MAHER SHALAL HASH BAZ WITH MASAMI SHINODA - Koshi Kudake No Inu

Enticing archival document of an early (1987) show by wide-eyed mystics Maher Shalal Hash Baz at Kid Ailack Art Hall, Tokyo. The visuals provide a rare and valuable opportunity to pick apart the working methods of one of the Japanese undergrounds most truly original and agile thinkers, Tori Kudo. In Maher Shalal Hash Baz, he took the heterophonic voicings, the deliberately fluctuating rhythmic mis-steps and the non-unison unison so characteristic of Japanese traditional music and re-applied them to idiot savant mini-hymns arranged for electric guitar, euphonium, ocarina and organ. Its a music that exists in a unique world of its own, alternately donning and shedding the armor of rock and jazz. Another major draw is the presence of the late Masami Shinoda on alto sax. Shinoda was an important, though largely unsung, figure in the history of the Tokyo underground during the 80s and 90s, showing up in all manner of groups from punk iconoclasts Jagatara and Pungo, to his own experiments with chindon marching advertising bands. He spent a few years in Maher in the 80s and this DVD captures the innocent joy and rapturous invention he brought to their music. 24 tracks, 75 minutes. Color, NTSC Region Free (says Region 2 on the package, but that is a typo, it plays Region Free), Stereo, 08.09.21. -PSF