Hikashu - Hikashu History (2001)

"Hikashu History" is a compilation released in 2001 on John Zorn's Tzadik label. This is recommendable for newbie fans as sampler or introductory disc for various reasons; Since being released on influential US label, it's well-distributed, and probably the easiest to find. Even it's available via iTunes and amazon mp3 download (here and here). And it does contain lots of featured numbers in the band's gig like Puyo Puyo, Pike, and Biro Biro, with different arrangement and instrumentation.

The album was compiled by Makigami himself, who owns the vast collection of the band's archival tapes. All tracks are exclusive for this album and available nowhere else.


From Tzadik's blurb:

Hikashu - Hikashu History
Makigami Koichi is one of Japan's most popular underground performers and Hikashu History follows the journeys of his remarkable rock/pop band Hikashu through twenty-five years of musical mayhem. From techno to noise/sampler improvisation to jazz, folk and beyond -- all with a Japanese twist, Hikashu has been anticipating styles and charting new paths in Japanese music for decades. Hikashu History documents their musical explorations through private tapes, rare demos and exciting live recordings. A fascinating view of one band's visionary directions.

The following is track-to-track information of the album à la Frank Zappa's You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore series. Dates and locations are official and taken from the liner-notes of the album. On the other hand, personnel and instrumentation for each track are based on our speculation, derived from various sources.


1. Tokyo Rain
(music: Makigami, Inoue)
album in which song has appeared: Unreleased
date: 1982 location: Unknown
musicians: Makigami Koichi (cornet), Inoue Makoto (synthesizer), Sensui Toshiro (drums)
Commissioned piece for short film by French filmmaker.

2. Nannimo Nai Otoko [The Man of Emptiness]
(words: Makigami, music: Mitama)
album in which song has appeared: "Ningen No Kao" [People's Faces] (1988)
date: December 5, 1988 location: Egg Man, Shibuya, Tokyo

3. Hi-Ai-Ai Island
(words: Makigami, music: Mitama)
album in which song has appeared: "Ningen No Kao" [People's Faces] (1988)
date: December 5, 1988 location: Egg Man, Shibuya, Tokyo
musicians: Makigami Koichi (vocal, cornet), Mitama Masamichi (guitar), Nomoto Kazuhiro (alto saxophone), Inoue Makoto (synthesizer), Sakaide Masami (bass), Taniguchi Masaru (drums)
Those two tracks were recorded live shortly after the release of the "Ningen No Kao" [People's Faces] album. Egg Man is a venue located in Shibuya, Tokyo, and still in operation today.

4. Pool
(music: Inoue)
album in which song has appeared: Unreleased
date: March 21, 1980 location: Yaneura, Shibuya, Tokyo
musician: Inoue Makoto (synthesizer)
Solo performance by Inoue. Yaneura was a small but quite influential venue, located in Shibuya, Tokyo. Yaneura is Japanese word which means loft or attic. As well as Egg Man in Shibuya, Hikashu used to appear at the place frequently in their early days. It still exists but under different management and it's no longer what it used to be.

5. Muscles and Fruits
(words: Makigami music: Mitama)
album in which song has appeared: Unreleased
date: Autumn, 1982 location: possibly Toei Studio, Setagaya, Tokyo
musician: Makigami Koichi (vocal, bass), Mitama Masamichi (guitar), Inoue Makoto (synthesizer), Sensui Toshiro (drums)
This number was featured in the independent film "Zokubutsu Zukan" [A Guide of Bad Taste] based on Tsutsui Yasutaka's novel with the same title. Both Makigami and Mitama also appeared in the film (as a bad taste critic).

6. Puyo Puyo
(words: Makigami music: Yamashita)
album in which song has appeared: Hikashu (1980)
date: May 24, 1980 location: Tokyo FM Studio, Tokyo
musicians: Makigami Koichi (vocal), Mitama Masamichi (guitar), Inoue Makoto (synthesizer, mellotron), Yamashita Yasushi (synthesizer, rhythm machine), Tobe Satoshi (alto saxophone)
There's chant-like vocal in introduction.

7. Zo Azarashi [Elephant Seal]
(words: Makigami music: Nomoto)
album in which song has appeared: "Ningen No Kao" [People's Faces] (1988)
date: October, 1987 location: Muse Hall, Shinsaibashi, Osaka
musicians: Makigami Koichi (vocal, cornet), Mitama Masamichi (guitar), Nomoto Kazuhiro (alto saxophone), Inoue Makoto (synthesizer), Sakaide Masami (bass), Taniguchi Masaru (drums)
Surrealistic at its best. "it's likely that an elephant seal has started to set up a harem in my room./My country doesn't approve of elephant seals, so told am I./I need to be more tolerant to elephant seals./Naturally I'll come to find the reason why I fear elephant seals someday./I wonder if there's someone dealing with the elephant seals in my room."

8. Mask
(words: Makigami music: Inoue)
album in which song has appeared: Hikashu (1980)
date: March 28, 1980 location: Hitachi Family Hall, Fukuoka

9. Suika No Koshin [Watermelon March]
(words: Makigami music: Tobe)
album in which song has appeared: Hikashu (1980)
date: March 28, 1980 location: Hitachi Family Hall, Fukuoka
musicians: Makigami Koichi (vocal), Mitama Masamichi (guitar), Inoue Makoto (synthesizer, mellotron), Yamashita Yasushi (synthesizer, rhythm machine), Tobe Satoshi (alto saxophone), Sensui Toshiro (drums)
Note that in interlude of "Mask," Sensui Toshiro was performing around the rhythmic pattern made by machine. Being an additional member then, he became a regular early next year.

10. Ryuinji
(music: Mitama)
album in which song has appeared: Unreleased
date: August 1977 location: probably "The House," Nerima, Tokyo
musician: Mitama Masamichi (pipe, glass, guitar, percussion)
Mitama, later to be Mita Freeman, improvised at home.

11. Rhetoric-s & Logic-s
(words and music: Makigami)
album in which song has appeared: Hikashu (1980)
date: November 9, 1979 location: Bourbon House, Umeda, Osaka
musicians: Makigami Koichi (vocal, bass), Mitama Masamichi (guitar), Inoue Makoto (synthesizer, mellotron), Yamashita Yasushi (synthesizer, rhythm machine), Tobe Satoshi (alto saxophone)
From one of their earliest performances in Osaka. The lyrics of the song was inspired by Paul Goodman's "Speaking and Language."

12. Kujira To Kamome [Whale and Seagull]
(words and music: Makigami)
album in which song has appeared: Unreleased
date: 1980 location: Unknown
musicians: Makigami Koichi (vocal), Mitama Masamichi (guitar), Inoue Makoto (synthesizer), Yamashita Yasushi (synthesizer)
Commissioned for the first TV ad of Toto Washlet (wikipedia). "After easing nature, just go washing (ahhhh), and it feels good."

13. Shuffer
(music: Yamashita)
album in which song has appeared: Inoyama Land "Danjindan Pojidon" (1983)
date: September 11, 1977 location: Kid Airack Hall, Meidai Mae, Tokyo
musicians: Yamashita Yasushi (synthesizer), Inoue Makoto (synthesizer)
Written and performed for Makigami's theater troupe "Ulysses."

14. Pike
(words: Makigami music: Yamashita)
album in which song has appeared: Natsu [Summer] (1980)
date: April 1981 location: NHK Studio, Shibuya, Tokyo
musicians: Makigami Koichi (vocal, cornet), Mitama Masamichi (lead guitar), Inoue Makoto (synthesizer, mellotron), Yamashita Yasushi (synthesizer, rhythm machine), Tobe Satoshi (rhythm guitar, vocal), Sensui Toshiro (drums)
Recorded live for the band's documentary on NHK-TV. Here you can listen the performance entirely - including the latter part which was buried under a narrative by mix for actual broadcast.

15. Yochu No Kiki [Crisis for Lavae]
(words: Makigami music: Yamashita)
album in which song has appeared: Hikashu (1980)
date: April 26, 1978 location: probably "The House," Nerima, Tokyo
musicians: Makigami Koichi (bass), Mitama Masamichi (guitar), Inoue Makoto (synthesizer, mellotron), Yamashita Yasushi (synthesizer, rhythm machine), Tobe Satoshi (guitar)
Instrumental version, prepared for a film festival in Tokyo. Mitama's wailing guitar, frantic batteries from Yamashita's rhythm box, and Inoue's distinctive sampling sounds (played on his heavily-modified mellotron). Everything's utterly spectacular.

16. Great Conductor
(music: Otomo, Hikashu)
album in which song has appeared: "Hanauta Hajime (Humming Soon)" [Humming Begins] (1991)
date: October 18, 1990 location: ELL (Electric Lady Land), Nagoya
Collective improvisation with a theme conducted by Makigami.

17. Biro Biro
(words and music: Makigami)
album in which song has appeared: "Hanauta Hajime (Humming Soon)" [Humming Begins] (1991)
date: October 18, 1990 location: ELL (Electric Lady Land), Nagoya
musicians: Makigami Koichi (vocal, cornet), Mitama Masamichi (guitar), Nomoto Kazuhiro (alto saxophone), Inoue Makoto (synthesizer), Sakaide Masami (bass), Tsuno-Ken (drums), Otomo Yoshihide (turntables)
This version has a lengthy, percussive, gamelan-like introduction prepared by Inoue.

18. Rakuten
(music: Makigami)
album in which song has appeared: Unreleased
date: February 1987 location: Unknown
musician: Makigami Koichi (synthesizer)
Makigami made this recording for dance piece called "Blue Banana Bar."

19. Acchi No Me Kocchi No Me [Nervous Eyes]
(words: Makigami music: Nomoto)
album in which song has appeared: "Acchi No Me Kocchi No Me" [London Eye and Paris Eye] (1993)
date: November 13, 1993 location: Michinoo Hall, Nagasaki
musicians: Makigami Koichi (vocal), Mita Freeman (guitar), Nomoto Kazuhiro (bass clarinet), Torsten Rasch (sampler), Sakaide Masami (bass), Tsuno-Ken (drums)
In the second bridge, Makigami shortly referred famous line from the Crazy Cats, one of the most influential musician / comedian group in post-WWII Japan.

20. Live With Viruses
(music: Sakaide)
album in which song has appeared: "Hanauta Hajime (Humming Soon)" [Humming Begins] (1991)
date: October 18, 1990 location: ELL (Electric Lady Land), Nagoya
musicians: Makigami Koichi (vocal, cornet), Mitama Masamichi (guitar), Nomoto Kazuhiro (alto saxophone), Inoue Makoto (synthesizer), Sakaide Masami (bass), Tsuno-Ken (drums), Otomo Yoshihide (turntables)

21. Fushigi O Mitsumete [Watching the Wonderment]
(words: Makigami music: Sakaide)
album in which song has appeared: "Orguss 02 OST" (1993)
date: November 13, 1993 location: Michinoo Hall, Nagasaki
musicians: Makigami Koichi (vocal), Mita Freeman (guitar), Nomoto Kazuhiro (alto saxophone), Torsten Rasch (sampler), Sakaide Masami (bass), Tsuno-Ken (drums)
Live performance of the lead track from Orguss 02 OST. The album was reissued in 2012 under the different title "Fushigi O Mitsumete," newly remastered and added the short version of the song (the one actually used in the animation) as bonus track.

22. Chimera
(words: Makigami music: Sakaide)
album in which song has appeared: "Teicho Na Omotenashi" [Courteous Hospitality] (1990)
date: October 18, 1990 location: ELL (Electric Lady Land), Nagoya
musicians: Makigami Koichi (vocal), Mitama Masamichi (guitar), Nomoto Kazuhiro (bass clarinet), Inoue Makoto (synthesizer), Sakaide Masami (bass), Tsuno-Ken (drums), Otomo Yoshihide (turntables)
The album ends with this serene number, which is said to be a warning for technomania.


Available worldwide via iTunes and amazon.com (CD - here, mp3 download - here)