PSF Records

I've been enjoying lots of (heavy) japanese psychedelic rock recently (really since UP-TIGHT at Instal in particular I guess) - Fushitsusha, Kousokuya, UP-TIGHT, High Rise, Suishou No Fune, Les Rallizes Denudes, Sanhedolin thus far (Mainliner, White Heaven and Vajra are names on my list which I haven't got to yet).

I also like a good bit of Keiji Haino in all his various forms.

Inspired by this I'm now keen to explore a bit more of the PSF catalogue. So, any suggestions, recommendations, stories, discussions etc. on or around this subject would be most appreciated. I'm open to exploring more than the psychedelic rock side of things as well as getting further into that area.

I have one specific question too: Has anyone had experience of ordering directly from PSF, particularly from the UK?
The prices are $18/$15 and $36 for doubles, with a $4 flat insurance fee, so that certainly looks like a good deal compared to the prices in the few UK places that do stock them. Any thoughts or experience of ordering direct?

Thanks very much

I'll put in a shameless plug for my website which is pretty much out of date now but might be a good place to get a bit of an overview of the Japanese scene.

http://noise.as

I'd also be interested to know what their mailorder is like. Also must add that Mellow Out by Mainliner is a must buy and you can get it for cheap at the moment direct from riotseason.

http://www.riotseason.com

Could try here.
I thought about ordering from Japan as well.....
http://www.volcanictongue.com

as a fan of the PSF label, I can say that my favorite titles are:

Keiji Haino "Affection" (rather restrained and beautiful)
Jutok Kaneko "Endless Ruins" (solo by the guy from Kousokuya, maybe more straight than his main band, but I love it)
v/a "Tokyo Flashback 2" and "3" (though there are A+ songs on every volume of the series)
Tomokawa Kazuki "Fault of Flowers" (WOW!!!)
Kan Mikami "Jazz and Other Things" (and also the brown one, I forget the title)

... and though they aren't a PSF band, my favorite Japanese heavy-psych band from that whole scene is Overhang Party. If you can track down thier "4" CD, which is solid red in a mini-gatefold sleeve, grab it. In my opinion, an astounding rock record.

Kan Mikami - Box
Kazuki Tomokawa - Box
Vajra - Mandala cat last

you can't live without them.

edit: I've ordered from them a couple of times, very fast, very friendly, great service.. no worries!

one of my favourite PSF CDs is Shizuka's 'Heavenly Persona'. more blissed out than the usual fare, nice female vocals (that don't sound like a cat being slowly garotted, for once.)

I like White Heaven, but they're definitely not 'heavy'. very trad (Quicksilver Messenger Service WORSHIP) and somewhat of an acquired taste, but for different reasons from other Jap Psych... I initially found 'Out' fairly ridiculous in its earnestness (some truly awful Engrish lyrics on there), but it has charming, smoky production values + the guitar playing is just phenomenal.

I don't 'get' Stars (effectively the reformed White Heaven, I believe) at all -- thought 'Will' was terrible, no space for Kurihara to solo, vocals mixed too high + a polished production which leaves the substandard songwriting exposed. although I should to listen to the new one, 'Perfect Place To Hide Away', before casting my deciding vote.

how did I forget?: CHE-Shizu "A Journey"! It's Chie Mukai's pop band... hard to describ what's so weird about it, other than Mukai's ko-kyu playing, which is kinda horrible but also charming. If you can find thier first album, reissued on Alchemy, that one is almost unlistenable (not necesarily a bad thing)... i used to work in a record shop, and would love putting that one on to watch everyone in the store wince at once... heh, that was fun...

im also really into the psf/alchemy records stuff. what's really amazing is going to modern music in tokyo and seeing all hundreds of titles lined up in rows along the wall. pretty overwhelming and difficult to know where to start!
im curious if anyone has heard the hasegawa shizuo release gene packs, which i think came out last year... just from reading the short description on forced exposure, something that kind of struck me as different from other psf stuff...

i love White Heaven's Out for all the reasons resolved posted above

i also really like:

Toho Sara- Eastern Most 1-7 dense, electronic-sounding acoustic drone

Gaseneta- Sooner or Later 1978-era punk (?) High Rise-ish

Tokyo Flashback 1 [my first PSF purchase] and 2

i like Mainliner but my favorite cd of theirs is mellow out (on charnel)

check out agata morio's stuff if u dig tomokawa and mikami
URABE
tori kudo
musica transonica

some cool free jazz as well
karou abe
masayuki takayanagi
motu yoshizawa

i wish i could be specific with some stuff but it's bin awhile since i've listened to any of this shit

check out SIWA records too. a lot easier on the wallet.

check out SIWA records too. a lot easier on the wallet.

Not so sure about that, but I highly recommend Alan too. Really, the prices PSF charge are dirt cheap when you consider they're in Japan. $15 for most cds and no shipping fees. Brilliant. I highly recommend dealing with them directly. On a whim I've sometimes dropped a few names to see what they have in stock in the MM store and I've got some nice surprises.

Unspoken treasures from their catalogue include the solo works of Go Hirano and all the Takayanagi-stuff. "Call in Question" beats Fushitsusha in its intensity if you ask me, and I'm a big Haino-worshipper. Don't forget the solo record by Jutok Kaneko either. Like Kousokuya but even more depressed.

Ohkami No Jikan's Mort Nuit is totally excellent and heavy japanese psych, kind of like an ecstatic Fushitsusha or something. Although it's not on PSF it's on Fractal, but it does feature Nanjo, and possibley Kawabata.

I think the line-up on it is Nanja, Kawabata and Nobuko (of Tsurubami).

im curious if anyone has heard the hasegawa shizuo release gene packs, which i think came out last year... just from reading the short description on forced exposure, something that kind of struck me as different from other psf stuff...

now that you mention it, that one was pretty awesome. maybe kind of like what Skaters would like to achieve, if they weren't too stoned to get it right. check it out!

one more: Shuji Inaba. his 2004 album on Last Visible Dog was one of the most harrowing things I've heard, fantastic stuff. he also had an earlier CDR on that label, and one CD on PSF. sounds a bit like Kan Mikami.
he also has stuff on his own label (can't remember the name) apparently, but sadly I haven't been able to track any of that down.

some of the Ghost release will do you well if you have any taste towards some of the more folky stuff..

Nishininihon is pretty a wild overdirve band that reminds me slightly of highrise which is Makota in a power trio . not sure what's in print though

Overhang party would be worth looking into as i've always enjoyed them

LSD March big fan of course and shameless self promoter as i released a live CD that was intended to have a Lez Rallizes bootleg feel.. also have a re-issue studio CD "empty red rubious" that will be for sale in a few days http://www.archivecd.com SIWA also just did a small re-issue of an awesome 12" and sunddenly like flames CD is a damn good listen

also recent narita/ Hano disc is cool

one more: Shuji Inaba. his 2004 album on Last Visible Dog was one of the most harrowing things I've heard, fantastic stuff. he also had an earlier CDR on that label, and one CD on PSF. sounds a bit like Kan Mikami.
he also has stuff on his own label (can't remember the name) apparently, but sadly I haven't been able to track any of that down.

Shuji has a couple on Planktone--the one I highly recommend is his first. It is in Japanese of course, so I can't read it but it is Planktone 008 (if that helps.) His second effort on Planktone didn't appeal to me quite so much.

The cd-r on LVD you referred to is Yoenzange, and my absolute favorite release by him. It appears that it is finally going to get the reissue it so much deserves sometimes in the next few months. Look forward to it!

But in speaking of PSF, I don't think anyone has yet mentioned the two CD set, Live in the first year of Heisei (available as two CDs or two LPs.)




This for me is one of the great pinacles of PSF. Some of the most incredible, unclassifiable music! From legends: Haino, Makami and Yoshisawa. I put it up there with Fushitsusha live vol. 1, . I probably love everything on the PSF label (ok, there might be a couple releases that are just fan service for the Haino nuts), but in general, everything is more than worthy. Regardless, Live in the first year of Heisei is a life changing album that sits above all the rest! An utterly humbling document that deserves a listen by anyone who thinks they know anything about 'outside' music in Japan.

im curious if anyone has heard the hasegawa shizuo release gene packs, which i think came out last year... just from reading the short description on forced exposure, something that kind of struck me as different from other psf stuff...

now that you mention it, that one was pretty awesome. maybe kind of like what Skaters would like to achieve, if they weren't too stoned to get it right. check it out!

are you implying here that The Skaters smoke too much weed ? ... trust me, these dudes are wrecked on weird natural highs.

i'm saying that imho that Hasegawa-Shizuo could be an ear-opener for fans of vocal drones.
meanwhile that new Mikami/Urabe/Ishizuka disc on PSF looks interesting!