 'Taka' Goto, founding guitarist and composer of iconic Japanese experimental rock group, MONO.
Established in 2016, Behind the Shadow Drops combines Goto's disparate but commensurate interests in many different forms of music, most notably ambient, trip-hop, industrial minimalism, and modern classical.
Recorded at Goto's home studio and mixed with esteemed producer and percussionist, John McEntire (Tortoise, The Sea and Cake...

Out of print world-wide for years, this makes a welcome, very limited re-appearance in Japan at a reasonable price.

Nice to have their 2nd, early 1980's studio disc available again from this very King Crimson-influenced Japanese ensemble. This adds guests on keyboards, violin, cello & trumpet to the basic guitar/bass/drums lineup. For me and my avant-progressive tastes, this is by far their best work and is one of the very best 80s Japanese progressive albums ever!

Yeah, you can tell who.

Like Soft Machine, the band doomed to have a number after their name for each album! Bondage Fruit, led by guitarist Kido Natsuki, who also plays in Bondage Fruit, led by guitarist Kido Natsuki, who also plays in Korekyojinn, were part of the Japanese...

Tokyo playwright, director and artist J.A. Caesar sprang to prominence in the early '70s largely through his work with Shuji Terayama's Tenjo Sajiki Theatre, specializing in vaguely sinister music reminiscent of a Hammer House Of Horrors soundtrack...

"Alessandro Cortini (Nine Inch Nails) and Japanese noise legend Masami Akita (Merzbow) share a mutual love for the EMS Synthi, a British synthesizer from the early '70s notorious for its patch matrix, portability, and distinct tone. Astonishingly, these two disparate artists meld into a single sound as they flex the analog circuitry of the EMS Synthi in new ways; giving this classic synth a modern workout and proving that, in capable hands, a 40-year-old analog synthesizer is a tool for the ages...

A reissue of a stupidly rare Japanese psych/heavy album, originally released on Japanese Vertigo in 1972. They were a short-lived offshoot of Strawberry Path.

"The 2nd and last album from Flied Egg, also originally released in 1972 on Japanese Vertigo. It's a theoretical live album, with a miraculously heavier "rockin" sound than Dr. Siegel's Fried Egg Shooting Machine. Number of tracks with the word "woman" in the title? A mere one. But don't let that lessen the sensational experience of your...

"In his third CD for Tzadik, Mamoru Fujieda continues his fascinating exploration of the creativity of, by and about plant life with five more pieces from his continuing series Patterns of Plants. Utilizing the violin in combination with two Japanese...

''Jazz, contemporary classical and traditional Japanese folk music blend seamlessly in Satoko Fujii's powerful and unique musical universe. Presented here are three intimate groupings: in duo with her long time associate Sachi Hayasaka, in trio with th...

Natsuki Tamura-trompette, Curtis Hasselbring-trombone, Andrea Parkins-accordion, Satoko Fujii-piano. "Min-Yoh means folk music in Japanese. Almost all of them are made by people, not by professional composers. And they were arranged as they were

Latest from Keiji Haino's highly polarizing power-trio, recorded live at the '97 Victo Festival. This is one of those records of a concert that it's good to have, if only so that you can listen to it at a volume of your own choosing (which will probabl...