Browse by Label: BAMBOO (UK)

Artist:	BLUES CREATION
Title:	Demon & Eleven Children
Label:	BAMBOO (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	BAM 7001CD

Japan's Blues Creation was formed by guitarists Kazuo Takeda, Koh Eiryu and singer Fumio Nunoya, in early 1969, after the dissolution of their Group Sounds outfit The Bickies. Highly influenced by Cream and The Yardbirds, Takeda joined forces with school friends Takayuki Noji, Shinichi Tashiro, and lead singer Fumio Nunoya. Formerly vocalist with Taboo, a heavy band led by future Happy End guitarist Eiichi Otaki, Nunoya was also searching for an even heavier sound, and the results of the new American-influenced experiment were released in October 1969, as Blues Creation. Singer Fumio Nunoya soon found himself edged out of artistic decisions by the supremely confident Takeda, and thereafter left to form his own band, Dew. While searching around throughout 1970 for a new singer, guitarist Takeda heard the new, even more strung-out music of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Eric Clapton's solo LP Clapton, and Leslie West's Mountain, and decided he should take the opportunity to start again from scratch. Takeda enlisted bassist Masashi Saeki and drummer Akiyoshi Higuchi for the new line-up, and eschewed the previous cover's style in favor of his own compositions. With the new Blues Creation fronted by singer Hiromi Osawa, Kazuo Takeda recorded what has come to be regarded as his masterpiece in the form of Demon & Eleven Children, originally released in 1971 on Denon. This album was recorded at the Japan Folk Jamboree, and is a full-on gem of a record, but Takeda was now widely-known as a true Japanese guitar hero, and -- as ever -- had set his sights higher and higher. He split Blues Creation the following year, leaving for London in late 1972. This sludge-y slab of big, loud, brain-busting heaviness sits at #17 on Julian Cope's Japrocksampler top 50 list. Housed in a highly-collectable LP replica card wallet.

Artist:	BLUES CREATION
Title:	Demon & Eleven Children
Label:	BAMBOO (UK)
Format:	LP
Price:	$25.50
Catalog #:	BAM 7001LP

LP version. Japan's Blues Creation was formed by guitarists Kazuo Takeda, Koh Eiryu and singer Fumio Nunoya, in early 1969, after the dissolution of their Group Sounds outfit The Bickies. Highly influenced by Cream and The Yardbirds, Takeda joined forces with school friends Takayuki Noji, Shinichi Tashiro, and lead singer Fumio Nunoya. Formerly vocalist with Taboo, a heavy band led by future Happy End guitarist Eiichi Otaki, Nunoya was also searching for an even heavier sound, and the results of the new American-influenced experiment were released in October 1969, as Blues Creation. Singer Fumio Nunoya soon found himself edged out of artistic decisions by the supremely confident Takeda, and thereafter left to form his own band, Dew. While searching around throughout 1970 for a new singer, guitarist Takeda heard the new, even more strung-out music of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Eric Clapton's solo LP Clapton, and Leslie West's Mountain, and decided he should take the opportunity to start again from scratch. Takeda enlisted bassist Masashi Saeki and drummer Akiyoshi Higuchi for the new line-up, and eschewed the previous style in favor of his own compositions. With the new Blues Creation fronted by singer Hiromi Osawa, Kazuo Takeda recorded what has come to be regarded as his masterpiece in the form of Demon & Eleven Children, originally released in 1971 on Denon. This album was recorded at the Japan Folk Jamboree, and is a full-on gem of a record, but Takeda was now widely-known as a true Japanese guitar hero, and -- as ever -- had set his sights higher and higher. He split Blues Creation the following year, leaving for London in late 1972. This sludge-y slab of big, loud, brain-busting heaviness sits at #17 on Julian Cope's Japrocksampler top 50 list. Includes original LP insert and lyric sheet.

Artist:	APRYL FOOL, THE
Title:	Apryl Fool
Label:	BAMBOO (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	BAM 7002CD

"The Apryl Fool was a very accomplished late-'60s band from Japan whose lone, self-titled 1969 album is a great mixture of hard psych and blues-rock. Their best-known track is probably 'The Lost Mother Land, Pt. 1,' which was featured on the Japanese volume of QDK's Love, Peace And Poetry series, certainly one of the most crazed, over-the-top productions and performances in the entire series, with its massively phased and treated vocals and general menace. But that tune is really the anomaly on the album, despite the prevalence of monstrous fuzz guitar on a number of tracks. At their heart, The Apryl Fool seem to be a blues-rock band, although one that was clearly experimenting with the burgeoning psychedelic scene. Tracks like 'Another Time,' 'Honky Tonk Jam,' and Bob Dylan's 'Pledging My Time' are pretty straight blues-rock, and 'April Blues' just adds some fuzz guitar to a boogie-woogie piano bit. The other tracks up the psych quotient considerably, like on 'Tomorrow's Child,' with its Farfisa and wicked fuzz leads, or the aforementioned 'The Lost Mother Land Pt. 1.' There are additional crazy tape effects on 'The Lost Mother Land Pt. 2.' About half the tunes are in English and half in Japanese, but it's all good stuff. Historical footnote: years later, bass player Haruomi Hosono would become a member of one of Japan's most popular music groups ever, Yellow Magic Orchestra." --Sean Westergaard, All Music Guide; Housed in a highly collectable limited edition LP replica card wallet. Includes 4 bonus tracks (The Floral singles).

Artist:	MIZUTANI, KIMIO
Title:	A Path Through Haze
Label:	BAMBOO (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	BAM 7003CD

CD reissue of this ultra-rare '70s Japanese rock album. Kimio Mizutani was the guitarist in the excellent Japanese freak-out group, Love Live Life + 1 and this reissue is of his first solo album from 1971. Mizutani plays electric and "folk" guitar and leads a largish ensemble (bass, drums, organ, Moog and vocals) through what is widely-regarded as one of the true psychedelic masterpieces of the '70s Japanese scene. Sensitive interludes (accompanied by the Toyama String Quartet and the Etoh Wood Quartet), tasteful nods to progressive/fusionist extension and a lovely, hovering psych guitar from Mizutani dominate proceedings. A nice merger of hard rock conceptualization and the complexities that would evolve from it -- and, until now, almost impossible to hear within the confines of western society. Housed in a unique, highly-collectible card wallet. Digitally remastered.

Artist:	MIZUTANI, KIMIO
Title:	A Path Through Haze
Label:	BAMBOO (UK)
Format:	LP
Price:	$22.00
Catalog #:	BAM 7003LP

180 gram vinyl reissue of this ultra-rare '70s Japanese rock album. Kimio Mizutani was the guitarist in the excellent Japanese freak-out group, Love Live Life + 1 and this reissue is of his first solo album from 1971. Mizutani plays electric and "folk" guitar and leads a largish ensemble (bass, drums, organ, Moog and vocals) through what is widely-regarded as one of the true psychedelic masterpieces of the '70s Japanese scene. Sensitive interludes (accompanied by the Toyama String Quartet and the Etoh Wood Quartet), tasteful nods to progressive/fusionist extension and a lovely, hovering psych guitar from Mizutani dominate proceedings. A nice merger of hard rock conceptualization and the complexities that would evolve from it -- and, until now, almost impossible to hear within the confines of western society.

Artist:	KAWACHI & FLOWER TRAVELLING BAND, KUNI
Title:	Love Suki Daikirai/Kirikyogen
Label:	BAMBOO (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	BAM 7004CD

This is a two-fer reissue of early '70s Japanese underground rock albums Love Suki Daikirai and Kirikyogen, featuring Kuni Kawachi & Flower Travelling Band. Recorded in 1970, the tone of Kirikyogen is cast in a shadow, and it seeps through the pores of each track, with titles such as "Graveyard Of Love" and "Works Composed Mainly By Humans." However, this ain't some pointless posturing... this is an LP that carries that weight, while remembering to bring a pocket full of cool-ass riffs, super-heavy Hammond, bouncin' bass and far-out vox. LP opener, "Kirikyogen" teases in the intro with stop/start bass and organ before dropping into Grade A heavy funk-psych prog rock. It's completely irresistible. There's a whiff of the weirdness of early English prog records, but crucially, these kids were still into Hendrix too, remembering that no matter how good you are on guitar, you still gotta bring something to the dancefloor. Love Suki Daikirai released in 1972 is more straight-up dreamy psychedelia. Kawachi plays piano, celesta, Hammond organ, Rocksichord, Harpsichord, various percussions, and sings. Kimio Mizutani (A Path Through Haze [BAM 7003CD], Love Live Life +1) contributes acoustic and electric guitars. Housed in a highly-collectible unique card wallet. Digitally remastered.

Artist:	REIKO, IKE
Title:	Kokotsu No Sekai
Label:	BAMBOO (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	BAM 7005CD

Although Ike Reiko was a mere 17 years of age when she recorded 1971's Kokotsu No Sekai, she was already a star in the world of Japanese erotic movies. Despite the tough-gal image, the music is pretty darn life-affirming, so 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 give a kiss goodbye to your Serge Gainsbourg records, Ike Reiko is more sizzling than a branding iron as it makes its mark on the farmer's herd. The sex is literally dripping from every note on this record -- the style is "Iroke Kay�kyoku" or erotic kay�kyoku (kay�kyoku being a style of Japanese pop) but the sort of na�ve 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. Kokotsu No Sekai has to be one of the finest gifts for the music fan in search of that killer oddity. Digitally remastered. Housed in an LP replica card wallet.

Artist:	REIKO, IKE
Title:	Kokotsu No Sekai
Label:	BAMBOO (UK)
Format:	LP
Price:	$22.00
Catalog #:	BAM 7005LP

LP version. Although Ike Reiko was a mere 17 years of age when she recorded 1971's Kokotsu No Sekai, she was already a star in the world of Japanese erotic movies. Despite the tough-gal image, the music is pretty darn life-affirming, so 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 give a kiss goodbye to your Serge Gainsbourg records, Ike Reiko is more sizzling than a branding iron as it makes its mark on the farmer's herd. The sex is literally dripping from every note on this record -- the style is "Iroke Kay�kyoku" or erotic kay�kyoku (kay�kyoku being a style of Japanese pop) but the sort of na�ve 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. Kokotsu No Sekai has to be one of the finest gifts for the music fan in search of that killer oddity. First 180 gram vinyl reissue.

Artist:	FLIED EGG
Title:	Good Bye
Label:	BAMBOO (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	BAM 7006CD

This is the final album from the band founded by George Yanagi, formed after the disbanding of Strawberry Path after only one astonishing album. Good Bye, originally released in 1972, brings together a live first side bursting with highly energetic, guitar-based loud rock. The studio side is a more sophisticated and progressive affair, with the complex and instrumentally-inspired "521 Seconds Schizophrenic Symphony" being of a particularly high standard. An album sure to appeal fans of '70s hard rock with marked progressive tendencies. Features killer Hammond organ work and drums from Hiro Tsunoda (Foodbrain, Yasumi No Kuni). Digitally-remastered. Housed in an LP-replica card wallet.

Artist:	MAGICAL POWER MAKO
Title:	Hapmoniym 1972-1975
Label:	BAMBOO (UK)
Format:	5CD BOX
Price:	$57.00
Catalog #:	BAMBOX 001CD

The epitome of a cult artist (and a favorite of Julian Cope), the enigmatic Magical Power Mako (aka Makoto Kurita) has been sporadically releasing albums in his native Japan since 1974. This lavish numbered, limited edition 5CD set collects jams taped by him between 1972 and 1975, and comes complete with a full 12-page booklet. Encompassing psychedelic folk, Krautrock, electronica and fuzz guitar, the music's effect is frequently astounding, and absolutely essential for all fans of Japrock.

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