Ftarri / Improvised Music from Japan

Improvised Music from Japan 2005

OUT DECEMBER 25, 2005

cover art

Improvised Music from Japan, IMJ-306/7
Purchase price in Japan: 2,500 yen (tax not included)
(For purchase outside of Japan, prices vary.)


The 2005 edition of the annual Japanese-English magazine Improvised Music from Japan is devoted entirely to recent albums. Over 350 releases (with a cover photo for each) are presented. The albums, mainly from 2004-2005, span a wide range of styles--improv, onkyo, noise, electronics, contemporary classical, free jazz, avant-rock, and more. While contributions from music critics are numerous, this is not just a collection of reviews. Musicians write about their own and other artists' works, label owners about their labels . . . The articles' styles and points of view are as diverse as the albums they present. Improvised Music from Japan 2005 also includes 2 CDs with a total of 21 tracks--by PsysEx, Jio Shimizu, Tetsuya Umeda, mills, sim, Toshihiro Koike, Shuichi Ohori, Chihiro Wada, Toshiya Tsunoda, Kiyoshi Mizutani, VOIMA, Bunsho Nishikawa and Tim Olive, m/s (Minoru Sato), Yasuo Totsuka, Diver, Mitsuhiro Yoshimura, Tomomi Adachi, The Cinngirls, aspects, Yui Kimijima, and Merzbow.


Track list of attached CDs

Disc 1

  1. PsysEx - #460 (4:41)
    First released on Polyrhythm_system Exclusive Message 2 (Ryoondo-tea, DES 024)

  2. Jio Shimizu - One Million Dots (6:55)

  3. Tetsuya Umeda - Error Piano (10:28)
    Yasuhisa Mizutani: piano
    Tetsuya Umeda: loitering around the piano, carrying a portable radio

  4. mills - Day (3:10)
    aen: computer, mixer
    bike boy: Stick
    INOnation: guitar
    Recorded live at Metro, Kyoto, 2003
    Reprocessed by aen, September 2005

  5. sim - UNT (6:10)
    Teruyuki Oshima: guitar, computer
    Yoshio Otani: electronics
    Masahiro Uemura: drums
    Recorded live by Hayato Aoki at Grapefruit Moon, March 15, 2005

  6. Toshihiro Koike - 6pm_33 (6:42)
    Toshihiro Koike: trombone
    Recorded in 2005

  7. Shuichi Ohori - They Shoot the Blame (6:08)
    Shuichi Ohori: keyboard, MD, laptop
    Recorded at Curtain of Cards Studio, November 2004

  8. Chihiro Wada - Hikoboshi (5:31)
    Chihiro Wada: vocal, ukulele, drums
    Recorded by Yuichi Kishino at Ace Studio, July 2005

  9. Toshiya Tsunoda - Three Stationary Waves from My Living Room (6:38)
    Recorded in October 2000 using a piezo microphone and a portable DAT
    No editing

  10. Kiyoshi Mizutani - Jamokamo Festival (8:22)
    Recorded in Namamugi, Yokohama, using a microphone (AT822) and a DAT (TCD-D7), June 5, 2005
    Mixed on June 11, 2005

Mastered by Toshimaru Nakamura, August 29, 2005

Disc 2

  1. VOIMA - unsettledfrm (6:57)
    Yasufumi Suzuki: VAIO
    Tetsuro Yasunaga: Powerbook
    Recorded in August 2005

  2. Bunsho Nishikawa/Tim Olive -- Ushitsuki (4:31)
    Recorded by Bunsho Nishikawa at Bridge, Osaka, June 2005

  3. m/s (Minoru Satoh) - Linear Manifold (Multiple Version) (5:53)
    Recorded in 1994

  4. Yasuo Totsuka - Mame (4:46)
    Recorded on July 17, 2005

  5. Diver - "Hypogeous Sound 02" Concert (Short Version) (6:42)
    Kenichi Matsumoto: sax
    Natsuki Tamura: trumpet
    Daisuke Takaoka: tuba
    Recorded live by Hisashi Terauchi at Oya Stone Museum, Utsunomiya, April 29, 2004

  6. Mitsuhiro Yoshimura - Ears Ring (5:53)
    Mitsuhiro Yoshimura: microphone feedback
    Recorded by Mitsuhiro Yoshimura directly onto PC, May 2005

  7. Tomomi Adachi - mhoi (8:00)
    Tomomi Adachi: tomoring, voice, computer
    Recorded in June 2005

  8. The Cinngirls, aka The Cinnamon Girls, aka Cinnamon -- "Suicide" Orca remix (1:43)
    Kanoko: vocals
    DJ Radial Axis: acoustic guitar
    Remixed by Jonathan Segel at Magnetic Satellite Studio, Oakland, CA
    The Cinngirls appear courtesy of Lewis Recordings
    "Suicide" lyrics and music (c) 2004 Brett Larner (SOCAN)

  9. aspects - & aspects & 2/3 (extract) (7:33)
    Takuji Kawai: composition, keyboard-harmonica
    Michio Karimata: flute
    Nobuhiro Nakane: trombone
    Neko Kaneko: trombone
    Michito Arinaga: tuba
    Recorded at the rehearsal on April 14, 2005, for the concert "& aspects & vol. 2/3," Tokyo, April 17, 2005

  10. Yui Kimijima - Today (7:06)
    Recorded by Yuta Inoue at Kimijima's Studio, Izu, May 2005

  11. Merzbow - Excerpt from Death of 250,000 Chickens (7:03)
    Music by Masami Akita
    Recorded and mixed in his bedroom, Tokyo, May 2005

Mastered by Toshimaru Nakamura, August 30, 2005


Last updated: April 23, 2020

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