Noizunzurie - Ho-Yo

Indori Igami, Ken Fukuda and Mitsuru Tabata with an album full of enthrallingly odd performance art rock.

LP released on Telegraph Records in 1985.

抱擁

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K. Yoshimatu - Marine Crystal

This one is not on Discogs. No information, but probably recorded between 1981 and 1985.

K. Yoshimatu - Marine Crystal

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Daisuck & Prostitute - 光の海の中で

I'm leaning towards the record label being one of those that "kind of unofficially" release things. D&P were done and dusted by the time this saw the light of day ( ... and there was another one they put out in the same year that I have never seen nor heard ... any help there would be marvelous). Apparently "recorded at Lock On Studio, January to November 1991" but presumably this is a venue as this is clearly live (as in, in front of a paying audience). Also Discogs (which, of course is never wrong) has this as having eight tracks, my copy has seven. As far as I'm concerned it's a live bootleg recorded who knows where or when but a very welcome addition nonetheless.

CD released in 日本晴 Records in 1994.

In The Sea Of ​​Light

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K. Yoshimatu - Emerald Eclipse

Another one from 1983 on DD Records (of course).

K. Yoshimatu - Emerald Eclipse

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Daisuck & Prostitute - Ushirosugata no Suteki na Bokutachi

Four years passed before the next appearance and the sound is different. If they were attempting a more commercial sound they clearly forgot that the weird would get in the way.

Originally released on vinyl in 1985. This is the CD reissue from 1991.

後ろ姿の素敵な僕たち

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K. Yoshimatu - Commercial Romanticists

One of six cassettes released by K. Yoshimatu (aka Juma) under his own name in 1983 alone. Commercial indeed! Be forewarned. The love song to Jenny is adorable.

K. Yoshimatu - Commercial Romanticists

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Daisuck & Prostitute - Shinu Made Odori Tsuzukete

Maybe it's just the way I feel right now but I can't think of a comparator to Daisuck & Prostitute. They just seem to exist on one of those higher planes of genius. It's not possible for me to recommend these people enough.

Originally released on vinyl on Japan Record in 1981, this is the rather excellent remastered reissue on Super Fuji Discs from 2010.

死ぬまで踊りつづけて

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T. Kamada - After Music

Following two 7"s in 1980 and a flexi-disc in 1981, DD Records' owner Tadashi Kamada released a flood of cassette albums, at least 20 of them between 1981 and 1985. This is the only solo tape I have by him, released in 1982 to an audience that still hasn't noticed that it happened.

T. Kamada - After Music

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Daisuck & Prostitute - Daisuck & Prostitute

Ridiculously great post-punk behemoths.

7" released on Altamira Records in 1980.

Daisuck & Prostitute

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Children Coup d'Etat - Children Coup d'Etat

Unfortunately, this is the only other release of theirs that I have ... think healthy Rip Rig & Panic / Pigbag horn sections and King Of The Slums style stab and slash violin.

C46 released on B-Sellers in 1983.

Children Coup d'Etat

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Children Coup d'Etat - Fear Of Liberty

For years, these Children were one of those Japanese collectives from the early 80s that released one tape of obscure gold and then disappeared presumed lost. They then popped up in the early 90s for a few releases and promptly disappeared again presumed lost. Then they raised their heads in 2014 to release this utterly sophisticated anarcho-funk-jazz classic and then fucking disappeared again presumed lost. Maybe in 2023?

Think of a basis of Pop Group, Citizen Fish and Radical Dance Faction and then sack it off (because that just made you download it). Utter genius and as funky as a really fucking funky thing. "Let's Becquerel" on its own will immediately improve your day. Let's face it, you deserve it!

CD released on Hosoi KoBo in 2014.

Fear Of Liberty

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Various - Galaxy & Nū Beauty

As seems usual, the first time is always the best. This time, amongst the loveliness, it's YBO², UFO Or Die, Katsurei, Kuroyuri Shimai and the quite brilliant Children Coup D'Etat.

CD released on SSE Communications in 1990.

Galaxy & Nū Beauty

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Juma - Aqua Cosmos

DD Records was a Japanese label that existed from 1980 until 1985. In that brief time, they released more than 230 albums, nearly all of which were cassettes. I can only say "more than" 230 because the Discogs entry is incomplete. It stops at number 233 with some gaps in the catalog. Maybe there ere more, maybe not. No one really knows! I haven't been able to find any label history, or much information about any of the main players. DD Records was run by T. Kamada, about whom I know nothing more than his name. Most of the albums on DD Records were made by people who, as far as I've been able to tell from my amateur detective work, never released anything on other labels and seem to have stopped recording at the same time that DD Records stopped publishing. The only exceptions are Kimihude Kusafuka, who released one tape under his given name and one as Techno Menses before going on to noise superstardom as K2; Margarin, who would remain a prolific techno and ambient producer as Woodman, Bathroom Monkeys, Arctic Cat and Macaroniman (among too many other pseudonyms to list here); and Naoki Kasugai, who made some psych rock records and a slew of field recording CDRs later in his "career". Everyone else (Pop Company, 260, Vinyl Bomb, Puppets System and so on) remains a total mystery. Isn't it strange that such a prolific and short-lived scene would remain virtually unknown in today's world of instant online information and 1980s reissue labels?

Koushirou Yoshimatu was one of DD Records' most active participants. I've been able to learn a little bit about him: apparently, he recorded a ton of tapes for DD Records, both under his own name and as Juma, then recorded new age and light pop music and some films. Yoshimatu keeps a YouTube channel with a lot of his recordings set, bizarrely, to still stock images. Some of his early 80s music was homemade new wave that's very much of its time, some is abstract ambience, some is grating machine noise. It's all over the place, as inexplicable as DD Records itself. Luckily, a recent double LP on Bitter Lake collects tracks from Juma's cassettes, making it one of the only DD Records reissues (apart from K2's Vinyl on Demand treatment and a self-released run of Naoki Kasugai LPs and CDRs available only directly from the artist and yet unheard by me). Hopefully, other hometaper archeologists will get on board and mine this label for gold.

To introduce you to the shadowy world of DD Records, here's the first cassette by Juma, released by in 1981.

Juma - Aqua Cosmos

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Various - Galax 2

Another mixed bag of Japanese chanteuse, math-art rock, some more traditional capering in a wood with a brass band in tow and a near 13 minute cover of a Van Der Graaf Generator song. It's a lot more fun than I am making it out to be. What's to lose, it's not costing you anything?

CD released on SSE Communications in 1991.

Galax 2

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Xombie - Untitled

2002 CDR by Ryan Oppermann's Xombie, the only full-length album he did under this name.

Xombie - Untitled

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Various - Galax 3

It's really quite surprising to me how much some Japanese artists were mirroring the UK music scene. You can imagine them with the Joe Bloggs flares, bowl cuts and cute little hats. I'm not sure how much this needs to be heard but I've never lost sleep about that side issue before so I guess I'll be OK in the long run. The sound of Manchester City Centre clubs nearly thirty years ago via Japan. There's even a seven and a half minute Zeni Geva track (that I don't remember appearing anywhere else) so that's Thursday night at The Banshee covered. And, of course, there is the obligatory "erm ... what?".

CD released on SSE Communications in 1991.

Galax 3

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Envenomist - Weighted Ghost

"Weighted Ghost" must have been some inside joke between American noise dudes in the 00's, but I have no clue what it means. There are albums with that title by Failing Lights, Spine Scavenger, Andrew Kirschner, Uneven Universe, Outer Space, Evenings, Black Sand Desert, Black Rubber & New Pledgemaster, Sick Llama, Walter Carson, Latrine Psychology Guild, Charlie Draheim, Avulva Accent Thief... and Envenomist. It must be funny to somebody.

Envenomist - Weighted Ghost

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Various - Galax 4

A compilation of Japanese post-post-punk some of which is reminiscent of late 80s UK indie shoegaze jangle-pop (with a part of one track that reminds me of an aggressive Soup Dragons, as though such a thing existed) and others that come with a welcome Slint / Thalia Zedek vibe.

The fourth of a series released on SSE Communications ... this one from 1992.

Galax 4

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Pulse Emitter - Outpost

Synthesizer noise meditations recorded live on the radio, released as a CDR by Snip-Snip in 2006. Pulse Emitter's other Snip-Snip release, "Magma", can be heard here at the artist's Bandcamp page.

Pulse Emitter - Outpost

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Various - Mi Caballito Chulo....! Como Lo Quie Ro.....

Somebody requested this in a comment somewhere and I don't think I even "published" it. Sorry about that if that is what happened. Nobody cares either way.

Don't be sidetracked by the Mexican wrestling, this is full on Japanese weird shit. Sure you get Merzbow, Pain Jerk, Magical Power Mako, Violent Onsen Geisha, Yoshimi and Melt Banana but they sit alongside a whole host of part-time leisure interests. I'm full-on convinced that most of them are down to Yamatsuka Eye. Who cares what I think? Nobody. Not even me.

Strap in for a big old pile of "hhhmmm, this might be just weird shit but I think that I might be entertained and there is a possibility that it's genius" action

CD released in Japan on ¿Los Apson? in 1994.

ps: it's genius action

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