James Dean, Yuji Ohno, and the Inugamike (1976-1977)

So once again I'm in the position of having to thank someone for requesting an album, though I knew this famous Japanese pianist / OST composer before from his brilliant work called Inugami, I never would have expected anything from an album devoted to celebrating James Dean!

First, his discography, not complete, can be seen here.  Obviously quite prolific as composer, there are so far as I know only two albums worth hearing, the requested one being one of those.

The other one is this unprepossessing album, with terrible ratings (as usual) on rym, which in the past used to mystify me; here seen with its Japanese title.

First, the 1977 James Dean album.  The music is squarely in the seventies tradition with a mix of Italian soundtrack sounds and more orchestral easy listening.  What is of note here is the sheer quality of the composition, which is really, quite unforgettable even after one listening.  What a surprise, but perhaps explicable by the fact that Ohno was inspired by the subject matter.

The First American Teenager is pure bliss:





That's the first part.  Note how it starts unassumingly with a little lullaby evoking the child, then moves into a minor key before the oboe (clarinet?) takes it up as a tender, melancholy melody (American Dream / American nightmares); then towards the end the beat gets faster and a blues sax hammers out an improv in E minor: the Hollywood lights.  The next part which follows right after (not in the sample above) goes back to the classical music to close out the suite, followed by more ost music, more funk.  Believe me when I say there's no compostion quite like this one in his entire oeuvre - except possibly the long track on side b, which will also shock you...


Moving on to the other record, from the year before, you get more of a mix, with fusion, seventies funk or blaxploitation sounds, plus the usual indebtedness to Italian or perhaps French soundtrack orchestrations.  This for me is his masterpiece.   The composition Meditation recalls any number of the library or progressive compositions from the great Euro-fusion masters of the seventies with the bonus of being perhaps more professionally smoothly played:





The following track shows off his Stravinskyite skills:





Before taking off for the schmaltzosphere, of course...  nothing wrong with that in my books.


Despite the brilliance of these two albums I have heard the later ones from him including Space Kid (1979) the promising-sounding Cosmos (1981), the not-promising-sounding Lifetide (1982), the Proof of the Man from 1977 and Proof of the Wild from 1978, plus a couple of Lupin the 3rd albums (which are wholly confusing), that is, a total of 7 others and was sorely disappointed.  It's a lot to slog through, though if interested you can request those.  I would go so far as to say in their mix of syrupy strings, easy listening of the paediatric kind, dumb disco songs, and simple, commercialized compositions, we are dealing with music of the worst sort, the kind we older ones will remember from the hygienic easy-piano muzak of shopping malls.  In fact, I can't remember any other situation where a great artist in the seventies suddenly became unlistenable so quickly, dropping so suddenly off a cliff.  Usually subsequent albums have a couple of worthy tracks.  Well, perhaps that's too harsh, the 1977 Proof of the Man has one or two good songs.  One in particular is almost Hawkshaw-like with its scintillating synths and strings:





Then, if you don't believe me about the other records, consider the track Dancing Raccoon, from Space Kid (1979):





Yeah. A dancing raccoon...




But hidden in his discography from the period 1976-1977 were those two treasures I present today, James Dean, and Inugamike.  And thanks for requesting the former!

PS your other request will show up too, stay tuned.

Ocean came back in 1984 with Double Vision

More from this astonishing and sadly unknown duo, whose additive effect in their two records in my opinion is far superior in result to similar additions Diethelm + Famulari or Fuhrs + Fruhling, etc.  In particular, as I always repeat, the clear classical education on the part of the keyboardist, whose name incidentally is Peter Kunz, creates some really unheard-of textures and harmonies/dissonances, as in the Ballade Zwo:

Like on Diethelm / Famulari, there also are some pretty gross syrupy songs, as you'd expect from the year 1984-- I want my MTV!

Unfortunately, unless I am mistaken, Peter doesn't seem to have released more compositions to the world.  But thank god he gave us these two X 3/4 hour platters to hear.

And a beautiful new high-quality rip from a clear vinyl for which we have my friend to thank again...

Ocean's Keyboards and Percussion: Melody from 1981

From our Friend Tom at CDRWL

This came as a big surprise, as most of these small German presses from the early 80s are best left alone. And with a moniker like Ocean, a band name that must have been used 269 times by then, the word "generic" couldn't slip my mind. Until I put the disc on that is. If you're looking for references, "Symphonic Pictures" era SFF isn't a bad place to start. It's not quite in that league, but it's not like the world is filled with similar albums to SFF's debut. Plenty of mellotron (including the much loved choir). Maybe Odyssee's "White Swan" is another good check point. On the same label as Nanu Urwerk. This one for certain should be reissued by Garden of Delights or Musea. Both labels would enjoy success with this title.

Totally agree with that, as well in places it reminds me of the classic Italian mellifluous keyboard bands like Le Orme, or any other of the ELP imitations that were so much less harsh.

Their Wild Pig:






Many thanks for this superb sounding rip and the chance to post it for everyone to enjoy!

Anli Sugano's 1st, called いち from 1978

This was not requested nor should it be.  On the other hand, I urge you to go ahead and request anything in the comments section since these usually fall into two categories, either I have the digital copy and will gladly post it or I will try to seek it out if I don't already possess it to determine if it's any good.  (Of course there's a third category, music I have and I promised to never share, which I will quickly mention only to never speak of again...)

The information, if need be.  I found the artist quite entrancing with her slightly more feminine Bette Midler voice and varied repertoire on her sophomore effort (as they love to say in Rolling Stone).  This is along the same lines, with a mix of seventies pop and funk.  It's hard to tell if they're cover songs or these are original Japanese 'copies' of pop hits.

Tracklist (translated)

A
1. My Trumpeter
2. Midnight 
3. Big Time Suzie
4. Akujyo Street ....Bad Women' Street
5. Tramp ...Card Game
6. Hisame ...Cold Rain Like Ice

B
1. Kodokuna Kankei ....Lonely Relatioship
2. Subway Suzie
3. Yume Zukushi ....Full of Dreams
4. Samui Tegami...Cold Letter
5. Imouto Tachi E ...To my little sisters 

First track as sample:





Enjoy it.

Azabu Ongaku Shudan (JPN,1971) [no download, just samples!]

Here's the best true progressive rock album I've heard so far this year.  And what a surreal cover!  Clearly in this case you do-- definitely-- judge the book by its cover!

Here's a very rare album from the Azabu section of Tokyo that appears to have been just discovered. The first track is heavily influenced by 1968 era Chicago Transit Authority, which is a really good thing in my book. Then there's some random messing about in the studio, with some chamber/classical bits, and in comes a guitar freakout - and once again Terry Kath leaped straight to mind. What is this anyway? Off to the AC's notes I went... 

"Things get underway with a blast of driving brass rock-esque jazzy psych, before some spacey classical flute leads into a weird piano and percussion motif that repeats over and over, starting again just as you think it's finally done. You can tell that they're just trying to mess with your mind at this point. Soft acoustic folk-psych follows, but is disrupted by a noisy outburst and radio speech that is swallowed up in ominous avant-garde piano dissonance. A brief flute interlude precedes a headlong dive into wild garage psych, morphing into a full-on psychedelic jam with organ and absolutely insane fuzz guitar soloing. Quietly, a rising chorus of birdsongs emerges, backing a return to the gentle acoustic folk guitar and flute heard previously. But then, a strange surge of fluttering electronics heralds a chaotic collage of Japanese phone conversation, backed by a sinister electronic dirge. Clattering percussion rises from this seething mass, heralding an onslaught of pounding rhythms, droning horns and destructive psych guitar, with wisps of strange noise and moaning in the raging storm. Abruptly, the haunting acoustic folk psych and flute cut in, ending the chaos in a moment of zen. This is a truly harrowing piece of music, encapsulating the bad acid freakout visions you're glad you never had. Unfortunately, side two can't keep up this kind of all-out delirium, and the group's roots as a large-scale amateur music collective come to the fore, with some strange and inept jazz and folk songs, rambling detuned jazz bass and piano, and even a lengthy late night jazz club jam session. However, a few moments of interest are still lurking within. A couple of somewhat experimental classical piano and flute pieces, and a very Third Ear Band-esque number with percussion, flute and droning strings are the highlights, and the album closes with one final brass rock/orchestral blast with bleeping electronics to come full circle. Privately pressed in micro quantities and still only known to a few hardcore Japanese collectors, this album, while by no means a consistent masterpiece, is still an essential snapshot of authentic psychedelic freakout on the outer fringes of the era's underground scene."

This is one of those albums that really strikes a chord because of the time and place. Truly a group stretching the boundaries of what was known - very much a product of 1971, an era when this mentality was the norm rather than the exception. The highs go really high here, and so the corresponding down time is more tolerable. Because there's some serious payoff action to witness. Always a hallmark of an album worth repeated listens.

I disagree 100% with the notion that side b is inferior, on the contrary, let's listen to some samples from that 2-D surface.  Igor's Ascencion (a reference to Stravinsky, no doubt, who died in the same year, April 1971)

Clearly a university musical education composition exercise, but boy does it succeed as such.  Then, as a cover version, they take one of the tritest and most played Beatlesian songs and check out how they transform it, utterly, simply by playing the melody in the correct key of G, but then hanging below it the most off-kilter chords.  A Day in The Life:

Track 13, called Stillness demonstrates the group's feeling both for emotion and for the purest art of music:

I apologize that I can't share more, but these three will give you a taste for the contents, nor are they the only three tracks worth hearing, believe me.

Seek this one out like a ballistic cruise missile, preferably not North Korean.