PARADISE OF REPLICA [ALSO RELEASED AS: PARADISE OF REPLICA / PARADISE OF REMIXES]

Great avant-prog with female vocals from Japan.

This is actually not an easy review for me since I am not an expert on the avant side of prog, nor Japanese one, and also because this would be the first review of this album, but anyway I'll try to write my thoughts in an understandable way.

After Dinner came to be after a friend's recommendation, I remember I got interested because of the fact they had a female singer inside an avant-garde band, so I accepted the recommendation immediately.

As far as I know, they only released a couple of studio albums in the 80s and then sadly disbanded, their second effort which is the one that occupies me now, was named "Paradise of Repllica" and contains 9 tracks and a total time of 30 minutes, as you can see it is a pretty short album. Their musical inclination goes from chamber rock, to avant-garde with some electronic instruments.

The first song, the title track, kicks off with Haco's vocals, so since the first moment you will be captivated by her beautiful voice, and then there is a splendid background, made by the synthesizer and in moments with some wind instruments (I presume), the mood is relaxing and beautiful, there are some strange noises as if the musicians were playing with their instruments and exploring which sounds can they produce.

"A Walnut" starts with some chord instrument which I don't name since I don't want to be wrong, so along with that instrument the vocals enter, and some moments later there is a piano and an oboe (hope I am correct). Seconds after the song changes with the entrance of percussion and some other wind instruments, the mood is like being in a forest or trying to unwind something, could be used in a movie.

"Kitchen Life I" in some moments reminds me to Gatto Marte or even Art Bears, I love their use of diverse instruments, and the melodramatic vocals that all of a sudden appear. This may actually be used in a theatrical play, really enjoyable music.

"Motorcycle", a short piece that only shows Haco's beautiful voice and a piano for some seconds. "Kitchen Life II" is another short composition that complements the first with that name, that artistic and theatrical mood prevails.

"Ironclad Mermaid" sound alike to the previous song, though this time they make some other noises that are worth creating to a better and delightful playground, they perfectly combine their string, with the wind instruments, without forgetting the electric ones, so the music composed here is in my opinion outstanding, no matter if it is a short piece.

Then we have another short passage with "Dancing Twins" that sounds like a traditional Japanese song to my ears, though as I state in my first paragraph, I am not an expert on this subject.

"KA-NO-PU-SU-NO-HA-KO" is a long composition reaching more than 7 minutes, starting with again, some Japanese traditional sounds, composed by several instruments, wind, string and percussion ones, then you will listen only to the vocals, it is like a stop and go, then the music starts to build up something new, odd, calm and then nervous and fast, so the mood here can change depending on the context, at minute 5 the vocals return in a slight way, the sounds and noises are also delicately played and all of a sudden it makes an explosion, just in order to return to that calm sound that the song features.

The last song is "I'll just go birdwatching" which starts with some strange sound that could be made by Haco or by another strange instrument, then we will listen only to her voice accompanied by some other instruments, making a weird but awesome atmosphere.

This is a short indeed, but extraordinary album which should be carefully listened, once you dig it, you'll love it, and you will probably play it frequently. For that, Paradise of Replica deserves 4 stars.

Enjoy it!

Another one of those obscure 80's Avant-prog groups that went mostly unnoticed back then, and have generally remained just as obscure in the following decades. Fronted by the babelicious Haco singer on that orange artwork, After Dinner is a large formation that went to record two albums in that dreadful 80's decade. This one is rather short (<30 mins), even if the most recent reissue gives you almost a half-hour bonus track, but I've not heard them.

Musically, we hovering around an Art Bears meets Von Zamla, but with a heavy Jap twist, so if you can imagine that, than it should definitely intrigue you enough to check it out. However, if you can't imagine this, you'd probably best look elsewhere, because this is as whacky as Wha-Ha-Ha or Slapp Happy. I'll give another angle to figure out this music: imagine an electronic Bi Kyo Ran on acid and experimenting Avant-prog stuff. Outside one track at almost 8 mins, most of the tracks are well below 5 mins duration.

Another one of these "must-be-heard to be believed-in" albums, but I'm not sure most would like to take it home for good. This is typically the kind of album I love to know will be available at my library system whenever I feel like listening to it, but I'm glad I didn't have to pay for it (other than renting it) and having it taking shelf space. Not my cup of tea, but the discovery was quite interesting and someday, in a decade or so, I know I'll rent it again.