CATCH WAVE

I'm really happy to present this artist to the archives because I consider him as one of the greatest in contemporary experimental electronic music. After being in touch with the fluxus movement during his early 60's years, Takehisa Kosugi formed the neo-shamanic pych-freafout droning ensemble Taj Mahall Travellers. Published in 1975 Catch Wave figures among his first solo efforts. The music delivers a rather a similar extatic musical voyage to Taj Mahall Travellers' esoteric improvisations but in this solo project, Kosugi focuses his interest on voluminous deep electronic textures. Different frequences and electronic tones accompany his ethereal, minimal amplified violin improvisations. The result is astonishing, a sonic poetry, constantly beautiful and beatific. The two epic performances published on Catch Wave represent cosmic- psychedelica at its best. Mano Dharma features magical, intergalactic, supernatural programming strings and buzzing spaced out drones. Put on a high volume and played on a good hi fi sound system, this composition will propulse you in an other galaxy. Wave Code takes back the same schema with the add of cosmic, mad-LSD voices and noises that finally progress into a ritual-like electronic amplified chant. A fantastic, attractive, abstract instrumental listening. Mesmerizing and so recommended.

Takehisa Kosugi - the main member of the mystical and psychedelic Taj Mahal Travellers came up with the goods big style on this release.

Kosugi formed the Japanese equivalent of the Fluxus movement in the early 60's with his 'Group Ongaku' and later went on to create one of my all time favourite bands 'The Taj Mahal Travellers' who would release three brilliant albums in the early 70's. Catch Wave delivers in a similar style.

This completely solo album continues his previous experiments with electronically processed violin using what I imagine must have been pretty expensive equipment back in'75. There are no drums, guitars or bass present, just a swirling melee of highly distorted strings and oscillators creating one of the most unique sounds I've heard.

Track two "Wave Code" introduces vocals into the equation, but they're no ordinary vocals - being subjected to the same incredible distortions as the violin.

Sounding like the best Kosmische Kraut and similar in some respects to Klaus Schulze's 'Irrlicht', only more refined, spacious and less claustrophobic. It's the kind of music you'd expect to hear on a planet orbiting Sirius.

An incredibly fresh sounding recording that hasn't dated one iota which is amazing considering it's now 36 years old.

Symphony from a beehive.

One of those rare albums of a rather brilliant nature, 1975's 'Catch Wave' found the experimental Japanese electric-violinist Takehisa Kosugi going it alone after his five year stint as head of the similarly-intoned Taj Mahal Travellers. Nicely described by one critic as 'existensial drone music', Kosugi's work both with-and-without group has always been of a very spartan and experimental nature, and about as far from conventional forms of rock & pop as one can really get. A similar touchstone could be the synthesized soundscapes of Klaus Schulze's 1970's albums or the earlier electro- moans of Terry Riley and Steve Reich, yet somehow Kosugi transcends even these stylistic boundaries; truly, there is nothing quite like 'Catch Wave'. Rare is the album that simply cannot be stopped or paused, even for a miscrosecond, yet the quivering, rolling and vibrating strains of Kosugi's phaser-laced violins simply transfix you and take hold, drifting seamlessly along a single unbroken line for what seems like a blissful eternity. Very much like a certain psychotropic experience musicians and artists are known to enjoy, 'Catch Wave' is a pure and dramatic experience of a deeply transcendental nature. Quite extraordinary, utterly engrossing and all consuming. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2013

On Catch-Wave, Takehisa Kosugi's skillfully warped and manipulated violin tones acquire a drone-based electronic quality reminiscent of a visitor from the universe of Tangerine Dream's Zeit. It's a masterful and powerful effect, and whilst both Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze had kind of thoroughly mined this particular vein already, Kosugi is still able to craft a few gems which will pique the interest of folks interested in proto-Berlin School electronic music featuring a non-electronic instrument or two. File alongside the various Fripp and Eno albums in the "I didn't know you could make that instrument sound like that" section. Four stars, just about.

Takehisa can be called as such a genius or madman. I do consider this album's main theme should be 1/f vibration or fluctuation overall, tasted full with dangerous disastrous electronic confusion. Surprising and amazing such an innovative milestone has got up over 40 years before already, and therefore, enough understood he has said everything you want to play and launch should be permitted and approved since Taj Mahal Travellers era.

Pretty immersed deeply in his electronic inorganic electrophobic movements via this whole album world. Massive reminder of novel surrealistic sound indication via his eccentric creation makes a supraconventional weapon against the pop scene around the world. Through each track he might squeeze repetitive, convoluted therapeutic sound initiation into our brain, where his massive electroscape flooded with his weird but strictly intensive attitude for the worldwide free-form music scene in those days.

Every sound report recorded upon a vinyl bilaterally is too long (over 20-minute!) for authentic progressive rock freaks to enjoy profoundly methinks, but JUST as authentic progressive rock freaks, we do need to know his positive intention for psychedelic, electronic, free-form music waterfalls and understand the surrealism in a historical manner.

Takehisa Kosugi was the main man with the TAJ-MAHAL TRAVELLERS and this is his debut from 1975. He went on to create many more solo albums often collaborating with others. His talent seems to be more with the violin and some of his solo albums focus completely on that. This particular album is an Electronic one with two side long tracks. I find the cover art really interesting.

"Mano-Dharma '74" is an improv of mostly oscillators and manipulated violin sounds. Now I'm not the biggest fan of those violin sounds in fact they can be really annoying at times. It is an interesting track though the way it changes over it's 26 1/2 minute length yet keeps the same vibe. The oscillators do continue throughout which helps in that regard.

"Wave Code #E-1" is 22 1/2 minutes long and features those oscillators and vocal expressions. Those vocal sounds echo at times but are mostly manipulated in some manner. So again the song keeps the same vibe as these vocal expressions come and go. I like the multi-vocal section starting after 10 minutes, and I do find some of the vocal sounds pretty humerous especially after 15 minutes and later.

Once again consider my rating with a grain of salt as all of the other reviewers here have given this 4 or more stars. I always find Electronic albums difficult to rate so usually go with the enjoyment factor which I find low here.