Browse by Artist: URABE, MASAYOSHI

Artist:	URABE, MASAYOSHI
Title:	Solo
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 081CD

New CD issue of what was previously a limited LP-only PSF release. "Urabe is doubtless an unknown name to most of you. Here's the beef -- he's a young (well, thirty one) alto saxophonist. Born in Tokyo, he first took up the alto sax in 1985, mostly concentrating on solo work. In recent years his base of operations has been the famous Kidoairaki Art Hall (which also played host to Masayki Takayanagi in his later years), just down the road from the Modern Music shop. This album was recorded there on May 22nd of this year. I believe that this is his first release. Urabe basically concentrates on the relationship between sound and silence, and those mysterious spaces in between ('ma'). All extraneous notes/sounds are stripped away, leaving Urabe with a very minimal (though strong) sound. High keening notes, sparkling clusters of notes hand in space, enfolding and defining. This is great, adventurous alto work, not immediately comparable to anyone else -- and pretty distant from the work of other Japanese altoists like Tamio Shiraishi or the late Kaoru Abe. Looks like PSF may well have unearthed another great individual talent." -- Alan Cummings.

Artist:	URABE, MASAYOSHI
Title:	Ware Wa Seidai No Kyojyo Zo
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 147CD

Masayoshi Urabe: (alto saxophone, metal joints, chains, harmonica, electric guitar). Latest masterpiece of purely rock 'n' roll flesh-breathing, recorded live and relentless in Japan and Belgium, by this generation's most radical alto terrorist." -- Alan Cummings. "My joints ache so much that I walk weird. Improvisation?? Improvisation??!? I've never seen it, heard it, or played it. You say that you're uncomfortable. I felt so good that I stopped laughing. I love silence because I am so brutal, but because I breathe there can be no silence. I call it Rock 'n' Roll. Because I breathe -- because I have a mouth. Duo 1988, Ju/A Brute, Urklang, Soingyokusaiseyo -- Improvisation can eat shit, that's what I've always said. Musicians are the scum of the earth, and hell's a lie, that's what I've always said. Do you know a word that means both look at me and leave me alone? I'm so fuckin' glad that I've got no reasons, no dreams, nothing to believe in. I'm so fuckin' glad that I have no interest in the occult, in salvation, in playing my part, in meanings. I'm so fuckin' glad I met you and left you. I'm so fuckin' glad that I'm not you. What I really mean is that I'm so fuckin' glad that you're not beautiful. What I really mean is that I'm so fuckin' glad that you mean nothing to me."-- Masayoshi Urabe, from his linernotes.

Artist:	URABE, MASAYOSHI
Title:	The Flag of Midsummer
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$19.00
Catalog #:	PSF 174CD

"Alto saxophone, harmonica, chains, metal, accordion, bells, toy flute -- Masayoshi Urabe. Metal junk, cello, etc. -- Kiyoharu Kuwayama (track 2 only). A new solo album by Masayoshi Urabe is always a cause for rejoicing. This is his first since the frankly frightening Ware Wai Seidei No Kyojyo Zo on PSF in 2003. Urabe rarely plays live now, but this live album catches him in action in a converted saki brewery on the shores of Lake Biwa, near Kyoto. The damp heat of midsummer in this part of Japan seems to have worked its magic on Urabe, and this is an altogether gentler performance than normal. Over one long solo track, he bends his breath and body to the air in his saxophone, his tones blending with the sound of the insects outside the venue. A shorter second track captures him in a rare outing on accordion, toy flute and harmonica together with Kiyoharu Kuwayama. Another radical, effortlessly convincing album from the master of contemporary rock n' roll breathing." -- Alan Cummings.

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