Post by ChrisB on Sept 30, 2014 23:25:29 GMT
ALBUM CHOICE: October 2014
Far Out - 'Nihonjin' (1973)
Front Cover / Back Cover
'Nihonjin' (or '日本人') is an album with two long tracks, one side each on the vinyl version, though reissues are available on CD with additional material. It was recorded in 1973 by the Japanese band Far Out - (ファーラウト). This was their only album, though a closely related version of the band sort of lived on for a tangential career as The Far East Family Band, recording several albums including one with a remaking of the title track of 'Nihonjin'.
Nihonjin translates as Japanese (as in the Japanese people).
I've been exploring Japanese rock music for a few years now and, of all of the albums I've discovered in that time, I think this must be the one that I have played and enjoyed the most. If you like early to mid period Pink Floyd, I'm certain that you'll like this too. Yes, parts are a little derivative, but there is something more than just a slavish copy of western rock music as many of Far Out's contemporaries were guilty of.
I love the way both tracks build from gentle slow starts into massive dense and heavy sections and then occasionally slip back into quiet mode. The guitar playing is what I love - it progresses from drifty and slightly ethereal a little like Floyd's 'Echoes' to big crunchy Tony Iommi style riffing - there is some great guitar playing here! Along with a little light moog and some great touches of electric sitar. It's incredibly confident for a debut album and I don't understand why it hasn't received universal acclaim.
Band details:
Fumio Miyashita - vocal, nihonbue, acoustic guitar, harmonica, moog
Eiichi Sayu - lead guitar, hammond organ, chorus
Kei Ishikawa - vocal, bass guitar, electric sitar
Manami Arai - drums, nihon-daiko, chorus
Spotify:
The Spotify version of the album has extra tracks, but we are only concerned with tracks one and two here - 'Too Many People' (18 minutes long) and 'Nihonjin' (16'38")
Grooveshark:
LINK
YouTube:
Track 1 - 'Too Many People'
Track 2 - 'Nihonjin'
Suggested further listening:
Far East Family Band
- 'The Cave Down to Eart
- 'Nipponjin (Join Our Mental Phase Sound)'
The above two albums are both based on the same music, but quite different. The first ('The Cave....') is heavily reliant on guitars and quite obviously related to the album under discussion here. The other one was released later, originally only in Germany, and it had more keyboards/mellotron added to it by producer Klaus Schultze. He also removed two tracks and replaced them with the title track of the Far Out record. I prefer the first with its more guitar focused style. If you like the keyboard heavy version, then you may also enjoy the follow up album which is where Klaus Schulze had his evil keyboardie way with them again!
Far East Family Band - 'Parallel World'
The Far East Family Band had a keyboard player called Masanori Takahashi who went on to become one of the early pioneers of New Age music. Renamed as Kitaro, he has recorded numerous albums and film soundtracks, nominated fifteen times for Grammy Awards, received one and also won a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score in 1993 for Oliver Stone's 'Heaven & Earth'.
Far Out - 'Nihonjin' (1973)
Front Cover / Back Cover
'Nihonjin' (or '日本人') is an album with two long tracks, one side each on the vinyl version, though reissues are available on CD with additional material. It was recorded in 1973 by the Japanese band Far Out - (ファーラウト). This was their only album, though a closely related version of the band sort of lived on for a tangential career as The Far East Family Band, recording several albums including one with a remaking of the title track of 'Nihonjin'.
Nihonjin translates as Japanese (as in the Japanese people).
I've been exploring Japanese rock music for a few years now and, of all of the albums I've discovered in that time, I think this must be the one that I have played and enjoyed the most. If you like early to mid period Pink Floyd, I'm certain that you'll like this too. Yes, parts are a little derivative, but there is something more than just a slavish copy of western rock music as many of Far Out's contemporaries were guilty of.
I love the way both tracks build from gentle slow starts into massive dense and heavy sections and then occasionally slip back into quiet mode. The guitar playing is what I love - it progresses from drifty and slightly ethereal a little like Floyd's 'Echoes' to big crunchy Tony Iommi style riffing - there is some great guitar playing here! Along with a little light moog and some great touches of electric sitar. It's incredibly confident for a debut album and I don't understand why it hasn't received universal acclaim.
Band details:
Fumio Miyashita - vocal, nihonbue, acoustic guitar, harmonica, moog
Eiichi Sayu - lead guitar, hammond organ, chorus
Kei Ishikawa - vocal, bass guitar, electric sitar
Manami Arai - drums, nihon-daiko, chorus
Spotify:
The Spotify version of the album has extra tracks, but we are only concerned with tracks one and two here - 'Too Many People' (18 minutes long) and 'Nihonjin' (16'38")
Grooveshark:
LINK
YouTube:
Track 1 - 'Too Many People'
Track 2 - 'Nihonjin'
Suggested further listening:
Far East Family Band
- 'The Cave Down to Eart
- 'Nipponjin (Join Our Mental Phase Sound)'
The above two albums are both based on the same music, but quite different. The first ('The Cave....') is heavily reliant on guitars and quite obviously related to the album under discussion here. The other one was released later, originally only in Germany, and it had more keyboards/mellotron added to it by producer Klaus Schultze. He also removed two tracks and replaced them with the title track of the Far Out record. I prefer the first with its more guitar focused style. If you like the keyboard heavy version, then you may also enjoy the follow up album which is where Klaus Schulze had his evil keyboardie way with them again!
Far East Family Band - 'Parallel World'
The Far East Family Band had a keyboard player called Masanori Takahashi who went on to become one of the early pioneers of New Age music. Renamed as Kitaro, he has recorded numerous albums and film soundtracks, nominated fifteen times for Grammy Awards, received one and also won a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score in 1993 for Oliver Stone's 'Heaven & Earth'.
