DE LORIANS

What a novel impression. De LORIANS were born in Tokyo as a Japanese experimental rock combo in late 2010s, but with incredible technique and soundscape grandeur in their early days. This eponymous album has been released in July 2019, after gigging many many times around Tokyo and Europe, and you can find their energetic intention for launching their individuality strongly inspired by jazz rock, psychedelic, avantgarde, and especially Canterbury vanguards. This 32 minute theatrical framework is filled with explosive power of quirky melodic lines, complicated rhythmic basis, sensitive movements, and respect for rock pioneers.

Apparently sounds like their primary axis of "rock" should be in the Canterbury Scene like Matching Mole, Moving Gelatine Plates, especially Soft Machine. Guess they should've run toward worldwide music scene and this fact is told by their debut creation indeed, but some oriental, Japanese essence (aka "wa no seishin") can be found here and there, that can be accepted without any hesitation, amazingly. Based upon excessive tense atmosphere all around, there are momentary loose vibrations, phrases full of humour, or heartwarming intervals. And interesting is positive phase like a rolling stone or roller coaster jog reminding me of a Japanese jazz rock combo Djamra. Their soundscape can be thought not monistic nor centralized but pluralistic and diverse.

In conclusion, such a dramatic 32 minutes creation of theirs cannot be separated in 8 pieces. This is a magnificent suite to give you enthusiasm. Cannot believe half an hour under their parallel world will go away in a minute, mystically. Trust me, where will they go after releasing such a fascinating debut shot?

While Japan has easily been the most adventurous nation to adopt European progressive rock and take it to unexpected places, the myriad bands that have emerged from this island nation have preferred to dabble in the excesses of avant-prog, zeuhl and psychedelic rock over other styles of prog and the most English subset of prog of all, the Canterbury Scene has been virtually ignored however there have been a scant few acts to venture into what may seem like forbidden territory. Despite referring to a specific city in England, the sounds created by early Soft Machine and Caravan have been popular across the European mainland with many bands adapting them into their own sound pools. Just think of bands like Supersister, Moving Gelatine Plates and Picchio dal Pozzo.

Japan has been loathe to jump onto this bandwagon but the bands Mr Sirius and Stubbs dabbled in Canterbury flavors all the way back in the 80s but it's been crickets ever since really. In 2019 two Japanese bands made their debut and both are from Tokyo. The mellow sounds of Moleslope perfectly captured the more serene nature of Canterbury sounds augmented with pop crossover appeal in a purely instrumental delivery retro sounds of another time and place and this other band DE LORIANS took the more adventurous route and crafted its debut on a darker roller coaster ride that offers many of those fantastic hairpin turns and prog excesses that the classic Canterbury stalwarts were well known for.

DE LORIANS' self-titled debut is a virtual tribute to the excesses of the wild free-for-all 70s when no limits were perceived and the only goal was to achieve a sense of musical bliss unparalleled in the history of humankind. This Japanese quintet that consists of Genki Goto (electric bass, cello), Hyozo Shiratori (electric piano, organ, vocals, theremin, saw), Soya Nogami (electric guitar, vocals), Syzeuhl "Meme" Joyer (drums, percussion) and Takefumi Ishida (alto saxophone, saxello, synthesizer) is the real deal as it faithfully delivers the retro sounds of England's most revered form of prog in splendid jazz-rock fusion bliss. And as with its fellow countrymen Moleslope, offers nary a glimpse that this is a band from the island nation of sushi and Toyota factories but rather crafts an almost imperceptible impression of lush verdant hills of England's musical city of the southeast.

Like any really good Canterbury style of music, DE LORIANS excels in teasing the jazz-rock chops into deliberately unpredictable time signature deviations, an expansive pastiche of tones, textures and timbres along with a creative display of instrumental dynamics, brilliant tight-knit interplay and the proper mix of authentic 70s organ zeitgeist augmented with sizzling saxophone skronk and intoxicating Zappa-esque infusions of avant-prog paradise that keeps the music from even approaching snoozeville. Barely squeaking past the 32 minute mark, DE LORIANS runs the gamut of Canterbury expectations from lush pastoral to reckless angular abandon with guitar fueled excesses accompanied by psychedelic fusion wizardry and off-the-beaten-path journeys into perilous explorations that offer one of the most interesting examples of contemporary prog in the field of the Canterbury sounds. Zappa-esque adventurism is evident with skydiving adrenaline rushes to be found.

While the band sounds somewhat like a strange hybrid of classic Hatfield & the North's softer moods along with the more daring workouts of National Health, in many ways the band offers new Canterbury visions unrealized. While musically sounding like a flawless fusion of English jazz-rock, there are brief moments of spoken word snippets in the band's native Japanese but for the most part this is an all instrumental affair and what a truly brilliant one it is! These five guys have displayed the ultimate love a genre by mastering all of those wily antics that made the subset of prog so war and inviting while bedazzling the listener with some of the most technically proficient chops to be experienced. Personally out of the two Japanese bands that delivered Canterbury retro albums in 2019, DE LORIANS is the one that does the most for me. While Moleslope provided a nice dreamy crossover approach, DE LORIANS cranks things up to 11 and goes for the gusto with a ridiculously satisfying first offering. THIS is a band to watch out for!

A new Canterbury-oriented Jazz-Rock Fusion band from Japan, of all places.

1. "Daytona" (6:14) opens with a little cacophony similar to the musics of MAGMA and the 1960s free jazz innovators like Sun Ra, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, and Pharoah Sanders before settling into a multi-tempoed groove that could be something The Soft Machine could've done in the mid-1970s. In the fourth minute things slow down to an almost childish, tongue-in-cheek pace and style (like a National Health maneuver) before clicking into overdrive again. Sax and electric guitar are doing most of the work up top while the bass and drums are working hard to provide the solid base below. Interesting and complex if not always enjoyable. (8.75/10)

2. "Magso" (3:59) opens with some of the drama of one of countrymen BONDAGE FRUIT's dinosaur homages. The tribalistic drums and synth "vocal" diatonic growls are cool. In the second minute, things smooth out into the purer sound of jazz-rock fusion à la CARAVAN. Then things slow down into a more hypnotic groove to the racous thirty- second end. (9.25/10)

3. "A Ship Of Mental Health" (5:21) Quirky, bouncy lounge jazz with saxes and keys enriching another CARAVAN-like soundscape before a beer-and-chip break inserts itself into the song for a bit. (I'm reminded of ANTIQUE SEEKING NUNS.) The guitar-led two chord groove that follows is great but then it dissembles into a spacious stop-and-go interlude before restarting with the sax taking a turn screaming out the lead. A switch into more John Coltrane sound turns quirky-pop with angular guitar and sax interplay. (8.75/10)

4. "Gomata" (2:01) back to some of the jazzier BONDAGE FRUIT music before a CARAVAN-like groove establishes itself while synth "saw" solos over crazy weave of all of the other instruments. (5/5)

5. "Roccotsu" (3:29) quite reminiscent of some of the most memorable CARAVAN passages: slow and deeply emotional with its melodic lead saxophone. The kind of stuff that Picchio Dal Pozzo made such a great debut album off of. The second part picks up the pace with a 1970s film score type of rhythm and keyboard tracks. Most excellent. (9.75/10)

6. "Himalia" (3:06) opening with a militaristic drum and bass pulse, keys, guitars, and sax punctuate their melodic inputs over the top in robotic fashion. In the second minute there is a shift in tempo and foundational structure as space opens up for treated sax, ebowed guitar, and wacky synth play off one another in crazy King Crimsonesque melodies. (8.75/10)

7. "Daytona - Reprise" (0:34) nice non-percussive weave of the Daytona theme.

8. "Toumai" (7:19) another classic jazz opening--almost big band-like--which settles into a slow groove for a short while before shifting into a HOMUNCULUS RES-like quirky pop weave followed by some more CARAVAN/SOFT MACHINE soundscape motifs. I feel as if CARAVAN sound palettes are common yet the structures are arranged into styles and forms that are more consistent with mid-1970s SOFT MACHINE. (13.25/15)

Total Time 32:03

Overall an enjoyable listening experience both for the sounds and styles but also for the complex tapestries pulled together by this band of tightly collaborating skilled musicians. A-/4.5 stars (rated down for brevity); an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection--especially if you like the Canterbury side of Jazz-Rock Fusion.

This is probably the finest Canterbury album I've ever heard that wasn't a British band and wasn't from the 1970s. A Japanese band of twenty-somethings really pulled it off and created nothing short of a masterpiece every bit as great as their 1970s UK counterparts. Upon listening to this, I can't help but be reminded of Soft Machine circa Third. A lot of that same Elton Dean-type sax (and saxello), Mike Ratledge-type organ and electric piano, that strange fuzz bass. While Third concentrated on lengthy jams, De Lorians tended to a more compact approach, with a quirkier approach that many would compare to Zappa. I guess a lot of wind instruments have a lot to do with that. The album does provide a nice challenging listen. At times Hyozo Shiratori would play keyboards in the Dave Stewart circa Egg vein. Guitar playing reminds me of Phil Miller. There isn't a single note wasted. If you didn't know any better, you'd think this came out in the early 1970s or it was some sort of lost Soft Machine recording, taken from the Third sessions. Japan certainly had its share of RIO type groups and even Zeuhl, but surprisingly few bands in that country playing Canterbury but De Lorians is that one example. This album, is simply nothing short of a masterpiece. Those who want a new band playing classic Canterbury, but not bothered that they're not British, this album is a total must have!

This is not the easiest listen in fact if we had an Avant/Canterbury section this would fit right in. Complex, dense with a lot of sharp and angular sounds. You could get dizzy listening to this one. And man this young five piece out of Tokyo are players to say the least. Keyboards, drums, bass, guitar and sax. At 32 minutes it might seem short but believe me for this challenging music it's just right.

It is incredible how often they change things up on every track. They can't sit still. Hyper, complex music that takes some serious props from Frank Zappa, HATFIELD AND THE NORTH, STUBBS, SOFT MACHINE and MOVING GELATINE PLATES. This is a stew of sounds that sounds unique to my ears but there's also those constant familiar sounds that bring Zappa and SOFT MACHINE especially to mind.

So much to process on every track and so I'm not surprised at how long it's taken me to actually enjoy this. Jazz based and that sax can be daunting especially the electric sax, yes sort of like Elton Dean back in the day. And sure this could be Ratledge on keyboards but the way this is all arranged come on! I don't know I'm just so fascinated with this record. The guitar is often angular but always expressive and out front with the sax. Distorted organ to my delight is all over this plus electric piano. The bass pops and the drummer is jazzy. They're like a free jazz band at times but Canterbury style. Avant in the Zappa mode at his most complex. Not easy listening! Oh yeah the bass player adds cello and we get a guest adding flute on the opener and closer.

One of the very best from 2019.