From: Wesley (wesleyhongkong_at_earthlink.net)
Date: 2003-02-25 20:34:58
Album Reviews :: Sleep Walker, I Was A Yeh Yeh Girl 2, Takemura Nobukazu
!! dustygroove is now carrying the debut album from Sleep Walker, the
all-star avant jazz quartet that includes former Mondo Grosso saxman
Nakamura Masato and the brilliant Yoshizawa Hajime. don't expect the
kyoto jazz massive or the solo yoshizawa hajime sound, it's straight
jazz by four accomplished musicians.
-Wesley
-- source: Dusty Groove Sleep Walker -- Sleep Walker . . . CD . . . $26.99 KSR/Especial (Japan), 2003 A monumental bit of club jazz -- one of the best new records we've heard in years, with a sound that's right up there with the best of Impulse Records from the classic years! The album's a side project of Japanese producer/keyboardist Hajime Yoshizawa -- and unlike his other records, which have a much stronger dance/soul approach, this set's almost purely straight jazz -- done with majestically searching solos on both keyboards and sax, the latter of which is played by Masato Nakamura, who has a tone that almost recalls Pharoah Sanders! The whole thing's great -- a brilliant piece of Love Supreme jazz, co-produced by Kyoto Jazz Massive, who give the record enough of a bounce to make it appeal to fans of recent work by them, Koop, or Jazzanova as well. An instant classic -- and a mindblowingly deep record that we'll be playing for years! Titles include "Resurrection", "Ai No Kawa", "Elina", "Time Voyager", "Five", "Life Is Theatre", and "Nomadic Tribe". album cover: http://www.dustygroove.com/prip/4/8/67584i.htm http://www.dustygroove.com/newgroovescd2.htm#67584 Various -- I Was A Yeh Yeh Girl 2 . . . CD . . . $24.99 Rambling (Japan), 2003 As groovy a set of retro-styled tunes as you might hope to find -- put together by the folks at Il Giaguaro magazine, one of the leading lights of the Italian scene! The set's got 15 recent tracks by a host of overseas groups -- most of them European, on labels that you've been paying hefty import prices for -- making this Japanese CD a pretty great deal when you consider how many tunes it gives you access to! Titles include "Skeewiff Vs Alan Hawkshaw" by Skeewiff, "Kammamuri's Dream" by Doctor Zoil, "McArthur's Break" by Bobby Hughes Combination, "Itchy Feet" by Past Present Organization, "Mexican Flyer" by Skeewiff, "Do The Boogaloo" by Mo Horizons, "Midnight At Gigi's" by Black Market Audio, "Mais Pourquoi" by Pinker Tones, and "Pepper's Ghost" by Super Casanova. http://www.dustygroove.com/newgroovescd2.htm#65170 Nobukazu Takemura -- 10th . . . CD . . . $13.99 Thrill Jockey, 2003 Another wonderful CD from the fertile mind of Takemura-san! Moving slightly away from the skittering, percolating bent tone approach of some of the preceding albums, this CD has a number of nice song-form pieces with the sing song vocoded vocals almost suspended in space over the gentle electronic tonalities. Many of the numbers have a more straight forward rhythmic approach, with some nice pulsing interludes and bubbling electronics, a soundtrack to another childlike world of fantasy! 16 tracks in all, including "FallsLake", 'Wandering", "Machine's World", "A Puff Of Word", "Lost Treasure (4th version)", "Funny Illustrated Book", "Astral Beads" and "Polymorphism". album cover: http://www.dustygroove.com/prip/9/1/64119i.htm -- ECLECTIC Japan [Sound :: Lounge] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoundLounge