FRONTERA

MAJUTSU NO NIWA are a Psychedelic Japanese band who have released something like 6 studio albums and 2 live records between 2008 and 2015. This is a trio of guitar/vocals, bass and drums with one guest adding electronics on that final track. They came out of the ashes of a band called OVERHANG PARTY and the female guest was part of that band. She by the way was also part of TANGERINE DREAM SINDICATE so she knows a little bit about electronics. "Frontera" was released in 2009 and it's a long one clocking in at 78 minutes but keep in mind that almost a half an hour of this is non-structured soundscape music including that 22 1/2 minute closer with the electronics. I'm surprised at the variety and more surprised at how good and consistent this is despite changing styles often. It all works pretty much.

The opener "Afunruparo" is also soundscape music but under 5 minutes and no electronics rather they create this with imaginative guitar expressions, bass and drums and half way through we get these other-worldly wordless vocals over top. A top three for me. "Turn To Flames" is a barn-burner and inspired it would seem by HAWKWIND. Vocals by the way are all in Japanese except for "Night Cruise" where we get english vocals. That tune is also a top three clocking in at under 10 minutes. A spacey intro gives way to deep bass lines followed by drums and powerful guitar leads. A really good groove to this one. The other top three is the one named after the band and I love when groups do this, have a song named after themselves. A nice heavy sound to this one with some great sounding guitar.

"Beyond The Steel Rails" is folky, light psychedelia with the bass player doing it almost all himself playing acoustic guitar and percussion while the guitarist adds vocals. That guitarist adds violin to "Thousands Of Nights, Thousands Of Days" a fun and uplifting track. I really like the title track as well for being heavy with lots of depth, mid- paced with vocals. "Journey To The End Of The Night" opens with a walking bass line with the guitar soloing tastefully over top with light beats. Man it's an 11 1/2 minute piece and this is a band who likes to jam.

This one caught me by surprise although Japan certainly has it's share of talented Psychedelic bands I'll say that and this is another one. A very solid 4 stars for this one.