Label: Cordella
Format: LP
Year: 1987
Condition: EX+/EX+
Format: LP
Year: 1987
Condition: EX+/EX+
Obscure indeed! The Cordella comps were a consistent source of unique-shaped DIY oddness, often featuring artists who never released anywhere else, but this Japanese edition is on another NTS-ready 'what the fuck is this' level. The current Western interest (guilty as charged!) in Japan's musical history is peak right now - City Pop, ambient, punk, modern classical, jazz, psych & folk, a lot of effort is being channelled into retelling and recontexualising the country's cultural legacies (it's also about making money and there's issues of 'Otherness' but leaving that aside for a second). What's not been fully addressed yet, though surely around the corner, is the more obtuse, autodidactic parts of DIY post-punk activity. No expert myself I must admit, but delving into this comp has been revelatory. Never heard any of these songs or artists prior to discovering this. British and particularly US proto-electronic & post-punk might be the template, but as with a lot of Japanese music, the context shifts the sounds into new, sometimes challenging spaces. Particularly love the new wave herky jerk synth work out of The Bien's 'Huge Box' and Mamo Bell's glassy otherworld excursions on 'Back of Universe', but the real money shot for me here is Suttee's 'Blue Rose' - transportative in its understated simplicity. Obviously a bit of a rarity this one. Well worth throwing down for if you're of the deep-cut persuasion.
