New Wave / Post-Punk

Ike Yard remain a legendary band of early '80s New York City – at once immensely influential, yet obscured by a far-too-brief initial phase. Their debut EP, the dark and absorbing Night After Night, sounds almost like a different group, so rapidly would Ike Yard evolve towards the calmly menacing electro throb of their self-titled LP.

Originally released on Factory in 1982, the album put Ike Yard's indelible mark on the synth-driven experimental rock scene then emerging all over the planet. While historical analogues would be Cabaret Voltaire's Red Mecca or Front 242's Geography, opening track "M. Kurtz" makes starkly clear that Ike Yard is a far heavier proposition.

With a thick porridge of bass, ringing guitar and strangled/stunted layers of voice, these six pieces are densely packed and perversely danceable. "Loss" sounds like a minimal techno track that could have been made last week, while "Kino" combines Soviet-era imagery with sparse soundscapes à la African Head Charge's Environmental Studies.

Ike Yard somehow pull off the toughest trick in modern music: making repetition hypnotically compelling through subtle variation. The effect of Ike Yard's first LP can be heard in many genres – from industrial dance labels like Wax Trax to electro-punk bands and innumerable European groups (Lucrate Milk, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, etc.).

The fact that the cover artwork does not include any photos of the band, but rather features the original catalogue number (FACT A SECOND) only further illustrates the release's importance and Ike Yard's timeless mystique.

Definitely ahead of their time, A.T.R.O.X. were one of the first bands to move beyond typical new wave styles and introduce strong electronic elements, not too far from works of their contemporaries Tuxedomoon and Minimal Compact. "When we recorded Water Tales I was thinking of the sea as the only escape for mankind. I proposed this idea to the rest of the band and all of them were just thrilled". Probably it is the only new wave concept-album that was ever released. The sound, compared to the first album, is more influenced by the lessons of Eno and David Byrne, who were enriching their compositions with amazing and intriguing musical phrases and rhythms. Of course, we did not forget the lessons of NEU! and Faust. The Andreoni brothers and Marchini were both brilliantly creative and yielding, and they were responsible for all the musical themes upon which Benvisi carved the acoustics. Water Tales is a sincere album, then the season changed and suddenly we were 'every man for himself' almost without realizing it." --Francesco Paolo Paladino

Daydream Nation was Sonic Youth’s sixth full-length, their first double-LP, and their last for an indie label before signing with Geffen. 

Widely considered to be their watershed moment, the album catapulted them into the mainstream and proved that indie bands could enjoy wider commercial success without compromising their artistic vision. 

More recently, Daydream Nation has been recognized as a classic of its era: Pitchfork ranked it #1 on their “100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s”; Spin listed it at #13 on their “125 Best Albums of 1985-2010”. Daydream Nation was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry in 2006 and it was voted "One of the Greatest Albums of All Time" by Rolling Stone. 

japanese living legend electronic music producer “takayuki shiraishi”, this album is his debut album on legendary experimental music label in osaka in late 70’s to beg 80’s which was run by yuzuru agi when shiraishi was high school student. shiraishi had a big influence from the music of post punk, new wave ,kraut rock…, this album is his unique mixture of that kind music style. one of the most demanded alternative music album in japan is finally reissued. remastered from original tape and mastering by kuniyuki takahashi.

NTsKi is a Kyoto-based artist and musician. She began making music while living in the UK and began working in earnest in 2017 after returning to Japan. She works seamlessly to create tracks with gentle but somewhat eerie vocals and a mixture of diverse musicality. In 2021, she was selected by Bijutsu Techo as one of the newcomer artists who will open up the 2020s. Her collaboration with 7FO, released through EM Records, was selected as one of the best of the year by Shintaro Sakamoto. In addition to her self-produced works, she has participated in the works of Giant Claw, CVN, Shokuhin Matsuri a.k.a foodman, Dengaryu, KM, etc., and has released through overseas labels including TAR and Orange Milk. Also, she has contributed music to the Japan Pavilion hosted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry at SXSW 2019, where Yoichi Ochiai was the general director, virtual singer te'resa, and an Australian bag brand. On August 6th, 2021, her debut album "Orca" will be released via Orange Milk / EM Records.

The originally minimalist song, combined with the rhythm box that keeps ringing lightly and the lyrics that have been scraped to the limit, repeats in the brain, and finally hums "Love my misfortune". Dangerously addictive music. Handle with care. -Moppy (Soi48)

Love generously robs us, and love tears us apart ... all the crystals of loss that were once launched beyond post-punk are now regaining glare! A collection of phantom sound sources by the late Kiyoaki Iwamoto, finally lifted after about 40 years !!!-Tamotsu Mochida (factory worker and real industrial writer)

There used to be a musician who buried his past and disappeared. Its name is Kiyoaki Iwamoto. I don't know the reason. What we know is that we have left behind a "super-translation" cover of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart," which surprised even the minimum original songs and ECD.

Iwamoto appeared in the post-Tokyo rockers era scene and participated in that "Urban News" as a post-punk band . After the dissolution of Birei, he formed Guys Doll with Fuyusato Kudo and released "Hard Rock Album" (1984) under the joint name with Kudo. After that, the news disappears.

This work is the only solo work "SOUGI" (1983) that Iwamoto independently produced by Kojima recording, a rework of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Chisako and Junta, and NOISE "Emperor" by Tori Kudo and Reiko somewhere. It is the addition of an unreleased song by Rei Mi, which is reminiscent of. Iwamoto's four original songs, including the song "In the Sad Town" from the beautiful era, have a rhythm box, several chords played on guitar and bass, and short poems that look like they have been cut down. It is a characteristic of Japanese punk / new wave that frustrating emotions hit the inside of oneself, but Iwamoto's humorous vocals seem to amplify the frustration even more, and Joy Division's "super translation" has a nihilistic climax of loss.

Was "SOUGI" a "funeral"? ?? Michio Kakutani would have responded. The untouchables of the 80s indie film continue to shake us and bite those who want to be loved!

The content is good with surprise and excitement. Faust-This Heat's krautrock / post-punk, free rock / industrial such as Smegma and Z'ev, and the sound of emptiness turns into a violent passion. Highly recommended.

Japan Indie's hottest work !!
The initial collection of works has finally arrived !!

The improvisational trio of Yokohama, Inryofen, which was formed in 1978 and released the new work "Hugging" [EM1125CD] for the first time in 29 years, is far left and heretical even in the Japanese underground music scene. , The reason is thoroughly disclosed in this collection. Is there any other band like this at that time and now?

Their starting point was the idea of "converting surrealism to the sound of" automatic writing "", and they were active in the Tokyo / Yokohama underground scene, recording vigorously from 1980 to 1982, and three works. announced. This "early work collection" is the definitive edition that remastered all of these works from the master tape, expanded and recorded the unrecorded parts that were edited and cut, and remastered with high sound quality. In addition, for this release, the five works other than "Uncompromising" were given "song titles" for the first time (see the work description for the reason).

= Work description =
-"Uncompromising" at the beginning is a mysterious work that made known the shadow hunting rottenness, and it was also the first release of the prestigious indie, Cragale Records, known to those in the know. According to them, "Cover of Tony Conrad & Faust", but perhaps during the recording of this performance, a student activist broke into the stage and started a horse mackerel speech. The band that keeps playing silently, the activist who incites, the PA who tries to prevent the speech, the ending of the three-way! ?? !! This version is a complete version that contains all the patterns of this "legend".

-The "hammer clock" and "aiming cat" (included only in the CD version), in which the crazy electronic percussion instrument pulse is delivered, are forcibly called "articles" from the symbol with three squares on the jacket. A work recorded in the popular 7-inch EP.

-The band's true essence, the 23-minute automatic descriptive performance "Grand Rock", the masterpiece "The one that came down from the sky" where heavy percussion with a sense of mass trembles and cuts through the space, and the suspicious "Forest record" "(CD version only) is a 1st album recording work in which the band name, song name, and kata number are not written in a pure white jacket, and the agency company has declared that it cannot be distributed.


CD version:
＋ CD bonus 2 songs
＋ Normal jewel case / liner included
＋ Commentary: Atsushi Harada
＋ Japanese / English notation / Rare photos posted

What is the true tempo in your heart?
Following "Light Wave", M's J-Indie pop is a new album by Bank, a 5-member group that pursues HYPE pop that has nothing to do with the atmosphere of the times. Mixing / mastering is that Tomoki Kanda!

Bank is an angler scene in the early 90's: Tokyo Neo Acoustic-Early Club Music-Crue-L (presided by Kenji Takimi) who has been active around the very "Shibuya-kei" parties, Bridge, Love Tambourines, Arch. Formed in 2006 by musicians who have worked in a legendary band. The core is Dai Nakamura (gtr, voc) and Nozomi Suzuki (drums). The motto is "good music with good performance" without any strangeness, but Nakamura's helplessness is new wave-post-punk-neo acoustic, fake jazz-funkaratina, which are their indelible foundations. 80s lovers naturally come out, and the sound is indistinguishable between old and new (for some reason, everyone likes Duran Duran).

Supporting the inorganic songwriting of Nakamura is Suzuki, who has the characteristics of Fumio Hirami (ex. Love Tambalins), who is a pillar of rhythm with AOR in the background, and YMO-like drumming of non-groove. The strangely comfortable urban groove created by this mismatch is also attractive. Mixing / mastering is Tomoki Kanda (genius!), Who has been an ally since the 90's. This time we will also release the bank's first vinyl version!

Formed in 1978 and still active, Yin Hunting Rotten is a heretic presence in Japanese indie games with its overwhelming name and works. They are an "impossible" group who were in the Tokyo / Yokohama underground scene in the early 80's but were not influenced by punk-post-punk itself.
Members Naoyuki Masuda (g), Masamichi Oyama (key), and Atsushi Harada (dr) met through a surrealist research douujinshi, and based on the idea of converting to the sound of "automatic writing", improvisation was the main axis. Started activities. He released various works in 1980-84, but his name was difficult to read, his songs were like symbols, and his titles and works with pure white bindings that didn't even have a sword were all crushed, but his unique personality was unparalleled. Since then, it has been a mysterious existence and has received strong support until now.
 This "Houaku" was recorded in 1985, but after many twists and turns, it will be submitted here as a "new work" and a second album. The recorded music was recorded by improvisational performance based on the image recalled from the video by projecting a photograph taken by Masuda in Spain into the studio, and it was edited and completed later.
Using an electrified / synthesized instrument, the amorphous music that sometimes looks like Sun Ra (unintentional) is timeless, and it's hard to tell when and where it works. The unknownness is a word of "cool !!" "I learned for the first time at this time that the time difference of" several decades "in improvisation does not mean much. I think there is no such thing as" evolution of rising shoulders "in music," (Atsushi Harada, commentary. Than)
 Following this work, "Initial Works" will be released to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the band's formation! First, the unreleased original complete version, a remaster of the sound quality dramatically improved, presented in 2014 Japan Indie's hottest work !!

The originally minimalist song, combined with the rhythm box that keeps ringing lightly and the lyrics that have been scraped to the limit, repeats in the brain, and finally hums "Love my misfortune". Dangerously addictive music. Handle with care. -Moppy (Soi48)

Love generously robs us, and love tears us apart ... all the crystals of loss that were once launched beyond post-punk are now regaining glare! A collection of phantom sound sources by the late Kiyoaki Iwamoto, finally lifted after about 40 years !!!-Tamotsu Mochida (factory worker and real industrial writer)

There used to be a musician who buried his past and disappeared. Its name is Kiyoaki Iwamoto. I don't know the reason. What we know is that we have left behind a "super-translation" cover of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart," which surprised even the minimum original songs and ECD.

Iwamoto appeared in the post-Tokyo rockers era scene and participated in that "Urban News" as a post-punk band . After the dissolution of Birei, he formed Guys Doll with Fuyusato Kudo and released "Hard Rock Album" (1984) under the joint name with Kudo. After that, the news disappears.

This work is the only solo work "SOUGI" (1983) that Iwamoto independently produced by Kojima recording, a rework of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Chisako and Junta, and NOISE "Emperor" by Tori Kudo and Reiko somewhere. It is the addition of an unreleased song by Rei Mi, which is reminiscent of. Iwamoto's four original songs, including the song "In the Sad Town" from the beautiful era, have a rhythm box, several chords played on guitar and bass, and short poems that look like they have been cut down. It is a characteristic of Japanese punk / new wave that frustrating emotions hit the inside of oneself, but Iwamoto's humorous vocals seem to amplify the frustration even more, and Joy Division's "super translation" has a nihilistic climax of loss.

Was "SOUGI" a "funeral"? ?? Michio Kakutani would have responded. The untouchables of the 80s indie film continue to shake us and bite those who want to be loved!

The content is good with surprise and excitement. Faust-This Heat's krautrock / post-punk, free rock / industrial such as Smegma and Z'ev, and the sound of emptiness turns into a violent passion. Highly recommended.

Japan Indie's hottest work !!
The initial collection of works has finally arrived !!

The improvisational trio of Yokohama, Inryofen, which was formed in 1978 and released the new work "Hugging" [EM1125CD] for the first time in 29 years, is far left and heretical even in the Japanese underground music scene. , The reason is thoroughly disclosed in this collection. Is there any other band like this at that time and now?

Their starting point was the idea of "converting surrealism to the sound of" automatic writing "", and they were active in the Tokyo / Yokohama underground scene, recording vigorously from 1980 to 1982, and three works. announced. This "early work collection" is the definitive edition that remastered all of these works from the master tape, expanded and recorded the unrecorded parts that were edited and cut, and remastered with high sound quality. In addition, for this release, the five works other than "Uncompromising" were given "song titles" for the first time (see the work description for the reason).

= Work description =
-"Uncompromising" at the beginning is a mysterious work that made known the shadow hunting rottenness, and it was also the first release of the prestigious indie, Cragale Records, known to those in the know. According to them, "Cover of Tony Conrad & Faust", but perhaps during the recording of this performance, a student activist broke into the stage and started a horse mackerel speech. The band that keeps playing silently, the activist who incites, the PA who tries to prevent the speech, the ending of the three-way! ?? !! This version is a complete version that contains all the patterns of this "legend".

-The "hammer clock" and "aiming cat" (included only in the CD version), in which the crazy electronic percussion instrument pulse is delivered, are forcibly called "articles" from the symbol with three squares on the jacket. A work recorded in the popular 7-inch EP.

-The band's true essence, the 23-minute automatic descriptive performance "Grand Rock", the masterpiece "The one that came down from the sky" where heavy percussion with a sense of mass trembles and cuts through the space, and the suspicious "Forest record" "(CD version only) is a 1st album recording work in which the band name, song name, and kata number are not written in a pure white jacket, and the agency company has declared that it cannot be distributed.


CD version:
＋ CD bonus 2 songs
＋ Normal jewel case / liner included
＋ Commentary: Atsushi Harada
＋ Japanese / English notation / Rare photos posted

This double A-sided 7-inch features two new cool, sophisticated and funky melodic pop songs from Bank. Tight bass lines, multi-hued percussion, snappily intertwining guitars, yearning melodies and clever production touches abound. These Tokyo veterans evince their love of all varieties of funky pop from recent decades in these two sweet sides.