Wild hermaphroditic cover art or not, Holy Mountain's reissue of obscure Japanese 80ies band, Onna, has been generating some serious attention:
Volcanic Tongue - "One of the reissues of the year."
Blastitude/Blogstitude - "...I suggest that instead of going out for dinner tonight, you give that $20 to Holy Mountain instead, it'll get both the 7" and the CD..."
Blog To Comm - "As for now this is a strong contender and proof once again that even here in 2009 one can make like it's 1976 or even 1962 if one tries hard enough."
Boomkat Music - " You can hear where bands like LSD March and Suishou No Fune might have taken some cues from Onna's flailing guitar sound - sprawling loosely and impressionistically across the studio recordings while those thudding machine rhythms instill some sort of orderliness."
Aquarius Records - "Tons of folks were sufficiently wowed by Onna's lone 1983 7", thankfully reissued from oblivion and drooled over a few lists back. There was just something about Onna, we couldn't quite put our finger on it, but that record was just so mysterious, a completely mesmerizing slice of lost history. Out of nowhere came this highly evocative work of melancholy psych rock with pulsing drum machines and floating Japanese vocals, sounding like nothing else you might hear from 1983, or 2009 for that matter. Adding to the confusion was almost zero information about Onna, leading listeners to make their conclusions free from any tangible facts. That changes with the arrival of this mindblowing 10 song retrospective, but just barely..... Accompanying the album are a few photos of the androgynous looking band members and some examples of Miyanishi's astounding, grotesquely erotic art. These images seem just as integral to Onna as their music, but unless you speak Japanese, you will probably be left scratching your head. There is no doubt that Onna created some challenging music, but what you get out of this album depends on how much you are willing to put into the listening experience. There may be no easy answers, but some things are better left as is, and in the end Onna's music is powerful enough to live on, in spite of its obscurity."
Holy Mountain bands on tour this summer:BLUES CONTROL
05/22 Evanston, IL @ Block Museum of Art
05/31 Brooklyn, CA @ Grasslands (w/ Harry Flynt)
06/15 New York, NY @ Cake Shop
06/28 Toronto, ON @ Rancho Relaxo
06/29 Montreal, QC @ Casa del Popolo (Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival)
LESBIAN
0613 Seattle, WA @ Funhouse
OM
05/30 Barcelona, ESP@ Primavera Festival
06/04 Tokyo, JAP @ Shibuya O Nest
06/05 Nagoya, JAP @Huck Finn
06/06 Osaka, JAP @ Sunsui
06/08 Niigata, JAP @ Z-1
06/10 Tokyo, JAP @ Shibuya O Nest
SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE
05/21 Zagreb, HRV @ Teatar & Td
05/22 Padova, IT @ Unwound
05/23 Ravenna, IT @ Bronson
05/24 Torino, IT @ Spazio, 211
05/26 Milano, IT @ La Casa 139
05/27 Geneva, CHE @ Kab de L'Usine
05/28 Grenoble, FR @ E.V.E.
05/29 Toulouse, FR @ La Brasserie Pierre
05/30 Barcelona, ESP @ Primvera Sound Festival
06/04 Paris, FR @ Villetet, Sonique Festival
SUISHOU NO FUNE
05/21 San Diego, CA @ Dream Street
05/22-25 Jacumba, CA @ Telemagica 2008 Art & Music Festival
05/26 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
05/27 Oakland, CA @ 21 Grand
05/28 Austin,TX @ Emo's
05/29 Philadelphia, PA @ Khyber
05/30 Brooklyn, NY @ Death By Audio
05/31 Washington, DC @ Velvet Lounge
WHITE/LICHENS
05/21 Manchester, UK @ Tiger Lounge
05/22 Nottingham, UK @ Bunkers Hill Inn
05/23 Northampton, UK @ The Racehorse
05/24 Coventry, UK @ Taylor John's House
05/25 London, UK @ Cafe Oto in Stoke Newington
05/27 Paris, FR @ Mains d'Oeuvres
WOODEN SHJIPS
05/23 Big Sur, CA @ Henry Miller Library
06/19 Louisville, KY @ Melwood Arts Center (Terrastock 7 Festival)
07/12 Birmingham, UK @ Supersonic Festival
07/13 London, UK @ Cargo
07/18 Brighton, UK @ Barfly
07/19 Bristol, UK @ Croft
Artist: Suishou no Fune
Album: Prayer For Chibi
Label: Holy Mountain
Review date: Mar. 19, 2008
Original Dusted review
Formed in 1999 by guitarists Pirako Kurenai and Kageo, Suishou no Fune has pursued a pretty singular cause in their nine years. Working a rich vein that picks up the Velvet Underground’s influence right where Les Rallizes Denudes left it, these two play slow-motion ballads, plying thick, droning guitars with hefty doses of feedback and distortion. That much of the material on their handful of releases has been captured live in concert is hardly surprising; after all, these lengthy, languid pieces are truly of the moment, tumbling forth with a voluminous presence that was obviously created to fill voids both spiritual and physical.
Though recorded in the studio, there’s hardly a thin or underworked moment throughout both discs of Suishou no Fune’s Prayer for Chibi, their latest long player (and a sprawling, two-disc behemoth of an album at that). Created as a memorial to their dearly departed cat, Prayer is tonally split across its two discs; the first focuses on gauzy, almost transparent guitar tones and textures, while the second digs much deeper to unearth more harrowing performances. In keeping with the theme of memorial, it’s almost as if the first half focuses on remembrance, allowing the second half to confront the void of loss head-on.
While unmistakably possessed by the same demons that can make Fushitsusha such a harrowing experience, there’s still a certain levity to Prayer for Chibi’s front half that grants each track an almost indisputable weightlessness. Here, the guitars are diffuse, stretching out into gauzy streams of consciousness that mesh with the lofting, intertwined vocals of Kurenai and Kageo. While the idea of corporeal transience plays out again and again in the lyrics, the sounds that accompany them make for some of the sweetest moments the band has ever committed to tape. The mammoth “Prayer” opens the album by shaking off shackled percussion, gradually granting a slow blues the freedom to roam across the stratosphere. Later, “Till We Meet Again” plots a similar course, matching simple, melodic guitar lines against a backdrop of steadily darkening drone.
Dealing in altogether different shades, Prayer for Chibi’s second disc opens on far more tempestuous ground, with the leads of “Resurrection Night” launching headlong into a constantly encroaching din. It’s a stark contrast to the almost genteel nature of grief explored earlier, and one that cuts to the core with an ever-sharpening blade. Most harrowing of all here is undoubtedly “The Stars Know All,” and eviscerated blues that pitches notes and chords into the black against forlorn vocals, breaking only for some hard strums towards the close of the piece.
Out of the whole of Japan’s modern wave of psychedelic acts, none choose to explore the exquisite possibilities of the endless bummer with as much intensity as Suishou no Fune. Even still, while their material pursues an almost unmatched heaviness in both tone and aesthetic execution, Prayer for Chibi shows the band developing into a formidably spare ensemble, one that’s capable of highlighting the sheer transformational power of grief and loss. More so than any of their other releases to date, Prayer for Chibi finds the band confidently leaving behind solid ground for all that the sky above has to offer, for better and for worse. By Michael Crumsho
Suishou No Fune will be performing at the Telemagica Art and Music Festival in Jacumba, CA this May. Additional US dats TBA.
Wild hermaphroditic cover art or not, Holy Mountain's reissue of obscure Japanese 80ies band, Onna, has been generating some serious attention:
