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viewing 1 To 11 of 11 items
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Cassette
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RM 4220CS
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A note from Lawrence English : "When I was preparing the 15th anniversary re-issue of Totemo Aimasho I spent a few days doing a deep dive through the room40 archive. There's a hell of a lot of material that has been collected over the years, and truth be told I don't exactly remember a lot of it. About a day into this search, I came across this recording. Tasmania Bootleg was recorded on Sunday the 15th of February 2009, at The Brisbane Hotel in Hobart. The visit to Hobart came about pretty last minute, so my email chain from the time seems to suggest. I'd invited Tenniscoats down to Australia to help celebrate the finale of the Fabrique series I was curating at Brisbane Powerhouse. Some folks from Hobart reached out once the other tour dates were announced and then before we knew it, we were headed there. As part of the Hobart visit we recorded a suite of material using the same 'field recording' style we used to create Temporacha in Tokyo the previous year. We also took the chance to record the show at The Brisbane Hotel. This recording is 100% bootleg territory. I must confess to being a huge fan of this style of recording. I was an enormous cassette trader back in my teen years and I put down a lot of my interests in texture and noise to the quality of duplicated bootlegs I listened to back then. This recording was made in the audience by a friendly local and is an entirely faithful capture of the atmosphere that surrounded Tenniscoats during this time. You can literally hear the audience becoming completely entranced by Saya and Ueno's performance. I was honored to play alongside them for this show. It's not something I talk about much, but my first life in music was as a drummer and a flicker of that life is captured here. The edition also comes with a digital phonebook, containing photos in 110 and other formats, that were captured in Tasmania during that time."
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CD
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RM 415R-CD
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A note from Lawrence English: "Some time in the early '00s John Chantler, who was living in Japan at the time, sent me a couple of curious sound pieces he'd just recorded with musicians he'd met from Tokyo -- Tenniscoats. This was my first introduction to Saya and Ueno, who have subsequently gone on to become longtime friends and a wellspring of sonic inspiration. In 2005, through their connections to Guy Blackman in Melbourne, Tenniscoats under took a tour of Australia and as part of that visit I arranged a concert for them in Brisbane. Their show, held at Rics Cafe in Fortitude Valley, was a wildly-flowing flux of song, improvisation and sheer melodic freedom. Following the performance Saya, Ueno and drummer Yoshinari Kishida spent a few additional days in Brisbane, and it's during this time that the majority of Totemo Aimasho was recorded. The recording itself took place in a reappropriated office building, where my friend Heinz Riegler had set up a small recording space. We were able to use the various offices as somewhat isolated recording zones. The results were surprisingly rich, a testament to office room design I suppose. For this special 15th anniversary edition, I spent some time going back over the recordings to remaster them. This version is perhaps a bit more faithful to the dynamics of those sessions. I also spent some days going through archival materials that were not included in the original Totemo Aimasho sessions. To my surprise I found a couple of demo versions of "Cacoy," one of my favorite pieces from the record, as well as some variations of other album pieces and also a couple of experiments not included on the record. There's a certain radiant joy to this music. The record is equal parts curiosity, porousness and generosity. It's a mixed methodology that informed this collaboration, and equally the creation of Totemo Aimasho itself. I want to send a special note of thanks to John, without whom this project, and many subsequent other connections, would not have occurred."
Monochrome printed, matte laminated and embossed sleeve with insert card. Includes previously unreleased demos and outtakes.
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CD
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MORR 186CD
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Japanese indie-pop duo Tenniscoats recorded Papa's Ear in 2012 (MORR 184CD/LP) and Tan-Tan Therapy in 2007, two albums made with musical and production help from Swedish post-rock/folk trio Tape. Originally released on Häpna, they are beautiful documents of the exploratory music made by a close-knit collective of musicians. Released during a prolific phase of collaboration for Tenniscoats -- during the late '00s and early '10s, they would also collaborate with Jad Fair, The Pastels, Secai, and Pastacas -- they have, however, never been available on vinyl. In collaboration with Alien Transistor, Morr Music is now reissuing these albums with bonus material. Filled with graceful pop songs, autumnal folk tunes, and gentle yet risk-taking improvisations, Tan-Tan Therapy was the first Tenniscoats album to be released in Europe, after a run of albums on Japanese labels, and Live Wanderus (2005) on Australian imprint Chapter Music. It was also the first recorded evidence of their collaboration with the three members of Tape and that group's extended musical family. It opens with one of Tenniscoats' signature songs, the pop fantasia of "Baibaba Bimba", with Tenniscoats singer Saya repeating a light-headed incantation over joyous brass. The essence of Tenniscoats is contained in "Baibaba Bimba": uplifting melody and playful musicianship, tinged with distant echoes of winsome melancholy. From there, Tan-Tan Therapy explores many hues of lustrous blue. "Oetu to kanki no Namoriuta (Given Song of Sob and Joy)" is an aquatic arbor, the musicians' gentle performances growing together like vines and seaweed as Saya's voice swims through the waterway. "Umbarepa!" is full of play and pleasure, sparkling with glockenspiel as snare drum tattoos push the song ever-forward. "Abi and Travel" floats past, a lovely instrumental built from shifting layers of synthesizer and pianet; "Good B.", an extra track originally only available on the Japanese edition of Tan-Tan Therapy, is added to this reissue, and follows a similar thread, its humming pump and Hammond organs swirling under beautiful vocals from Saya and guest performer Kazumi Nikaido. It's a conversational, tender and, at times, fragile music that can only be created out of mutual trust and kindness. There's an element here, too, of feeling out the possibilities of what this creative meeting can achieve, something reflected in the loose-limbs sprawl of "Marui Hifo (Everyone)", which echoes the seaside drift of Bristol post-rock group Crescent, and the following "One Swan Swim", a dreamsong redolent of Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom (1974). LP version marks the first time this release has appeared on vinyl; includes printed inner sleeves, obi, and download code.
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LP
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MORR 186LP
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LP version. Includes printed inner sleeve, obi, and download code. Japanese indie-pop duo Tenniscoats recorded Papa's Ear in 2012 (MORR 184CD/LP) and Tan-Tan Therapy in 2007, two albums made with musical and production help from Swedish post-rock/folk trio Tape. Originally released on Häpna, they are beautiful documents of the exploratory music made by a close-knit collective of musicians. Released during a prolific phase of collaboration for Tenniscoats -- during the late '00s and early '10s, they would also collaborate with Jad Fair, The Pastels, Secai, and Pastacas -- they have, however, never been available on vinyl. In collaboration with Alien Transistor, Morr Music is now reissuing these albums with bonus material. Filled with graceful pop songs, autumnal folk tunes, and gentle yet risk-taking improvisations, Tan-Tan Therapy was the first Tenniscoats album to be released in Europe, after a run of albums on Japanese labels, and Live Wanderus (2005) on Australian imprint Chapter Music. It was also the first recorded evidence of their collaboration with the three members of Tape and that group's extended musical family. It opens with one of Tenniscoats' signature songs, the pop fantasia of "Baibaba Bimba", with Tenniscoats singer Saya repeating a light-headed incantation over joyous brass. The essence of Tenniscoats is contained in "Baibaba Bimba": uplifting melody and playful musicianship, tinged with distant echoes of winsome melancholy. From there, Tan-Tan Therapy explores many hues of lustrous blue. "Oetu to kanki no Namoriuta (Given Song of Sob and Joy)" is an aquatic arbor, the musicians' gentle performances growing together like vines and seaweed as Saya's voice swims through the waterway. "Umbarepa!" is full of play and pleasure, sparkling with glockenspiel as snare drum tattoos push the song ever-forward. "Abi and Travel" floats past, a lovely instrumental built from shifting layers of synthesizer and pianet; "Good B.", an extra track originally only available on the Japanese edition of Tan-Tan Therapy, is added to this reissue, and follows a similar thread, its humming pump and Hammond organs swirling under beautiful vocals from Saya and guest performer Kazumi Nikaido. It's a conversational, tender and, at times, fragile music that can only be created out of mutual trust and kindness. There's an element here, too, of feeling out the possibilities of what this creative meeting can achieve, something reflected in the loose-limbs sprawl of "Marui Hifo (Everyone)", which echoes the seaside drift of Bristol post-rock group Crescent, and the following "One Swan Swim", a dreamsong redolent of Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom (1974).
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2LP
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MORR 184LP
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Double LP version. First time on vinyl. Includes printed inner sleeves, obi, and download code. In 2012, Japanese indie-pop duo Tenniscoats recorded Papa's Ear (2012) and Tan-Tan Therapy (2007), two albums made with musical and production help from Swedish post-rock/folk trio Tape. Originally released on Häpna, they are beautiful documents of the exploratory music made by a close-knit collective of musicians, fully at ease with each other, playing songs written by Tenniscoats and arranging them in gentle and generous ways. Released during a particularly productive time for Tenniscoats; during the late '00s and early '10s, they would also collaborate with Jad Fair, The Pastels, Secai, and Pastacas. The second album from this expanded line-up of Tenniscoats, you can hear the musicians are immediately comfortable in each other's presence. Saya and Ueno of Tenniscoats bring their magical, gentle folk-pop sensibility, and their winning way with straightforward, yet lush melodies. Johan Berthling, along with fellow Tape member Tomas Hallonsten, plus guests Fredrik Ljungkvist, Lars Skoglund, Andreas Söderstrom, and Andreas Werlin, all generous and creative presences in the Swedish jazz underground, shades in the songs with endlessly inventive arrangements, highlighting the warmth and curiosity at the core of the Tenniscoats' aesthetic. Papa's Ear includes some of Tenniscoats' most memorable songs. "Papaya" is a lustrous dreamland of a song, with the Swedish musicians singing "pa-pa-ya" as an enchanted tattoo, while Saya's piano and melodica clank and huff out, further expanding the song's horizon. It's followed by the spindly and mysterious "Sappolondon", where drums and double-bass shuffle and pulse under weeping accordion and bittersweet clarinet. It reminds a little of the wild kindness of Movietone, or the regal charm of Carla Bley's compositions. Elsewhere, you can hear Tape and their friends embracing the freedom offered by the songs of Tenniscoats: see, for example, the glistening electronics in "På floden", like a keyboard conducting a music box on a distant planet; or the descending phrase for winds on "Sabaku", dovetailing beautifully into a creek of moon-lit texturology. Includes two extra tracks, drawn from the 2008 Tenniscoats/Tape split single, also released by Häpna., "Lutie Lutie" is a sweet delight, driven by a clacking drum machine, the Tenniscoats duo joined by Hallonsten on glockenspiel and synthesizer, and special guest, Japanese indie-pop legend Kazumi Nikaido, as choir. "Come Maddalena" rounds off the set, a brooding cover of an Ennio Morricone tune, the music by Tape, the vocals by Tenniscoats and Nikaido. Open-hearted and full of puckish spirit, Papa's Ear is an album of great tenderness and warm friendship.
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CD
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MORR 184CD
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In 2012, Japanese indie-pop duo Tenniscoats recorded Papa's Ear (2012) and Tan-Tan Therapy (2007), two albums made with musical and production help from Swedish post-rock/folk trio Tape. Originally released on Häpna, they are beautiful documents of the exploratory music made by a close-knit collective of musicians, fully at ease with each other, playing songs written by Tenniscoats and arranging them in gentle and generous ways. Released during a particularly productive time for Tenniscoats; during the late '00s and early '10s, they would also collaborate with Jad Fair, The Pastels, Secai, and Pastacas. The second album from this expanded line-up of Tenniscoats, you can hear the musicians are immediately comfortable in each other's presence. Saya and Ueno of Tenniscoats bring their magical, gentle folk-pop sensibility, and their winning way with straightforward, yet lush melodies. Johan Berthling, along with fellow Tape member Tomas Hallonsten, plus guests Fredrik Ljungkvist, Lars Skoglund, Andreas Söderstrom, and Andreas Werlin, all generous and creative presences in the Swedish jazz underground, shades in the songs with endlessly inventive arrangements, highlighting the warmth and curiosity at the core of the Tenniscoats' aesthetic. Papa's Ear includes some of Tenniscoats' most memorable songs. "Papaya" is a lustrous dreamland of a song, with the Swedish musicians singing "pa-pa-ya" as an enchanted tattoo, while Saya's piano and melodica clank and huff out, further expanding the song's horizon. It's followed by the spindly and mysterious "Sappolondon", where drums and double-bass shuffle and pulse under weeping accordion and bittersweet clarinet. It reminds a little of the wild kindness of Movietone, or the regal charm of Carla Bley's compositions. Elsewhere, you can hear Tape and their friends embracing the freedom offered by the songs of Tenniscoats: see, for example, the glistening electronics in "På floden", like a keyboard conducting a music box on a distant planet; or the descending phrase for winds on "Sabaku", dovetailing beautifully into a creek of moon-lit texturology. Includes two extra tracks, drawn from the 2008 Tenniscoats/Tape split single, also released by Häpna., "Lutie Lutie" is a sweet delight, driven by a clacking drum machine, the Tenniscoats duo joined by Hallonsten on glockenspiel and synthesizer, and special guest, Japanese indie-pop legend Kazumi Nikaido, as choir. "Come Maddalena" rounds off the set, a brooding cover of an Ennio Morricone tune, the music by Tape, the vocals by Tenniscoats and Nikaido. Open-hearted and full of puckish spirit, Papa's Ear is an album of great tenderness and warm friendship.
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LP
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N 061LP
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Alien Transistor and Tokyo-based label Afterhours release the vinyl-version of Volume 4 of Tenniscoats' masterpiece Music Exists, originally released in 2016. The final piece in this magic quadruple release by the Japanese experimental folk luminaries. Tenniscoats have devoted followers all over the world, but their releases were always hard to find outside of Japan. Except for their album Tokinouta (2011), which saw a very limited run on vinyl, and the seminal Two Sunsets, their collaboration with the Pastels (and a small handful of 7"s), there were never any vinyl-releases, and also the CDs were hard to get for anyone who doesn't speak or read Japanese. So, this is the chance to dive deep into the beautiful, unique world of the Tenniscoats and their opus magnum Music Exists. Fourth in a series of four vinyl-only "discs" by Tenniscoats. In their 20 years carrier the band collaborated with the Pastels, Jad Fair, Norman Blake, and others. Includes double-sided fold-out insert.
"It may even be their greatest ever music, essential plus" --Monorail Music, Glasgow.
"Whatever's ailing you, Tokyo's Tenniscoats have got something for that" --Boomkat, Manchester.
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LP
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N 060LP
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The third release in Alien Transistor and Tokyo-based label Afterhours' series of four vinyl-only releases documenting the Tenniscoats' four part masterpiece, Music Exists. Disc 3 was originally released on CD in 2016. Disc 3 reunites the couple with their old friends and colleagues, the Swedish musicians from Tape, and sees them concentrate once more on their very own language of making music, offering another collection of essential Tenniscoats songs. Tenniscoats have devoted followers all over the world, but their releases were always hard to find outside of Japan. Except for their album Tokinouta (2011), which saw a very limited run on vinyl, and the seminal Two Sunsets, their collaboration with the Pastels (and a small handful of 7"s), there were never any vinyl-releases, and also the CDs were hard to get for anyone who doesn't speak or read Japanese. In their 20 years, the band has collaborated with the Pastels, Jad Fair, Norman Blake, and others. This set of vinyl releases provides a chance to dive deep into the beautiful, unique world of the Tenniscoats and their opus magnum Music Exists. "It may even be their greatest ever music, essential plus" --Monorail Music, Glasgow. "Whatever's ailing you, Tokyo's Tenniscoats have got something for that" --Boomkat, Manchester. The eventual Disc 4 release will come with a limited box, either for putting the other previously purchased three records in, or as a glorious four-LP package. Includes a double-sided fold-out insert.
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LP
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N 053LP
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Alien Transistor and Tokyo-based label Afterhours present the second of four discs in a vinyl release of Tenniscoats's masterpiece Music Exists. Music Exists Disc 2 functions as a complement and extension of Disc 1 (N 049LP, 2015). Even more incredibly beautiful melodies, more subtle and psychedelic orchestration (Spanish guitar, Casio-keyboards, trombone, drum-computer), and more heartfelt singing and playing. Before Disc 3 sees the band reunite with their old friends and colleagues, the Swedish musicians from Tape, they concentrate once more on their very own language of making music, and present another collection of essential Tenniscoats songs. Tenniscoats have devoted followers all over the world, but their releases were always hard to find outside of Japan. Except for their album Tokinouta (2011), which saw a very limited run on vinyl, and the seminal Two Sunsets (2009), their collaboration with the Pastels, there were never any vinyl releases, and also the CDs were hard to get for anyone, who doesn't speak or read Japanese. In their 20 years, the band has also collaborated with Jad Fair, Norman Blake and others. This is the chance to dive deep into the beautiful, unique world of the Tenniscoats and their magnum opus Music Exists. "It may even be their greatest ever music, essential plus." -- Monorail Music, Glasgow. "Whatever's ailing you, Tokyo's Tenniscoats have got something for that." -- Boomkat, Manchester.
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LP
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N 049LP
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The first part of a four-part vinyl edition of Tenniscoats' masterpiece Music Exists, a work of intimate, wonderful, psychedelic folk music. Includes double-sided fold-out insert. Tenniscoats have devoted followers all over the world, but their releases have always been hard to find outside of Japan. Except for their album Tokinouta (2011), which saw a very limited run on vinyl, and the seminal Two Sunsets, their 2009 collaboration with The Pastels (and a small handful of 7"s), there were never any vinyl releases, and the CDs were hard to get for anyone who doesn't speak or read Japanese. So this release is a chance to dive deep into the beautiful, unique world of the Tenniscoats and their magnum opus Music Exists. Tenniscoats are a duo that has enjoyed a long career in the music scene of their home country of Japan since their formation in 1996. They have collaborated with unique artists from different backgrounds (Tape, The Pastels, Pastacas, Jad Fair) while maintaining their own laid-back approach and sound. Their songs are built primarily from guitar and vocals with lyrical themes focusing on everyday life. It could be their expansion on simplicity that has captivated music lovers of all ages throughout their existence. Music Exists previously saw a limited release on the Tenniscoats' own Majikick label in 2015. "We started recording around January of 2013 with just the two of us in our 10 tatami-room in Tokyo we were using as a private studio. Arrangements were produced without computers by overdubbing on an analog console with mixing assistance provided by Saya. As we sent selected songs to be mastered by Yasushi Utsunomia, we were able to see the tracks grown into a full length album." Tenniscoats wrote and recorded the album themselves using an analog console, a microphone, and what few instruments they had. As the project developed, they were surprised to find that they had amassed several albums' worth of material, showcasing their unique combination of melodies and unexaggerated arrangements. Co-released by the Germany-based Alien Transistor label and the Tokyo-based Afterhours magazine and label.
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CD
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HAPNA 048CD
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Japanese duo Tenniscoats have been running together for more than ten years, and their music is all about catching the moment. They are true improvisers inside their own musical world. The music on this record adds a new facet to their universe -- deeper, more intense, but with still-visible signs of their trademark playfulness, despite the fact that the album was recorded during dark winter-time. This is the second time they went to Stockholm, Sweden, to record their music. Musicians around the group Tape and label Häpna gathered together with producer Johan Berthling during a week in the studio to record most of the music for Papa's Ear. Compared to the recording of Tan-Tan Therapy (2007) which was very haphazard, everything started on a new level. There was already a plan on how to work, ideas around the sound that was aimed for. In typical Tenniscoats fashion, Saya completed some of the lyrics in the last minute. There is always a new song to record, the flow of new material seems inexhaustible. Welcome to Tenniscoats' magical, mystery world. Participating on the album are Saya, Ueno, Johan Berthling, Tomas Hallonsten, Fredrik Ljungkvist, Lars Skoglund, Andreas Söderström and Andreas Werliin.
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viewing 1 To 11 of 11 items
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