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Japanese Progressive Rock presented by DamoX
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DamoXt7942 View Drop Down
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Points: 17493 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DamoXt7942 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 19 2012 at 10:14
And sorry mates for my short hibernation but I've done battles against heatstroke pandemic around me ... hard works indeed. Dead

Anyway, we family have attended a gig of DOXURO (pronounced as "Dokuro") STONES (SHIN's side project) tonight ... a wacky one really. LOL


DOXURO STONES and SHIN (bass; the second player from the left)

Various songs had been flooded ... Japanese pop, an ending song of a Japanese animation (that is the origin of the project's name), "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", "You Really Got Me", and so on ...



And the audience had got an explosion just the moment the female singer AKIKO came on!


Wow ... Heart

There was a huge crowd in front of the stage upon their "encore"s played.


Oh ... HeartHeart

Forgive me but I'm not a porn lover but a rock freak lol. Tongue


Thank you for reading this blog. ٩(̾●̮̮̃̾•̃̾)۶
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Sheavy View Drop Down
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Originally posted by tamijo tamijo wrote:

Hi DamoXt
 
Would You be able to create me a list of 5-10 interesting artists
That you think its possible for me to get in a good CD shop in Japan (Tokyo/Fukuoka)
Subgenre dosent matter, but would be cool if there was Japaneese language vocals on some of them. 
 
 
 
 
You should try discogs.com it is much better for finding rare stuff than amazon.com, and much cheaper than ebay.
 
At least it tends to be anyway.
 
Heres some stuff (thats on PA) that I've had my eye on.
 


Edited by Sheavy - August 19 2012 at 14:10
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Cloud Forest View Drop Down
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japanese prog interesting Smile will check it out
     
All Hail Geddy Lee!
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tamijo View Drop Down
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Originally posted by DamoXt7942 DamoXt7942 wrote:

^ Ahhhh Tamijo, sorry for my belated reply but there are very few progressive rock CDs in Fukuoka or Tokyo ...
You can find something great upon Amazon, eBay, or so ... my two yen.
Ok, thanks for your reply, anyway ill go look for some, getting it form Amazon is fine, but i think it would be more fun to try get something i actualy bought in a shop while im there.
Moving out this morning.
Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours
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DamoXt7942 View Drop Down
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Points: 17493 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DamoXt7942 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 20 2012 at 18:16
Originally posted by tamijo tamijo wrote:

Ok, thanks for your reply, anyway ill go look for some, getting it form Amazon is fine, but i think it would be more fun to try get something i actualy bought in a shop while im there.
Moving out this morning.
Oh welcome to Japan and please enjoy goin' for a stroll. Hug
Wish we could have a rendezvous, but sadly Fukuoka or Tokyo is a tad far away from Okayama. Unhappy
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tamijo View Drop Down
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Points: 4287 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tamijo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 22 2012 at 07:59
I was in Okayama last year, actually I was walking from the "electric rail bus" into the central station, when they announced the Sendai earthquake in the speakers. Been there 3 days, seen the castle and the park.
But haven't found any good cd shops Big smile

In Tokyo ATM, but haven't been looking for music so far, as you know it horrible hot these days, so we are doing stuff very slow. 


Edited by tamijo - August 22 2012 at 08:02
Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours
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DamoXt7942 View Drop Down
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Points: 17493 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DamoXt7942 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 22 2012 at 18:05
^ Hey Tamijo, are you in Tokyo? Afraid it's too hot to enjoy your tour ... Dead
Anyway in Tokyo, you can find a superb CD shop named "Disk Union" mainly in Shinjuku, where lots of obscure and fanatic items can be found.

Good luck and take care after all. Hug
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tamijo View Drop Down
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Points: 4287 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tamijo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 22 2012 at 21:18
Shijuku is not that far, but it's my last day in Tokyo.
May make it there later today, and by googling a bit i'we found a bar in Fukuoka based on mainly prog music.
Will be fun to go there and have a shochu, with some Italian prog on top.
Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours
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DamoXt7942 View Drop Down
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Points: 17493 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DamoXt7942 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 23 2012 at 18:17
Sounds good, enjoy your Japanese trip (and flood of Japanese alcoholic beverage). Beer
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DamoXt7942 View Drop Down
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Points: 17493 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DamoXt7942 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 26 2012 at 08:21
Today, again not about a Japanese progressive rock but a Japan-related one recorded and released in 1994 by a US free-form experimental rock commune The NO-NECK BLUES BAND, pretty inspired by Patrick Lafcadio Hearn's "Kwaidan" (aka kaidan, Japanese ghost story). Sounds fascinating, eh?


The NO-NECK BLUES BAND (abbreviated as NNCK)
Quote "Mimi-nashi Hoichi" ("Hoichi the Earless" in English) was written as a story of a blind priest / a biwa (a Japanese string instrument) player. A dreadful ghost disguised as an armoured samurai, immersed in Koichi's playing, had invited Koichi to his palace and given a recital with his (infernal) mates incarnated as a bunch of soul fire for Koichi. The Bishop and Koichi's colleagues were quite frightened at this situation and wrote a scripture upon his body for making him invisible (for ghosts) and helping him ... however, sad to say, they'd forgotten to write a scripture upon his ears! The armoured ghost has found his ears only and grabbed / robbed them, while Koichi without ears had been called as Mimi-nashi Hoichi since then. Luckily it's said he would get to be a great biwa player later.

Hoichi (1996) - The NO-NECK BLUES BAND

"Hoichi", as you may know, is a Japanese kaidan (Japanese ghost story) written by Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (aka Yakumo Koizumi). Hoichi was a blind minstrel with playing a stringed instrument called "Biwa", and a dreadful ghost disguised as an armoured samurai was immersed in his playing biwa. Apart from the detailed story (very horrible but interesting one really), I've quite amazed at the different way of feeling for this story between Japanese and American. For us Japanese this kaidan might be written as a tragedy in regard to a quiet battle between Hoichi and a ghost, whilst an interpretation of this story in US sounds like an explosive horror inferno with exclusively dissonant noise effects and partially sporadic sound particles via the whole creation.

We can hear a bunch of awesome catatonic and fanatic discordance especially in the first untitled track, with scattered noises / electronic shouts veiled deeply into cloudy fuzz / buzz notches. "For Neptune" (Neptune should be an armoured ghost methinks) is the steadiest, quietest noise ambiance along with Hoichi's biwa melodies representative of his respect for the samurai plus a ghostly chilling air and circumstance around the infernal samurai. The reverberations of xylophone-ish percussion beneath the calmness can make us mad and nervous rather than calm and cool. In the last "The Law Of The Sea" suite, flooded with sharp-edged metallic noises, deep woody percussive sounds, and plaintive weep / groan fainter and fainter in the distance, we can find the stream of sea waves, gradually altering itself kaleidoscopically or prismatically, under such a horrible and simultaneously tragic dark sky. Yes finally we can never hear anything but a rough air, felt maybe as Hoichi's blood flowing from the both sides of his face.

This noise ambient stuff over 45 minutes long is a bit tough for us to listen completely but we can feel their aggressive intention to shoot more sensational hoax than Mittelwinternacht '71. Splendid theatre really.



P.S. Anyway, this album's title is "Hoichi", not "Hoichoi" like a kung fu texture lol.


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Edited by DamoXt7942 - August 27 2012 at 01:05
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colorofmoney91 View Drop Down
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It sound apocalyptic :O
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DamoXt7942 View Drop Down
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Points: 17493 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DamoXt7942 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 10 2012 at 04:42
Hi, Japanese progressive rock freaks. Handshake

Actually I could have attended DJAMRA's gig in Nakatsu Vi-Code (Osaka, Japan) upon September 2, but sadly, a sudden turn of my patient's condition let me come back to Okayama, before their gig getting started. Cry


Just before Djamra's fantastic gig ... what a sad matter. Unhappy

Anyway, I've been slightly pressed with my "real" work (caring for patients suffering from bad illness) since the beginning of this month indeed, but I'm fine ... thanks to all mates here and there. Gonna come back soon. Thumbs Up
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Points: 6632 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sagichim Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 11 2012 at 00:34
Hey Keishiro do you know about Il Berlione's musicians showing up on other projects?
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DamoXt7942 View Drop Down
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Off-topic.

My prog mate and Krautrock tutor Philippe BLACHE aka DAY BEFORE US has released a drone / ambient / tragic album named "Under Mournful Horizons" via Rage In Eden Records in September 2012, in collaboration with NIMH.
Originally posted by Facebook Facebook wrote:

One man project formed in 2010 under various circumstances. Philippe BLACHE is a classically trained musician and composer of organic-cinematic ambient textures. The intuitive musical pieces are focused on the grand piano's tragic and epic harmonies punctuated by a collection of micro sounds. Most pieces are played and recorded during private live sessions. DAY BEFORE US' recordings are largely inspired by thematics related to the subjective lyrical state, ghostly post-romanticism ... to the hidden river of secrets ... Next to his continuous efforts under the name DAY BEFORE US, Philippe has provided a wide diversity of scores to visual artists and has also been involved in collaborative projects (with Markus M@p, Julian Julien, Giuseppe Verticchio, Davide Riccio…)

Under Mournful Horizons (2012) - DAY BEFORE US / NIMH

My humble review ...

Suggest the keywords for their music may be "rain", "sorrow", "darkness", and "brief pleasure".

"Under Mournful Horizons", released in September 2012 via Rage In Eden Records, is a creation compiled mainly with DAY BEFORE US aka Philippe BLACHE's sound view of the world, in collaboration with NIMH aka Giuseppe VERTICCHIO. Philippe and I have discussed soundscape together, while his strong intention for dark, meditative ambient music continent has been blowing me away eventually. Their deep, down-tempo, graceful dark ambience reminds me some texture in Ludvig van Beethoven's "Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor - Moonlight" though I'm not familiar with Classic music scene. And through this work, another gem in the pouring rain can be found ... very surprisingly indeed.

Along with Philippe's soundscape under his vast sky fuzz of dark ambience, their play had gone straightforward to sorrowful, mournful, plaintive tone mass. Look at their album sleeve and song titles and we can easily realize what they meant to do. On the other hand, mind you, something pleasant like a dim light or like a small brilliant gem falling into a dark nebula, can be found, I'm sure. Cannot understand which sounds like such a mysterious phenomenon, this album concept or their soundscape itself, but even vaguely, cannot help feeling glad in future of their story. Without myself I've said that what's happening and what an amazing confusion.

Quite fascinating the atmosphere especially in the last track "Frozen Gleams Of Eternity" should be, dizzy fuzzy rainy noise ensemble will get to be purely crystallized, scape sweetness. The riff, eccentric but simple, constantly knocks our vacant mind, but that repetitive progress with bulky air alteration can inflate our mind with fantasia. Guess their sound stream collective throw "hope" to us despite of appearance.

In conclusion, please get drenched in this terrific creation.




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Originally posted by sagichim sagichim wrote:

Hey Keishiro do you know about Il Berlione's musicians showing up on other projects?


Bump!
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DamoXt7942 View Drop Down
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^ Sorry but dunno ... at least about other "prog" projects. Unhappy
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DamoXt7942 View Drop Down
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Another super trio from Japan. Cool


OPABINIA ... left to right; Kazuto SHIMIZU (keyboard), Natsuki KIDO (guitar), Yasuhiro YOSHIGAKI (drums)

OPABINIA, named after an underwater creature with five eyes and a cleaner-like mouth in the Cambrian over 5 hundred million years ago, were founded as a short-lived one-off trio by three renowned, talented progressive rock-related artists - Natsuki KIDO (guitar; Bondage Fruit, Korekyojinn, P.O.N., Kazutoki Umezu Kiki Band, Salle Gaveau, etc.), Kazuto SHIMIZU (keyboards; Killing Time, Hikashu, etc.), and Yasuhiro YOSHIGAKI (drums; Shibusashirazu, Ground Zero, Altered States, Rovo, Date Course Pentagon Royal Garden etc.) in early 2000s. Versatile elements of the three were crystallized as their only one album "Opabinia" released in 2003.


Opabinia (2003) - OPABINIA

OPABINIA were temporarily formed as a three-piece one-off project in early 2000s, that had released only one eponymous album filled with various tasty elements. As the song titles say, their bottoms of sound and play are drenched in funny, funky, skunky atmosphere ... also the project's name Opabinia, a strange underwater creature with five eyes (!) over 5 hundred million years ago ... namely, an obscure stuff maybe.

"Johnetsu No Tohri-ame (Shower Passing Of Passion)" can be called as an eccentric and gigantic heavy rock experiment by Natsuki's guitar passion ... his cool but loud guitar fireworks along with sticky, strict rhythmic riffs by Yasuhiro’s drumming are pretty awesome, that can get in your ear in another track named "Kombu-tori (Kombtry)", an aggressive heavily-peated avantgarde space monster ... but believe me this fascinating track may not the masterpiece in this work I suggest. Actually, "Pre-Cambria Dreamin" led by a violin maze is a bit pop-ish but their mischievous attachment can be heard here and there. Natsuki's backing acoustic guitar claps are very comfortable indeed.


Johnetsu No Tohri-ame

The air has shifted drastically - "Crunchy Brains" is another electronik cynik (based upon Kazuto’s intention?), with scattered percussion plus drum-machine shots and cheesy tape effect controller-based sticky ambience, that makes us laugh out loudly. "Hyorokudama" is a real dramatic RIO veiled jazzy persistence and ethnic acquaintance eh. Oh yes, one more pleasant delicious dish is "Fugu-jiru", supra-funk / reggae rolling stones created by percussion chopping and synthesizer wheezing. Their harmony can be heard just like blades of a large windmill, also upon another punk / funk titled "Googli-Moogli", a piece of punk-rock-y steak unified with steady rhythms and guitar tensions, and quirky synth-noise quakes ... always a bunch of humour around them really.


Fugujiru

On the other hand, "Saiteijin (The Lowests Variations)" suite should be the highlight in this album really. In the first part, Natsuki's weeping delicate guitar progression upon a dramatic plaintive psychedelic sound river flow like "Shine On A Crazy Diamond" by Pink Floyd. And scenes will alter themselves minute by minute ... powerful heavy rain shower produced by all instruments can make us forget the previous one I imagine ... very addictive and enthusiastic theatre. The next interlude stage is fuzz andromeda with crazy drone and deep inferno. And upon the last Part 2 the Opabinic human will jump up and out of the inferno aggressively, who can vaporize our drone nightmare. Quite bulky passion around the last scene, amazing.

The finish of this creation is cool too. Non-pure, muddy water sound / noise and inorganic ambient palpitation "Minerals", followed by another explosive complex drumming / wildly crying guitar chopping- based heavy sound-wind-shower blows "Tasmania" ... These two full-blown dramas can be suitable for the epilogue in this funny funky fantasy in my opinion.

Really eclectic theatre. Enjoy such an enthusiastic ambrosia.




Thank you for reading this blog. ٩(̾●̮̮̃̾•̃̾)۶
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frogbs View Drop Down
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Points: 24 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote frogbs Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 09 2012 at 11:37
Damo, you know anything of Susumu Hirasawa?  Perhaps his music is a little more technopop than prog, but I'd definitely say there are many progressive elements to his music, especially the further down his career you go.
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That Opabinia stuff is awesome :O
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DamoXt7942 View Drop Down
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Points: 17493 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DamoXt7942 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 10 2012 at 22:10
@frogbs; Susumu HIRASAWA, I'm not familiar with him though, is a superb musician as a founder of MANDRAKE and P-MODEL.
In Japan he's renowned as a techno-pop / new-wave one and has been offering lots of songs / tunes for various artists so far. Smile

@Alan; Your newer album is bloody. Shocked
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