Category: Japan

Modoki – Atom Sphere (2023)

“Power Trio featuring Mitsuru Tabata Japanese underground rock guitarist, vocalist and composer. (Zena Geva, Leningrad Blues Machine, Boredoms, 20 Guilders, Acid Mothers Temple) Mike Vest & Dave Sneddon.
Free form one take instrumental rock with improvised sonic lead guitars textured and balanced with phaser bass lines and a mid-paced back beat. Total unapologetically lo-fi, scuzz fuzz rock, with hints of MC5, Stooges, and Funkadelic.”

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Minami Deutsch – Fortune Goodies (2022)

“Everyone has their own imagination about outer space, and each one us gets to daydream about what exactly floats or exists there. ‘Fortune Goodies’ is Minami Deutsch’s long-awaited 3rd studio album and an encyclopaedia of Krautrock, as band leader Kyotaro Miula describes it. While not all the songs on the record function as straightforward Krautrock this time around, they still manage to capture the spirit and heart of the genre. After relocating from Tokyo to Berlin, Miula’s musical vocabulary has greatly expanded, thus resulting in this ultimate Japanese take on cosmic music in 2022.”

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Minami Deutsch – Minami Deutsch (2015)

“Their sound is influenced by both their love for Krautrock legends such as Can and Neu!, and the band members being self-professed “repetition freaks” who heavily listen to minimal techno. The music proceeds straightforwardly with the Motorik beat (Hammer beat), devised by Klaus Dinger (Kraftwerk, Neu!), as its central axis. Humorous, yet bizarre Japanese lyrics are whispered over a hard, cold beat that is maniacally repeated, creating a pleasant ambience of electronic pulses drifting in space. Sharp guitar tones reminiscent of Michael Karoli (Can) occasionally explode into fuzz distortion, on the verge of collapse.”

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Dhidalah – No Water (2017)

“The history of heavy psychedelic music has been always lead by trios, such as The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Blue Cheer, Ash Ra Tempel, Sleep, Earthless, etc… In 2016, Japan has Dhidalah, a roaring psychedelic doom trio. The group’s name comes from the mythological giant Daidarabotchi, which was believed to create mountains and land with its enormous size, much like Dhidalah’s sound. Give yourself up to their cosmic jam, and feel yourself float around in space. Their sudden, crashing waves of sound will surely turn you to cosmic dust.”

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Kuruucrew – Battle Disco (2008)

“Someone once called them a “Violent Neu!” and that’s not a bad assessment. However, there is nothing vintage about Kuruucrew’s mix of relentless rock assaults and noisy head-banging cacophony. Neu! and other Krautrock bands of the 70’s are often defined by their experimenting with electronics over a steady motorik drum beat. Kuruucrew takes the same trance-inducing repetitive groove of Krautrock’s motorik and modernizes it into a hardcore rock sensation that grinds your head to a pulp. In addition to the stone solid rhythm section, wailing saxophone lines run through effects pedals from saxophonist Akkun (also from Henrytennis) and flagrant guitar massacres from Murata make Kuruucrew worthy carriers of the Japanoise torch. But be careful when getting lost in Kuruucrew’s music, you may snap out of it to find your ears bleeding and your brain washed.”

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