TIP OF THE TONGUE 07 DECEMBER 2008
Kousokuya
Live At Shinjuku JAM 2006
PSF PSFDV-1001
DVD
OUT OF STOCK!
New archival DVD that bundles two complete shows - the last two Tokyo performances of the legendary Japanese underground trio Kousokuya. Both gigs take place at Shinjuku JAM, one on May 1st and the other on October 18th. The October 18th performance was previously available as a CD on the band's own Ray Night Music imprint. Both sets feature the classic line-up of the late Jutok Kaneko on guitar and vocals, Mick on bass and vocals and Ikuro Takahashi (Fushitsusha et al) on drums. The first set sees the group in stripped down psychedelic/doom mode with three pulverising re-thinks of central tracks, "Removal", "Breaking Suffering Song" and "The Dark Spot". The second set is remarkable for a whole bunch of reasons. It's the longest live set from Kousokuya yet, with seven tracks that span all of their best material - "The Miracle", "Ray", "On Waking" - and it features the group on their most extended form. Kaneko teases out every single track with endlessly poignant feedback ribbons and the kind of grinding metal guitar riffs that would combine monolithic power with fluxing space/time moves. Takahashi plays some of his most rocking drum breaks and Mick nails the whole thing to the floor with a full-on black hole bass style. But what's most affecting is the comparative lightness of touch that Kaneko has on the guitar, teasing delicate, unpredictable chord patterns from a mess of fuzz and embroidering even the most forbidding power-blues dirges with lucid, ornate chord shapes. "Breaking Suffering Song" never sounded so... baroque. One of the most amazing things about Kousokuya was their command of odd, staggered time signatures and it’s illuminating to see the physical genesis of their original rhythm-clashing style. The whole deal is professionally filmed in colour and comes with a menu and individually edited tracks in a DVD case with a booklet featuring English lyric translations by Alan Cumings and a region-free DVD. It's an extremely poignant and very powerful farewell to one of the all-time great rock bands of the modern age. Highly recommended.
