Les Rallizes Dénudés - 2011 - Double Heads

Les Rallizes Dénudés

2011

Double Heads

Live 14 Aug. 1980

101. 造花の原野 7:21

102. 夜より深く 16:16

103. 白い目覚め 6:24

201. 夜、暗殺者の夜 12:27

202. Fantastique 13:06

203. 夜の収穫者達 8:32

204. The Last One 27:50

Live 29 Oct. 1980

301. 夜より深く 15:43

302. 氷の炎 19:27

303. 夜より深く Part2 11:00

401. Enter The Mirror 12:20

402. 夜、暗殺者の夜 13:22

403. The Last One 19:23

Live 23 Mar. 1981

501. 夜、暗殺者の夜 16:00

502. 夜より深く Part2 30:41

601. The Last One 24:24

602. 氷の炎 20:57

Bass – Doronco

Guitar – Fujio

Guitar, Vocals – Mizutani

Percussion – Noma

6 x cd in individual card sleeves in box, numbered edition of 1000.

Contains 3 soundboard recordings from Yaneura, Shibuya, Tokyo.

Between August 1980 and March 1981, Les Rallizes Dénudés (or The Naked Larryz, as the long-lost acetate they are rumored to have recorded for Virgin Records in the mid-'70s dubbed them) played seven concerts in and around Tokyo. Never officially released, illicit ninth generation cassette copies circulated in Japanese fan circles for many years, attaining a whispered, Holy Grail status amongst initiates to the Rallizes cult. High quality soundboard versions were finally released by the secretive Univive label in 2005. Three of the best of these concerts are collected on Double Heads, all recorded at Yaneura, a small club in the teeming neon teen shopping mecca of Shibuya in Tokyo. Together, these three concerts comprise a singularly pivotal moment in Les Rallizes Dénudés' development -- as well as some of the most glacially psychedelic music of their long career. This numbered, limited edition 6CD box set contains a booklet with liner notes.

If you are reading this, then you probably know something about this band already. Various bootlegs circulate over the internet, and the physical copies are not that easy to find. But the British label Phoenix has made some of them available at a very reasonable price lately. Just like the band, the label is also covered in mystery and controversy: they don't have a website, people say the copies they sell are not really "limited" or "numbered" as advertised, they rip off the artists and do not pay them royalties, etc, etc... Well, considering the material they put out (obscure Japanese bands that no one ever hears about), not much can be properly judged. This is a 6-disc collection of a couple of concerts Les Rallizes Denudes played in 1980-81, featuring the guitarrist Fujio Yamaguchi (from the legendary band Murahachibu). The sound quality is from a great soundboard source and less "disturbing" than on other albums. And although you can actually hear the drums on most of the tracks - something that normally doesn't happen with this band - the noise and all that guitar work is still present and clear. The package is pretty cool, each CD comes in a separate cardboard sleeve with a few black and white pictures. But do not expect much: everything looks and sounds like a bootleg. However, for the price you'll pay, it is really worth it.

This is one of the main three contenders for the best ever release, official or unofficial, by Les Rallizes Denudes. It is a fantastically high quality recording that reveals in full glory the outstanding muscianship that underpinned the band in their prime. The interplay between Mizutani and Fujio Yamaguchi arguably reaches its peak in these three recordings and amounts to a masterpiece of experimental psychedelic blues that I think surpasses even Jimi Hendrix's Filmore East performances. If you are at all a fan of the band, or any of the subgenres encompassing psychedelia, noise rock, or late 60s/early 70s avant garde, then every show on this album is essential listening as they are up there with the very best live albums ever made.

The first show is a fan favourite and for good reason. The more heavy, noisy aspect of Mizutani's guitar is toned down here, allowing for a quieter and warmer show than usual while also allowing the more subtle notes of his musicianship to become more visible to the naked eye. The Krautrock influence on their sound is quite apparent here with the double bill of Fantastique/Reapers of The Night. There are a lot of highlights on here so I won't attempt to list all of them, its best to just listen to it and let it take hold of you.

The second recording, on October 29th, is, for me, a worthy contender for the best show they have ever put on. The back to back versions of Deeper Than The Night are up their with my favourite moments in their discography and honestly two of the most amazing songs I have ever heard. Every single track on this recording has a kind of magic to it. Mizutani is obviously fantastic here but its clear the band he is working with is particularly good. Yamaguchi and Mizutani play off each other so well but it is especially noticeable on this recording, creating an interplay between the avant garde improvisation and chaos of Mizutani's guitar and the more conventional psychedelic blues of Yamaguchi. It is magnificent, The Last One on this is probably my favourite as well. As great as the first show was, this is the one that made the biggest impression on me and I'm surprised it isn't talked about more.

The final recording is by far the least accessible. While the first show has a reputation for showcasing some of the more conventional (by Rallizes standards) aspects of their work, this is by far one of their most experimental. It is slow, builds gradually and works towards a prolongued, controlled explosion in the last two tracks. The sheer length of each track on this one makes it a more challenging listen than the others, but if you liked the first two then you'll almost certainly like this one too.

You know how they say every Yin has a Yang? I consider this band to be The Grateful Dead's Yang (or Yin, however you want to see it), and here's why:

-While Garcia was making inoffensive twinkly psychedelic country sounds for the American carefree hippies, Mizutani was unleashing otherworldly, yet blissful sonemic assault on Japanese over-burdened salary workers who just wanted to get away from it all, before returning back into the fray.

-At the GD concert, you look over to a flower field as you see a happy man with his girlfriend fast asleep in his arm. At the LRD concert, you walk into a bathroom and see on the floor that same man now fast asleep himself, girlfriend replaced with a heroin needle. You have to step over him if you want to take your piss.

-The Grateful Dead, forever loved, Treasured, and adorned by the people it shared it's generation with, now continues to fade a little closer and closer into obscurity with each coming generation due to the kids just not understanding or relating to the appeal and context of the band. Les Rallizes Denudes was shunned, ignored, and scorned by the people it shared it's generation with, due to them just not understanding the appeal or context of the band. Their Kids however, love it. Just like Marty McFly told them they would.

The first show alone is almost certainly the best performance they ever put on and one of the coolest things I've ever heard. Actually, this embodies a level of cool I find difficult to put into words. It's like the conventions of rock taken to the very limit, then cast in a nihilistic blackness that feels so charming in its relaxed extremity (the dark sunglasses help too of course). With an enigmatic presence realised long after its demise, this band left behind a mass of studio recordings and live performances pushing the very boundaries of psychedelic rock. The formula they settled on was simple yet entirely unique, a concoction of psych bass riffs and swirling strums cloaked in the violent lead guitar of Takashi Mizutani. Of all the tales I've read about this band, not once have I seen mention of the musicianship, so I'm going to say it. This fellow is one of the best guitar players ever. I'm not even sure how; when he freaks out I can't tell what the hell he's playing, on the other hand his calm strums and vocals are like a soothing dream extending into eternity. Not only that, he concocted an incredibly sturdy set of songs. Filler was a completely alien concept to this band, 'cause every track is a killer; with Rallizes it's all about the performances of said tracks. They could take songs like Flames of Ice, Deeper than the Night pt.2 and The Last One and play them anywhere from 7 to 40 minutes through a complete mastery of texture, while still retaining that essential dogged rock base. It's a perfect example of noise in context.

In 1980 they acquired guitarist Fujio Yamaguchi, whose catchy, traditionally-aligned playing provided a fantastic counterpoint to Mizutani's uproarious spells, rendering their sound utterly complete. Two legendary guitarists on the stage - the result is Double Heads, three sets that capture Rallizes in absolute prime condition in superior recording quality and boy did these guys know it, for they churn out a set-list like no others before it. From the very first strike of the guitar tone I was completely enthralled, not only with the clarity, but just how understatedly badass it sounds. It's the kind of twanging tidal wave that makes you tilt back in awe, a clarion call for a gig of monolithic proportions. Throughout, the guitars and Doronco's bass intertwine and battle it out in psychedelic bliss of the highest order, book-ended by Mizutani's declarative screeches of guitar feedback. His vocals were never better, they're echoed to the max, and the distinctive delivery of each syllable, consonant hisses flying everywhere only adds to the wasted atmosphere.

The threefold opening sequence of Field of Artificial Flowers, Deeper than the Night and White Waking is surely among the best moments in their entire discography. A strident opener of cyclical blues rundowns gives way to a slow creeping death trip, followed by a bittersweet melancholy dirge bathed in narcotic atmosphere. The initial culmination of this first show is The Night Collectors, a track filled with primal vigour like no other. It was certainly the most identifiably rocking track of '77 Live and Fujio takes full advantage of this, laying down that delicious rock 'n' roll lick against Mizutani's wild hysterics. All the nuances of this piece are perfect, from the urgent vocals to the guitar harmonies, even when the drums briefly drop out to a kick and snare. Really, there is no better example that displays the spirit of this band, you can feel the passion behind it.

After this initial accessibility however, the following two shows take a plunge into deep psychedelia. The second of these is the stepping stone between the two, but it still has its moments. Take Enter the Mirror, typically their most beautiful track. Yet something sounds slightly off here, perhaps the bass, and as a result it takes on an unnerving quality completely unique to this rendition. The opening sounds seriously cold.

The '81 show is the true gem of this set, reaching the peak of explosive psych riffs and spirit cleansing distortion. In terms of heaviness, this gives '77 Live and Volcanic Performance serious competition. It begins with a chilled out slow version of Night of the Assassins, which is some kind of pinnacle in itself, but it gets even better. Check out that 30 minute monster that follows it, when I say cool this is what I'm referring to. You can almost feel the relish as they draw it out, while Mizutani becomes increasingly deranged on the strings. I've always had some trouble with Flames of Ice and The Last One, they were certainly not my favourite when I first encountered Rallizes. The Last One in particular is the kind of track that smashes your face into the ground over and over with 'that' riff, but it compels you to endure all the same, because it's the conclusion of all conclusions, their ultimate statement of extremity. But this is something else entirely, these two closing performances I found absolutely jaw-dropping. I mean holy shit! An apocalypse of sound is an apt description, while Fujio's lively decoration keeps the groove in check. In the closing minutes of Flames of Ice you can almost feel the guitarists battling for space with their different styles. The most ridiculous thing? Both tracks just fade out... and I'm left thinking: wait, there was actually more?

Listening to this excessively I've come to accept that these bass riffs, especially The Last One, are going to haunt me for some time to come. As silly as it sounds, if you get too much into Rallizes you may have to trade a bit of sanity for it. Lardopirate was spot on, fire up the best hi-fi you can get your hands on, play this loud as hell and be damned, it's quite the experience.