Browse by Label: PSF (JAPAN)

Artist:	FUSHITSUSHA
Title:
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	2CD
Price:	$36.00
Catalog #:	PSF 003/4CD

Long demanded reissue of the self-titled debut Fushitsusha double live album from the early '90s. An entirely different record to the wildly popular Double Live 2CD (PSF 15/16) which came out a couple years after this one. "This is where it all began. One of the first releases on the then fledgling PSF label was a DLP by Fushitsusha, Keiji Haino's ultimate rock unit. Haino was already an underground legend in Japan and had been for the previous twenty years, but was still virtually unknown anywhere else and this was only his second LP release. The all-black gatefold with the silver spray painted cross on the inside was one of the mysterious items to have appeared out of a scene already cloaked in mystery. The sounds it contained seemed to suggest nothing so much as the primeval mythic soul-soup from which all music originated. Word began to spread outside of Japan, and the 1000 copies pressed soon began changing hands for ludicrous sums. To the few that got to hear it, it was a record of breathtaking originality that hinted greatly at what was to follow. Haino is now one of the undoubted gods of the underground, inspiring devotion and awe whenever he plays. There have been a flood of releases, spreading the name worldwide. But throughout it all Haino has steadfastly refused all offers to reissue the Fushitsusha DLP. At one stage there was talk of the current line-up of the band re-recording all the tracks. Finally this autumn, Haino relented and these sounds will at last reach the wider listener audience they so deserve. One of the essential records of the last ten years. It is truly a joy to have it finally available on CD." --Alan Cummings.

Artist:	MUKAI, CHIE
Title:	Kokyu Improvisations
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 010CD

Chie Mukai has long been a legendary figure in Japan (going back to the Taj Mahal Travellers), and more recently has been working with her band Che-Shizu (2 CDs on PSF). This CD features her playing an ancient Chinese violin (Kokyu), with bits of voice, pieces of metal, bronze rings, cymbals, tape-soundscapes added in. Much appeal for anyone interested in a Fluxal/Theater of Eternal Music-influenced hour of subtle screech; the sound of "floating atmosphere."

Artist:	VA
Title:	Tokyo Flashback I
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 012CD

This is a good and obvious place to start with the Poor Strong Factory (P.S.F. -- originally stood for Psychedelic Speed Freaks, which was the name High Rise first used for their group) label -- unquestionably the best, weirdest, wildest currently ongoing label in Japan. Exclusive tracks by Ghost, Fushitsusha, White Heaven, High Rise, are here & the 68 minutes of overloaded distortion and simple, modern, psych-underground destruction going on here is honestly breathtaking. First of 5 volumes (to date), all editions of Tokyo Flashback are worth investigating.

Artist:	MIKAMI, KAN
Title:	U.S.E.
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 030CD

His 3rd for PSF. "Kan has perfected a form he calls Japanese Blues, but every album he has made over the past 20 years has raised it to a new height of creative intensity... regulars come back year after year to hear songs that are raucous, splendiferous, surreal, Japan Itself, both image and critique. The words are sometimes soft, as limp and multidimensional as Dali watches, other times razor sharp, slicing through the screen of conventional morality. And the triumphant voice! Like gravel scratching on a riverbed, a crow and then an eagle, screaming out of range, then soft and mellow, silky and sublime. There's nothing like it in Japan. And there's no rival to Mikami Kan anywhere else, either."? Drew Stroud.

Artist:	CHE-SHIZU
Title:	Nazareth
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 035CD

Live material from Chie Mukai's group, recorded in 1981, who play "ambient psychedelic music... includes Tori Kudo, leader of Maher Shalal Hash Baz." From Alan Cummings's "Japanese Psychedelia Primer" in The Wire: ""The dream-pop psych unit Ch�-Shizu are one of the rare examples of a traditional Japanese instrument (in this case, the three-stringed kokyu bowed fiddle) being used in a psychedelic context. Nazareth is a sometimes shambling compilation of their live recordings and features the fascinatingly atonal sound of Chie Mukai's kokyu drifting through the cracks of conventional melody. The group's interest in traditional English folk music is just one more indication of the breadth and complexity of underground Japan's continuing interaction with the West."

Artist:	FUSHITSUSHA
Title:	Pathetique
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 050CD

The fourth overall release by Keiji Haino's Fushitsusha group (following the Double Live LP (PSF 3/4), Double Live CD (PSF 15/16) and Allegorical Misunderstanding (Avant 008). This has 4 long tracks, 74 minutes of music; stylistically it's in the heavy over the top guitar trio mode a la PSF 15/16 and absolutely the dream Fushitsusha release that everybody was waiting for. Packed again in a gorgeous black fold out, with a first: English lyric translations.

Artist:	MIKAMI, KAN
Title:	Jazz And Other Things
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 060CD

Fifth album for the label, and another astounding visionary triumph for the emotionally bursting singer/guitarist. The second track here, where Mikami enunciates just one word over and over, is one of the most spirally, physically stroked tracks in the extensive PSF catalog (we're only talking about the world's most aesthetically perfect record label). "Mikami is the blues; pure uncut humanity and universal force that don't need no words ? you going to tell me you didn't understand a single word of Blind Willie Johnson's 'Dark Was the Night,' or Loren Mazzacane's early moaning, or even Ayler's soul scream? Mikami's got a voice, a soul, and a guitar and you should be able to deal with those." ? Alan Cummings. Comes with English notes and lyric translations.

Artist:	VAJRA
Title:	Tsugaru
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 062CD

Vajra is a new trio made up of Kan Mikami (vocals, guitar), Keiji Haino (vocals, guitar) & Toshi Ishizuka (percussion; ex-Brain Police, currently with Cinorama & Tomokawa's group). "The name Vajra is a sanskrit word which has many meanings, including 'outsiders' and 'those people with the power to change an era.' Tsugara refers to an area in the far north of Japan, which has given birth to many of Japan's most powerfully unique musicians, writers and performers (it is also Mikami's birthplace). This CD represents an improvised studio performance of unprecedented force and musical empathy. Ferocious, bleak, beautiful and inspiring -- the true soul of Japanese spirituality!"

Artist:	CINORAMA
Title:	Garden, The Garden
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 063CD

2nd album for the label. Cinorama is a trio, made up of Toshiaki Ishizuka (percussion, piano, synthesizer; also member of Vajra), Sachiyo Sakata (vocal, clarinet, flute, jews harp, ocarina) & Hiromichi Sakamoto (cello, musical saw, auto harp, kalimba, musicbox). They are also joined by Haino on one track as well (voice, maracas). Together they create a mysterious haze of pastoral sound, a mysterious progressive-folk hybrid that is full of alien intuition and knowledge. One of the unknown monsters in the ever-expanding PSF catalog of real music.

Artist:	TAKAHASHI, AYUO
Title:	Private Tapes 1985-1995
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 064CD

First release on the label by the son of avant garde pianist Yuji Takahashi, and a one-time member of Fushitsusha. "20 tracks self-recorded over a period of 10 years. Sound-wise it's enticing mixture of Hammill-ish progressive rock, dark folk, medieval-influenced instrumentation and some almost Xpressway-like singer-songwriter stuff (entirely in English). Influenced by Arabian, Celtic and Chinese court music, James Joyce, biwa music (the traditional accompaniment played by blind musicians to recitations of Japanese epic poetry), Richard Thompson and Joao Giberto; impressive stuff. "

Artist:	TOMOKAWA, KAZUKI
Title:	Shibuya Appia Document
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 065CD

Tomokawa's seventh release for PSF consists of live performances recorded in 1993-95 at Shibuya Apia. He plays acoustic guitar and sings throughout, with only minor backing on piano or accordion. The power of musical performance demonstrated here is typically staggering; Tomokawa's guitar playing is purely invigorating and intense (as physical as acoustic playing can get), and his voice is a towering outlet; an emotional songform beyond all international limits.

Artist:	HAINO, KEIJI
Title:	21st Century Hard-y-Guide-y Man
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 068CD

"Solo hurdy-gurdy improvisations. Haino has long been a fan of medieval music, which is one of the few places where the hurdy-gurdy makes an appearance. It's a pity that the instrument isn't more used since it has great possibilities for higher-minded multiple drones that can vary in sound from a high-pitched violin-like scraping and squealing to deep quaking resonances. The beauty of the instrument is that you can combine the various drones to build up a multi-layered effect...He's been experimenting with them over the past year or so in various permutations -- solo, with Fushitsusha, with Vajra and in duos with other musicians. The sounds produced have ranged from gentle accompaniment to a dense brain-altering fug that blows everyone else off stage...Five tracks of beautiful late-night drones, suffused with instantly recognizable Haino atmosphere of mystery." --Alan Cummings

Artist:	IMAI, KAZUO
Title:	How Will We Change?
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 070CD

Solo improvisations for viola da gamba, gut guitar, electric guitar & live electronics. "Imai's resume places him firmly at the centre of Japan's free improvisation scene. He studied for 13 years under the guidance of late guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi, and played on occasion with the New Direction ensemble. He was the only graduate of Takayanagi's infamously tough private music school; in addition he was a student of Takehisa Kosugi and participated in Kosugi's 'legendary' pioneering multi-media improv unit, The Taj Mahal Travellers. He also made live appearances with groups such as East Bionic Symphonia and the Kosugi Quartet.... the ghost of Takayanagi especially hovers over Imai's improvisations for acoustic guitar. His work on the viola da gamba displays an amazing sense of control over technique and pure sound, coupled with a very enticing emotional intensity. And for all you loud guitar freaks, Imai also reveals a love of volume and distortion in his work on electric guitar."

Artist:	HIRANO, GO
Title:	Reflection Of Dreams
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 071CD

2nd album for PSF, that is nearly an all-solo affair, with Hirano playing piano, pianica, organ, windchime, glockenspiel, percussion, voice. "...a compilation of 14 short tracks recorded between 1990 and 1995. There is a genuine late-night quality to most of the tracks -- delicate, almost hesitant in places, gorgeously lyrical in others -- a real contrast to the buzzing harshness of his last album. I'd almost be tempted to use the word ambient to describe a lot of this album, but that word has become particularly debased of late... and besides, there is a quality of surreal, dreamlike naivete to Hirano's works that's thousands of miles away from most purveyors of fleaty textures... puzzling, but good." --Alan Cummings.

Artist:	MIKAMI, KAN
Title:	Dune 963
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 072CD

Sixth solo album for PSF. "There's not really a lot to say about Japan's most powerful singer-songwriter of the post-war generation. He is simply one of the most unique artists you're ever likely to hear (or not). This CD sees the shaven-headed powerhouse in a slightly more pensive mode than the previous Jazz, and Other Things -- there's a warmer, gorgeous semi-acoustic glow to the proceedings (at least compared to the last outings full electric attack). Some amazing Tsugaru tongue-action too. It's still not too late to remedy your ignorance re: one of the contemporary world's original truth-tellers. You need this." --Alan Cummings.

Artist:	YAMADA, CHISATO
Title:	Fantastic World
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 073CD

"PSF debut by Chisato Yamada, the godfather of Tsugaru Jamisen (the traditional three-stringed folk instrument from the north of Japan -- also played by Zorn hero Michihiro Sato). Here Yamada's amazingly vibrant, percussive attack and spirit power are featured in two avant settings. Two tracks recorded late last year feature Keiji Haino on guitar and percussion, amply fulfilling Kan Mikami's prediction that these two masters would create a fuckin' immense music if they ever met. The other three tracks are a suite for contemporary flute/percussion trio and tsugaru-jamisen, composed by Ken'ei Sasamori, recorded in 1978 and promptly lost for the next 17 years. Yamada is a true out-on-the-edge innovator, and these classic recordings prove that his experimental leanings have a long history. Yamada's age (he's now in his sixties) has only served to increase his unique power and authority. An essential, and too little known voice!"

Artist:	PHILLIPS/KEIJI HAINO, BARRE
Title:	Etchings In The Air
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 074CD

A crazed, unique duo album, with Haino on vocals only, and Phillips on bass and vocals. "Barre was in Tokyo recently for a couple of workshops and performances, and managed to make it into the studio for a follow-up to Two Strings Will Do It (PSF 45). Haino's vocal work, as opposed to his actual singing of identifiable 'words' hasn't had that much recorded exposure of late, but here given the space and a collaborator of Barre's canniness he shows just how wild a field of sound he can summon up and control. Phillips is always a joy to hear in the relatively unconfined solo and duo space, where his technique can be given full room to flourish. This is just a beautiful release, lots of room for both performers to move, nonstop inventiveness, emotional communication beyond works (even some humour!). Oh yeah, and the recorded debut of Barre's vocal technique." --A. Cummings.

Artist:	PHILLIPS/MOTOHARU YOSHIZAWA, BARRE
Title:	Uzu
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 075CD

"Two of the world's master freeform bassists in a lush textural showdown. 25 years ago Moto Yoshizawa and Barre Phillips began playing solo bass improvisations. They are now recognized as two of the most unique voices in the world of freeform playing. This is their first ever duo recording. Yoshizawa's otherworldly circling electric soundscapes collide and fuse with Phillips' mastery of acoustic human textures in an orgy of sensitivity, pure inventiveness, whatever...A crystallization of a quarter of a century's freedom." -- A. Cummings

Artist:	HIGH RISE
Title:	Disallow
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 078CD

Artist:	HAINO/MIKAMI/YOSHIZAWA
Title:	Live In The First Year of Heisei Vol I
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 005CD

Artist:	YOSHIZAWA, MOTOHARU
Title:	Gobbledygook
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 008CD

Artist:	WHITE HEAVEN
Title:	Out
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 011CD

Artist:	KADOTANI, MICHIO
Title:	Rotten Telepathies
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 014CD

Artist:	GASENETA
Title:	Sooner Or Later
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 017CD

Artist:	LOST AARAAFF
Title:
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 018CD

Artist:	BORBETOMAGUS
Title:	Live At Inroads
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 019CD

Artist:	YOSHIZAWA/TAKEHISA KOSUGI/HARUNA MIYAKE, MOTO
Title:	Angels Have Passed
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 022CD

Artist:	VA
Title:	Tokyo Flashback II
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 024CD

Artist:	SATO, MICHIHIRO
Title:	Works Of
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 028CD

Artist:	NIJIUMU
Title:	Era of Sad Wings
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 031CD

Artist:	BERTOIA, HARRY
Title:	Unfolding
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 032CD

Artist:	VA
Title:	Tokyo Flashback III
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 034CD

Artist:	ABE, KAORU
Title:	Solo 72
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 040CD

Artist:	TAKAYANAGI/NEW DIRECTION, MASAYUKI
Title:	Call In Question
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 041CD

Artist:	DISLOCATION
Title:	Peak to Peak
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 042CD

Artist:	HAINO/PHILLIPS/TOYOZUMI
Title:	Two Strings Will Do It
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 045CD

Artist:	YOSHIZAWA/MOTOTERU TAKAGI, MOTO
Title:	Deep Sea/Abyss Duo 1969
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 047CD

Artist:	MIKAMI/KAZUKI TOMOKAWA, KAN
Title:	Goen
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 049CD

Artist:	SHIZUKA
Title:
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 052CD

Artist:	ABE TRIO, KAORU
Title:	Shinjuku
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 056CD

Artist:	TOHO SARA
Title:	Eastern Most 1-7
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 058CD

Artist:	MUSICA TRANSONIC
Title:	Introducing.....Musica Transonic!
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 061CD

Artist:	VA
Title:	Tokyo Flashback IV
Label:	PSF (JAPAN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	PSF 069CD