7 posts from March 2008

Sunday, December 24, 2006

DOOM - Incompetant

DOOM - Incompetant
1989

For Doom fans like me it is a wonderful time, because four of their albums are being remastered and released on the 24th of January 2007.
I will of course be buying the three that I don't own yet and probably reviewing some of them too, but for now here is a review of Incompetant I wrote a year or two ago (sometime in 2005).

1.I can't go back to myself
It's a real challenge trying to describe this music xD
Very heavy, very intricate, spiralling riffs and constant shifts in pace and tone. Doom are an Expect the Unexpected band. One thing they always provide is a feeling of movement. I am somewhat impressed by this drummer Jyoichi Hirokawa...he is relentless, and clearly insane. Both he and Koh are credited as doing chorus. Anyway to return to the song, it is a mad start to a mad album. At around 5mins Kohs bass pops to the surface, doing his trademark style of playing the bass like a lead guitar and leaving Taka to do the support role.

2.Eating it Raw
More funky and shuffling. Bass popping out much earlier here, at about a minute and a half. Like most Doom songs this gets gradually more and more manic.

3. 20th Century A Proud Man
I'm...20th Century Proud Man
But...it's a nightmare, too
His Hattery nauseates me...
eh? I was sure that last line was "I'm Heaven Bound" ><
This is quite a simple song, but very effective. At 3.28 we get a major bass out, with lots of amazing fretless type slides going on. Doom don't really do short songs...they love to progress and develop over time.

4. Killing Time
This is a bit more attacking in style. Doom is a fairly aggressive sounding band, but its not in a crude way. They are hard but in an extremely intelligent way. Still its not music everyone would enjoy. Some awesome bass work and then a total shift of pace at about 4mins. Koh fugues out as usual.

5. A Sandglass of the Jungle
Don't stop stop, don't you stop, don't you stop
"A Sandglass of the Jungle"
Any more pain, any more pain, any more pain
"Don't Stop a Sandglass of the Jungle"
Starts straight away with the bass fugue this time. A strange song indeed. The lyrics are a little suicidal, but then so were the last ones. The bass here is really bubbling. So full of life ><,spinning into mad scales and dancing. Beats me how anyone with a talent like this could want to throw it away.

6.Death of False ROCK!!
Oh I love this guitar riff. Of course it all hinges on the bass. Koh is playing quite high at times and insanely intricately, but at the core is this solid bass line that carries the whole song. No-one else can do this >< And as usual the whole thing is building, building , building.

7. I will be with you...
The mellow hippie interlude, with Taka on acoustic and Koh warbling on in a way similar to his solo. Every Doom album seems to have one of these as a little light relief from the high energy thrash jazz, and it gives you a clue to what Doom really are...very noisy hippies. I can't help wondering how well they know Uchida from King Show. We already have the Satoshi Mishiba connection, but maybe there was more links between the two bands.

8. Lost, In My Head
Wow, this is really manic. The pace is relentless, with lots of heart stopping punctuation. I LOVE Kohs voice, it's a bit deeper and very resonant

9. Sympathy for the Devil
Rumbling bass here, overlaid with scathing guitar and Taka being a mad dog on the vocals. Concentrate on Kohs bassline for long enough and you will be Lost, In His Head.

10. Desert Flower
As soon as this starts I am boggling. The drummer has gone splendidly mental, and everyone is racing along behind him. A very exciting song, but it's taken me a few listens to realise this. Often Taka is very abrasive, in his guitar and his vocals, but there is always a godlike purpose to the pain he might temporarily inflict. This song just becomes totally orgasmic by 2.41. It's obvious that these guys instinctively know where to go in a song.

11. Incompetant...The War Pig
I'm getting a Black Sabbathy feel here and kinda wishing Taka would sing in Japanese instead, though it is fun to be able to read the lyrics they don't actually make alot of sense xD
This song blossoms into something really special. I'm hearing a bit of Koh singing I think, first at about 4.20 and then at the the end when they turn it into a blues song. Whoever is singing (could be either in fact) has the most intense deep vibrato growl going :D Quite impressive. Generally I always wish Koh would sing more...I love deep voices.

Conclusion: This is a very good album. Still not as adored by me as Killing Field or Human Noise (both of which I am very excited about finally owning), but it may well grow on me further.

Originally written on:

Sunday, February 11, 2007

DOOM - Killing Field...+4

DOOM
Killing Field...+4
VICL-62213
24/01/07
(Killing Field originally released 1988)

1. Rocking Russian
A waterfall I think, and lots of tweety birds.
They soon put paid to any semblance of tranquility.
Jeesus christ, Koh doesnt waste any time at all here. He is going off seriously early in the second minute.
You REALLY need to listen to this FUCKING LOUD!!!
Describing Kohs playing is virtually impossible without resorting to mad flowery metaphors.
He is like a river, quite a turbulent one, though always capable of being all mellow and tinkling. But he is always on the move, and every spare inch of sonic space is filled with his endless everprogressing filigrees. He fits about a dozen notes into the space normal bass players would have just one, but he does it in such a fascinating, skillful manner that he seems to slow down space and time.
I have endless respect for Takashi Fujita, but lets face it Koh is the STAR. One thing I really love about Taka, he gives Koh ample room and opportunity to express that starriness. In fact when you look at these pictures Taka looks like a vampy grumpy mother with two idiot boys XD
No offense to Koh...
*tugs forelock*
but it's sweet...

2. Killing Field...
Stalking artfully across the soundscape with a higher bass riff that just...uh...cascades brilliantly.
At 1.06 the whole pace of the song shifts up several gears, and Koh goes far beyond mindboggling.
Koh is decribing the actual sounds of life, its eternal rhythms and shapes and melodies. Because of course nature is the greatest artist by far, and those who are themselves great give her that due respect. It seems like in return for being such a wonderful sensitive soul Koh has been given the gift of creating life under his very fingertips.
Fuck! After all this time, it is SO GOOD to hear this in gloriously remastered quality. SO FUCKING GOOD! :D
After the four minute mark we get blasted through into a whole new level of energy. Thats the only way I can describe it. And Koh is still climbing, climbing, always eager to take us as far as he possibly can. No wonder Taka is howling like a wolf :D It's exactly what anyone would do in the situation.
Which brings me to my other pet theory about Koh. Listening to his riffs wakes up areas of your brain and makes you more enlightened. It is like highly complex encoded information that can unlock the mental chains that bind you, and open up whole new neural pathways.

3. Ghosts Of Princess
@#$%^&*#$%^&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;*($%^&*()*()_+_)(*&^%$@#$%^&*(!@#$%^&*(
My LOVE for this song goes way beyond words.
IT IS TOTALLY PERFECT IN EVERY RESPECT.
SO, JUST GO FUCKING LISTEN TO IT
MUSIC=DRUG=MUSIC=DRUG
MIND EXPANDING DRUG?
ok I'll stop shouting now.
2.22 and he just goes right off the virtuosity scale. Theres no doubt that musically Koh Morota is far and away the best. He is not even playing the same game as everyone else.
Koh was specially adapted for bass playing.
A bass freak :D
And as a bonus, also a gentle, beautiful human being.

4. Bad-Priest
LOL! So am I Ghost Princess or Bad Priest? Possibly a bit of both :D
Again Koh is just too good. This time he starts going off at 1.22. Maybe he was also haunted by synchronicity.
This is FULL ON music. You listen to it with concentration and it rewards you, again and again, presumably for ever. Because I have never got sick of these songs and I have listened to them many many times in the last few years.

5. Fence And Barricade
This is a harder song. It's great but, after the last two it has no choice but to be overshadowed.
I'm SIGNIFICANTLY SAD that we didn't get any lyrics with this. If anyone out there has lyrics for these songs please please share them.
They really are making you suffer a bit in this song. Still they always make up for that in the end. And it certainly is impressive. Life is a struggle, I think that might be what this is all about. Perhaps the lyrics have been repressed for some reason....
Love the way it ends :D

THE EXTRA SONGS

I actually have a copy of Skull Thrash Zone volume 1 (anyone want to buy it? make a great present for an X completist) but looking at that there are no lyrics there either. I wonder why seeing as the other bands all have them.
It does tell us what gear they use which I thought might be of interest:

Guitar:
藤田 高志
Takashi Fujita
Gibson LP-st, LP-ct71, Firebird 76
Marshall 2000, 200W, 100W

Bass:
諸田コウ
Koh Morota
Milford Original PJ, Fender JB
BOTH FRETLESS
Mashall 100Wx2

Drummer:
Jyo-Ichi Hirokawa
Premier Drums
Paiste cymbals
Soner Pedal, Snare.
This drummer recorded Killing Field and these two songs from Skull Thrash, but it was Pazz (famously also a member of Gastunk) who plays drums for the next two songs.

6. You End.Get Up! You
While I do really like this song, you can't help thinking they gave it to a compilation of this sort because it had the most chance of being accepted as conventional thrash metal. I mean it really rockets along, but it lacks the fierce individuality of the Killing Field tracks.
Still its very very good...must have made Yoshiki squirm with envy :D
I do love its bouncy vigour. Must have been a lot of fun live.

7. Dooms Days
Now this is MUCH more interesting. Koh is in control right from the start, and he's being so sexy and mellow. Just sliding and gliding up and down that fretboard for the first minute. At which point they go OH SHIT yeah, we were meant to making a facking metal song. Hahahaha! I REALLY like this.
Bass solo just after 2 minutes :O SO GOOD!
Though really everything Koh did = solo if you define that as totally attention grabbing.

8. Will Never End
From D.A.N.C.E.2.N.O.I.S.E.0.0.3
This song is awesome. I love its spiral tendencies. Takas' guitar is truly superb as always. He tends to get dimmed by Kohs brilliance, but the sun chose its shadow wisely. They are totally on the same frequency. Like sound brothers.

9. Parasite
From D.A.N.C.E.2.N.O.I.S.E.0.0.6
OH LOL!! IT"S A KISS SONG XDD
*is so fucking slow*
FUCKSAKE! It sounds much better than anything KISS ever managed XD
3.15 Koh really goes off on one @__@
Song goes off generally in fact. Awesome. I hated KISS, but I fucking love this. DooM have so much personality!

Kudos to the remaster crew for including these songs.

Conclusion: I WAS SO HAPPY WHEN THIS REMASTER WAS ANNOUNCED.
And now I am happy to own this lovely cd at last, after all these years of wanting it
:)
my only gripe is
*wants lyrics too ._.*

Originally written on

Monday, December 25, 2006

Started moving my reviews over here. Could take a while but eventually I will dump Paradox Lust I think.
Not that I LOVE Vox. Far from it XD
But at least things basically stay where you put them, and it's harder for random shits to comment. Have to try and resist editing them too much, because they are like time capsules now, and even though I can see things needing changed, it's really better if I don't.

ザ･クロマニヨンズ<初回生産限定盤>
BVCR-18083/4
The Cro-Magnons self titled first album Special Edition!
25/10/06

SO!
A nice new fresh review hot off the press to celebrate the Summer Solstice (yeah and Christmas too...anything that gets the white picket side of the street festooning their houses in trippy lights has to be good).
Middle of summer here and the weather is...pleasant? Eh? That's something to really celebrate around here XD
And so I write because celebrating makes me garrulous and no-one in the immediate vicinity knows wtf I am talking about. Or rather they do because I've played it obsessively for months and driven them all hatstand.
Yes, I'm talking about the Cro-Magnons debut album.

Early in the year some time, a good friend of mine sent me a link to a Blue Hearts video she had uploaded to Youtube, a song called Jounetsu no Bara. It was an instant beginning to a very wonderful love affair with all things Hiroto Kohmoto (and Masatoshi Mashima of course).

Imagine my glee on discovering that Hiroto and Marcys' latest band The Cro-Magnons, had Katsuji from Gargoyle and Masaru from Sads (& lately Nil) and that they were releasing an album. How could such an inspired gathering of musicians be anything other than divinely brilliant? Absolutely impossible.

甲本ヒロト Hiroto Kohmoto (Vo.)
真島昌利 Masatoshi Mashima (G.)
小林勝 Masaru Kobayashi (B.)
桐田勝治 Katsuji Kirita (Dr.)

I ordered the special CD/DVD edition and it made me very happy, as they included a five song live on the cd, as well as 5 and a half minutes of photoshoots before the gig. The only complaint I can think of to make is about the booklet. Hiroto is still very beautiful and he should have been the one getting his anatomy closely examined instead of that gorilla suit thing. Still I suppose we get to see plenty of his anatomy in the live. I have to warn you, they do pixelate the naughty bits, but nonetheless, clothes on or off Hiroto is one of the most spell binding live performers you will ever see.

1.Killer Bee
キラービー
(by Marcy)
They take this Cro-Magnon stuff very seriously XD Opens with alot of funny prehistoric noises courtesy of the certifiably insane Hiroto and Marcy.
And then the song, which is ...guh!...fucking hell this album is going to be hard work to review. It's a gorgeous, melodic, energetic punk song. Intricate and hard. Brilliantly constructed and divinely simple. And short.

2. Electric Guitar
エレキギター
(by Marcy)
Then, a song I didn't like as much at first but soon came to love. It's the wind up song. The pump em up to action song. In the context of the whole album, it's perfectly situated to ramp up the band and the audiences energy for what is to come. Jesus Christ! (Happy Birthday) Marcy is such a brilliant guitarist. So incredible.

3.連結器よ永遠に
Renke Tsuki Yo Eien Ni
(by Hiroto)
This song starts with Marcys name. And I really hope that the permanent connection refered to in the title is between these two fantastic musicians. Hiroto and Marcy create something together magically, that no one person could ever create alone, however gifted they were.
And the stunningly talented Katsuji and Masaru back them up so solidly. They are playing very much true to their own personalities too and adding their own special flavour to proceedings. It's all really exciting to hear and I hope this band will live on to produce many more albums. Though of course Katsuji must always stay loyal to Kiba, because Kiba is Kiba is Kiba...
To actually describe how good this song is too hard. Just go facking listen to it.

4.GREAT
グレート
(by Hiroto)
Oh God! Talk about making life difficult. How to explain the Greatness? XD He feels so great because he's riding on a tsunami of creative inspiration. It's empowering just to listen to it.

5.やわらかい
Yawarakai
(by Marcy)
They both are. This song is case in point.
*sighs*
Marcy is the greatest guitarist/songwriter of them all.

6.あさくらさんしょ
Asakura Sansho
(by Marcy)
AHHHHHHHHHH!
Too good. I fucking resign.
There is so much love in their music. So much healing. So much wit and compassion. I am floored. They are living proof that if you want the highest creative gifts you need to have a good honest heart and kind intentions. An unpurified vessel will crack under the pressure of divine inspiration.

7.草原の輝き
Sougen no Kagayaki
(by Marcy)
Oh Marcy man, you mad old hippy you, these songs are unbelievable! I wish I could have written such a thing. I wish I could do what you do but at least you inspire me to what I do, and do it with love.
Masarus' bass in this one is particularly crucial.

8.歩くチブ
Aruku Chibu
(by Hiroto)
Cock Walk! LOL! I knew this one had to be about penises. A translation of this would be...most appreciated :D
More apeman noises from the peanut gallery, and then straight into the best of the best, the most brilliant song of all. The best song I have heard in a long long time. XDD
And the LIVE! O.O;; Hiroto is insane, and a genius. What more could you want?
This song makes my soul dance joyfully. And I think that is what I love to hear most . A band that forces you to move, whether its internally or externally. They have to make all your atoms dance.
Whew!

9.くじらなわ
Kujira Nawa
(by Marcy)
A nice bouncy little ditty of a song, with some great "OI!"s from our friends in the bottom end. They are such a relentless fighting force of a band, and yet all rather gentle and shy seeming in their way. It's a perfect paradox, like all the best things in life.

10.夢のロッケンロール・ドリーム
Yume no Rock'n'Roll Dream
(by Hiroto)
Speaking of gentle men, here is the "ballad" or soppy song if you hate that word like me. It's very pretty and sweet of course. These two have always done the slower, emotional stuff just as brilliantly as their more high energy masterpieces. I love the way Hiroto sings in this. It's so fresh and innocent. Reminds me a little of Okens' style. They also have a similarly physical martial arts informed performance style going on. Although Hiroto doesn't pull out the nunchuckus like Oken, you can tell he's into it. After all he's an O type...XD
Don't ask me what all that had to do with a soppy song about the Rock'n'Roll dream.

11.くま
Kuma
(by Hiroto)
Awesome song! Brilliant guitar work! To die for really. Again very innocent and simple but not really if you know what I mean. I can only think of it in terms of art, in which the fewer lines you can capture something in, the greater master you are. To reduce everything to it's most perfect form, that is the game. Divine simplicity.

12.Tally Ho
タリホー
(by Hiroto)
And speaking of perfect forms, here is the fantastic debut single. The single of the year in many ways, although Kiyoharu - Kimi No Koto Ga is my hearts' favourite.
This single was the moment we knew the Kuromaniyons had arrived. And it made me so happy! It's also much more than just an instantly addictive single. It's a perfect shining gem from a songwriter who has made my jaw drop more times than I can count this year as I worked my way through his endless back catalogue.

13.Ma Ma Ma
まーまーま
(by Marcy)
XDD
I love this! I'm not going to even ask what its about. But the baby BVs are so cute :D
Lovely!

14.土星にやさしく
Dosei ni Yasashiku
(by Hiroto)
Love that drumming! And the bells. It's all so festive.
And such a great song, a triumphant, ecstatic finale by a band that knows they've made one the best albums of their glorious twenty year plus career.
Life time honours award for Hiroto and Marcy.
And they are all singing together again now :)
The band that sings together stays together.

NO COMMENT on the hidden extra :P

Conclusion: WOW!!
This the BEST ALBUM FROM A BAND IN 2006, by a country mile.
When music such as this it creates ripples in the psychospace, like an earthquake in the sea. If you don't get hold of the special edition while you still can (if you still can), you are going to be kicking your own bwatty one day.
Big Time
^..^

Oh and Peace and Love to you all.

DVD Setlist:
1. 5.21 mins photo and preamble (includes stills).
2. Cro Magnon Stomp
3. Killer Bee
4. Tally Ho
5. Aruku Chibu (YEAH!)
6. Dangan Rock

Becausecausecause
becausecausecause
the chain of appeasements
is unbroken
will never break off
what is straight will be bent crooked
what is crooked they’ll talk it straight
becausecausecause
measured gait
sugar sweet paws
tiptoeing about the beaten bush

Becausecausecause
becausecausecause
that’s right

Don’t take the advice of those
who’ve long since frittered their winter fat
of opportunities

Becausecausecause
becausecausecause
You notice something must be wrong
with the patterns of the story
from the right angles
missing corners
up to hereditary transgression
becausecausecause
The teeth are being ground down in the works
ideas are stretched thin
all you learn is nothing more than parallel parking
Don’t take the advice of those
who’ve long since frittered their winter fat
of opportunities

Don’t take the advice of those
who’ve long since frittered their winter fat
of opportunities
you have to behead the stars and the moon
and for good measure also the tsar
the celestial bodies will keep their head
but most likely not the tsar

ALLES WIEDER OFFEN LYRICS

Love this latest EN album very very much. Everything Is Open! Such a great title for an album. And its SO addictive, especially Weil Weil Weil, Ich Hatte Ein Worte, Alles Wieder Offen and Lets Do It A Dada (I think my favourite now?). I think it is the best album I have heard of his recent era. It's very mellow but very lush and very much constructed around his vocals. Which are in excellent shape. Getting deeper is a bonus in my opinion. Revealing himself and being vulnerable is...totally adorable! Show your wounds! And I think EN have achieved something no other musicians have really done. The perfect fusion of the digital and the organic.

He has a subscription system run from his site and self published this time it seems, and he gets his lyrics professionally translated into English. Take Notes Jrockers! :P
Ich Hatte Ein Worte for Mr Blixa Bargeld, and that is GENIUS.
Which as you know is a word I never use lightly.
Anyway...
Lets do it lets do it lets do it A Dada!!