Ｓｔｉｌｌ - PALE FACE

Pale Face is another EP by the incredible post-punk unit Ｓｔｉｌｌ. this has become one of my favorite records. i can't go a day recently without listening to it. it's much better produced than the Real Time EP that i posted a while back, and that's a good thing in this case.

my friend elias shared this with me, and he even told me to post it here. haha.


1. Sweet Warm Rain
2. 時の砂
3. Just A Song
4. 鏡の女
5. Orgel (Live)


ENJOY

美川憲一 - 人生はシネマのように / La vie, c'est comme un film

美川憲一 was a popular enka singer in the 1960s. his career went into decline for a while, but later received a boost in popularity after a dramatic image change. this album is one of his more recent albums. the songs here are absolutely lovely.

the music fluctuates between tango and enka, which is always a very strange transition (from upbeat and sexy, to somber/melodramatic), but it works very well. i think my personal favorite track would have to be "貴婦人 / Drouot" or "サンジャンの私の恋人 / Mon amant de Saint-Jean".

he has had quite a successful (i assume) career as a celebrity. he appears on talk-shows every now and then, but i fear they might only invite him because he's a comical homosexual. yes, that's right; glorious nippon is just as bigoted towards homosexuals in their media as america is. he is there as comic relief at worst, or an exotic bird at best. he may very well be aware of this.

regardless, the music is great.

1. Ouverture～人生はシネマのように～ / La vie, c'est comme un film
2. サンジャンの私の恋人 / Mon amant de Saint-Jean
3. 黒い鷲 / L'aigle noir dedie a laurence
4. 貴婦人 / Drouot
5. 愛遥かに / Da troppo tempo
6. インシャラー / Inch'allah
7. 時は過ぎてゆく / Il est trop tard
8. モンパルナス / Montparnasse
9. 三日月よ私とワルツを踊れ
10. 水に流して / Non, je ne regrette rien
11. 明日(あした)への橋 / Le pont


ENJOY

矢島美容室 - おかゆいところはございませんか？

おかゆいところはございませんか？ is the debut album by 矢島美容室 ("Yazima Beauty Salon"). the album title roughly translate to "do you have an itchy spot?" which, apparently, is a phrase used by hairdressers in japan. ok.

to fully appreciate this album, i believe i need to explain to you their story. it's just a classic story of a mother (Margaret Camelia Yajima) and her two beautiful daughters, the blonde haired 18 year-old Naomi Camelia Yajima, and her lovely 12 year-old sister Strawberry Camelia Yajima. together they traveled to Las Vegas to find success and glory, as well as glamor. i'll let you decide for yourself if they were successful or not.


(from left to right: strawberry-tan, margaret-sama, and naomi-chan)


1. ニホンノミカタ -ネバダカラキマシタ-
2. メガミノチカラ
3. YAZIMA魂 -おかゆいところはございませんか-
4. mamaに絶対恋してる
5. イチゴ ツブツブ ROCK`N'ROLL
6. ナオミの夢
7. 爪の先まであなただった
8. はまぐりボンバー
9. SAKURA -ハルヲウタワネバダ-
10. ニホンジンニナリタイ
11. MURI -ジツハエイゴガハナセナイ-


ENJOY

ｆｉｃｔｉｏｎ - LUCIFERという名のお人形

LUCIFERという名のお人形 is an album by the legendary nagoya based ｆｉｃｔｉｏｎ. i can't imagine ｆｉｃｔｉｏｎ ever had too much success; the first incarnation of this band, GILLE' LOVES, apparently had a hell of a time getting anything recorded. in fact, allegedly their music doesn't sound so messy on purpose; apparently they couldn't get studio time. which is upsetting, considering ｆｉｃｔｉｏｎ managed to put out such a masterpiece. i honestly consider this to be one of the most important albums in the goth rock genre. and it is very goth, by the way. they even do a cover of "the Passion of Lovers" by The Bauhaus. heh.

concerning the music, it's much cleaner than GILLE' LOVES music. GILLE' LOVES' albums sound very murky and incredibly bleak. this, on the other hand, is much closer to G-Schmitt (without the heavy pop influence). it is still very intense, though. the drums are crushed, and the guitars are high, while LUCI’FER LUSCIOUS Violenoue (what a name) sings along in her deep, droning voice. it's every thing i love about early japanese goth and post-punk.

side note: i feel like this may have played a heavy influence on bands in the visual kei scene, considering the spoken word bit on the third track. plenty of early visual kei bands did this sort of thing.


download this ASAP.


1. LUCIFERという名のお人形
2. 悪魔の恋 -DIZZINESS OF LUCIFER-
3. 毛皮のヴィーナス -Venus in Furs-
4. 夜の末裔たち
5. ヴィオルヌの犯罪
6. 情熱は死、彼女(あのひと)は語る
7. HOLY NIGHT
8. 白昼夢 -Day Dream-
9. 囚われて


ENJOY

ps. if you use last.fm then make sure you tag this as ｆｉｃｔｉｏｎ, and not "fiction". some asshole british "indie pop" group has taken over the last.fm page for the artist "fiction" . . . quite literally: users can no longer vote on which picture they want to be "fiction"'s top picture. completely ridiculous, of course, considering these guys are brand new, and ｆｉｃｔｉｏｎ are from the 80s.

dip in the pool - RETINAE

here's another album by dip in the pool. this is quite unlike their self-titled album that i posted a while back. nothing quite as strange is happening on this album. regardless, the vocalist seems to be in complete control now, and the few times they do experiment with sound here it sounds luscious. in fact, this whole album can easily be described as "luscious". soft watery sounds and humming birds flitting from flower to dew dropped-flower. all the same, it's like they intentionally tried to be corny on quite a few of the songs. for example, the awkward pseudo-electric guitars on the second track ruin an otherwise beautiful song (and make it only "good"). frustrating stuff.

most certainly worth downloading if you liked their previous album.


1. オン・レティニー(ウェスト・ヴァージョン)
2. ア・グリーン・スパングルド・ディア
3. マルイ月トゥスヰート
4. オーヴァー・ザ・レインボウ
5. ランド
6. ア・クワシ・クワドレイト
7. ケサラン(インストゥルメンタル)
8. シックス・ラヴ・シクシー
9. グラジオラス(ブレス・ミックス)
10. オン・レティニー(イースト・ヴァージョン)


ENJOY

Hair Stylistics - EXPANDED PUSSIES

Expanded Pussies is a delightful album by the always insane Hair Stylistics (a.k.a. 中原昌也, a.k.a. 暴力温泉芸者). this album isn't terribly loud. instead it focuses on scratching and scraping and buzzing sounds. oh, and sex sounds. lots of sex sounds, as well as other interesting samples.

the most bizarre track on this album is probably "Boogie Night Of The Living Dead". it's almost entirely silent except for some screaming (yahooooo). i don't really understand it, but with 中原昌也 you're never supposed to understand; you're just supposed to enjoy.


1. Expanded Pussies
2. Violent Memories
3. Don't Look Backdoor Man
4. Boogie Night Of The Living Dead
5. Death at the Bodoukan


ENJOY

Siiiii - ANCIENT

Siiiii were a goth-rock band from 1980s that never actually released anything while they were still active. this "album" (put out in 2006) is a collection of tracks from 83 - 86.

the songs on this release are spectacular. they are somewhere between And Also The Trees and The Birthday Party, as far as i can tell. it's absolutely fantastic.

1.		Split
2.		Conception
3.		Overgrown Eyes
4.		Dust
5.		Still Waters
6.		Speaking In Tongues
7.		Statue
8.		Rictus
9.		Equator
10.		Is Still
11.		Fixing
12.		Springheel'd Jack
13.		Over
14.		Untitled
15.		Untitled

ENJOY

Group Ongaku - MUSIC OF GROUP ONGAKU

it would not be inaccurate to call Group Ongaku the first true noise act. this collective began creating experimental music as early as the 1950s. the music that is offered here is like what 非常階段 and torturing nurse would sound like if they were gentler, and less concerned about breaking and destroying. i make such comparisons because Ongaku uses the same squawking and crying vocals as both bands.

i think my favorite track is the final track. the use of violin on this track sends shivers up my spine.


1. Automatism
2. Object
3. Metaplasm 9-15


ENJOY

EP-4 - 昭和大赦-リンガ・フランカ1

昭和大赦-リンガ・フランカ1 is a quirky little album by kyoto based EP-4. the music is like funk music if you ran it through LSD + a snuff film's soundtrack. lots of distortion, and shaking and rattling percussion. lots of funny horns and samples, and the vocalist sounds like he's always just out of reach of the mic. his pinched-nosed singing echoes across the whaling synths and corny guitars.

absolutely delightful. i'm not sure what to compare this to, really, as there's nothing quite like it.


1. ロボフッド・プロセス
2. ザ・フランプ・ジャンプ
3. ココナッツ
4. E・パワー
5. ブロークン・バイサクル
6. タイド・ゲージ


ENJOY