Saturday, September 1, 2007

Cities On Flame, indeed:



Here's a rare treat from a killer acid rock band from Kyoto! The name of the band is Renzoku Shasatsuma (which translated to serial killer or sniper) and the title of the record is "Shibuya Yaneura" (meaning "Shibuya Attic") and is a live recording from March 26th, 1978. This recording seems to be split into two seperate shows (on the same day perhaps?) with the first part showcasing some absolutely head-splitting psyche rock! Almost completely instrumental, this power trio let the music speak for itself (save for a few vocal lines here and there), and when their show starts off, it's notably weirder and more noisy than most rock bands were aiming for in '78. The guitar is cranked up loud as hell and is making a weird, ominous amplified power drone with phaser pedals cranked up and controls set to the heart of the sun. When the rest of the band enters the noise, they all kick into some killer mix of Sabbath and Procol Harem (yes...strange, but true). Then after some tasty soloing...they settle into some kind of Fushitsusha styled free rock vibe, with the drums scattering and stumbling all around the open spaces. Needless to say, pretty exciting stuff. As the songs move on, they continue to explore more of that lovely damaged psyche with heavy guitar soloing and some slight blues undertones. As the record goes into the second part, Renzoku Shasatsuma channel more of their inner rock beast and deliver some faster, more upbeat, and savage rock. Extended solo (mostly guitar) and long jamming makes for some good times...although, it must be said, that there are more vocals on this second part of the cd and they can be a little tough to ignore at times...but hey, it's a live recording and it's raw and unpolished. It's just rock and roll...so i suppose I can't complain.

Fans of Black Sabbath, Les Rallizes Denudes, Overhang Party, Ningen Isu, Fushitsusha / Keiji Haino, and other legendary acid rockers are encouraged to check this one out. Let me know what you think after you've spun this platter in your love den.

I'd like to dedicate this post to Dirk from Cities On Flame who sadly passed away last month as most of you may know.

Here it is, friends

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've never heard of this, but it sounds great. Thanks for this.

Anonymous said...

wonderful for all the right reasons —thanks

Anonymous said...

sounds beautiful, but i can only unzip 3 tracks - and i have downloaded the thing twice from different mirrors and used two different unzipping programs. is it only my problem?
wonderful blog, indeed. i don't download much of your music, but reading your posts alone is a pleasure.
cheers - darek/poland

jAy @ jApAn said...

hello anonymous. i downloaded it myself (choosing Mega frokm the options) and it worked fine for me. Anyone else having problems?

Anonymous said...

i'll go for mega then, unfortunately in my country (poland) it only works at certain hours (late night thru morning). cheers again - darek

Anonymous said...

...ok, seriously, this is like some kinda damage....where's my medication?...

micksguitar said...

great lp. very nice post. i think dirk would have liked it. thanx mick

Anonymous said...

Dirk's was an awesome blog too!

Unknown said...

Awesome record! tHAT IS SOME kA-rAZEE acid noise!!

HERE'S TO DIRK!!!!
You Rocked & Ruled, my friend!!

Anonymous said...

I had no trouble downloading it. And thanks for it! This is killer OTT acid rock. The vocals on the last track are atrocious, but when the music is this good, who cares?

Anonymous said...

Flame on, flame on....

Thanks for keeping Dirk's brand o' tunes a'happening!

This is great stuff. As is much here. Just going back through your older blog posts now, snagged a few choice bits... but couldn't not comment here. This one just rocks too hard not mention. Wow.

Thanks for digging up some gems!

Maurice said...

this is some serious awesome. thanks for sharing.

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