“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...

“OOIOO and Lightning Bolt are both bands whose music is wholly unique and whose creators’ influence would be impossible to overstate. 2 Epic OOIOO SONGS and 5 Blistering Lightning Bolt Songs ! YoshimiO, OOIOO’s founder and bandleader, has been a guiding force in uncompromising art across the continuum of rock and improvised music for four decades, from her work in UFO or Die to The Boredoms to SAICOBAB and beyond. OOIOO serves as a core outlet for melding freeform experimentalism with hypnotic rock...

“YOSHIHIDE OTOMO's new project Old and New Dreams has begun! This pair of simultaneous releases opens a new wave of free jazz, born from an intergenerational improvisation session with TAKASHI SUGAWA (b) and SHUN ISHIWAKA (ds).
Guitarist / composer Yoshihide Otomo is not limited to free jazz, but is active all over the world, from film, theater, television to commercials.
Recorded on December 27, 2024 at the Shinjuku Pit Inn, which has been his core venue since he was a teenager, this live

"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.

"...Richard Pinhas consolidates his position as the reigning master of mesmerizing, trance/ambient guitar...."-All Music Guide

“Merzbow is essentially a psychedelic artist, attempting to create shifts in consciousness through extreme sound.”-Pitchfork

Richard and Merzbow are both among the best-known figures in electronic rock music today. Merzbow is considered the originator of Japanese noise music and the single best-known artist in noise music today. While Richard's work wouldn't be...

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-guitar & bouzouki. I didn't realize taht they were...

Here is a young trio of musicians from the Kansai area on soprano sax, bass and piano who have created a remarkably original world of sound. Although one can hear occasional influences from Steve Lacy and the Jimmy Giuffre Three, this music is uniquely...

"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...

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]....

"The members of Japan's Ruins have extensive experience and tireless commitment! A furious barrage of explosive and intricately composed drum(s) and bass, Ruins covers all stops between hardcore's hysteric intensity, metal's pummeling dynamics, and the...

"If you think wild, bizarre Japanese music begins and ends with the legendary Boredoms, you ain't heard nothing yet. If Vrresto is any indication, Ruins top even those legendary noise merchants in terms of craziness, as this is music whose origins can barely even be traced to this planet, let alone to any particular genre or country. What results from the intertwining of Yoshida Tatsuya's insanely intricate drum patterns and Sasaki Hisashi's spastic noodlings on bass guitar, along with the space-aliens...

“Ruins/Zu is fusing the original core of Rome's ace Zu bassist Massimo Pupillo and saxophonist Luca T Mai together with drummer Yoshida Tatsuya, founder of the Japanese band Ruins.”

"Ryuichi Sakamoto's classic LP Coda, issued in Japan in 1983 as a solo piano version of the Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence soundtrack. The album, which has never been released outside of Japan until now, sees Sakamoto on acoustic piano reinterpreting fascinating versions of his famous soundtrack including the classic theme and "Germination," which was later used in the Call Me By Your Name soundtrack. This reissue has been remastered by Seigen Ono's Saidera Mastering studio in Tokyo and boasts the...

“Esperanto was composed for a performance by New York avant-garde choreographer Molissa Fenley. Produced and performed by Sakamoto with contribution by Arto Lindsay and Japanese percussionist Yas-Kaz, Esperanto is a fascinating instrumental work mixing electronica, ambient and synth pop. Released in Japan in 1985 on Midi Inc.s' School label, the album has never been released outside of Japan until now.
Esperanto originally came out in 1985 and was Ryuichi Sakamoto's sixth solo album. Coming after...

"Ryuichi Sakamoto's third solo album Hidari Ude No Yume (Left Handed Dream), originally released in 1981 on the Alfa label. Save for a small-scale Dutch vinyl release in 1981, it is the first time the album's original Japanese edition is released outside of Japan (the European release on Epic Records included significantly different tracks and mixes).
Hidari Ude No Yume was recorded at the legendary Alfa Studio "A" in Tokyo during the Summer of 1981. it came after B-2 Unit in 1980 and his debut...

LP version, includes 7" with two extra tracks: "Replica" and "Ma Mère l'Oye."

“The first ever international release of Ryuichi Sakamoto's landmark 1984 album Ongaku Zukan, originally issued in Japan on his own School label in 1984. Remastered by Saidera Mastering in Tokyo. The early '80s were a turning point for Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto. As a solo artist, the smash hit soundtrack he had composed for 1983's Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, had put him on the verge of becoming a global...

1971 psych/weirdo/jazz-rock Japanese classic rarity featuring Shungo Sawada (acoustic guitar), Masaoki Terakawa (bass), Louis Haynes (drums), Kimio Mizutani (guitar), Hiro Yanagida (organ), D.D. Dickson (trombone), Jochen Stadt (trombone), Jackie...

"Calling Yasuaki Shimizu a talented musician is like calling Michael Jordan a kind of OK basketball player. Whether working with art luminaries like Nam June Paik, music icons like Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Ryuichi Sakamoto, or corporate behemoths like Honda, Shimizu is the type of versatile collaborator who elevates all of the projects he touches into something far more than ‘just’ sound.
The Music for Commercials album – reissued for the first time since its original release by Crammed in 1987 – is...

“The first international reissue of Ayako Shinozaki's Music Now For Harp released in 1974 by Nippon Columbia. The LP was released on the label's cult "Master Sonic" series and features Shinozaki's harp soundscape on works by renowned composer Toru Takemitsu and Katsuhiro Tsubono. The highlight of the album is the spaced-out, ethereal 25-min ambient epic "Heterodyne" featuring cult musician Takehisa Kosugi (Taj Mahal Travellers, Group Ongaku) on electric violin and sound waves.
Japanese harpist Ayako..

Show-Yen is a Japanese band led by guitarist-composer Yasuhiro Nishio, that has existed as an instrumental trio since 1998. Its other members are bassist Hiroaki Fujii and drummer Naoki Itoi. After a two year break, Show-Yen strikes back in olympic for...