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Koenji Hyakkei - Angherr Shisspa CD (album) cover

ANGHERR SHISSPA

Koenji Hyakkei

 

Zeuhl

4.01 | 171 ratings

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Sinusoid
Prog Reviewer
4 stars Absolutely bizzarre; and that still doesn't fully state the nature...

A weird pick for my first try into the Zeuhl world, but it worked well and made me curious about Koenjihyakkei's other works. Let me say right now that there is EXTREMELY little about this album that is anywhere close to conventional. Every composition seems to purposely branch out into the most complex of territories and the most avant-garde of structures. This is not an easy listen and there's a novelty to this that can wear out easily.

Here's what to keep in mind when putting on ANGHERR SHISSPA: there's rarely a spot where the ''safe'' 4/4 time shows up, the lead vocalist (Kyoko Yamamoto) has a very opera-like quality to her voice, the drumming is crazy, the sax is crazier, and the words make no sense. The music has the qualities of jazz (keep that in mind when listening to ''Rattims Friezz''), avant- gard, zeuhl and opera amongst other styles not aforementioned.

There's a definite novelty behind ANGHERR SHISSPA; it's complex for the sake of complexity. I remember getting so involved with the album that during some of my classes, I'd write bizzarre looking words off to the side of my notebook based on rearranging letters from my notes. (Yes, I was that obsessed) If you're interested in Zeuhl, Magma ought to be the first band investigated, and if Koenjihyakkei happens to strike your fancy at some point, get NIVRAYM first as that album to me has a greater sense of melody with less avant thingys. Don't get me wrong, this is still great stuff here.

Sinusoid | 4/5 |

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