Taj Mahal Travellers C/D

anyway, have you heard it or not? opinions is what i want.

as an aside, the double leopards just played on my radio show and they were fucking brilliant, but at one point i looked at my cohost and said "august 1974" - it was eerily like that. double leopards RULE.

I was a bit rude to andrew so oops...

anyway, i picked july 15, 1972 in another CDR deal and oh hot mama what a nice one. some beautiful drones and kosugi goes a bit bonkers in that last track. I love 'em.

P-Vine's reissue last year of Kosugi's Catch Wave is a keeper as well as the East Bionic Sinfonia LP...

Sometimes your not sure what you just heard was there or not.

This is definitely true for July 15, 1972 on headphones.

I want to know more about the documentary film!?

seriously they were so completely sui generis ... fucking amazing stuff. I kinda feel like they are best listened to at dawn.

august 1974 is just one of those records. can't think of too many things better.

I edited the sides back together for both discs -- easy to do, they join up seamlessly and it makes a huge difference in listening, you get much further out without those pauses

kosugi's catch wave basically sounds as if it was recorded the same night as august 1974, as if he'd just kept going by himself after everyone else went home. the same sounds and processing without the other instruments -- doesn't get quite as far out, but definitely worth getting.

kosugi's violin improvisations on lovely is very different, solo violin melodies & lines, but completely free of any standard intonation or tonal center whatsoever. deeply bent & very disciplined, I've never heard anyone else play violin like this -- it's too much for me to listen straight through, but in doses this is crucial listening

has anyone heard the kosugi live 1980 CD that's currently making the rounds?

I got to hear "August 1974" eventually, great stuff, love it love it love it... and I'm, errrrrrrrrrr, accessing "July 15, 1972" as I type this. One thing tho, bits of "August 74" are uncannily like "In the Shadow of the Sun" by Throbbing Gristle - one sequence in particular, with sort of silly vocal noises in the background - I wonder if Gen+Co were familiar with this album? Kosugi was a Fluxus guy after all?

"this kind of instruments can have many kinds of sounds, so i hate any violin, viola, cello and bass players use any effect except for reverb. from this reason, i really hate fuckin' Kosugi's any works!!!!"

Makoto Kawabata on Takahisa Kosugi

nuts! where did you get that quote?

Makoto's Listening Room on the AMT website. It's from his write-up on Dumitrescu's Medium III.

I have been trying (not very hard) to get this, so if anyone knows where to "access" it, lay it on me. Please and thank you.

Kawabata needs to hear this one: http://www.discogs.com/release/686150

Heh I feel bad abt my rather grumpy response to Julio all those years back - at the time it really was pretty difficult trying to get hold of any TMT recs here in the UK

but PJ Miller you are in luck, 'cos these days the P-Vine two disc reish of August 19874 is much easier to 'source' - Volcanic Tongue currently have it in stock for £20

August 1974, even

There's an auction for the P-Vine reissue on eBay right now. I rarely see it listed beyond overpriced Buy It Nows.

Is Violin Solo worth tracking down? Julian Cope hates it but he hates most of what I love. Kosugi's Violin Improvisations 1989 is really great but would fall in the "any works" that Kawabata writes off above.

Be nice if someone could be bothered to reissue this stuff outside of Japan at some point.

Violin Solo is pretty enjoyable. I'm listening to it now because of this thread. I wouldn't have shelled out cash for it, though. I found it way underpriced at Footlight Records (RIP).

I'll trade you a CDr for those force spikes ;)

xp

3.0 out of 5 stars Not anything like "Catch Wave",or TMT...., October 19, 2007
By T. Hardin
If you purchase this expecting anything remotely like Kosugi's "Catch Wave",or anything like Taj Mahal Travellers for that matter,you will be sadly disappointed.This is indeed a violin solo,with little(if any) discernable sound processing/effects.I feel like im being generous with the 3 star rating,as this kinda blows - hoping i'll "get it" with repeat listens,but right now I would recommend this to completists ONLY.Hunt down "Catch Wave" instead.That is his masterpiece!

^^ amazon review.

Dunno why the P Vine reish should be going for crazy prices cos afaik its still in print - as I say, Volcanic Tongue pretty much always have it in stock (along w/ Violin Solo and a complete, semi-legit OZ DAYS)

I have August 1974 in stock for $34 new, great record:

http://www.erstwhilerecords.com/distro.html

^^^wow that's a steal.

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2011/11/the-taj-mahal-travellers-tour-film.html

while it lasts:
ebay item # 150680914198
takehisa kosugi's "catch wave" cd new sealed @ £4.99 - today - more than 10 available.

I like Catch Wave about 10x more than any TMT albums... and I like those albums A LOT!

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2011/11/the-taj-mahal-travellers-tour-film.html

― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Friday, November 18, 2011 10:36 AM

kewl

http://www.scamorama.com/images/shades-smiley.gif

august 1974 > "catch wave" >>>> july 1972 >>>>>>>> july 1971

not really drone but i would also recommend "improvisation sep. 1975" which has kosugi playing with toshi ichiyanagi and michael ranta ... more of a free improv noise sort of thing along the lines of musica elettronica viva, nurse with wound, the spaciest end of can, etc but w/ that magical kosugi vibe running throughout

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0201q89

Thanks, will try later.

RIP Takehisa Kosugi.

:-(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqdPZbylvPU

RIP. Glad to see that link I posted above is still live - it was a terrific performance.

Oh no, RIP.

Tomomi Adachi posted a handful of wonderful Kosugi appearances on late 80's pop music records I'd never heard before

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMHeIWU2GMA&feature=youtu.be&t=732&fbclid=IwAR1oYBCPIMBSGHL7l4ScOnSK4F9rMLqy0rAYgdgIOVKKN6CdIam-IZ0d4i0

Morio Agata (あがた森魚) - El jaguar del bandoneon (full album), solo kicks in around 12:00 - if you like Miharu Koshi circa Boy Soprano

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JhUs6OQIvY

Ayuo with Takehisa Kosugi - Birds of Paradise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KADnnuEKCoQ

Riri Shimada + Takehisa Kosugi - Gnossiennes No. 1 - No. 5, one of the only Satie recordings Satie would have loved

my morning's spree playlist was

Group Ongaku 1960-61 (astounding. co-founder Yasunao Tone pointed out the importance of Shukou Mizuno doing the crazier feedback bursts on these sessions)
Taj Mahal Travellers - Sound Picnic At Kuwanichika - 1977 bootleg, room recording with not much low end is the only reason this doesn't compete with August 1974; it's the same thing, but three years deeper
Kosugi - Catch Wave '97 - high fidelity room recording also sacrifices low end but the last half audibly packs in decades

Sound Picnic At Kuwanichika is on youtube as live Tokyo 1977

Sad news, but listening to July 5, 1972 right now which softens the blow somewhat into a pillow of drone

Well, the nearest thread I could find to post this.

rest in peace toshi ichiyanagi

(john cage, buddha, ichiyanagi, david tudor) pic.twitter.com/i1DJ0EM2vm

— callahan (@IRCAM_official) October 8, 2022

RIP