Yura Yura Teikoku
"NA.MA.SHI.BI.RE.NA.MA.ME.MA.I"
There's a quote on the back of this CD's paper insert from Ghost guitarist Michio Kurihara gushing, "From Japan springs forth the greatest band in the world, Yura Yura Teikoku." Sixteen years in existence, YYT are hailed as kings of the modern psychedelic underground in Japan. At the same time, they are also so popular that they've got songs featured in karaoke booths and they've played the main stage of the Fuji Festival, appearing alongside Western superstars like Franz Ferdinand and Chemical Brothers(?!). So these days, while everyone from Nagisa Ni Te to Cornelius may have domestic pressings available to American audiences, there's no logical reason why Yura Yura Teikoku records would be so hard to come by here in the States.
Anyway, along comes this live recording taken from a 2003 performance in Tokyo. Just as crunchy and raw sounding as those super-limited live Les Rallizes Denudes LPs we were carrying a few years back, YYT are indeed as bombastic and scorching, with fuzzed-out guitar solos and droning freak-outs (check out the didgeridoo sounding guitar feedback on the opening track), and there's also a healthy dose of garage rock. But Yura Yura Teikoku seem to be pretty open-minded about mixing their psychedelics, infusing musical elements that their communal-minded hippy brethren might be afraid to touch. The fluid melodic bass-line and reverberated guitar in the 11-plus-minute-long "Nai!!" has more in common with Galaxie 500 than Acid Mothers Temple. "Unchain Your Heart" sounds a lot like the guitar riff from Kiss' "Detroit Rock City," only a hell of a lot noisier, while "Penetration" seems to be some sinister, acid-damaged take on '70s power pop which--after an abrupt hit of a cassette player's record button and a few seconds of crickets chirping--ends in a furious windstorm of power-chords and feedback. And with no lack of '60s-styled sunshine pop melodies throughout the album, you can also tell that they've seriously studied their Millennium and Moon songbooks.
As expected, this release is very limited, with only 700 CDs being pressed, and a must have for Japanese psych-fans. New Yorkers, take note: Yura Yura Teikoku will be making two appearances next month, October 11 at Northsix in Brooklyn, and the 14th at Tonic. See you there! (OTHER MUSIC, NYC)
Geezus. Available for the first time ever outside of Japan, this is an insane live recording of Tokyo psychpunkpower trio Yura Yura Teikoku on 30th May 2003, matching air-curdling Haino/Leigh Stephensstyle omnidirectional fuzz solos with dark, doomy ballads, epic ballroom jams and some fantastically charged group interaction. Yura Yura manage to simultaneously sound like the most west coast obsessed Japanese underground group and the most classically Japanese, hoovering up a clutch of ur-canon influences - garage punk, F/X laden lurch, minor key torch songs, Rallizes/Velvets three chord eternities - and reducing them to their most primal phonetics with the application of huge gobs of acid. Limited to 700 copies, this one comes in a standard jewel case with a wraparound expanded obi featuring English language quotes from Volcanic Tongue, Michio Kurihara and two other dudes. Kurihara describes them as the greatest band in the world. Highly recommended. (VOLCANIC TONGUE)
"3 Night Creatures" (MP3) (RealAudio)
62 minute live CD recorded May 30, 2003 in Tokyo. IMPORTED FROM JAPAN! Limited to 700 copies.
MKY015 / CD
$10.00