070531

Behind this somehow cryptical title is in fact the recording date, May 31th, 2007. For those who already know Koenji, enough to say that this DVD will be an absolutely lovely addition to your collection. What makes it special is the presence - besides the Koenji crew - of 3 important players and personalities from the Japanese musical scene. Hoppy Kamiyama, owner of the much praised label God Mountain, inventive if not at times extravagant keyboardist, always creative and surprising; Tsuneo Imahori, a splendid guitarist that should deserve much more acknowledgement, member of Tipographica and founder of Unbeltipo, present in really plenty of recordings (among other in duo with Tatsuya); and at last violinist Akihisa Tsuboy from the famous fusion prog outfit KBB. Wooo! What a treat! If not enough, then please note that the DVD is dealt in two parts; the 6 first tracks are improvisations with several combinations of the guests and the rhythm section; follows the Koenji set WITH the guests performing too. So not only will you have a freer side of Koenji related music but also a splendid and rich performance of the band's music, uplifted by the competent guests taking their share in this dynamic vital music and bringing it some miles further, with assurance and eloquence. Koenji is well alive, an ever changing hybrid Zeuhl beast with many faces, that surely still can hook newcomers!

Koenjihyakkei devote the first half of this recording to an extended improvisational jam. It's divided into six tracks, but those divisions are almost arbitrary; there are really only two gaps in the improvisation, so the divisions were probably done to give each track a similar running time. The improvisation is a bit more dissonant than most of the band's material, but it's surprisingly coherent for an improvisation and doesn't get boring to listen to.

The remaining material is mostly drawn from the band's two most recent albums ("Sunna Zarioki" comes from the début), and is frequently given extended workouts here with lengthier introductions and other flourishes not present on the studio versions. The performances are full of the usual virtuosity one would expect from these veterans, and many of these versions exceed the quality of the studio releases. The only caveat is the sound quality, as the audio was encoded as .ac3 and has a cutoff of high frequencies. Nonetheless, strongly recommended.