Samurai - Kappa (!971)

Samurai – a Japanese group led by vocalist/flautist Miki Curtis. They went to Europe in late 1967, picking up some European members and thus becoming half-Japanese. In London they recorded a single and their debut album, the double-LP [so I’m told] ‘Samurai’ a.k.a. ‘Miki Curtis & Samurai’ [German Metronome, 1970], as well as a single only released in Italy. They should not be confused with the UK group of the same name, who released a self-titled LP on Greenwich in 1971.

Track Listing...

1 - Trauma (10:18)

2 - Same Old Reason (2:49)

3 - Daredatta (3:38)

4 - Vision Of Tomorrow (3:52)

5 - King Riff And Snow Flakes (22:28)

Shinki Chen - Shinki Chen and His friends (1971)

Heavy Psych. Fuzzy Bass. Echoes in a cave vocals. As long as we're in the habit of comparing these lesser known folks to the big names, this guy is oft referred to as "Japan's Hendrix." Very chill, very good. Click it and dig it.


Track Listing...
01. The Dark Sea Dream
02. Requiem of Confusion
03. Freedom of a Mad Paper Lantern
04. Gloomy Reflections
05. It Was Only Yesterday
06. Corpse
07. Farewell to Hypocrites

Speed, Glue and Shinki - Speed, Glue and Shinki (1972)

If you like that heavy drugged psych sound from the early '70's then Speed, Glue & Shinki is a must! This is a excellent sounding group from Japan and featured the great Shinki Chen on guitar. If you like Blues Creation, Juan De La Cruz, Flower Travellin' Band and Too Much then you are going to love this rare release! The Psychedelic weirdness predominates on this release which rips along like a sludge heavy Led Zep meets Sabbath.

Track Listing...
01. Sniffin & Snortin Pt. 1
02. Run and Hide
03. Bad Woman
04. Red Doll
05. Flat Fret Swing
06. Sniffin & Snortin Pt. 2
07. Don't Say No
08. Calm Down
09. Doodle Song
10. Search for Love
11. Chuppy
12. Wanna Take You Home
13. a) Sun b) Planets c) Life d) Moon
14. Song for an Angel

Flower Travellin' Band - Satori (1971)

When everybody in the west were dazed by the sounds of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and so, in the east they were capable of rebuild this sounds and going further
A series of bands heading by The Flower Travellin' Band were mixing japanese culture, psychedelia and heavy rock with a layer of mystery, angst and poetry...
This record has been a cult piece for many years, is the second of this band, they began covering their heroes in a first recording and on this everything learned is reflected.
Satori is structured in suites, above all i would sugest for first bite Satori 2nd, a song which would be the best thriller soundtrack, wich reflects how japan understood Black Sabbath. In sons as third suite japanese culture and music is very present, not making the songs boring but giving them a psychedelic style very original and enjoyable.

Track Listing...

1. Satori, Pt. 1
2. Satori, Pt. 2
3. Satori, Pt. 3
4. Satori, Pt. 4
5. Satori, Pt. 5

Blues Creation - Demon and Eleven Children (1971)

This CD is ahead of its time, one of the first truly HEAVY albums from the 60's. Progressive arrangements, outstanding guitar, and somewhat reminds me of a Sabbath/Captain Beyond mix that totally shreds. The truly unbelievable thing is that this album was initially released in 1968, two years before the first Black Sabbath album! These guys should have been huge. Maybe the best Japanese band ever!

Track Listing...
1.- Atomic Bombs Away
2.-Mississippi Mountain Blues
3.-Just I Was Born
4.-Sorrow
5.-One Summer Day
6.-Brain Buster
7.-Sooner or Later
8.-Demon & Eleven Children

3/3 - Sanbun No San (1975)

Japanese power trio 3/3 made this gritty blues-flavored rock album around 1975. I keep hearing that this band is considered to have had a large influence on Japanese punk and no-wave and psyche-rock; maybe so, but as much as I like this record, it doesn’t strike me as being particularly groundbreaking; much of it, for example, recalls Jimi Hendrix, which I’m not at all saying is a bad thing. The boys do crank the energy level up in a few places to a nearly Damned-like thrash, and yes they were probably ahead of the curve on that one; in 1975, punk rock hadn’t seriously broken out yet, but listening to this record you might think it had. The final song is laid-back, relatively speaking, with a gentle guitar intro. A muddy recorded sound on this release but screw that; this record rocks and is a total gas to listen to. Reissue edition of 300 copies. Originally released on LP in an extremely limited edition of 15 copies.
Track Listing...
1. Machine Song
2. Jump
3. Always
4. In A Cloud
5. Fly
6. Open A Window
7. Let It Flow

Speed, Glue and Shinki - Eve (1971)

Created by famous Japanese producer Ikuzo Orita, Speed, Glue & Shinki were a Japanese supergroup made up of Shinki Chen (ex-Powerhouse and Foodbrain) on guitar, Masayoshi Kabe (ex-Golden Cups) on bass and Filipino Joseph 'Pepe' Smith (ex-Zero History) on vocals and drums. The resulting sound was extremely bleak and raw, with Kabe's crunching atonal bass runs and Smith's stop-start rhythms creating a unique base for Shinki Chen's euphoric blues.

Track Listing...
01 Mr. Walking Drugstore Man
02 Big Headed Woman
03 Stoned Out Of My Mind
04 Ode To The Bad People
05 A) M Glue
06 B) Keep It Cool
07 Someday We'll All Fall Down