Far East Family Band - 1975 - Nipponjin (Join Our Mental Phase Sound)

Far East Family Band

1975

Nipponjin (Join Our Mental Phase Sound)

01. Nipponjin (16:51)
02. The Cave (8:37)
03. Undiscovered Northern Land (2:54)
04. Timeless (4:26)
05. The God of Water (2:06)
06. River of Soul (8:28)
07. The God of Wind (2:33)
08. Movin' Lookin' (1:39)
09. Yamato (0:48)
10. Mystery of Northern Space (5:57)

Hirohito Fukushima / vocals, guitar
Fumio Miyashita / guitar, electric sitar, keyboards, vocals, producer
Akira Ito / keyboards
Masanori Takahashi aka "Kitaro" / keyboards, percussion
Akira Fukakusa / bass
Shizuo Takasaki / drums

With:
Mitsuo Miyamoto / string arrangements
Klaus Schulze / mixing

It's plain to see that Far East Family Band wanted international exposure. They knew the all-Japanese language debut, The Cave - Down to the Earth wasn't going to cut it. So they rerecorded most of these songs in English for the international market, and have Klaus Schulze participate in the production. They also took an old Far Out song (Far Out being guitarist/vocalist/keyboardist Fumio Miyashita's previous band, who released one album in 1973), "Nihonjin" (retitled "Nipponjin") and have additional aynths and Mellotron added on (it simply sounded like they used the original recording and have Masanori Takahashi aka the future Kitaro, as well as Akira Ito add on keyboards). Vertigo Records in Germany had it released over there. I am certain more people might be familiar with Nipponjin than the original The Cave. The title track is typical FEFB in a nutshell, although there's a short passage with some singing in Japanese, the rest is in English. Japanese influences show up from time to time on the album, especially the use of shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute). "Movin' Lookin'" tends to have a more '60s feel for some strange reason. Akira Ito plays organ in a more '60s style. "Mystery of Northern Space" is a Pink Floyd-like number, although I could live without those strings (given they had a Mellotron). If you've heard the original The Cave, it's not all that different, aside from the language the music is sung in. Oh yeah, two songs from The Cave, "Four Minds" and "Transmigration" were removed to make room for the title track, as I mentioned, the synth and Mellotron doctored version of the Far Out song. And since I'm familiar with the Far Out album, I can tell you the original works fine even without the synths and Mellotron, this version is basically what I call icing on the cake. It may not be as electronic as their following effort, Parallel World, but it's still one of the great Japanese prog albums.

When I first heard this album I wasn't sure what I was listening to. Tangerine Dream and Pink Floyd were my first guesses at the band's identity but somehow there was something else there that just didn't fit in. Thus I discovered the Far East Family Band and the very talented keyboardist (and future new age composer) Kitaro. I am glad I did!

This album contains re-mastered and re-recorded tracks of their eponymous previous (1973) album under the name of Far Out (without Kitaro) and the ambience and serenity that fills the atmosphere makes it really remarkable. Not much in the vocals department but I doubt if this will upset anyone at all. The long title track "Nipponjin" and the following "The Cave" are probably the highlights of the album without this going to say that the remaining tracks are by any means inferior of fillers. Frankly I think it would be difficult to select a favourite track on this album, all the tracks have a beauty of their own and as far as musicians go, these guys are an example of talent personified. Not surprisingly, both Fumio Miyashita and Kitaro went on to well-deserved stardom.

Highly recommended!