Hikashu - Nariyamazu (Eternal Echoes) (2020)

 

 

Hikashu - Nariyamazu

1. Nariyamazu / Eternal Echoes
2. Senbazuru No Dance / 1,000 Kurge Dance
3. Maul Meira (Bitter)
4. Arayuru Chie Kara / All the Wisdom
5. Kuroi Pan No Amasa Taruya / How Sweet It Is, Muhu Pagarid
6. Moichido Aitai / Wish Meeting You Again
7. Dokomademo Tochu / Perpetually on the Way

words - Makigami
music - Hikashu except Makigami (1, 3), Makigami and Sakaide (2)

Makigami Koichi - vocal, theremin, cornet, shakuhachi, koukin
Mita Freeman - guitar, ethnic flute
Sakaide Masami - bass
Shimizu Kazuto - piano, synthesizers
Sato Masaharu - drums

produced by Makigami Koichi
recorded in Talin, Estonia and Tokyo by Makigami Koichi and Sakaide Masami
mixed by Sakaide Masami
mastered by Ono Seigen at Saidera Mastering
released on December 23, 2020

As for everyone, 2020 is a year of suffer and accident for Hikashu. For example, this year they had to cancel the most of the appearances, including the annual christmas concert which they had been doing since 2008. But there's some emergence, and one of them is Nariyamazu, their first original album since Anguri, which was released in 2017.

Indeed, the album itself is born from accident. In March, Hikashu went to Estonia because they had been booked for a local festival. Of course, at that time, the pandemic was already rampant, but they choose to do that anyway. Fortunately, they avoided cancelling the event and managed to do a show, although shortened with limited audience.

Originally, they intended to do a series of show and some sightseeing - it was the first time for them to visit the country - but almost everything had to drop. Since unexpectedly they had a plenty of time, they tried to do something else instead. So they looked for a  studio, secured it, and did some recording. That's the foundation of this album.

Back to Tokyo, the band did some tweaking on the recording in studio, and added some tracks from recent concert as well. Mastering was done by the masterful Ono Seigen.

Cover photo is done in Estonia. The location was near historical district, and when they were there, almost nobody was around. Ordinarily the place was packed with people, but at that time, quite desolated. It seemed that it symbolized the situation appropriately, so they choose to do impromptu photo session, and the result was used for the album.

As for the music, this time the band decided to devote themselves collective improvisation heavily. There's only a few composed tracks. Lyrics is also mostly gibberish. All in all, this approach reminds us "Ten Ten," their only album devoted for improvisation and this could be described as the part three of the trilogy (There's already "Ten Ten Ten," a sequel). There are some differences between them though.

It's quite refreshing to see a 40-years band continuing to do something new. It's a troubled time, so listen some Hikashu and revive your spirit.

Available via Hikashu store or HMV Japan

 

Oboe may be added to the Hikashu's instrumentation someday

Recently Makigami started to practice Oboe.

The instrument is something left by the late Nomoto Kazunori, an ex-member of Hikashu who deceased in 2003, and passed to Makigami.

The cause of taking the instrument is a reunion with Mogi Daisuke. Mogi, an oboe player and conductor, was an old acquaintance and they came to know each other via Sakaide Masami, a mutual friend and Hikashu's member. Sakaide got to know Mr. Mogi when both were living in Germany and introduced him to Makigami.

Mogi, Makigami, and Sakaide

Daisuke Mogi (1959–) was born in Tokyo. He graduated from the Kunitachi College of Music with a degree in oboe performance before going abroad to study in the graduate program at Munich Music College (now the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich). He studied under the famed oboist Günther Passin (1937–2014). After completing his degree there, he stayed on at the college as a lecturer. In 1987 he joined the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra as first oboist. After returning to Japan in 1990, he became first oboist of the NHK Symphony Orchestra in April 1991, and also played with the Japan Shinsei Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he performed as a soloist with jazz pianist and composer Yosuke Yamashita, expanding his repertory beyond the classical genre. More recently he has taken up conducting, and he has also published numerous volumes of essays over the course of his career. www.booksfromjapan.jp

Makigami and Mogi recently started exchanging again through twitter, and joined Sakaide, the trio met at a music shop in Shibuya, Tokyo. They reminisced the old days in Deutschland, while Mogi gave Makigami a quick lesson like basic fingering and embouchuring.

Being an extraordinary voice performer, Makigami is also a multi-instrumentalist. Currently he regularly plays cornet, theremin, and shakuhachi. Also he used to be a bass player of Hikashu in the early period of the band, 1978-1982 (In December 1982, Sakaide replaced that chair and he's been staying ever since then.) More than that, he has a vast collection of ethnic instrument, mostly pipe and string instruments from asia and siberia, and occasionally plays them in public. For instance, recently he came to play hichiriki, double-reed instrument used for Gagaku, a traditional Japanese court music. You can listen to it on "Iroha Tapestry," a cut from their latest album, Ikitekoi Chinmoku [Silence Be Alive].




"Maybe someday I use oboe at Hikashu's performance, although I know it's really hard one to play. Imagining that, I feel somewhat gratifying. Is there any rock band using the instrument? What only reminds me of Roxy Music," Makigami said. In fact, he is known to be a big fan of Roxy. And surely that gratification is shared with us the band's audience as well.

ENOvations summer 1979 - the first western introduction

Recently Makigami tweeted:

懐かしい!! 資料を送ったら、ENOから返事が来て、しかもこのNewsletterにヒカシューが載った。 https://t.co/1Svgs5vrDh

— 巻上公一 (@MAKIBRI) 2016年3月12日

"I remember this!! We sent them our material. Then they gave us a reply, and even picked it up for their newsletter."

Apparently, they were thrilled.

It was summer of 1979. Brian Eno fan club's newsletter called ENOvations published a review of the demo recording of Hikashu. As far as we know, this is the earliest exposure of the band in the west, or anywhere outside Japan.

At that time, the band was already in negotiation with Toshiba EMI. Their first single, "At the End of the 20th Century," was released in December that year.

The demo was recorded in 1978. Not done professionally, contrary to the review implied, but it was completed with great care. It draw some popularity, widely circulated in Tokyo underground scene, and eventually led them to the recording contract with major label. Later it was issued as "Hikashu 1978" in 1996, now available as remastered edition, which was reviewed here:

Hikashu - Hikashu 1978 (1996)

You can see the issue in its entirety here:

www.moredarkthanshark.org/feature_enovations-sum79.html

Heading for Sankt Peterburg

Hikashu at Russian Drama Theatre, Vilnius.

Now Hikashu has completed the first half of the overseas tour. Via twitter, the members expressed their sentiments while on road, and evidently quite enjoyed themselves. They said the audiences in Moscow and Vilnius were very enthusiastic and gratitude for that. Sightseeing and local dishes were fantastic as well.

Hikashu drummer Sato Masaharu, and the Fuwa Works leader Fuwa Daisuke in Vilnius.

After dropping by JZ microphone in Raga, Latvia, the band returns to Russia, this time Sankt Peterburg. They will perform at Jaggerclub on October 16, and at The International APOSITSIA Music Forum on October 18. Do not miss if you were nearby.


Jaggerclub website

The International APOSITSIA Music Forum website
Apositsia Festival at MANEGE small hall, St. Petersburg, Griboedova 103

Alexei Aigui in Tokyo

Alexei Aigui, a noted composer and violinist who has been active in Moscow and Paris, visited Tokyo earlier this year. He jammed with Hikashu at Moscow DOM in last September as a guest.

During his stay in Tokyo, he performed with Japanese musicians.



Playing with Japanese musicians at Waseda, Tokyo.



Alexei Aigui tried out an electric violin at a music shop in Shinjuku, Tokyo.


Mr. Aigui will sit in with Hikashu again at DOM on October 10, 2012.

A Message to the Audiences in Russia and Lithuania

Very lately we came to know that the governmental grant, which Hikashu had applied for the overseas tour in October, was unexpectedly rejected. But the band doesn't give it up. Makigami Koichi, the leader of the band, has expressed that they will do the tour as scheduled.

That means the band have to do the tour on their own entirely, thus left holding a financial burden for it.

Generally, for any musical act from Japan considering to do an overseas tour, due to its cost (especially the travelling), support from public or private sector bodies is indispensable. And Hikashu is no exception. For example, their New York gig last year was sponsored by Japan Society, an American nonprofit organization.

Surely they will get some earnings from the tour, but unfortunately, that won't even cover the air freight cost, let alone all the necessary expenses. And Japanese yen has been, some say excessively, strong for quite some time.

So the things seem to be against the tour. But the band says they'll do it anyway. Why?

Because they recognize the responsibilities. The gigs are already publicized and tickets are sold. And the audiences. The band knows there are people anxiously waiting for them. The audience at Moscow DOM last year was very warm and welcoming. Some members have already performed in Vilnius Jazz Festival, and know it's nice. In the first place, they are very eager to perform in foreign countries.

So what's the point of this chatter?

First of all, if you live nearby regions, already got interested in the band, but haven't decided to attend the gigs, we strongly advise to do so. The band is always very positive to do an overseas tour, but supposedly, they will take a more cautious approach about doing that in the future. That's not their wish but helpless. We won't say this is the last, but perhaps it takes quite some time if you think to pass this time and wait for another opportunity.

And if you like their music, their performance, or whatever, please do not hesitate to express your feelings. Just show your praise for them on the spot. Buy something from them if you would like to. That kind of things surely gives more power to the band. They absolutely deserve support and appreciation.

See you at the gigs!

An interview with Marc Urselli - the engineer of Hikashu's "Uragoe"

3 Grammy Awards winner, Marc Urselli is the man who recorded and mixed Hikashu's brand new album, Uragoe. In this interview with yours truly, Mr. Urselli talks about the band, the recording, and himself, including various projects of his own. He could be reached via web http://www.marcurselli.com.


First of all, how you came to work with Hikashu? You recorded a Ikue Mori's session for Tzadik in 2010. Is it that when you met Makigami for the first time?


That's correct. Ikue was working on her new DVD "Kibyoshi (黄表紙)" for John Zorn's Tzadik records. I record and mix all of Zorn's studio albums and a lot of the Tzadik releases by New York artists, so Ikue came to my studio EastSide Sound to record with Maki. We pretty much hit it off right away. Maki san is a great guy, very smart and interesting and talented, and I enjoy working with people like that a lot!


Last year you saw the band playing at Japan Society. How's your impression of the performance?


I loved it. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was a great evening and it was great to see Makigami do his thing with vocals, theremin etc… His facial expressions are amazing too! So much vision and so much sound in their performance!


Then you worked with them in studio. You guys spent two days together and recorded an album, and the members enjoyed working with you very much. They have been raving about you ever since the session. How did you feel working them in studio?


It was an amazing two days. When people are cool and musicians are great things can only go well in a recording studio. The guys were really nice and I did my best to make them feel at home. There was of course some issues with communicating because unfortunately I do not speak Japanese but Makigami's english is great and Masami-san speaks English and even German (which I do speak a bit) and so we were speaking three languages at times! But the truth is, language was not a big barrier because the music was doing all the talking and there was a great vibe in the studio, very creative, very fun. Everyone was so relaxed that we even went out to lunch both days… usually that doesn't happen because there is the pressure of time in the studio, but we were all having a blast and took lunch breaks to go check out some amazing NYC restaurants.


They also praised the studio, EastSide Sound. The atmosphere was nice, and the gear was all impressive. For example, Sato-san, the drummer, asked a vintage Rogers kit from your gear list beforehand, and he was very glad of seeing the actual kit because not only it sounded great but the condition was superb. Makigami-san used a brand new microphone from Latvia, and that sounded very nice, too. I can understand the importance of procuring good instruments for recording, but obviously the studio has access to a lot of exceptionally great gear. In the blog, you said the Eastside sound is your favorite workplace. Could you tell us something about the place?


Yes! In my humble opinion EastSide Sound is the best studio in New York City and one of the best studios I have worked at, in the world. Sure, there are bigger studios and amazing locations but EastSide Sound has incredible gear, a uniquely versatile layout and an owner that cares! Lou Holtzman opened the original EastSide Sound in 1972 and 40 years later the studio is still around and making great records. Lou is a great guy (he's like a father to me!) and he is a collector and restorer of vintage drum kits so Sato-san was in luck when he asked for a Rogers drum kit. Lou keeps all his drums in great condition and the studio has two vintage Rogers drums sets available to all musicians.

EastSide Sound has 6 iso booths around the live room and therefore it is possible to record up to 7 musicians completely isolated. Every musician gets a headphone mixer so they can do their own mix and they can look at each other through glass windows to maintain eye contact during performances. This is pretty unique… I've been to many studios and the most booths I have seen is 4, while EastSide has 6! I helped design the new live room so I am very proud of how flexible and versatile EastSide Sound is. As you mentioned the atmosphere is very nice, relaxed and chill, but it is a top notch world class recording facility that some of the greatest musicians in the world enjoy recording at on a daily basis. We have an amazing array of vintage and modern gear and the owner has a great collection of microphones from the 1940's to this year! For Makigami-san I used my own Black Hole microphone by JZ Microphones, a new company from Latvia which I endorse with pride. I love their mics and the Black Hole is my favorite one! It is a large diaphragm condenser with a hole in the middle (hence the name) and it has depth and warmth that few other microphones have.

Another incredible feature of EastSide Sound is the Harrison Series Ten B console. It is an 100% analog console with total recall and digitally controlled automation on every single knob, fader and switch. There are 96 channels and you can automate faders, Aux sends, EQs, compression, gates etc and it all comes back when you want to recall a mix. All of this while keeping the warmth of the analog sound (no AD/DA conversion takes place!). This was extremely important when mixing Hikashu's record because after coming up with my mix I would send the guys files to listen to and they would write back comments via email. I then re-opened the mix, tweaked the mix and sent them a new file to listen to… Total recall made this very easy and quick!


How's your opinion about the album? Right now I have listened to it only once and was surprised that's pretty rocking, more fierce than ever. Raw and wild in a good sense. And the rhythm section is extremely tight. It's incredible you guys took only two days for recording that.


I listened to it once only as well… no no just kidding! ;-) The album is great fun! There are many layers of things happening even though the instrumentation is the same and there aren't really many overdubs. Almost everything you hear was recorded live in the studio and you can feel the energy of the performance in these takes. It is not a doctored album created in the computer like many albums today, it is a bunch of guys playing their asses off, together, to each other, as it should be. I love this energy and this approach and I love that the band was eager to play everything and to put it all to tape as it happened. As you say, it is pretty rocking and so it's a fun ride and you can't do anything but going along for the ride! ;-) I wish I spoke Japanese so I could hear what the lyrics are about…


You also did the mixing on the album. On all recent Hikashu releases, Sakaide, the bass player, had been doing it singlehandedly. So when I was told that he asked you for mixing this time, I just saw how he really thinks highly of you. How's your approach for mixing the album?


I was honored to hear that Sakaide wanted to me to mix the album. This shows great trust and respect and I wanted to make sure that they were 100% happy with my mixes. I started by mixing two songs, one of the heaviest and one of the quietest ones so that I could come up with two general directions for the sound. I sent them those two mixes and asked them to comment on the general sound. They liked the direction right away and so I knew we were on the same page about things. I just went ahead and mixed all the other songs. My approach to mixing the album was similar to that of many other mixes that I did. I record instruments pretty much flat and I pay close attention to using the right microphone in the right position and with the right pre-amp. Once I have good sounds on the recording mixing becomes much easier. I stay true to the original sounds and I just do a little bit of EQing and compression where needed. For EQs I use the board EQs from the Harrison board and for compression I mostly use the McDSP G Channel compression. During the recording I might use some hardware compressors like the 1176 or the LA-2, but during mixing I usually stick to the McDSP plugins.


There's a very interesting episode that Sakaide recently told me about recording. According to him, musicians tend to have images of sound in mind when playing, but it's very hard to capture that thing on tape. Merely recording a performance makes a different sound on recording, and to record it properly you have to figure out some way. And you just did that, succeeding to reproduce the exact sound in his mind, and that's quite an accomplishment, he said. When I was told this for the first time, I just thought that's great. But after a while, I began to wonder how such thing can be achieved, because it sounds like mind-reading or something like that. Being no musician, I just don't get what he really meant. What do you think of his remark? Are you conscious of such kind of thing while working with them?


This is the fist time I heard this actually, he never told me this thing he told you, so I cannot say I was conscious of this during the recording. I think subconsciously we were all on the same page so things didn't really need to get explained much. The fact that there was great synergy probably helped me achieve the vision he had. I just did what I usually do to get the best sounds I can at EastSide Sound and once I knew they were happy with the sounds I knew we were going to have a great album. My concern during the recording was more about what might get lost in translation or might gone unsaid. Westerners tend to think that Japanese people don't always say 'no' or don't always clearly say what they think and so I was afraid that maybe the band would not let me know if they didn't like something I was doing. But once I met the rest of the band I knew it would be an easy collaboration and I trusted that they would let me know if they didn't like something.


They also told me that it was a pleasant surprise for them to find out their name on the console, in Japanese. It made them relax and feel like being at home. They clearly sensed you're really caring, and that made them very happy. Apparently you know how to treat musicians nicely.


Well I certainly try to do my best. A professional recording studio is like a hotel, you have to make your guests feel like they are at home and they can do whatever they want. I wanted them to feel welcome and to feel relaxed so that they could focus on the music and the creativity. Usually when I work with artists from Japan I prepare labels for all the channels of the headphone mixers in japanese characters (instead of writing "guitar" I write "ギター"). Although I love Japan and I have always wanted to learn, unfortunately I don't speak Japanese so to do this I simply go to Google Translate (http://translate.google.com/) and I translate the names of the instruments that are going to be used in the session so that the Japanese musicians can feel at home and not have to worry about anything.

The first time I did this was for an album of Teiji Ito music called "Watermill" (Tzadik). Ito's daughter was on the record but I didn't know who else would be on it so I prepared for a session of all non-english speaking Japanese musicians… It turned out that most of them were American and spoke perfect english… However it didn't matter. The idea is you always prepare for the worst case scenario and then you go from there, it can only get better ;-)

I also have business cards with Japanese translations for when I go to Japan and people seem to love to receive them from me!


Let's talk about yourself. Having read the biography on your site and the long interview on brutalism.com, we came to know a lot about your background. Particularly we find very interesting that you were pretty motivated from the very early stage of your career.


Yes, I've always had a marked entrepreneurial spirit and an eagerness to try new things, learn, evolve and experience life. I started very early (when I was 12 or so) to play with bands and when I was 15-16 I was playing with people twice my age. Most of my friends were much older than me too. When I was 17 I opened my first recording studio after an internship in a local recording studio to learn the basics. I am good at what I do and I am lucky to have met such incredible musicians and artists in my life. I am now 35 and still have a lot to learn and time to get better! I better get to work! ;-)


I'll translate both documents into Japanese and would like to introduce you to people in the country. They're very educational, especially for aspiring youth. By the way, there's one thing not covered by them - could tell us your latest venture, Stridulation Records? It must be important thing for you because it surely takes lots of time and you look like being very busy.


Yes I am extremely busy and I never have enough time for all my projects and ideas. Time and money are the enemies! Stridulation Records is one of my latest projects. I've always wanted to start a record label because I felt the urge to support the scene that has supported me. It is time to give back to the community that has given me so much and I decided to do it in the form of a label. Because I don't have enough time to do everything alone I partnered up with two great guys from Norway and from Italy. Eirik Havnes is a festival organizer and electronic musician, very smart and cool guy in Trondheim. Fabrizio "Fabban" Giannese is a black metal musician (founder of the band Aborym) whom I've known for years and lives in Rome. Together we plan to release very few but very special albums in extremely unique, beautiful and limited editions.

I also plan to start two concert series in New York, one at my apartment and one at EastSide Sound.

Another new project I have is a taiko-metal band with drummer Tim Wyskida from Blind Idiot God and Khanate and taiko player Kaoru Watanabe from Kodo. I play distorted 12 string bass. We are currently rehearsing and writing songs for our first album and hopefully a tour in Japan if we can find somebody to help us get over there!


It seems that you have some knowledge about Japanese language. Where you learn that? Have you worked with other Japanese artists? Or have you been in Japan? Anything to say to people in Japan?


I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE Japan. I would love to move to Tokyo for a few years but (un?-)fortunately I have too much work in NYC to leave. I have been to Japan 3 times and can't wait to go back. I have worked with some Japanese artists in the past (Akiko Yano, Chihiro Yamanaka, Sayuri Goto and I still often work with Ikue Mori, Kaoru Watanabe and others from the downtown scene) but unfortunately, as I mentioned earlier, I don't speak any Japanese except for a few random words (Domo, Konnichiwa, Sayonara, Sumimasen, Mizu and Matcha Ice Cream o-kudasai!!!).


Any comment to the band, their fans, or just anything you'd like to.


Hikashu mo!
I would love to work more with Hikashu in the future.
I would actually love to do more work with and for Japanese artists in general as well. If there are any artists based in Japan who would like to work with me I will gladly come to record in Japan and/or mix their album at EastSide Sound!


Thank you very much for taking the time!

Currents: March 2012

Uragoe - the first impression

We finally took a listen to the new album. After the gig with Kuro Yagi Shiro Yagi last week, Makigami played the yet-unreleased album entirely through the PA system of Bar Isshee in Shibuya, Tokyo.

We don't want to spoil your listening pleasure so keep it short - It's great of course, and there's one thing we'd like to tell you - it's not like any of their previous efforts. It's hard and pretty rocking. The rhythm section is tight as ever. It's hot as well, and we respectfully suggest you rush out and grab a copy.

HMV Japan now takes a worldwide pre-order. The link is here.


Orguss 02 OST reissue

Yes, it is. Orguss 02 OST, one of the most sought after Hikashu releases, will get reissued at last. The album has already been remastered and now plans to be out in late May. Originally released in 1992 as an original soundtrack of the video animation series, it is also the only so-called "media tie-in" title the band ever committed.

After the original release, it has never been rereleased before and now became a collector's item, unfortunately.

The remastered edition has a bonus track as well - the edited version of "Fushigi o Mitsumete," which is the one used on the actual video release.


Jazz Art Sengawa 2012 update

It's official. This year's Jazz Art Sengawa, the annual festival of jazz, improvisation and avant-pop, will be held on July 20-22.

Appearing will be Fujiwara Kiyoto, Sakamoto Hiromichi, Makigami Koichi, Oki Itaru, Cicara-mvta, Pet-Bottle Ningen, Kurachi Kumio, Kikuchi Naruyoshi, Sotoyama Akira, Ohtaka Shizuru, Kuramubon Mito, Davide Santorsola, Hikashu and more!

What Happened in 1996

The year of 1996 looks prolific for Hikashu. There were three releases of the group related; "Retroactive" in August, "1978" in November, and "Kawatteru" in December. And one thing to be pointed out - all those releases were from Toshiba-EMI, one of the biggest labels in Japan, and the company which signed the band for their first record contract, back in 1979.

The contract expired in 1983, upon the release of a single "Watashi Wa Baka Ni Naritari" [I Want to Be Like a Fool]. In 1998, Makigami Koichi produced a tribute album of Kraftwerk for the label, and it included two tracks of Hikashu, but it was a one-shot deal.

In October 2011, the remaster edition of "Kawatteru" was issued and it included a note written by Makigami. It revealed some interesting facts so we would like to paraphrase it here for you. By the way, the note's title is "Why we had to re-record our old songs in late 1996 - What we really wanted to do at that time was to record a new album, and actually we tried to do that but didn't succeed."


In spring 1996, an A&R man from Toshiba-EMI approached the band. He had an idea - releasing a remix album of early Hikashu recordings by up-and-coming techno artists.

At that time, the band had no record contract. Their last release then was "Acchi No Me Kocchi No Me" [Dazzling Eyes] in 1993. In the meantime, they performed regularly and wrote new songs. In beginning of 1996, the band spent some time at studio and tried to make some demos for an album, with no particular label for release in mind.

So there was no contractual obstacle for that remix thing. At first, Makigami was dubious. To him, the whole idea just sounded not worthwhile. But he finally agreed and consented to access the original multi-track master by the remixers. He was still reluctant, but thought that it might attact new audience from younger generations. Also, there was a tacit understanding between them - if it turned out good, a new album might be recorded and released from the label.

Around that time, Makigami was preparing to release their famous demo tape from 1978 for themselves, but Toshiba-EMI undertook the title as a publisher. Then, releasing a best album was proposed. Makigami was hesitated to that idea, too. It just sounded silly to him, and his top priority was a new thing. But he agreed to do that in time. He dared to commit, hoped it to taking the band's turn for the better. There was a tacit understanding between them - if everything went good, a new album was to be recorded.

The remix album, entitled "Retroactive," released in August. It had nothing to do with the band, except being the original artist. All the Hikashu members did nothing on the album; selecting the artists for remix, supervising the sound and the artwork, all done by the record company.

"Retroactive," an ill-fated derivative

Makigami was not happy with the result. Actually, he disliked it and publicily said so. It was a understandable opinion because the album is just a remix for remix sake. Maybe good for the fans of the remix artists, but not for the original band's audience.

The following two releases were welcomed by the audience of the band, but that's it. Regarding the "Kawatteru" album, the band was so intent on making it but the commercial result was not satisfying. The A&R man looked unconvinced, the idea of recording new album fizzled out. And we had to wait another album from the band for ten years.


"I like being in band. Especially, I prefer band which plays a kind of music produced only by a close interaction between its members, to one-leader-and-the-rest thing." - Makigami Koichi, 2011


Related Entries:
Hikashu - 1978 (1996)
Hikashu - Kawatteru (1996)

Das Nasobem and Hi-Ai-Ai Island

In the 2011 spring tour, Hikashu regularly played "Hi-Ai-Ai Island," an album cut from the 1988 "Ningen No Kao" album. The song was revived at their gig after a long absence.

The arrangement was basically the same with the live version found in "Hikashu History," but this time it preceded a recitation of a poem by Mita Freeman. The poem is "Das Nasobēm" by Christen Morgenstern (wikipedia). Mita read it in original German.

Das Nasobēm

Auf seinen Nasen schreitet
einher das Nasobēm,
von seinem Kind begleitet.

Es steht noch nicht im Brehm.
Es steht noch nicht im Meyer.
Und auch im Brockhaus nicht.

Es trat aus meiner Leyer
zum ersten Mal ans Licht.

Auf seinen Nasen schreitet
(wie schon gesagt) seitdem,
von seinem Kind begleitet,
einher das Nasobēm.



The Nasobame

Striding on its noses
there comes the Nasobame,
with its young in the tow.

It isn't yet in Brehm's
It isn't yet in Meyer's
And neither in Brockhaus'

It trotted out of my lyre
when it came first to light.

Striding on its noses
thereon (as I've said above),
there goes the nasobame.

The lyrics of the song, penned by Makigami, was based on a strange book called "Bau und Leben der Rhinogradentia" by Harald Stümpke (wikipedia). It's about Hana Aruki, an imaginary creature described in the book. "Hana Aruki" is the Japanese name, endowed by Hidaka Toshitaka, the renowned scientist and the translator of the book. In original German, it's called Nasobēm. In English, it's called Rhinogradentia (wikipedia).

The original notes on the album, uncredited but probably by makigami, explains the song as follows:

Based on a book called "Bau und Leben der Rhinogradentia" by H. Stümpke, the song is about the descriptions and the impressions of Rhinogradentia, a creature walking by its nose.

The island which completely browned out by an atomic bomb experiment and the study of Rhinogradentia make a mockery of the common sense vividly. Also pretty inspiring. A mysterious song.

The Japanese edition of the book was published in 1987 and soon recognized as a minor classic by the connoiseurs. Makigami, an avid reader, was quite impressed with the book and wrote a song based on it.

Hi-Ai-Ai Island
words - makigami, music - mitama


The amazing nostrils
The spur of life
The warmness of nature
Hana Aruki
Hi-Ai-Ai

The living nostrils
Morgenstern was surprised
and wrote a poem about it.
Hana Aruki
Hi-Ai-Ai
Hi-Ai-Ai

The island was full of noses.
I wanna know your nice secrets.
Tidings on noses
Hi-Ai-Ai
Hi-Ai-Ai
Hi-Ai-Ai

Hana Aruki in despair
A pointless experiment was executed,
Then everything sinked
and disappeared.
Hi-Ai-Ai
Hi-Ai-Ai
Hi-Ai-Ai

The poem Morgenstern wrote referred in the song is no other than "Das Nasobēm."



Related Entry:
Hikashu - Ningen No Kao (1988)

Tanikawa Shuntaro on "Ningen No Kao"

Needless to say, Tanikawa Shuntaro (wikipedia) is one of the most important figure in Japanese modern poetry. And recently he made a comment on the Hikashu album "Ningen No Kao" ["Human Faces"] which is to be reissued soon. Here I translated and quoted it;

So many voices, so many sounds. The lyrics are want to cease being printed words and be naked. It seems like there are boys and grannies in the cd. Nice to listen to in a field or an alley. The cd would send out the words and the music diligently if disposed as nonburnable garbage or launched to the space by a rocket.

Tanikawa Shuntaro

The release date of the album is December 23, and HMV Japan already listed it Here.

32 years ago today

On August 29 1978, Hikashu made a stage debut at Raoya, a free jazz joint in Kichijoji.

Having spent a month to rehearse, the quintet took on stage and played some originals including "20th Century" "Losing My Future" and "Weeping For The Earth" (an unreleased composition written by Mitama). They also played covers of Devo and Kraftwerk.

Shortly after that, Raoya renovated itself as a restaurant of indian cuisine which offered live ethnic music, under the management of Wakabayashi Tadahiro (profile). Wakabayashi was a friend of the band, a member of the first Hikashu (later called Pre-Hikashu; I plan to write an entry about it) and actually he played a sitar on Hikashu's first album. He later became an authority and renowned educator in ethnic musical instruments. Raoya is sadly now defunct, closed circa 2000.

Having encouraged by positive reactions, the band went on to make a demo tape, which was later released as "1978".

According to the liner note of the 1978 album, Makigami still have the recording of the gig. Maybe someday it will see the light of day. We can only hope.

Related Entry:
Hikashu - 1978 (1996)

Short Clip of "20th Century" (1996)

Here is just recently uploaded a short clip of "At the End of the 20th Century". It is for promoting the 1996 album, Kawatteru (Changing Like Myxomycetes). The album is a sort of the best, entirely consisted of the old favorites of the band. All the tracks are completely re-arranged and re-recorded.

The version of "20th Century" featured additional musicians, four drummers playing together, for fattening the rhythm. Here you could listen to the edited down, short version of the track.

At that time, Hikashu was Makigami Koichi (vocal, cornet), Mita Freeman (guitar), Sakaide Masami (bass), Nomoto Kazuhiro (reeds), Torsten Rusch (sampler), Yoshimori Makoto (keyboard), and Niida Kozo (drums).

The Uniform

The band with the uniform

Did you notice the uniform the band used, white trousers, red jacket and white hat?

It was a replica of Japan team's uniform in 1964 Summer Olympics Tokyo. The band used it in the period of their debut, late 1979 to early 1980.


It was Chikada Haruo's idea. As the producer of the band, he made every effort for getting them exposed in media and the uniform was part of it. Although it was only time they used uniform, it worked well and certainly helped the recognition of the band.

At the End of the 20th Century (1979)

"20 seiki no owari ni" (At the End of the 20th Century) is the first single of Hikashu, released on October 1979. The record company, Toshiba EMI, promoted the single well and the song was frequently played on radio. The band also appeared some TV programs. The publicity boosted the name recognition of the band which they still enjoy.

The video quoted below is from TV program broadcasted live on December 1979. The location is La Forêt Harajuku, a department store, which is still in operation.



The emcee of the program was Chikada Haruo, who is also the producer of early Hikashu recordings. And he helped a lot for the band getting media attention. The following is a translation of the opening dialog with Chikada and Makigami.

Chikada: Next is a band with strange name ... Hikashu. [To Makigami; pretends not to know the band] You are now in recording, right?

Makigami: Yes. We are now recording a LP.

Chikada: Is there anything you could tell that your music is absolutely different from others?

Makigami: Well, probably there are music like ours ... but I could tell you, there is something in music which has been regarded as useless garbage. We took it and reconstructed it in our own way. That's our music, I think.

Chikada: So, is there any commercial potential for such kind of thing?

Makigami: Probably, yes.

Chikada: Okay. You play that song, "At the End of the 20th Century"?

Makigami: Yes.

Chikada: Now, Hikashu!

At The End Of The 20th Century
words & music by Makigami Koichi

If you are to find love at the end of the 20th century, it needs the power of the planets and the magic of death.
Try to look through the cutaway of love, then you will find hell or darkness there.

Raise your voice (hi hi hi)
Use your brain (hi hi hi)
Raise your voice (hi hi hi)
Use your brain (hi hi hi)
What is the thing you are looking for?

If you are to lose ideology and try to find love, it needs the light of the moon's surface and the preconceivance of death.
Try to look through the atmosphere of love, then you will find ruin or darkness there.

Raise your voice (hi hi hi)
Use your brain (hi hi hi)
Raise your voice (hi hi hi)
Use your brain (hi hi hi)
What is the thing you are looking for?

If you are to find love at the end of the 20th century
If you are to find love at the end of the 20th century
What is the thing you are looking for?

Chikada Haruo & Beef - Lady Hurricane

Chikada also performed on the same program with his band, Beef. In intro, there is a man talking from audience. He is Kato Kazuhiko, the producer of "Alternative Sun".

1980 NHK TV appearance

Hikashu at NHK, January 1980.

This is one of the earliest TV appearance of Hikashu. The program is "600 Kochira Jouhoubu" (6:00 Here is the information bureau), produced by NHK, Japanese equivalent to BBC in UK. It was news and entertainment television program, broadcasted live in 18:00-18:30 Monday to Friday, for elementary and junior-high students. It was one of the most popular program for children at that time, although its contents were occasionally very challenging. For example, regarding musicians, Gary Numan appeared and interviewed once on the program (probably most of the audience was wondering who he was).

Hikashu appeared on the program on January 1980. The theme of the episode was "What is techno?" After short introduction, P-Model, Hikashu and Plastics performed live in studio. The following clips were more complete, contain all the bands performance from the episode.



After the bands performance, at 8:30, Kamiya Akiro, a composer and synthesizer player, tried to explain "techno pop".



The first subtitle said "Techno - how it sounds like?" Kamiya explained "techno pop music" then the bands played excerpt of their song. Plastics showed some of the instruments; sequencer, rhythm box and synthesizer. Then P-Model showed "the rhythm of techno pop". At 3:30, Hikashu appeared. They were used as an example of "the lyrics element of techno pop." Kamiya honestly said "regarding Hikashu, I cannot properly explain their words." then the band played briefly "Nazeka Burning" from (still not released) their first album. Note that Tobe Satoshi played rhythm guitar instead of alto saxophone. At 4:20, asked about the meaning of the band's name, Makigami said it was a coined word, sort of a spur-of-the-moment phrase when being surprised. Of course, it was joke.

In outro, starts at 6:30, some players from the three bands played together the ending theme of the program with "techno arrangement". Also, along with Chika and Tachibana Hajime from Plastics, Makigami danced with Pom-pon in his hands. In fact, Hikashu and Plastics were close at that time and they did some tours together.

The program was on-aired from 1978 to 1983. And the techno episode was one of the most audacious, now legendary one. Imagine 12 years olds throughout the nation were exposed to such a thing. It must have had a big impact on them, comparable to the Devo appearance on Saturday Night Live in 1978. They were so futuristic, otherworldly, and great.

The Early Photograph

It is one of the oldest, and probably the most known, publicity photo of Hikashu.

From left to right, Mitama and Tobe in the first row. Inoue, Yamashita and Makigami in the second.

It was shot in late 1978, by a photographer and an old friend of the group, Takimoto Junsuke.

In it, all the members were in pajama, and sat around a Kotatsu (commonly-used heater in Japan) which was placed along the roadside. The location was near a crossing, and you could see there was a taxi passing by right behind them in the background.

The instrument on the Kotatsu was Inoue's synthesizer, Roland System 100.



Related Entry:
Hikashu - 1978 (1996)

"Yochu No Kiki" The Performance

The flyer of the event. The name Hikashu was already credited for music.


In summer 1978, Makigami Koichi was preparing a material for the underground theatrical performance called "Yochu No Kiki," which he was to produce and write a script. In it, he intended to sing some original songs with live ensemble, and asked his friend and a composer for underground theatre, Yamashita Yasushi, for making the music. Yamashita agreed.

For composing music, Yamashita asked Makigami lyrics or words to get inspired. So Makigami wrote some. One of them was titled "Yochu No Kiki". It was very short, only four lines. Another was "Puyo Puyo". After being supplied the words, Yamashita quickly wrote music for them.

Looking at the lyrics now, I cannot tell what it is. They are so obscure, very puzzling and highly strange. And Makigami did not explain the meaning. So we have to use our imagination for deciphering what they meant. What do you think with those words?

Yochu No Kiki [The Crisis of Larvae]
words by Makigami Koichi
music by Yamashita Yasushi

It's so fun, larvae are to die
It's so fun, insects are to die too

It's so fun, animals are to die
It's so fun, humans are to die too



Puyo Puyo
words by Makigami Koichi
music by Yamashita Yasushi

Puyo Puyo
Standing up like a sick patient
"Hey look, I am very sick"
Pyoko Pyoko
Standing up like a healthy being
"Hey look, I am so non-orgasmic"

Kuyo Kuyo
Standing up like a human being
"Hey look, I am such a fool"
Pao Pao
Standing up like a balloon
"Hey look, I am so satisfied"

In "Yochu No Kiki", and the monologues of "Puyo Puyo", Makigami used a small boyish way of wording. In the case of the latter, it sounds like a kind of self-mocking to me.

"Puyo Puyo", "Pyoko Pyoko", "Kuyo Kuyo" and "Pao Pao" are all adjective words or onomatopoeia in Japanese. It's hard to describe exactly what they are. Roughly speaking, it could be said that "Puyo Puyo" is meant something sloppy or flabby. "Pyoko Pyoko" is used for something bouncing or spurning the ground, like rabbit or a man whose one foot is in a plaster cast trying to move. "Kuyo Kuyo" is usually used for a person who is regretful or penitent. "Pao Pao" is used for describing sound of Elephant call. Some people think that the song "Puyo Puyo" is about an amorphous, slime-like creature who is sick and trying to stand up. I cannot tell it is right or wrong (probably), but an interesting interpretation, I think.

You might notice those tunes have an out of the ordinary song structure. That is because they are written for theatrical performance.

The performance was held on July 15-16, 1978 at Ekoda, Tokyo. Unexpectedly, the members found themselves being very amused for playing those songs on stage, and decided to form a band. After spending a month for rehearsals, the band made a stage appearance for the first time, as main act, at a free-jazz joint in Kichijoji, Tokyo. It was August 29th of 1978, and the beginning of its 30+ years existence.




This is said to be from one of the early rehearsals of Hikashu, playing "Yochu No Kiki". Makigami played a white, violin-shaped electric bass which he got from Yamashita.

Related Entry:
Hikashu - 1978 (1996)

The Ventures - Super Live '80 (1980)

Side A:
1. Hawaii Five-O
2. Walk Don't Run
3. Classical Gas
4. Japanese Medley
5. Ghost Riders In The Sky
6. Cruel Sea
7. Manchurian Beat

Side B:
1. House Of The Rising Sun
2. Apache
3. Nokie's Acoustic Medley
4. Pipeline
5. Wipe Out

Side C:
1. Gold Finger
2. Theme From "No Smoking"
3. Washington Square
4. Mushuku
5. Ginza Ska
6. Runaway
7. Surfin' U.S.S.R.
8. Sutekina Flamingo

Side D:
1. Pike
2. Slaughter On Tenth Avenue
3. Telstar
4. Diamond Head
5. Caravan

Recorded live at Shibuya Kokaido on August 13th, 1980.

The Ventures are:
Don Wilson, Slide Guitar, Vocal on C6
Bob Bogle, Bass
Nokie Edwards, Lead Guitar
Mel Taylor, Drums

with
Hikashu on D1-3:
Makigami Koichi, Vocal
Mitama Masamichi, Guitar
Yamashita Yasushi, Keyboard
Inoue Makoto, Keyboard
Tobe Satoshi, Alto Saxophone

Kato Kazuhiko, Guitar on D1
Chikada Haruo, Keyboard on C1-8, D1, D3


Besides Chameleon, this 2-LP set is the other Ventures' album related to Hikashu.

How Hikashu ended up playing with the Ventures is not known. Maybe the producer of the Chameleon album, Kato Kazuhiko, invited them to participate.

The concert consisted of three sets. Hikashu played first, the Ventures were next, then the two bands got together to play. Also, Kato Kazuhiko and Chikada Haruo joined the last set.

At rehearsal, Don and Nokie gave Mitama quick lesson how to play that Glissando on Diamond Head.

Unfortunately, the album has never been reissued. But the first three tracks from Side D were included in Chameleon CD (2000 edition). And D1 was also included in Hikashu's album, Hikashu Super (1981).

related entries:
The Ventures - Chameleon (1980)
The Story of Pike

The Ventures - Chameleon (1980)

Side A:
1. Gold Finger (J. Barry)
2. Theme From "No Smoking" (Umebayashi Shigeru)
3. Mushuku (Sakamoto Ryuichi)
4. Surfin' U.S.S.R. (Suzuki Keiichi)
5. Washington Square (B. Goldstein)
6. Octopus Tree (Hosono Haruomi)

Side B:
1. Beautiful Teacher from the Swimming Pool (Takahashi Yukihiro)
2. Mecca (Imai Yutaka)
3. Sutekina Flamingo (Takeda Kazuo)
4. Salty Dog (Kato Kazuhiko)
5. Ginza Ska (D. Wilson - B. Bogle - N. Edwards - M. Taylor)
6. Pike (Yamashita Yasushi)

The Ventures are:
Don Wilson, Slide Guitar
Bob Bogle, Bass
Nokie Edwards, Lead Guitar
Mel Taylor, Drums

with
Kato Kazuhiko, additional guitar
Imai Yutaka, additional keyboard
Matsutake Yutaka, Synthesizer Manipulator

Arranged and produced by Kato Kazuhiko
Recorded by Biff Vincent at California Recording Studio

Released on June 21, 1980.

This is the "new-wave" album of the Ventures.

Reissued as CD in 1992 and 2000. The 2000 edition has bonus tracks.

The CD rereleases are out of print but the album itself is now available as mp3 download from itunes and amazon.com.

You could see the Ventures playing the songs from the album on those clips:



This one has Pike, starts at 3:50



related entry:
The Story of Pike