A PATH THROUGH HAZE

(From PA blog "Japanese Progressive Rock presented by DamoX")

Spacey, heavy, jazzy, avantgarde ... his style can be altered again and again in this album.

What a fantastic sound creator he is - one of pioneers in Japanese Progressive Rock scene, this phrase can be exactly fit for Kimio MIZUTANI. Anyway the Japanese title of this album is 'Uchu No Kukan (Space in the universe)' and this might mean his magnificent guitar style I suppose? And look at the support members - Masahiko Satoh and Hiromasa Suzuki (jazz-pianists), Takeshi Inomata (jazz-drummer), Masaoki Terakawa (nu-rock bassist; Love Live Life + One), Hideaki Takebe (session bassist), and Hiro Yanagida (keyboardist; needless to say) - surprisingly Kimio can surpass them (what fascinating supporters!) in loudness and magnificence. His guitar has various faces ... mainly of heavy rock but sometimes bubbling and noisy, sometimes folksy, and sometimes jazzy ... but all of them are absolutely Kimio's ROCK appearances. For example, Turning Point, composed by Kuni Kawachi, is characterized by a heavily spacey and minimalistic guitar solo, based on simple keyboard sounds. On the contrary, Tell Me What You Saw by Kimio himself is a violently exploded heavy guitar rock. Various genre artists can season Kimio's solo album with various essence and spice ... we can see eclecticism in it.

Listen to a Japanese Rock progenitor's album.

What if King Crimson or Soft Machine were founded in Japan in 1971? The first impression is about the big attention in the sounds choice.

The title track starts with a melodic keyboard that reminds to Wakeman's Six Wives, but it's only the first minute. Guitar and drums add an acid touch and the athmospheres are closer to Steve Hillage. the background "noise" makes it space rock. As first approach it's really not bad.

"Sail In The Sky" is where the connection with KC starts to appear. It's a long track with a spacey start that after 1 and half minute turns to soft psychedelia and later to a jazzy guitar solo.

"Turning Point" starts melodic and after the usual minute is again jazzy. Great guitar and electric piano. Short but impressive.

"Tell Me What You Saw" is pure progressive. ELP and KC seems to be the influences, so I could say "Greg Lake" instead. But keep in mind that this is original music. There may be influences, or this can be how my mind elaborates the listening experience trying to map it on something already known. This is a psychedelic track with a noisy central part. Noisy in the sense of free jazz. It seems to be chaotic but I don't think there's a lot of improvisation. It's a free jazz composition.

I don't know if "One for Janis" is dedicated to Janis Joplin. The acid guitar sound can remind to her live performances with Big Brother and the Holding Company. It's an acid blues piece, very enjoyable. In the scond part, keyboards make it more acid with background sounds, but it remains bluesy until the end.

"Sabbath Days Sable" is a slow track with a melodic piano base that guitar and strings (keyboard maybe) make non.trivial by adding few dissonances. Soft Machine can be a reference.

"A bottle of Codeine" is driven by the bass line. it's another acid blues track. It's a slow 7 minutes trip with an excellent guitar solo.

"Way out" starts with keyboard electronic experimentalisms, but unexpectedly, bass and acoustic guitar change the situation. Pure space rock. The only track with some vocalisms inside.

It's a pity that this band, as many other bands, has only one album. for my tastes it's between 4 and 5 stars, but without taking into account my personal tastes I can easily rate it 4.

Kimio Mizutani is a guitarist from Japan and he was very much an in demand session guitarist, so yeah this is a guitar driven album mostly in the Psychedelic realm although it can be jazzy and bluesy at times and even Avant. He has two bass players, two drummers and two electric piano players maybe out of convenience or he wanted a certain player for certain tracks I'm not sure. A string quartet and a woodwind quartet helps out along with organ and synths. We get some scat singing from a female on the closer.

My top four would include "Sail In The Sky" with those woodwinds and synths standing out early in a relaxed setting until a change after 1 1/2 minutes when electric piano, guitar, bass and drums lead the way. Great sound! Love the rhythm section too before 4 1/2 minutes with electric piano leading then the guitar returns sounding amazing with fluttering flute and more. "Tell Me What You Saw" has a heavy sound with guitar as drums pound. A change after a minute as we get some nasty organ and guitar as the piano and bass help out. They're just killing it 3 minutes in. Avant is the word, then back to that earlier sound.

"One For Janis" opens with fuzzed out guitar, organ, drums and bass. Incredible sound here throughout. Some synths join in as well around 4 minutes. Love the bass here. "A Bottle Of Codeine" is always in my possession. Just sayin'. Huge bass lines to start with drums and the organ is stewing in it's juices. Guitar comes in over top but how awesome is that bass! The drumming also really stands out here and the guitar especially 6 1/2 minutes in. Oh my!

Hey it's 1971 and this cat from Japan hit one out of the park. A must!