RARE RECORDS CATALOGUE
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329. IAN CARR with NUCLEUS: “Solar Plexus” (Vertigo – SFX-7402) (Record: Near Mint/ Gatefold Sleeve: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Insert: Excellent). Original Japanese vertigo Swirl press. Nucleus was trumpet player Ian Carr's project and its discography is rather confusing with the different designations as some were called "Ian Carr's Nucleus", "Nucleus With Ian Carr" or simply "Ian Carr" (but with all NUCLEUS members playing). So this disc is basically just classic Nucleus. This one, released in 1971 is one of the best nucleus efforts out there. It was also the 1st Nucleus album on which Ian Carr had complete control over the compositions. Classic 70s British jazz rock fusion muscle bonding on display here, with Carr's aggressive trumpet playing paving the way towards most of these jazzy yet rocking songs. Obviously mapping out similar sonic journeys as Miles Davis in the late 60's and into the 70's, Carr opted for using a large band approach. This enabled him to broaden the group7s sound towards numerous spacey jams infused with rock firepower playing, free form jazz elements and a whiff of psychedelic odors. Solar Plexus has strong rock solid feel with the horns way upfront and the keyboards, guitar, bass and drums providing a solid backbone against which all can unfold. Classic and original top notch copy on the Japanese Vertigo imprint. Price: 85 Dollars
330. ICHIYANAGI TOSHI: “Moving Pulse” (Audio Technica – AT-6601) (Record: Excellent/ Gatefold Sleeve with attached booklet: Excellent/ Obi: VG++). Hopelessly rare electronic masterpiece by Ichiyanagi, only released as a stereo test record 7-inch way (plays 33/3 rpm) back in the late sixties. One of his rarest pieces ever to have seen the light till this day. I can be very brief about this sonic artifact; it is just a brain ripper and an eye popper of a disc. Visually it is without a single doubt one of the most beautiful 7-inches ever to be released, housed in a eye-popping gatefold sleeve decorated lavishly by one of the up and coming Japanese Fluxus visual artists. Next to that a booklet is attached in the gatefold sleeve, fully illustrated within scores and much more, just awesome. The music on the other hand sheds some more light on the poorly documented Japanese early electronic music scene as give insight into Ichiyanagi’s creative process as he messes up new studio technologies and sets out to map deep space by means of all obliterating bleeps, whooshes, static hissing and white noise are almost impossible to locate. The end result are ear-bleeding austere sonic landscapes that are just gorgeous and on of the best electronic experiments ever to be entrusted to vinyl. It is even far more superior to the some of those early Japanese electronic music series and sounds more radical and right up in your face. Recorded in the NHK studio (established in 1954, 4 months before the German Cologne Studio) it documents never before or elsewhere released sonic experiments by Ichiyanagi, released only as an audio test record back in the day, being somewhere in the late sixties. And for those hipsters who valuate their musical tastes molded on other people’s list, reference works and books, check out your “Ni Hon No Denshiongaku – Japanese Electronic Music” book by Kawasaki Koji on page 521. There you have it listed so start drooling. Hyper rare with obi and comes bloody cheap here, so you better jump on it…SOLD
331. IKE REIKO: “Kokotsu No Sekai” (Teichiku Records – SL-1375) (Record: Excellent ~ only one 1mm mark on opening side one/ Gatefold Jacket: Mint/ Poster: Excellent ~ Near Mint). Best copy ever, complete with poster, making this one the rarest of all Japanese erotic artifacts!! Stunning copy that comes with the always-elusive fold out pin-up poster. Probably the best copy that will ever cross your path. Unbelievable, here you have the HOLY GRAIL of Japanese Iroke gems, copies just never turn up – until now. Rare does not even come remotely close to describe the scarcity of this disc, the most depraved erotic and sexiest disc ever to have been put down on wax. Here is what the guys at Boomkat had to say about the album: “This disc is one of a series of releases from the stunning Tiliqua label, and documents an area of Japanese culture most of us know very little about – erotica. Yup you heard me right, and although many of the internet-savvy amongst us will be more than familiar with Japan’s strange take on the world of the naked lady often being compromised by something tenticular and from a distant planet, this is an era more focused on titillation and shattered innocence than anything you might find knocking around on a Hentai babes calendar. This particular lady named Ike Reiko was only a mere 17 years of age when she recorded this record, and was already a star in the world of Japanese erotic movies. Yup in that age old tradition of lying about your age, Miss Reiko did it to slide her way into the seedy world of porn – not exactly buying a packet of fags and a 6 pack of Strongbow is it? Apparently these movies were somewhere in-between the girl-gang revenge movies of the Blaxploitation era and the Women in prison style savage eroticism and dubbed ‘Pink Violence’, with tooled up honeys wearing just little enough to bare their ample breasts while they laid waste to the enemy (men?). I can’t say I’ve managed to track down any of these movies but after reading about them I feel almost duty bound to observe them closer, I mean it’s my job as a reviewer surely to make sure I have as much background as possible is it not? Funnily enough then, with all the tough-gal image the music is pretty darn life-affirming, but don’t think for a second you’re getting an easy listening album here – this is about as sexual as music can get. Throw ‘French Kiss’ out of the window and kiss goodbye to your Serge Gainsbourg records goodbye, Ike Reiko is more sizzling than a branding iron as it makes it’s mark on the farmer’s herd. The sex is literally dripping from every note on this record – I’m told that the style is ‘Iroke Kayôkyoku’ or erotic kayôkyoku (kayôkyoku being a style of Japanese pop) but the sort of naïve jazz and pseudo spy theme movie music is all draped in a shroud of sexual shouts, screams and coos from the clearly excited Reiko. One must assume that she was in some kind of state of euphoria in the recording studio from the evidence on offer here, either that or she’s a pretty realistic faker – it’s a smouldering collision and that’s about all that needs to be said. ‘Kôkotsu no Sekai’ has to be one of the finest gifts for the music fan in search of that killer oddity – not only is it a fabulous record but it’s so wonderfully presented with gorgeous artwork and extensive liner notes, I can’t think of a saucier and more appetizing delight this Christmas. Buy, before it’s gone for good. “Top rarity, one thinks that there are no more than 500 of these babies circulating; most of them tucked away in private collections. Comes with always missing poster!!! Best copy I have seen so far. Price: 750 Dollars
332. The IMPOSSIBLES: “S/T” (Golden Records Ltd – WR-9115) (Record: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Jacket: Excellent). Bloody scare original top-notch copy of this mid-sixties Thai-beat gem, almost impossible to score in such nice nick as this one here. Again, exquisite condition, psychedelic eye-popping artwork, demented cheap organs wailing away against Shadows-infested guitar moves, just eargasmatically cheap and exotic. Top copy hardly ever seen. Go bananas. Price: 275 Dollars
333. INSTANT COMPOSERS POOL: “Instant Composers Pool 010” (Instant Composers Pool – ICO-010) (Record: Near Mint/ jacket: Near Mint). True 1st original 1971 pressing with typographical styled labels. Latter pressings have different label type settings. Killer slide of early European free jazz trench-warfare action dating back to March 23rd, 1971. This slide of mercurial interplay documents the head-on collision and subsequent radioactive fallout that emanated out off the explosive interaction between skin mangler and enfant terrible of the drums Han Bennink and ivory-key/ piano and Putney synthesizer deconstructionalist Misha Mengelberg. This disc is the evidence of an ear-peeling encounter between those giants of the Dutch unequivocal free jazz scene, sucking out apocalyptic energies from each others interaction and igniting ravaging high-energy forms as a result of it. Primitive fury and minimal free blowout aesthetics fuse neatly into one, making this document so god damned awesome. Rare 1st pressing in top condition. One of the cornerstones of the European free jazz scene of that day. Ear-bleedingly great and indispensable. SOLD
334. INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER: “Sov Gott Rose-Marie” (Silence – SRS-4690) (Record: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Jacket: Excellent) Originally issued on the Scandinavian Love label in 1968, this is the second pressing on Silence label, home of Trad Gras Och Stenar and International Harvester. International Harvester were the second incarnation of Bo Anders Persson's group, after Parson Sound (whose early sound experimentation was finally documented in 2001 by Subliminal Sounds). Early in the 60's Bo Anders Persson had envisioned a new kind of communicative music -- would it be possible to create a more contemporary kind of rhythmic music that could play the same role as traditional folk music, a music that was both sensual and transcendent? In 1967 came the answer. The hypnotic feelings of Terry Riley's eternity music + the rough-riffing of The Rolling Stones = a new alchemical wedding. Parson Sound was formed, which started to perform publicly in the summer of 1967. The next year they changed the name into International Harvester, taken from the American company manufacturing agricultural machines, trucks and ambulances. The astonishing thing about their two official recordings is the complete freedom of the music, inspired by a Terry Riley-esque repetitive song structure. The atmospheres of these songs are both utopian and dystopian, mixed with an early environmental awareness. Sov Gott Rose-Marie starts with the strongest of statements: the Latin death hymn “Dies Irae”, played like it was a medieval heavy rock-theme. This was music of turmoil and inner upheaval, mostly played in the slowest of rhythms, but still with a sense of constant change. There are constant juxtapositions going on between documentary sounds and floating states of mind; hard rocking tunes, demonstrations against the war in Vietnam , bird song, sounds from police radio, psychedelic tranquility, lullabies. Sheer brilliance and hard to come by on vinyl. Top notch copy of this freaking out blissful psychedelic whirlwind. Price: 85 Dollars
335. ISABELLE AUBRET: “La Chanson D'Orphee” (Disques Meyer/ Teichiku Records – SUX-17-MS) (Record: Mint/ Jacket: Mint/ Obi: Mint/ 4-Paged Insert: Mint). Never seen before Japanese pressing, rare promotional copy complete with obi in immaculate condition. This is a true soft rock bossa induced classic. In 1971, French singer Isabelle Aubret released this butt shaking Brazilian Bossa inspired and French A&M soft rock perfumed rarity that will keep dance floors bursting with hip-shaking activity until the early wee-wee hours. Although that Aubret was a well known star in France during the larger part of the sixties (she even won the Euro-Vision song contest), the beginning of the 70s was a real downhill period in her career with her popularity at an all time low. And just when she couldn't sink any deeper, she released this sadly overlooked masterpiece that in the recent years gained notoriety as DJ's and hip cats began to cherish it. And right they were, “La Chanson D'Orphee” is the best disc she ever did and one of the finest French albums ever recorded, standing tall and proud next to Gainsbourg's “Melody Nelson” and Birkin's “Dih-Doh-Dah”. The whole album is stuffed to bursting with astounding bossa scat tunes fired up by the stellar arrangements of Alain Goraguer. Aubret succeeds in breathing new life into such classics as Edu Lobo's “Casa Forte”, Antonio Carlos Jobim's “Adieu Tristesse”, Luiz Bonfa's “La Chanson D'Orphee”, Lobo's “Pour Nous” and many more such as also taking on some French chanson tunes in her unique style. Totally sexy renditions, swinging like a bat out of hell, butt bouncing great tracks that will have you on your feet all night long, sweaty with in one hand a tropical cocktail strong enough to flatten an elephant while on the other hand a bomb-shelled busty vixen with lips powerful enough to suck the bone marrow out of your ding dong. That is the power of this disc, just so great and excellent to spin while dancing the night away when summer finally reaches us….highest possible recommendation!! Rare Japanese pressing complete with obi and high quality vinyl. Price: 175 Dollars
336. ISHIKAWA AKIRA & HIS COUNT BUFFALOS with RINSYOE KIDA: “Tsugaru Jongara Bushi – Drum & Tsugaru Shamisen” (Teichiku Records – SL-111) (Record: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Jacket: Near Mint). Fantastic hybrid Japanese rare groove masterpiece. This disc fuses rural Tsugaru shamisen strummings with tinsel-downtown heavy funked up and jacked down jams, interlocking perfectly with the heavy shamisen pickings. Ishikawa Akira’s bongo furies and swirling percussive undertows form the backbone against which Rinsyoe unleashed weather-beaten rural rhythms that in its turn get answered by funky city slickers of the Count Buffalos back band (of Uganda fame amongst others). For this occasion the Buffalos are made up out of Mizutani Kimio (only on the opening track), bass wonder Terakawa Masaoki, Shikawa Hideo on the ivory keys, Muraoka Takeru on sax and Hashima Koji on trumpet. Together they create a highly inflammable mixture balancing on the razor’s edge of seemingly contradictory styles such as rural shamisen minyo outings, brass rock, heavy lethal butt-shaking funk, psyched out jazz rock moves and traditional Japanese music. Upon glancing on the various styles one has the intention to shake one’s head and walk away, supposing this mixture is doomed for failure. But then one fails to put into the equation the musical craftsmanship these key-players of the Japanese early seventies underground bring to the foreground and make this combustible mixture work, taking off towards previously unheard musical horizons. Heavy bass riffing providing a steady almost hypnotic backbone for the swirling brass lines to unravel themselves, hurling themselves in and out of focus whilst sharp wrist-slashingly poignant guitar cuttings intersect with the almost dervish-like percussive rattles, all fusing into one unison with the ancient shamisen pluckings, making this disc a vicious butt-shaking dance floor monster. Hard to believe we are talking about 1973 here. The dynamic of the recording and the interplay of the musicians is almost mesmerizing, especially since Ishikawa is going back in his drum and percussive lines towards ancient and traditional rhythms one still find in wadaiko playing, creating a back rhythm against which everyone is allowed to break loose. In short a fascinating and entrancing recording that hardly sees the light of day and is hard to come by, especially since all the hip Tokyo DJ’s are hunting this one down to spice up their club dates, infusing with some domestic swinging flavors out of times long gone. This disc has it all, break beats, heavy guitar jamming, funky rhythms, exotic-like rural strummings, alienating countrified feel, percussive mayhem, etc….in short a floor burner. Rare masterpiece in top notch condition, original 1973 press and still unreissued till this day…just all time highest possible recommendation. SOLD
337. ISHIMA HIDEKI: “One Day” (Propeller – JDX-7010) (Record: Near Mint/ Jacket: Excellent/ Insert: Near Mint). Original 1973 press, bloody rare original solo LP by Flower Traveling Band's Guitar gunslinger. Ishima Hideki only made one solo album during his career with the Flower Traveling Band and this is the disc in question, cited with an increasing frequency but seldomly seen or heard. In all this is what seems to be a very personal album and can to some extent – if extrapolated to this modern day – be compared to White Heaven's guitar virtuoso Kurihara Michio's solo album. Not that they are similar in any way except that the initial general conception of what a guitarist's solo would be is totally different and light years away from how the artist himself sees and presented his solo effort. And it is the same with this one. Ishima is especially known for his heavy guitar onslaught that provides the backbone for FTB's recognizable sound. Well here there are some guitar based excursions present but the whole album is more of a delicately crafted affair balancing between some songs and carefully penned down instrumental sonic landscapes. So if you are after a heavy and easy fix, this album will bum you out. However, if you have ears and are eagerly after an album with some hidden qualities, then this one is so highly recommended. Endowed with lysergic beauty spells, Ishima's song writing abilities and enhancements for the six stringed instrument give his skeletal music undercurrents of depth. Deceptively casual in some moments, yet intense in feeling and meticulous in its musical detail (partially due to the assistance of Chito Kawauchi) and lyrical economy, “One Day” has all the elements in place to be a genuine classic. What sets him even more apart is his gift for an unexpected impact. Once you thought you had heard it all, he emerges from yet another angle to deliver occasional haunting echoes that are busy folding and manipulating the space. Ishima certainly has a gift of unexpected impact. So some songs and some blood curdling instrumentals beefed up with his trademark six stringed acidic signature sound, this is a highly intoxicating album that grows with each minute you actually listen to it. Extremely rare and hard to get, this is a original pressing, complete with insert. Great copy and a disc that just about never surfaces on these shores. Another gem to crawl out of Japan's psychedelic past. Highest recommendation. Price: 600 Dollars
 338. ITARU OKI: “Shirasagi” (Nadja – PA-3161) (Record: Mint/ Jacket: Mint/ Insert: Mint/ Obi: Excellent). Extremely rare Japanese free jazz gem, recorded and released in 1974. Itaru Oki is a vastly under recorded Japanese free jazz heavy weight but the name should ring a bell if you check the entries on the magisterial “Power and Freedom 14” 2 LP set that contains a blood churning contribution by Itaru Oki. Here you have one a copy of a rare album of Itaru (Trumpet, Indian Flute, Percussion) operating as a leader while being flanked by other under documented heavy weights Ukaji Shoji (bass – normally a sax howler, see his rare solo album), Takashi Tokuhiro (bass), Joe Mizuki (percussion, see his contribution to Takayanagi's Free From Suite) and Nakamura Tatsuya (percussion). Recorded live at a Teruto Soejima's produced concert at the Akasaka Sogetsu Hall way back in June 7th, 1974 the band launch into two sidelong compositions that display a slowly enchanting atmosphere reminiscent to Don Cherry's eastern toned sound spheres before it all erupts into a fire belching free jamming assault on the senses (imagine Brotzmann colliding head first with Arthur Doyle), vicious and hard bopping, like spewing out hot chunks of lava. These guys meant business straight from the start, not giving a fuck about how the audience might conceive the sonic racket. The percussive maelstrom keeps on grinding down like tornado belching up debris on some deserted shoreline while the bass sounds like sawing and shopping away lumber in a Canadian forest. While this is the background crescendo, Itaru keeps on spewing out venomous sulfur induced fumes from his horn, making the whole experience lethally toxic to the exposed listener. After the hiatus grinds down to a slower pace, the quartet ventures into more spread open improvisational territories, less heavy loaded but nevertheless burdened with the same intensity and urge to spontaneously combust on the spot. More space is created for challenging interplay, demonstrating the greatness of each individual participant in this blood-curdlingly amazing slab of heaviness. Everything I expect a fantastic free jazz disc to have is embedded within this LP's grooves, heavy fixes everywhere you look, communal interplay, individuality and bliss-like cut in interventions. But it isn't before long they divert again into frenzied, hard boiling atmospheres of free interplay that is not bound to take any prisoners along the way. Hideously rare but sadly undetected piece of Japanese Free Jazz History. Highest possible recommendation. SOLD
339. ITOH KIYOKO: “Kyoko to AI to Meruhen to – Ballads of Love” (CBS Sony – SOND-66008) (Record: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Gatefold Jacket: Excellent ~ has small price tag tear on lower left). Top notch copy, best one I have ever had. Released in 1969, this is Itoh Kiyoko's first album, a real rare item that almost never turns up. (Her actual debut she made with the Happenings Four, with whom she recorded one cassette tape back in 1966) Right from her debut on she received some heavy weight backup and support by playwright, novelist and all round enfant terrible of the Japanese avant-garde Terayama Shuji who wrote a lengthy poem that graces the interior of the fold out jacket. So with such an alignment you can hardly go wrong. This record is together with Kaji Meiko, Ike Reiko and Uchida Takako one of my all time favorite Japanese female vocal records, dwelling in charming and innocently erotic regions, lush ornamentation, excellent backing musicians and sounds perfumed with mondo infested orchestrations, fragrances of soft psychedelic fringes, sitar insertions, cheap organ back ups and loungy psychedelic sixties mood enhancing attributes. But the main attraction is of course Itoh's sexy voice, hush-like breathing her songs into existence and taking you on a cute girlie excavation trip before they vaporize back into thin air, only leaving behind a perfume of Eros having paid a brief visit. This is quite an erotic listening experience. Copies of this disc are much in demand by those aware of her sparse output. Hereafter, she made one follow-up disc for which she got assisted by no-one less than J.A. Seazer, but that one is three times as rare. Nevertheless this debut recording is so fantastic that words trying to describe her music always fall short. So in a vein attempt at trying to categorize her music, the best I can up with is sexy erotic female vocals induced soft psychedelic mind enhancing lounge music. Highest recommendation. Rare to say the least. Price: 175 Dollars
340. ITS ALL MEAT: “S/T” (White Label – ELS-374) (Record: Near Mint/ Jacket: Excellent). Canadian heavy psych LP. Grey area issue of one of the rarest Canadian heavy psych slides out there, Its All Meat came to prominence in Toronto, Ontario and released a superb, but little known album on the Columbia label in 1970. The band consisted of Rick Aston (bass), Jed MacKay (organ, piano), Rick McKim (drums), Wayne Roworth (guitar) and Norm White (guitar). MacKay and McKim both previously played together with Toronto’s Underworld, whose lone single, “Go Away”, released in 1968, is considered one of Canada’s most sought after garage bands songs. Its All Meat actually took their name from a 1960s dog food commercial extolling its beefy canine chow as "100% meat, no filler!" In all it is an excellent example of early 70's keyboard dominated psychedelia, garage punk and haunting keyboard sounds. A lost classic that will certainly rip the woofers out of yer speakers. Great. Price: 50 Dollars
341. IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY: “It's A Beautiful Day At Carnegie Hall” (CBS Sony – SOPL-126) (Record: Near Mint/ Gatefold Jacket: Near Mint/ Horizontal Capsule Obi: Excellent). Rare Japanese real time pressing of this West Coast gem, here in to condition and complete with rarely seen obi. This is an excellent live album containing an incendiary performance of the band live at the prestigious Carnegie Hall, infusing it with a sunny West Coast vibe. The three big hits from the first album, “Hot Summer Day”, “ Bombay Calling” and “White Bird” are all stretched out to greater than 8 minutes each. But, even the shorter songs have interesting jamming interludes. As with many of the San Francisco groups to gain prominence during the late '60s and early '70s, It's a Beautiful Day is best experienced in the interactive and reciprocal atmosphere of a live performance. Vocalist Patti Santos is stellar throughout and reignited the teenage crush I had on her. The band uses their ability to stretch and reshape familiar works into spell binding excursions towards new horizons. Stunning live performance and along with the Airplane, the Dead and Quicksilver one of the best discs to shed a light on that scene. Rare Japanese pressing with obi in total mint condition. Price: 125 Dollars
342. ITSUTSU NO AKAI FUSEN: “Flight – Part 2” (URC Records – URG-4007) (Record: Excellent/ Fold-out jacket: Excellent/ 4-paged insert: Excellent/ Obi: VG++, has some creasing on lower right side) Comes with always missing obi!! Released in 1971 on the legendary URC record label, which was an abbreviation for Underground Record Club, one of the first labels to document early Japanese psych, folk and acid folk scene. This disc is together with “Flight Part 1” one of the all time best records by this group. The name may not immediately ring any bells, but the band’s front man was Nishioka Takashi who also brought the previous year one of Japan’s most sought after acid folk relics being “Tokedashita Garasu Hako aka Melting Glass Box” record. This disc also dwells into some soft psych and acid folk imbedded regions filled with brilliant vocalizations, delicate mindsets, pastoral images, lysergic mind-numbing atmospheres and delicate lysergic instrumentations that will ooze your mind to relaxing heights after the fall out of an acidic hallucinatory rampaging trip. Great record and getting quite rare these days. Destined to become much sought after in years to come after that a foreign audience has discovered this one. Then the prices will definitely hit the ceiling. Still up to this point largely undetected and ignored by most, this is still an excellent and stunningly beautiful soft psychedelic and acid folk perfumed record. Highly recommended. SOLD
343. ITZIAR: “S/T” (Xoxoa Disk – X-11-111) (Record: side one is Excellent/ Side two is VG+ due to two marks that cause some clicks/ Gatefold Jacket: Excellent). Original 1979 pressing out of Spanish Basque country, fantastic female/ male acid folk album. Sole album from a Basque progressive folk group, this one being named after their female lead singer. This sextet presented two guitarists, a flutist and the vocalist Itziar Egileor and managed to sound like The Trees mixed with some of Tull's folkier elements. Made of nine relatively short but intimate tracks (all under 6 minutes) that are clearly modern folk – creating enough breathing space for freedom and improvisation to expand their wings in - where Itziar stay mainly in acoustic mode without at times not shunning away some licks of electricity to seep into their songs, spicing it all up and giving it a kind of acidic twist. Still other instruments are plentiful abound, superb flute playing, killer female vocals (all sung in the Basque dialect) and some electric guitar licks here and there make their sole album is a small gem of the Basque culture. Itziar may even sound very Fairport-like with an omnipresent Basque touch hovering over it all. As the group starts out with their two longest tracks, they announce the full spectrum of their adventures. The other tracks even merge with various styles such jazz, psych rock, semi-medieval while remaining true to their gentle folk sound without ever loosing the pedals and sounding ramshackle. No nothing like that here, Itziar sole recorded album is a solid winner, hanging together solid, proud and beautiful. Truly a great laid back soft psychedelic folk rock album. One of the best Basque gems around Originals are almost impossible to get and fetch high sums but due to the two disturbing marks on side two, this one goes for 1/3 of the price of a clean copy so…..175 Dollars.
344. IUCHI KE NGO: “Inugami to Kachiku” (Kubitsukiri Records – 1996). (Record: Mint/ Jacket: Mint). Fold out jacket with beautiful inner design, obi, insert, sticker and booklet. Private press released in May 1996 in an edition of 500 copies. This was Iuchi Kengo's first record, following a number of cassette only releases. Needles to say that this sucker is hideously rare and still largely unspoiled and undetected by the larger public. This is in a way a shame because Iuchi's music is highly original and cannot be compared to any artist. True outsider music in the purest meaning of that term. To describe Iuchi's music is a different affair. While everybody is talking about acid folk, Iuchi brings forth a whole different range of folk music, best described as death folk. Heralding out the Shikoku region and only armed with a detuned, battered down acoustic guitar, Iuchi slashes his instrument while pouring out his tortured, bone chilling and creepy wailing voice. He sucks in various musical influences into his sonic universe, ranging from folk, kayôkyoku, to improvisation and noise, blinding it into his own personal and unique style. You never heard anything like this yet! With lyrics commenting on his precarious and unstable mental state, he takes his art to the upper echelons. Can be best compared to Jandek going berserk on a bad acid trip, molesting his relatives, carving up the neighbors and raping his cat all at the same time and recording it for future generations to come. Sadly enough, no more Iuchi recording will be released in the future, since he retired completely from music, hermitting somewhere in the Shikoku region. Quite rare and hardly ever to turn up again on these shores. A stunning masterpiece. Price: 165 Dollars
345. IVOR AXEGLOVITCH: “Heads Off!!” (No Label) (Record: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ gatefold Sleeve: Mint).Private press numbered edition of only 100 copies, this one is copy 37/100. Inside the gatefold this copy has been signed by the band's 5 individual members. “Fractured and fucked in ways too numerous to accurately iterate, Ivor Axeglovitch (a band, not a person) were Denmark's contribution to an as-yet-unnamed musical continuum informed by a 1970's lived to the tune of Beefheart and Ralph Records (a continuum whose U.S. counterparts would be Steaming Coils, The Blitzoids, Bomis Prendin, To Nije Sala, Buxinrut and the like). Though for my money the more tightly crafted Heads Off! wins by a...well...head over their 100 copy debut LP Montarsi, both of these are object lessons in gloriously lopsided spasming art rock lunacy that should make the day/week/year of anyone deeply invested in the notion that godheads pop up like fungi under the combined gravitational pull of planets Beefheart and Ralph.” (VDOandSound aka Eric Lumbleau). Fabulous LP, this is their 100 copies Ltd edition of Heads Off!!...twisted, odd and defying all possibilities to easy categorization, Ivor Axelglovitch just came out of nowhere and completely took me by surprise. Maybe it must be something that is in the water over there, but this Danish group really brings forth some necromantic powders and other weird sonic excursions into their sound, making it a challenging and bewildering listening experience. Detuned and barbiturated voodooistic at times, alienated – atypical and incalculable dissociated screwball puzzling at others, the band sounds hardly like any European act of that period. Arty, yet punk-like in execution; avant-gardistic but uncalculated techno-poppy with a twist towards the insane as well; they are armored with contradictions that surprisingly well gels together into one coherent project that will leave you gasping and begging for more. Price: 220 Dollars
346. IZUMI AKI & THE RANGERS: “Moeru Toshigoro b/w Koi Wa Heart De” (Crown Records – PW-1) (Record: Excellent/ Gatefold Picture Sleeve: Excellent). Fabulous “Girlie in the Garage” styled artifact. Some of the greatest GS artifacts only saw the light of day when released as a single only and this one is such a prime example of a Japanese female garage cutie shredding loose against a GS rocking background. The Rangers came to prominence in June of 1967 when members of the Honeycombs and the Rubies got together. The name Rangers was imposed upon them by the director of Crown Records and their first single was released shortly thereafter on October 1967, being the romantic ballad “Hoshisora no Koibito” Still at the same time the band hooked up for a one-off occasion with model and actress Izumi Aki, with whom they recorded this garage torching 45 slide – which attained a greater success as their own single and because of this the Rangers appeared from then on frequently as a backing band because they just had more success ripping away and supporting some singer or chanteuse. Still their finest moment is undeniable this single. Izumi Aki was an exotic beauty at that time, being a child birthed out of a mixed marriage between a Japanese and an Indian national. SOLD
347. IZUMI TAKU: “Kono Mama De Ii No Darou Ka” (Garlic Records – GALY-99005) (Record: Excellent, only a very few scuffs/ Gatefold Jacket: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Attached Fold Out Insert: Excellent). Very rare private press folk oddity on the Garlic label, a label affiliated with the Osaka based URC Records camp. Izumi Taku is mainly known in Japan as a songwriter and composer for other artists. Still he has been active also in the margins of the seventies underground and first came into view way back in 1969 when he erected his own independent record company called “Fontaine Records KK”, which would shelter his own private imprint “Garlic Records” on which he had the intention to record and document underground folk acts of that time. Released in February 1972, Taku released his sole solo album on his own imprint. Accompanied sparsely by piano, acoustic guitar and a bass (only to be augmented at times with some flute tones), Taku delivers an unique blend of folk, nostalgia, slightly nasal vocals that are far from perfect to be called a singing voice – hence its charm, all set against a late night bar type of warm sounding bluesy back beat group with a beatnik vibe. He certainly was not cut out to make it as a main stream balladeer but he certainly beholds a charm and tonal quality that qualifies to be labeled unique and idiosyncratic. To these ears he sounds like the male counterpart of a late night smoke filled and coffee stained Asagawa Maki with a heavy cold anno 1972. It definitely is an album you need to spin several times before it will get to you, before it begins to unveil its true beauty, like peeling away at the layers of an onion in order to dig up the real treat. This is a stunning beauty of a disc in disguise and therefore it is only know by a hardcore crew of cognoscenti because Taku – how famous a household name he may be – his sole recorded album is totally unknown by most people. This piece of folk art is just one of those discs that have “classic” in capital letters imprinted all over it but only if the listener has the courage, stomach and motivation to take the time to devour it piece by piece in multiple sessions. Only then you will get hooked to it, carrying it upon your shoulders, worshipping it and offering your first born to it. It just has those qualities, but if you only care for a quick fix, you better redirect your attention to your MTV icons and other mind numbing trash. If not, then Taku is your man, providing guidance and the ideal drinking buddy during those stormy cold and wet nights next to the fire. Highest recommendation and only for the hardcore Japanese underground aficionado, definitely not for day tourists…. And rare to say the least, 1st copy I see in 6 years time…Price: 180 Dollars
348. JACKS: “Vacant World” (Express – EP-7704) (Record: Mint/ Jacket: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Obi: Excellent/ Company Inner Sleeve: Mint/ Insert: Excellent). Officially released in 1968, this is the freakingly rare 1st pressing on blood red wax complete with never seen before and totally elusive obi. Hideously hard to track down these days, especially in a stunning condition as the copy you have here. I guess every single one of you who is subscribed to these pages knows the story of the band by now but just in case some points to keep in mind. This was the only disc with guitarist Mizuhashi in the groups’ ranks. He quit as soon as the recording session was over, ending almost immediately the classic line-up. Compared to their fellow GS practitioners who squirted out lyrics mainly confined to boy meets girl and other sweet oozing problems, The Jacks generated dark, morbid and melancholic images, embodying the darker side of teenage angst and its decaying innocence, exposing their audiences on more than one single occasion to the creeping horrors looming out of their lyrical juxtapositions. The Jacks definitely didn’t have any intention to wear flowers in their hair in order to conquer Tokyo, the equivalent of San Francisco, like saliva driveller Scott Mc Kenzie put forward in his hippie theme song. The Jacks were the sole G.S. band whose total repertoire consisted out of their own material spiced up with Japanese lyrics; there where their contemporaries mainly focused on songs sung in exotic katakana English. Another characteristic that distinguished The Jacks from the other combos was their own unique sound, without making overt references to contemporary US or British psych, that steered away from duplicating foreign role models. Their acidic fuzz-laden whiplash set against a folk intoned backbone made them embody a conceptual demarcation with other G.S. sound-producing combos. The Jacks were a highly unique phenomenon. This is a rare press in top-notch condition, highly collectible and probably never ever to cross your path again (beat up copies will be offered to you, beauties like this one – forget it). One of the cornerstones – if not THE cornerstone – of the Japanese psych pantheon. Hardly ever offered up for sale top-notch copy with obi!!! SOLD
349. JACKS: “Vacant World” (Express – EP-7704) (Record: VG++ ~ EX/ Jacket: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Insert: Excellent/ Company Inner Sleeve: Excellent). Officially released in 1968, this is the freakingly rare 1st pressing on blood red wax. Same story as here above, nice copy but obi is missing and the disc has some scuffs, still comes dead cheap for a 1st pressing on red wax. SOLD
350. JACKS: “Echoes in the Radio” (Eastworld – WTP-72433) (Record: Near Mint/ Jacket: Near Mint/ Obi: Near Mint/ Insert: Near Mint). Top copy. 1st original ltd pressing out of 1986, containing previously unreleased material. Previously unreleased Jacks material. Three live recorded radio sessions dating back to February 18th, 1967, June 10th, 1967 and January 28th, 1968. The whole affair was recorded for the Nippon Housou's “ Folk Village” program and several live sessions were staged at that period. They all shed some light on different trimmed down and intimate Jacks' line-ups that sound unlike any of the other recordings they did, making this recording such a highly valued historical artifact. The first session of February 18th, 1967 sees this group as a mere duo consisting out of Hayakawa Yoshio and guitarist Takahashi. This was the first recording under the Jacks banner and one of the very few surviving recordings with Takahashi Suehiro as guitarist!! The second session of June 10th, 1967 sees an altogether different Jacks in action, this time consisting out of Hayakawa, Mizuhashi Haruo on guitar (replacing Takahashi who had left the line-up by then) Tanino Hitoshi on bass and Kida Takasuke on drums, all fellow Wako High School students at that time. This is the earliest recording of this line-up and interesting to notice that Kida only used a snare drum and cymbal, adding but a sparse backbone to the already minimal set. Just bone-chillingly awesome!! The third recorded session here present of January 28th, 1968 sees again the band in a phase of transition, this time slimmed down to a trio comprised out of Tanino on electric bass and Kida manhandling the drums, churning out a stripped down rock sound. Awesome stuff that sheds another light on the jacks sound and again reestablishing them as one of Japan's most original bands to come out of that era. Doomed psychedelic folk rock with a twisted edge for the musical insane. Highest recommendation ever!! Price: 75 Dollars
351. JACKS: “2nd Jacks Show - Live '68 ‘7 ‘24” (Private – Jacks Fan Club – DM-4-50) (Record: Excellent/ Gatefold Jacket: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Imprinted Inner sleeve: Near Mint/ Poster: Near Mint). OK let's get things clear right from the start and bring out the big guns. This is the rarest Jacks and one of the rarest Japanese psych artifacts ever released, the Jacks live album privately pressed and put out by the Jacks fan club back in 1968~9 in an edition of 250 to 300 copies. Never offered for sale (apart from inferior boot copies, if you can compare it to an original – music wise as well as package wise – the difference will hit you in the face as hard as a flock of seagulls picking on your balding skull) but here it is. First time I could lay my hands on a copy as well as lay my eyes upon one. Never even turns up here in Japan and a zillion time more rare than Genya Sai 2 LP or any other album you can throw at me (apart from Uganda, Keiantaiheiki and Sato Masahiko & Soundbrakes of course). This copy here is the best copy around I believe, complete with poster and all. The music on the other hand is just brilliant and gives a rare glimpse at the Jacks live in concert way back in July of 1968, at the height of their powers. They rip through classics like “Marianne”, sounding even desolater than ever before with Hayakawa Yoshio wailing away in nasal voice pregnant with a serious case of bird flu, “Gloomy Flower”, “Love Generation” and “Vacant World” amongst others. Teenage angst, despair, big city paranoia and lysergic dementia form the backbone against which the band unlock their barrels and start shooting out venom and bleak unfretted nihilism instead of flowers and patchouli fumes. Just brilliant. Highly sought-after, almost never ever offered for sale before and in top notch condition original pressing out of 1968, this one of those unattainable and unfindable Holy Grails. And a Grail it is indeed. Top copy complete in laminated gatefold, imprinted inner sleeve and poster. Price: 1500 Dollars
352. JACKS: “Karappo no Sekai – Jacks no Subete” (Express – ETP-8179) (Record: Near Mint/ Fold Out jacket: Mint/ Obi: Mint). Rarely seen white label promotional copy! Very rare original copy of this historical jacks LP housed in a stunning silver laminated fold out jacket. Comes with the always missing obi, making this disc top quality collection shit. The Jacks hardly need any introduction I guess. They were without a single doubt the most original psych outfit to emerge amidst the copy cat GS boom. Bleak lyrics, killer fuzz attacks, lysergic attacks on the senses, in one word some of the best psychedelic garage ever to be put down on wax. This copy here was a sort of a compilation album that came out at the time, collecting their greatest songs and housed in a silver layered jacket you could die for. These original copies, as this one, hardly NEVER surface and if they surface at all the condition is most of the times a thing one could cry over. This copy here is almost virginally pristine. A top copy, extremely collectable and still affordable. Highest recommendation. Price: 175 Dollars
353. JAN DUKES de GREY: “Mice and Rats In the Loft” (Transatlantic – TRA-234) (Record: Excellent with only a very few hairlines/ Gatefold Jacket: Excellent). In one word, this disc is massive. Loose and raw, this LP possesses a built-in sense of intuitive taste which gives it immediacy and potency with everything flying frenziedly around, pregnant with a furious torrent. It ranges right up there with classics like Comus' First Utterance and Simon Finn's Pass the Distance, Jan Dukes De Grey's 1971 LP Mice and Rats in the Loft is a brilliant work of psychedelic folk with a seething undercurrent of malevolence. After their first album, the duo of Derek Noy and Michael Bairstow enlisted drummer Denis Conlan into their ranks and quickly disposed all notions of pop song craft to which they might have initially aspired. The final result was this beast, opening up with an un-commercial 19-minute sidelong "Sun Symphonica," a dervishly dynamic work of epic genius, fusing together a hippie paean to the sun with progressively darker and more twisted realms of sonic dementia. Infused with references to medieval idioms popular in British folk of this period and impregnating it all with a fireball energy that opens up whole sonic vistas you never dreamt were there. Axe wielding 12-string guitar, violin, cello, flute, clarinet, recorder, harmonica and a dizzying assortment of percussion, the trio plays with the eager of an experienced free jazz ensemble, excreting two sides opening up like a suite rising in intensity and energy until something just have to give due to the lysergic potion it all got stewed in. As "Sun Symphonica" trudges on through its many moods and phases, it gradually becomes clear that a distinctly pagan formula is at work, busting its true for virtual anonymity. By the 15-minute mark, the track is a swirling maelstrom of simmering instrumental fragments flying around the stereo channels in a lunatic dance, as the "sunshine" mantra returns once more. Side two sees the song experiences a radical break with structure and turns into a seething echo chamber of wicked guitar improvisation. The final track is also by far the strangest, the eight-minute title track, which creates a hypnotic whirlpool of electric fuzz guitar The energy and ferocity which have been mounting since the needle hit the first groove slowly accumulating in an almost vertical assent which comes on like a whirlwind. with musical behemoth's energies peaked to the fullest. Just jaw droppingly great and rare as peglegged golem on Christmas eve. Price: 450 Dollars
354. JANIS JOPLIN: Get It While You Can b/w Half Moon” (CBS Sony – CBSA-82123) (Record: Excellent/ Picture Sleeve: Excellent). Titled in Japanese as “Ai Wa Ikiteru Uchi Ni”, this is a seldom seen Janis Joplin Japan only 7 inch. Great condition Japan only picture sleeve release. Price: 40 Dollars
355. JANUS: “Gravedigger” (Harvest – 1C062-29433) (Record: Near Mint/ Jacket: Excellent) Original 1972 German pressing. Insert is missing. Totally deranged and awesome heavy psych/prog record of 70's British heavy-progressive-kraut sounding moves that feature blistering phased out catchy but wailing fuzz guitars, hard rockin' vocals and many improvised torrents. Sadly enough, the times were against them and they only issued one LP in 1972 only released at that time on the German arm of Harvest Records. before sinking back into the black hole of anonymity. Hereafter Janus was an enigma for almost two decades. As they were actually British, their sole album however was very much a product of the Krautrock era, as Janus was based in Germany at the time. Hell, even Harvest presented them as a Krautrock band. Next to that all of the production were courtesy of German luminaries, making that it had a certain Teutonic feel hanging over it, a vibe that fused a heavy rock aesthetic with psychedelic and cosmic moves. Their classic "Gravedigger" album was remarkably put together in 24 hours of studio time. Side one had the excellent heavy progressive classic "Red Sun" and a couple of other songs on it, making it a real brain ripper of a side. Side two featured the 20-minute title track, full of dark images with acoustic guitars and strings accompanying the sparse lyrics that simply reiterated "The Gravedigger's arm is waiting for you!" over an over again, sucking you slowly in, deeper and deeper into a meandering lysergic undertow. Truly a fantastic album and slightly underrated masterpiece. Top notch copy! Price: 200 Dollars
356. Japanese Actuel – PAUL BLEY: “Ramblin'” (Actuel – Actuel-12) (Record: Near Mint/ gatefold Jacket: Near Mint/ Attached Insert: near Mint). Virginal copy! Another Actuel classic, top notch high level original 1st Japanese pressing. They do not come any better than this. Get them while you can! Price: 25 Dollars
357. Japanese Actuel: JACQUES COURSIL UNIT: “Way Ahead” (BYG Records BYG-19) (Record: Mint. Fold Out Jacket: Mint/ Insert: Mint/ Obi: Mint) Actuel 19. Again a monster. Line-up Jacques Coursil (trumpet), Arthur Jones (alto), Beb Guerin (bass) and Claude Delcloo (drums). Again original Japanese pressing with obi and insert, all in mint condition. Highest recommendation. Price: 40 Dollars
358. Japanese Actuel: GRANCHAN MONCUR III: “New Africa” (BYG Records – BYG-22) (Record: Mint. Fold Out Jacket: Mint/ Insert: Mint/ Obi: Mint) Actuel 22 in the series. Again a total mind ripper in totally mint condition. First time Japanese press, original with rarely seen obi. Personnel on this monster consists out of Granchan Moncur (trombone), Roscoe Mitchell (alto and piccolo), Archie Shepp (tenor), Dave Burrell (piano), Alan Silva (bass) and Andrew Cyrille (drums). Wow, with such a hard blowing line-up nothing can go possibly wrong. You are in for one serious head spin. Again, rarely seen and I should better keep this stuff myself. Price:50 Dollars
359. Japanese Actuel: KENNETH TERROADE: “Love Rejoice” (BYG Records – BYG-24) (Record: Mint. Fold Out Jacket: Mint/ Insert: Mint/ Obi: Mint) Actuel 24. Personnel on this one consist out of Kenneth Terroade (tenor & flute), Ronnie Beer (alto, tenor & flute), Evan Chandley (bass clarinet, flute), Francois Tusques (piano & balafon), Beb Guerin and Earl Freeman (basses) and Claude Delcloo (drums). Fantastic disc, stellar music, spiritual jazz. Rare find with obi intact. First time Japanese press in totally mint condition. I should better keep this sucker myself. Price: 45 Dollars
360. Japanese Actuel: ARCHIE SHEPP and the Full Moon Ensemble: “Live in Antibes Vol. 1” (BYG Records – BYG-32) (Record: Mint. Fold Out Jacket: Mint/ Insert: Mint/ Obi: Mint) Actuel 32. Another brain ripper, the first volume, preceding the one listed here below. Every album Shepp did for the Actuel label is a killer and sounds like no other free jazz record ever to be put down on wax. They are all classics. On this one he gets aided by luminaries like Alan Shorter (Fluegelhorn, voice), Clifford Thornton (valve trombone, shenai, piano), Archie Shepp (tenor, piano, voice), Joseph Dejean (guitar – just vicious), Beb Guerin (bass), Claude Delcloo (drums). Recorded live in concert at the seaside resort Juan-les-Pins (hard to imagine that these guys ever ripped through the night skies there seen the snobbery status of the town now). Stellar free music, a must. Price: 60 Dollars
361. Japanese Actuel: ARCHIE SHEPP and the Full Moon Ensemble: “Live in Antibes Vol. 2” (BYG Records – BYG-34) (Record: Mint. Fold Out Jacket: Mint/ Insert: Mint/ Obi: Mint) Actuel 34. Another brain ripper, the successive volume to the one listed here above. Every album Shepp did for the Actuel label is a killer and sounds like no other free jazz record ever to be put down on wax. They are all classics. On this one he gets aided by luminaries like Alan Shorter (Fluegelhorn, voice), Clifford Thornton (valve trombone, shenai, piano), Archie Shepp (tenor, piano, voice), Joseph Dejean (guitar – just vicious), Beb Guerin (bass), Claude Delcloo (drums). Recorded live in concert at the seaside resort Juan-les-Pins (hard to imagine that these guys ever ripped through the night skies there seen the snobbery status of the town now). Stellar free music, a must. Price: 60 Dollars
362. Japanese Actuel: ARCHIE SHEPP: “Blase” (BYG Records – BYG-21) (Record: Mint. Fold Out Jacket: Mint/ Insert: Mint/ Obi: Mint) Actuel 21. Another instant classic, original Japanese press in mint condition with obi. Superior sounding vinyl. Line-up: Archie Shepp (tenor), Jeanne Lee (voice), Chicago Beau & Julio Finn (harmonica), Dave Burrell (piano), Malachi Favors (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums), Lester Bowie (trumpet & fluegelhorn). Jeanne Lee's vocalizations on this one are awesome, giving a whole different dimension to fire music. A killer and all time classic. Price: 55 Dollars
363. Japanese Actuel: ARCHIE SHEPP: “Yasmina A Black Woman” (BYG Records – BYG-4) (Record: Mint. Fold Out Jacket: Mint/ Insert: Mint/ Obi: Mint) Actuel 4. This is one of those all time classics, one of those discs that helped to define a genre. The line-up on this vicious blaster consists out of Clifford Thornton (cornet), Lester Bowie (trumpet), Arthur Jones (alto), Archie Shepp (tenor & voice), Roscoe Mitchell (bass sax), Dave Burrell (piano), Malachi Favors and earl Freeman (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums), Sunny Murray (drums), Art Taylor (Rhythm logs), Laurence Devereaux (balafon), hank Mobley (tenor). Wow, this is hardcore, all incinerating shit. Practically reads as a who is who of the free jazz world, Art Ensemble is also present, all the heavy weights of the scene interact with each other taking this baby to previously unreachable spiritual heights. Ultimate classic, totally mint and original Japanese press with rarely seen obi. I must be insane of letting this one go…. Price: 55 Dollars
364. Japanese Actuel: ARCHIE SHEPP: “Poem For Malcolm” (BYG Records – BYG-16) (Record: Mint. Fold Out Jacket: Mint/ Insert: Mint/ Obi: Mint) Actuel 16. Again, another instant classic. For this one Shepp gets flanked by Burton Green (piano), Alan Silva (bass), Claude Delcloo (drums), Philly Joe Jones (tympani), Grachan Moncur III (trombone), hank Mobley (tenor), Vince Benedetti (piano), Malachi Favors (bass). Total brilliance on black shiny gold. A killer that takes no prisoners and does not surrender. Awesome!!! Price: 55 Dollars
365. Japanese Actuel: SUNNY MURRAY: “An Even Break – never give a sucker” (BYG Records – BYG-30) (Record: Mint. Fold Out Jacket: Mint/ Insert: Mint/ Obi: Mint) Actuel 30. Another blast of total freedom, spearheaded by one of the greatest drummer that still roams the face of this earth. Personnel: Byard Lancaster (alto, soprano, bass clarinet, flute), Kenneth Terroade (tenor, flute), Malachi Favors (bass), Sunny Murray (drums, balafon, poetry reading). One of the greatest discs recorded by Murray. Again original Japanese press on killer quality vinyl with insert and obi. Rare to say the least, hardly ever turn up. Price: 70 Dollars
366. JEAN FRANCOIS PAPIN: “Insane Dances” (Private – Upon Tyne 382) (Record: Near Mint/ Jacket: Excellent/ Insert: Near Mint). Released in an edition of 200 ~ 300 copies way back in 1982, this is still an undetected gem out of France's sub-cultural sewer system. Still undetected by the larger crowd (or any crowd for that matter) but nevertheless impossible to track down, Jean-Francois Papin sole recorded artifact is one of these rare gemstones that surfaces every other decade or so. Music wise it sounds like a mid-seventies delicately crafted acid folk gem with Papin handling tubular bells, little bronze ashtray, millboard box, synthesizer, electric guitar. Acoustic guitar, bongos and maracas augmented at times with treated vocals that make him sound like the Wild Man Fisher, Ed Askew or ESP's Jim Holmberg (aka MIJ) all mixed up together. The strange thing is that we are speaking 1983 here and hell this disc does not even sound remotely like an eighties disc, more like a mid seventies homebrewed chaotically structured acid folk psych gem. Some tracks like “Insane dances” and “Bach Back?” were comprised out of live improvisations put upon live improvisations. So while being perfumed with some folky, psychy and lysergic touches, Papin also infused some avant-garde elements – such as one side that consists mainly synth dominated noodlings and spaced out musings – against his alter ego on the other side that sees him dwelling more into the loner downer demented acid folk with acoustic primitive guitar strummings against a minimal exploited electronic tweeting and fuzzed out guitar solos raging amok in the far back of the mix while his distorted vocals and desolate ramblings reveal either a mad genius in a straight jacket or a serial killer high on ephedrine. Speaking of a musically split personality, this is food for psychiatrists or for adventurous music geeks who like their sounds seriously twisted and hopelessly obscure. First time in all these years of vinyl sniffing that I encountered a copy I can spare. Truly demented music here folks, hard to pin-point and at times it reminds me of other luminaries out of France such as Heratius but then again not. Brilliance in disguise and a disc that will have you puzzled for days on end but once you get it, this one will haunt you forever, a classic. Price: 250 Dollars
367.   JEFFERSON AIRPLANE: “Golden Album” (RCA Victor – SRA-5121) (Record: VG++ ~ EX, has some very faint marks here and there but looks and plays EX/ Gatefold Jacket: Excellent). Hideously rare Japan only released Jefferson Airplane slide that comes in Japan only gatefold jacket. Black vinyl issue of this hideously rare album. Original 1960 pressing and hyper rare. Amazingly rare original 1968 Japanese only 14-track LP on the Victor label, pressed on superior vinyl. Superb unique laminated gatefold picture sleeve with Japanese text & lyrics inside. Monster rarity and top copy!! Only has some minor paper scuffs here and there and a little hairline, looks and plays EX but due to these flaws this copy comes bloody cheap, especially when knowing that regular copies goes for 2 or 3 times this amount. So don’t sleep on it SOLD
368. JEFFERSON AIRPLANE: (RCA Victor – SX-104) (Record: Excellent/ Fold Out Jacket: Excellent/ Obi: Excellent). Comes with insert attached to fold out jacket. Released in 1974 Japan only Jefferson Airplane compilation album focusing on their early days and complementing it with some rare live cuts. Comes with never seen different artwork and photo material only used for this release. Comes with stiff hardboard cover fold out jacket, a true sight for soar eyes. Music wise, it focuses on the Airplane best period, ultra psychedelic outings with Kaukonen's lysergic guitar licks all over the place, Cassady's bass right under your nose and Grace Slick's hypnotic vocals tearing down walls. They were so great, makes you wonder where the Starship crap originated out from. Stellar and almost never seen, making this disc an ultra collectible rarity needed by every self respecting West Coast die hard. Highest recommendation and rare as can be expected. Price: 165 Dollars
369. JERUSALEM: “S/T” (Deram – SDL-6) (Record: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Gatefold Jacket: Excellent, small 2cm upper split seam, for the rest just impeccable). Original 1972 UK pressing. Produced by Deep Purple's Ian Gillan, this UK outfit's 1972 album is an excellent display of early 70's UK heavy rock recorded at Ian's own Kingsway Studio. Lengthy tracks (typical of the era) like "Hooded Eagle" follow the Leafhound/May Blitz school of UK progressive/ psych hard rock bands while "I See the Light" is a shorter heavy 3 minute romp. This was certainly the heaviest album to appear on Deram label. The band's raunchy, unpolished and brutal rock was way ahead of its time and therefore they failed to make it and break through into the air-headed mainstream junk. As primarily a live band they gigged throughout Europe and shared the same stage as bands such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and Status Quo. And live they generated up a storm because they were different, raw and unbridled and spoiled by any commercial success. Right from the opening track on the mood is set, heavy riffing, snarling and wailing vox flashing through, amphetamine fueled guitar antics, killer bee rhythm section and a totally wasted overall approach. They could easily rival Black Sabbath and Purple at that time but for some reason that is beyond my comprehension they failed to attain the same stature, instead doomed for a eternal existence as a footnote in British heavy psych/ hard rock' history. Awesome record and getting impossibly rare these days especially if you want a copy in such a near pristine condition as this one here. Still comes quite cheap. Price: 350 Dollars
370. JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE: “Axis Bold As Love” (Polydor – SMP-1398) (Record: Excellent/ Jacket: Excellent). Comes housed in a Japan only alternate psychedelic cover. The music needs no introduction I guess. This Japanese 1st pressing is a hard one to dig up. Jacket is stunningly beautiful. Getting damned bloody rare. Highest recommendation. Price: 400 Dollars
371. JIMI HENDRIX: “Band of Gypsies” (Polydor - MP-2108) (Record: Excellent, has only a very few light paper scuff hairlines/ Gatefold Jacket: Excellent/ Obi: Near Mint). Top copy of this subliminal Hendrix record. This is the 1st Japanese pressing of that time, complete with gatefold sleeve and the always missing obi present and in top shape. Music needs no explanation, a classic disc with Hendrix playing a New Year's Eve gig at the Fillmore East in 1969 with his new band consisting out of Buddy Miles and Billy Cox, executing some vintage classics such as “Machine Gun” and “Power of Soul”. One of those key-Hendrix releases anyone should own. Rare Japanese 1st pressing and highly recommended. Price: 65 Dollars
372. JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE: “Purple Haze & Hey Joe b/w Foxy Lady & Burning of the Midnight Lamp” (Polydor Japan – SKP-1145) (Record: Near Mint/ Tip Back Picture Sleeve: Near Mint). Rare Japan only 4 track single with picture sleeve, playable at 33 RPM. Pressed by Nippon Grammophon Co., so you know that means quality. Top condition. Price: 70 Dollars
373. JOAN LA BARBARA: “Voice is the Original Instrument” (Wizard Records – RVW-2266) (Record: Excellent/ Jacket: VG++ ~ Excellent). Recorded on February 26, 1976, Barbara's debut album. Joan La Barbara's career as a composer/performer/sound artist explores the human voice as a multi-faceted instrument expanding traditional boundaries, creating works for a wide array of media, developing a unique vocabulary of experimental and extended vocal techniques (multiphonics, circular singing, ululation, and glottal clicks that have become her "signature sounds"). “This album, her first, presents what are essentially etudes, albeit ones that sound like no etude ever written. Be it a haunting meditation on all the possible timbres and tones that can be achieved on a single pitch, a disconcerting sensory deprivation exercise, an attempt at circular breathing while singing, or an exercise in multiphonics (singing multiple tones at one, also known as overtone singing or throat singing, a common feature of the indigenous vocal music of Mongolia, specifically in Tuva), La Barbara comes to each with a playful excitement. Her fascination with the overlooked corners of the voice is quickly apparent. The most amazing moment of this disc is when you realize that there is no overdubbing, that everything here was created and recorded in real time with just her vocal chords as the source. Like many of the sounds that come out of the avant-garde, La Barbara's voice is the result of embracing the freedom and curiosity of a young child and critically considering the yelps and howls they make. The best music comes only when you're willing to relax and not take yourself too seriously.” (Dusted). In short a milestone recording, essential to anyone even vaguely interested in the avant-garde aesthetic of the vocal range originating out of the human larynx. A chilling piece de résistance. Original pressing. Price: 75 Dollars
374. JOAO GILBERTO: “S/T or Aguas De Marco” (Polydor Japan – MP-3084) (Record: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Jacket: Near Mint/ Insert: Near Mint). TOP COPY in relief jacket!!!! Original 1973 Japanese pressing on high quality vinyl, following the Brazilian press. According to these humble ears, this disc is without a doubt one of the single greatest recordings ever made, sparse but ringing with beauty. João Gilberto, sometimes referred to as the “White Album” of bossa nova, appeared in 1973, and featured a cool, almost mystical sensibility, his first discernible departure from the original sound of a decade earlier. It is an album that gains it's power by merely implying instrumentation. It creates atmosphere from it's lack of it. “less is more” and definitely so. It features Joao Gilberto singing and playing, and occasionally Sonny Carr joins in with some of the most precise percussion I've ever heard. The album begins with a genuine classic, quickly abandons lyrics in the following track, then vocals altogether. The voice returns for a beautifully sung ballad and follows it up with an intense samba. Side two takes the same formula and puts it in a different order with equally great results. Simply put, this is a masterpiece of minimalism. One integral characteristic of Bossa Nova, its minimalism, is carried to extremes: other than João's acoustic guitar, the only other instrument here is the sparest drums by Sonny Carr. The disc explains why all the other Bossa Nova interpreters worship João Gilberto: his complex, meandering harmonies and his acute sense of rhythm, his unembellished singing, and his masterful art of microphone singing: all these elements can be admired and enjoyed here. The recording is clear and quite intimate; the chosen songs are classic Bossa Nova tunes. Simply one of the best discs ever made. Too much beauty for one to handle. Rare pressing sounding so much better than the CD version due to the fact that the CD was taken from later sound sources since the masters to this gem were lost soon after the disc was released. The most essential disc you will ever hear. Price: 95 Dollars
375. JOHN DUNCAN: “Only the Beginning” (AQM – AQM204) (Record: Near Mint/ Jacket: Near Mint). In a way this disc can and actually is the sole release following the demise of the Illustrious Pinakotheca Records. After Pinakotheca records folded up its affairs, Satoh Takafumi retreated seemingly from the music scene but nothing was less true. He was still trying to get some projects of the ground and this disc is probably the sole LP that he released in 1983 after Pinakotheca called it a day and threw in the towel. Produced by John Duncan as well as by Satoh, the LP was recorded at Unomori's Our House studio and at Satoh's own living room. Side A is completely taken up by the track “Riot” which was a mix of shortwave, computer program transmissions, military Morse code, atmospheric interference and random sound, all scrambled together. Side B is comprised out of three tracks that kind off fade into each other. “Hungry” was a description of the audience reaction to an event by LAFMS member Paul McCarthy at a Los Angeles art gallery in 1980. “Last Words” was taken from a performance for the Tengokuchiyushiya (Heaven's Afternoon Fix) vat the outdoor amphitheater in Hibiya park. The final track was entitled “Yoika” and evolves around a poem. It all sound like a warm blanket of tape hiss, defunct electronic twists and turns, white noise static hissing, all very in the LAFMS aesthetic. This is the rare AQM pressing that came out in 1983 in an ultra limited run. Some years later RRR Records did also a 120 copies version, but this one here is that illustrious 1st pressing that seemed to have fallen of the face of the earth. Top copy and bound to surface probably never again….Price: 200 Dollars
376. JOHN LENNON & YOKO ONO: “Unfinished Music No.2 – Life With The Lions” (Apple Records/ Toshiba EMI Japan – EAS-80701) (Record: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Jacket: Near Mint/ Obi: Near Mint/ Insert: Near Mint). Bloody rare Japanese press that comes with obi, rarely seen. John Lennon and Yoko Ono's second collaborative album consists of five tracks: all of side one is taken up by “Cambridge 1969”, a live recording at Lady Mitchell Hall in Cambridge of Lennon playing an electric guitar backup to Ono's singing and screaming. Rolling Stone described Yoko's vocals as sounding like “a severely retarded child being tortured”, so with a review like that you know already that you cannot go wrong. The opening moments feature Yoko's piercing wails and John's atonal guitar feedback. Immediately the tone for “Life With The Lions” is set be it a calculated confrontational one. “Cambridge 1969” can to some extent be seen as the precursor to Lou Reed's “Metal Machine Music”, a duet of pain from singer and guitarist that is harrowing in the extreme. A thrill to listen to, a real challenging piece of music, even to today's standards. Although it is a live recording, it is clear that they went into this performance with a good idea of the type of sounds they were going to make. “No Bed for Beatle John” is an Oriental plainchant, with Yoko singing about an incident during her miscarriage (the hospital's refusal to give John a bed as he stayed with his wife), while John sings counterpoint softly in the background about his upcoming divorce to Cynthia and other matters. It's an interesting look at two minds on different planes. It gets followed by “Baby's Heartbeat”, a recording of Yoko's fetus that sounds remarkably alien, succeeded by two minutes of silence to represent the baby's passing from this world. On “Radio Play”, John coaxes short bursts of sound from the radio by flipping the dial quickly. Of the three experimental albums that John and Yoko made, “Life With The Lions” is probably the most deserving of serious study. One of the greatest of all time avant-garde rock albums? To these ears not one second is wasted here, a truly remarkable disc, one of the best! Price: 120 Dollars
377. JOHN LENNON & YOKO ONO: “Wedding Album” (EMI Odeon – EAS-80702) (All Mint). Reputed box set, in stunni ng mint condition. So what do we have here, a stunning copy of this great avant-garde gem containing the outer box, Japanese obi, fold out LP jacket with disc in mint condition, bunch of inserts, snapshots, book, card, marriage certificate, postcard…everything is present making this a complete set, nothing missing and all in mint condition. The music on the disc on the other hand dwells in similar regions as the “Two Virgins” LP, composed of conceptual Fluxus offerings by John and Yoko. Demented and wicked stuff. Rarely seen in such immaculate condition. Price: 150 Dollars
378. JOHN ST. FIELD: “Control” (Merry-Go-Round Records – BMRL-1002) (Record: Near Mint/ Gatefold Jacket: Near Mint/ 4-Paged Insert: Near Mint). Long out of print limited ace reissue of 500 copies. One of the rarest Spanish released albums is this magickal one by John St Field aka Jackie Leven of latter day Doll By Doll. From the liner notes: “The Scottish singer and guitarist produced this album long before he was the wild front man of the critically acclaimed rock ensemble Doll By Doll. Jackie says that it follows an intense period of taking LSD in many different locations and circumstances. The result, drug inspired as it may be, is music still as artistic as ever. The sheer diversity of styles, tones and lyrics in this harmonic production made this album a great success. Even the issues covered again show us a great deal of variety. However, although this isn't the typical Jackie that we all know and love, it gives an interesting glimpse into the earlier psyche of one of the greatest living contemporary artists – you'll see a side to Jackie that you didn't know existed. Jackie Leven recalled the following about the album: “It is a fairly influence-free album in my opinion: I was listening at the time to a lot of American West Coast rock, also great players like Bert Jansch, but I can't honestly hear direct influences in the music, other than the desire to be good. Also I made a album under the alias of John St Field, mainly because I was in trouble with the forces of law and order at the time and felt that it was wise to change my identity for a while. However I cannot truly recommend changing your identity, taking lots of acid and making a record all close together. It is a bit of a strain but it is a lovely record I still enjoy listening to of a dark evening. The album was never released except briefly in Spain in 1973 and this was wholly because once I'd finished it, I continued living a life that had nothing to do with career structures and record companies could not continue working with an artist who had all but disappeared.” This is without any doubt one of the best and finest folk/ psych/ acid folk and probably all of the former but nothing even that comes close to comparison or generalization – albums of the early seventies. It is all of these styles encapsulated into one but then again it surpasses styles and trends and lives on its own elusive sphere that fails categorization and clear-cut definition. This album will definitely take you places but it will move you like no album has ever moved you before. Why? Well it comes over like awakening from a deep slumber when unconsciousness spills hesitantly over into aspects that really slow mix in with the rest of your mind.  Here emotions and perceptions get transmitted by means of Jackie's rearranging of the universe into patterns reflecting his art. It will be one of the most beautiful and compelling albums you will ever hear during your lifetime. Take my word for it. Price: 75 Dollars
379. JOHNNY CASH: “A Thing Called Love” (CBS Sony – SOPJ-16) (Record: Near Mint/ Jacket: Excellent/ Horizontal Capsule Obi: Near Mint/ 4-paged insert: Near Mint). Original 1st Japanese pressing, complete with insert and capsule obi. I don't know what it is but I have a thing going for Johnny Cash these days. It seems I just cannot get enough of his music. It all began with some life albums of him and now I am shelving multiple discs by him, doubling and tripling copies at times. Why? Well I guess the man never ceases to amaze me and this Lp here in question is not different than the others he recorded during that period of time. Again classic tunes, fabulous voice, the man was a rocker as well as a country punk at the same time. This edition here is a 1st Japanese pressing complete with capsule horizontal obi. These horizontal obis were a trademark thing of CBS Sony at the time and are now a though score since most of them were discarded and thrown away because they just fell of so easily. Here all is intact. Looks lovely, especially on such a classic disc as this one. Price: 60 Dollars
380. JOHHNY CASH: “Man In Black b/w Little Bit of Yesterday” (CBS Sony – CBSA-82105) (Record: Near Mint/ Gatefold Picture Sleeve: Near Mint). RARE WHITE LABEL PROMO COPY. Price: 50 Dollars
381. JOHNNY GUITAR: “S/T” (Thaiphonograph Record/ Lucky Bamboo Records – LBS-999) (Record: Excellent ~ near Mint/ Jacket: Near Mint). One of the key releases to shape the Thai-Beat phenomenon, top original copy out of 1965~1966. They do not come any better than this one, quite a feat seen the lamentable climate that reigns Thailand destined to mold away and humid rid records and jackets. Some of the tracks on this original LP may sound familiar since some were included on the Sublime Frequencies Thai Beat compilation LP “Shadow Music Of Thailand”, which created quite a stir. Well after that glorious introduction, here is a near mint original copy of the Johnny Guitar album, one of Thailand’s greatest and most sought after Beat gems out of the mid-sixties. Twangy distorted guitar moves, cheap but deranged hallucinatory organ riffage, cookie-jar sounding drum rolls, just fabulous and completely out of this world music modeled onto the Shadows instrumental pseudo surf moves. This is the exotic variation, sounding simultaneously wicked, alienated, doped up and zoned out as well as psychedelic in a detuned way. Sheer brilliance, top mint copy that just never seems to surface in such a great condition as this original copy here. Highest possible recommendation if you are into that entire vintage Cambodian and Thai beat psychedelic rummage. Price: 400 Dollars
382. JOSEPH BEUYS/ HENNING CHRISTIANSEN: “OP.50 Requiem Of Art – Schottische Symphonie – Aus Celtic” (Edition Schellmann, Munchen/ Published by Galerie Bernd Kluser) (2 LP set: Near Mint/ Gatefold Jacket: Near Mint/ Enclosed 8 paged heavy textured booklet with fully illustrated colorful scores by Henning Christiansen: Mint). Extremely rare Fluxus related artifact, recorded in 1970, this is the 2nd gallery edition press out of 1986 which just never turns up. The music on display is fantastic. Minimal drone infested soundscapes, doomy church organs, lethargic speech deprived vocal chord raspings, cacophonic bells and tweeters fusing neatly together, voices popping up out of nowhere, cries and rants, score and tape manipulations arising above a monotonic maelstrom, fragments of field recordings popping up and disappearing again, airplanes circle aimlessly above it all while Henning keeps on humming/ ranting away in between all the activity on display. Henning became in the 60's a prominent figure in the Danish Fluxus movement and soon began collaborating with legendary artist Joseph Beuys at Düsseldorf. Nearly all elements which occupy the floor space of the installation stem from two performances: the first with the title "Celtic (Kinloch Rannoch) Scottish Symphony", which he performed together with the Danish composer Henning Christiansen at the Edinburgh College of Art, twice a day, from 26-30 August 1970 One part of the elements are relics of an action, others are the results of lectures and workshops, which Beuys gave on various occasions. Beuys's performance was described by Alastair MacKintosh as “taking place in a large studio in the Edinburgh College of Art. Five tape recorders under the operation of Beuys's collaborator Henning Christiansen were running. Beuys's action was to sit, but with a "sense of concentration, of possessing himself... scribbles on a board and pushes it around the floor with a stick in a forty minute circuit of Christiansen.” Especially remarkable on this set is Henning's “Requiem of Art”, a live tape collage weaving together some flashes of Satie's “Mass for the Poor”, beer hall and football cries, cars, boats, hammers airplanes, and some creepy recitations. In all this is a great piece of sound art that resembles rummaging through the wreckage of an Alzheimer detoriated mindset, encountering snippets of long lost soundbites from various times, experiences and places and trying in vein to reconstruct the patient's history through sound. Truly music to wrap your brain around. Highest possible recommendation!!!!! Price: 250 Dollars
383. JOSEPH JARMAN: “Song For” (Delmark PA-7023/ Japan Original Press) (Record: Near Mint/ Jacket: Near Mint/ Obi: Near Mint). Highly essential free jazz masterpiece. Rare original Japanese pressing. This disc, the Japanese original pressing, just NEVER turns up, at least with obi intact and everything mint as if it rolled of the pressing plant only yesterday. On “Song for” Jarman gets assisted by the following hot rods of the AACM stall - Joseph Jarman (alto saxophone, recitation), Fred Anderson (tenor saxophone), Bill Brimfield (trumpet), Christopher Gaddy (piano, marimba), Charles Clark (bass), Thurman Baker, Steve McCall (drums). The four very diverse improvisations include one that showcases a Jarman recitation, a dirge, the intense "Little Fox Run," and the title cut, which contrasts sounds and a creative use of silence. Overall, this music was the next step in jazz after the high-energy passions of the earlier wave of the avant-garde started to run out of fresh ideas. Highly essential and this Japanese immaculate press with obi is rare……cheap price for such a gem, must be loosing my head. Price: 40 Dollars
384. JOY DIVISION: “Still” (Factory – FACT40) (2 LP Set: Excellent/ Gatefold Jacket: Excellent). Original 1981 UK pressing Joy Division 2 LP set on Factory Records. Music needs no introduction I guess, great original copy of this highly influential album. Price: 60 Dollars
385. JUAN DELA CRUZ: “ Manila Concert 1973” (Gina Records) (Record: Excellent ~ Near Mint/ Jacket: Near Mint). Long out of print killer live recording released in an edition of 333 copies only. Awesome live recording by these psyched out Philippine rockers, which contained former Speed Glue & Shinki's drummer Joey Smith, Mike Hanapol and Wally Gonzales on the guitar. The best Pinoy rock ever to seep out of the Philippines . Fuss laden heavy psych rock combo with demented lysergic twist ravaging through an demented live set that has the assembled audience howling their lung out and leaving them in return completely flabbergasted. Excellent all way through and again highly essential Asian psych mongers. Price: 70 Dollars
386. JULIE: “S/T” (Polydor – MP-1465) (Record: Excellent/ Gatefold Jacket: Excellent/ Obi: Excellent/ Outer Imprinted Plastic Gimmick Cover: VG++ - has some signs of the ages/ Tadanori Yokoo Designed Poster: Excellent). First solo album out of 1971 by ex-Pyg front man and vocalist Sawada Kenji. After the dissolvement of the super group Pyg, Sawada started off his solo career under the Julie moniker and this self entitled album was his first solo effort. Pyg already hinted at Sawada's predilection towards the finer arts of Enka and Kayokyoku and with Julie this was exactly the waters he would dabble into. Gone are the western-styled rock antics, traded in for a rejuvenation of traditional styled song aesthetic. Still, a western sounding flavor keeps on seeping through his Japanese rooted choice of songs, the arrangements are far removed from the kayokyoku escapades that carved out successful careers for Takakura Ken and cohorts and instead Sawada infused them here with a glamour reminiscent to a Sunset Strip go-go lounge bars, movie-styled orchestral arrangements and a lounge jazz bar flavor, spiking and revamping the genre with a shot of youthful adrenaline. And to complete the hypness of the whole venture, Sawada joined forces with visual artist Tadanori Yokoo who designed the jacket, with poster included, giving the whole an arty and glamorous allure. Jacket comes housed in an extra outer plastic gatefold sleeve, onto which Sawada's face is imprinted, obi, fold out poster and gorgeous back flap design, heralding a new age and nouvelle vague in the Kayokyoku genre, spicing it up with enough youthful allure and balladry syrup but without neglecting the older elements that made the genre bigger than life. Very successful album, great listening experience if the marshmallow styled fluffy song-craftsmanship-like clouds in marmalade skies can caress your earlobes. To me it sounds great, but then I am a sucker for these things. If you were into the whole PYG sound, this should make for some interesting follow-up listening. Recommended. Price: 55 Dollars
387. JULVERNE: “Ne Parlons Pas De Mahleur” (Igloo Records – IGLO-042) (Record: Near Mint/ Jacket: Excellent). In fact, Julverne has shared musicians with Univers Zero, including Dirk Descheemaker and Michel Berckmans. So there is really no surprise that there are similarities in style to both bands. However, Julverne is more like Univers Zero's happier, more cosmopolitan younger brother. The ensemble's first album was released in 1979, and unlike their more aggressive musical brethren, Julverne don't have any drums. In fact, they only seem to be a rock band by comparison, as this truly seems to be a chamber group performing original music with influences of Satie, Bartok, Debussy, and the less dissonant measures of Stravinksy. The instrumentation is typical of chamber music with piano, strings, horns and winds, and these are arranged in many lovely ways over Coulonneux's ten-track duration. In fact, the similarities to Univers Zero and Art Zoyd are largely the musical format, as this is never angry or strident in the least. However, Julverne was certainly considered an experimental band by the musical collective that made it up, and the compositions reflect an exploratory ethic in their use of keys, modes and arrangements. Without getting into music theory, it can still be said that most of the compositions often start out in a fresh and accessible mode before veering off into a tangent belying the 20th Century influences of the band. It's a gorgeous album and rather idiosyncratic, even in comparison to the ensemble's RIO-drafted contemporaries. While Julverne's chamber music approach implies a sort of serious study, musically there were bits of humor sneaking into the compositions nonetheless, such as the second part of the suite, "Un Peu Pretentieux" (A Bit Pretentious). Musically this is also true, with the ensemble's occasional tangents into sly, goofy, or zany territory. One may be listening to some beautiful arranged chamber piece before the whole group speeds off in another direction, as if Bugs Bunny was yet again leading Elmer Fudd off on another wild goose chase. In fact, if anything sets apart Julverne from cousins Univers Zero, it's this omnipresent playfulness. Only a group of skilled musicians and composers could pull off such a thing in such complex and involved compositions. Not a piece of music is anything but entertaining here, rich in ideas, spontaneity, dynamic diversity and mood. Perhaps it's more a tribute to such classy music that Julverne finds itself in such company with bands like Univers Zero in Belgium's most interesting lineage of experimental chamber music ensembles. Price: 40 Dollars
388. KAIZOKU KID NO BOUKEN: “Sons of Sun” (Victor – SF-1020) (Record: Near Mint/ Gatefold Jacket: Excellent/ Insert: Excellent). Bloody rare Yanagida Hiro disc and this is even the rarer white label promotional copy issue!! Subliminal Yanagida Hiro led recording session out of 1972, original pressing and a bloody rare sucker of an album, offering another peek into Japan's early seventies soft psych realms. The tracks of Yanagida Hiro's third album “Sons of Sun” were written by Happy End's Matsumoto Takashi and the album therefore steers into some Apryl Fool and Happy End infested atmospheres. Pre