Japanese Progressive Rock presented by DamoX

The night view at Kyobashi ... a renowned neon sign is always dazzling for my eyes.

Attended the first gig of an Osakan rock project named SOUNDSCAPE, at Beronica yesterday.


SOUNDSCAPE - left to right; Kohdai MATSUMOTO (guitar), Takaaki ASAKURA (bass), Ai OHNUMA (keyboards), Kosuke KAMATA (drums)

SOUNDSCAPE (named after their motto to play music as a means to drawing a landscape) were founded in 2012 as a smart, stylish rock quartet by four versatile artists - Kohdai MATSUMOTO (guitar), Takaaki ASAKURA (bass), Ai OHNUMA (keyboards), and Kosuke "Camacho" KAMATA (drums). With strong intention of putting their originality out, SOUNDSCAPE have played their innovative creation composed by all members (especially Ai) and appeared on stage upon March 16, 2012 at Kyobashi Beronica (Osaka, Japan).

Yes, this is the first gig for them!





Just from the beginning, they’d started launching a complex / powerful "soundscape" with aggressive technique ... very amazing, how their scape would go!


Kohdai MATSUMOTO (guitar)


Kosuke "Camacho" KAMATA (drums)


Takaaki ASAKURA (bass)


Ai OHNUMA (keyboards)

They played five songs under the sound sky.

1. Going Up (composed by Ai) ... quite suitable for their opening shot - a sharp, delightful and powerful one.



2. Wordless World (Kohdai) ... Kohdai said he’d not been very familiar with progressive rock, and this song sounds like his smooth, straight pop / rock material.



3. Egoist (Camacho) ... his drumming was pretty strict and enthusiastic. Yes this should be his own song I suggested.



4. Into The Twilight (Ai) ... Ai’s mellow ballad I’ve listened to for the first time, and simultaneously felt her warmness amongst her tragic darkness.



5. Air (Ai) ... already listened to this stuff, that has showed Ai’s inner passion and humanity ... her passion is sometimes ardent, sometimes cool, sometimes rigid, and sometimes fragile. This song makes an expression about a fright of an airplane she’s mentioned, and I always feel more and more gracious / grateful around this brilliant gem.



Oh yeah they’d produced and directed a fantastic night in Osaka ... Ai was a beautiful and pretty flower, Kohdai was green leaves flavoured green, and Takaaki and Camacho were fantastic ground, supporting all instruments.




... Anyway, the most progressive / innovative thang should be Ai’s interlude talk, methinks. (Hahhaha, please cool down and be more Osakan!)



Let me say we’re looking forward to your debut album released anytime soon! :D


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I have the Japanese edition of his book ... a good stuff but we should read carefully under his personal opinions.

Interesting one indeed, please try.

Great report of Soundscape, Damo!!! 

Thanks all. I'm very happy to get your kind words.

Exactly, Ai is a cute princess with mysterious atmosphere around her.

Already asked her to release their album or EP soon ... I'll again come back here and recommend their stuff.

^ Sounds great Heavy Prog for me, excellent work indeed.

Gonna check your other stuffs, thanks for heads up!

Yeah i saw your review, i'm glad you like it and cleared out the dust off this band a little bit.
You should definitely get their second one as well, they go together. I hope i can clear some time to review it.

Hi, progressive mates!

I've attended LE SILO's Tour in Kansai last weekend (see the page) and found a promising symphonic rock project named YUUKAIKENCHIKU (in English, "Melting Architecture").


Amazing symphonic sounds featuring "sharp-edged" flute by Nami!

YUUKAIKENCHIKU were founded in 2009 as a promising symphonic "multi-dimensional" rock quintet by five Zeuhl followers - Nami ADACHI (flute), Hidehito TAMBA (guitar), Shintaro KANDA (bass), Kei AKITA (drums), and Takenobu "Hassan" TAKAHASHI (keyboards) - in Kyoto, Japan. With a light music club in Kyoto Univ., where Takenobu and Kei have belonged to, as a starting commune, they have played not with getting tied to traditional rock but with strong intention for flexibility of soundscape, gigged basically around Kyoto, Osaka or Kobe.

I'd not heard of them but completely was immersed in their mysterious soundworld.


Nami ADACHI (flute) ... a beautiful, graceful, and keen mademoiselle wind.


Shintaro KANDA (bass) ... deep, deep bass steadiness.


Kei AKITA (drums) ... he and Shintaro should support their rhythm and soundbasis.


Hidehito TAMBA (guitar) ... a cool guitar chopper (pretty in harmony with them but not much with assertion).


Hassan TAKAHASHI (keyboards) ... a Magma freak and simultaneously a Yes maniac. His keyboard play is another basis.

The beautiful flutist Nami gets to be a pretty, charming MCer, as follows.



They played these 6 "kaleidoscopic" songs:

1. Shudrakarman
2. Meiosis
3. Swift As A Whirlwind
4. Sayo-Shigure
5. Beatnyx
6. The Porcupine Dilemma

Sometimes keyboard-based symphonic, sometimes heavy, and sometimes massive, meditative, meaningful, along with Nami's flute windchase (cool, very cool play!).



They've released two demo CDRs "Yuukaikenchiku" (2010) and "Yuukaikenchiku II" (2011) already, and this month (April, 2012) will record the newest material for the next album. Good luck!


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colorofmoney91 wrote: Seeing Le Silo would be so awesome  Yuukaikenchiku seems promising too -- bassists who use that type of bass are usually interesting.

Hey Alan, such fantastic mights I've NOT experienced!
All artists on the stages are excellent indeed ... please check them out.

GUNJOGACRAYON

Found GUNJOGACRAYON's "2nd Album" (I consider this album is their first "full-length" album) re-released in 2011 via a Japanese distributor Disk Union a while before. (Their first EP has already been introduced here.)


Gunjogacrayon (2nd Album) (1987) - GUNJOGACRAYON

Maido, GUNJOGACRAYON dasu! (Hey everyone, here comes GUNJOGACRAYON!) ... by the way, where had their style 7 years before gone away?

This "Gunjogacrayon" (in Japan, re-released under the moniker of "2nd Album" via Disk Union) was firstly released in 1987, 7 years after their debut EP released. This 7-year interval should not be so short for them to alter their music style I feel. Not simply avantgarde this creation is, but pretty experimental and a bit like Krautrock, especially upon their complex polyrhythm and weird sound effects (listen to "Tekuru" or "Naguno" and you will get immersed in their mysterious psychedelia). Their is not enough heavy riffs nor deep inflation (we can a little hear some trace in the middle part of "Wadesu" or so), but flexible and slightly cataleptic footstep quakes mainly by the drums / percussion launcher.

Yuji's meaningless words with irritating tones and rhythmic senses could season their creation with Zeuhlish experimentalism. Mind you, we can hear no alteration upon their pleasure in playing everything, with such a quirky brilliancy of their messy soundscape (No toughness nor fuss can be found for example in "Reruto" or "Gadete", simple grooves). And their highlight "Ushimashi" can be considered as another Krautrock sample, filled with fuzzy electricity, bubbling circus, and loose jamming ... 17 minute is not so long for us, definitely. The last "Sesaitoburu" is a classic addictive one under noisy bubble bobble.

Not recommend as an authentic avantgarde-progressive but we can easily find weird experimentalism of Japanese psychedelic Krautrock in their second work.


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I have downloaded this album, and listened to it only once until now, nice overall.

What a cool band name though.