LUCIFER

Mitsuru TABATA was born upon October 31, 1965 in Kyoto, Japan. He started playing guitar in 1982 upon stages around Kyoto and joined some projects - an avantgarde-pop one named Noizunzuri with Jun Togawa (voices; see Guernica) or Boredoms with Yamatsuka EYE. After leaving Boredoms, he founded Leningrad Blues Machine in 1987. In 1990s he'd migrated from Kyoto to Tokyo and played almost in Zeni Geva with Kazuyuki Kishino. Since millennium he's launched a bundle of albums via various projects including Zeni Geva, Leningrad Blues Machine, Acid Mothers Temple & The Cosmic Inferno, and so on. In 2010, he released his solo work titled "Lucifer" in Japan.

Firstly, let me recommend the second track "Moon Stone (Tsuki No Ishi)", that can be thought as the least progressive one in this album I'm afraid. However, trust me, this is another important stuff for his own psychedelia, different from his usual psychedelic progressive projects. Absolutely this song should be acid folk leaning toward Folk Crusaders or Daisaku Yoshino, each of whom is thought as one of pioneers in Japanese acid folk scene (especially his soundscape shown in this song reminds me Daisaku Yoshino's Rampu Seizo Kojo). With a comfort melody, his sticky voices, and cynical lyrics (about a pest looking for a moon stone carried off by a wind, under a crash barrier or all around the sea ... ), he pushed ahead his acoustic psychedelia. A very interesting track.

On the other side, "To Be Drowned At Ocean (Umi No Mokuzu)" might be his special pleasure in this album I always feel. Mitsuru's easygoing guitar solo in the vein of Jerry Garcia's play is not only of mainstream but also jacuzzish and slimy, by fuzzy, trailed sounds. Imagine Mitsuru's appearance be filled with addiction to this flexible ensemble. And in the first "Lucifer (Sekai Saiko No Yakuza; The Oldest Yakuza All Over The World)", he used mischievous whacked-out guitar fuzz riffs and tries to kick us into his psychedelic inferno. Of course you can be thrown into his inferno directly from the beginning.

Anyway, in this album are plenty of experimental approaches, like "Feel Like A Polio (Kibun Wa Shouni)" or "Ah Huh", along with Krautrock-ish dry-fruity improvisational / experimental elements. "Kill All French", with a terrible title upon the track, is a very weird but delightful garagey German psychedelia seasoned with something like Neu! or Siloah ... we can see what he meant to do really. The last track "Ten Years Of High Flying (Genesis)" is a bit persistent and boring for us but he might have played Genesis eccentrically digested by his stomach, methinks.

I'm sure he should do his own Krautrock approach a bit different from his previous works. Also interesting for us to imagine his appearance (maybe relaxed) upon recording this creation.