In 1980, a group of friends in Japan started DD Records, a platform for amateur musicians to share bizarre homespun recordings across their network. The label released an impressive 222 cassettes and a handful of vinyl records in five years, then disbanded and faded into relative obscurity. Their last known release, the compilation Disk Musik – a multi-genre compilation bringing together 13 Japanese artists – is so rare that even the prolific music catalogue database Discogs bears little trace of it.
Four decades on, it’s been re-pressed – and it still sounds as mind-warping as it probably did to its small circle of listeners back in 1985. The opening track by trio Circadian Rhythm may as well be three songs in one, drifting haphazardly from stray humming vocals to wistful coda, by way of a tangle of clatter (toybox percussion, a phone ringing) in just five minutes. It sets the tone for a compilation that runs on little cohesion and maximum frenzy as it hops between folk, scrappy punk-ish jams, ambient soundscapes and pummelling noise.
That’s not to say there are no earworms here. With their makeshift electronics, peppy melodies and janky tuning, Summer Initiation by Y Tabata and Egg by Young Hormones are so kitsch and fun they could be mistaken for music from a kids’ TV show, in the best way. But then, at a moment’s notice, the record might jackknife into a storm of whirring feedback, or a collage of yelping vocals and stuttering video game effects. Between the two extremes, there are quietly wonky examples of early Midi minimalism, including a gorgeous, woozy closer by co-founder K Usami. It’s a reminder that the DD Records crew could have made “nice” music if they wanted to, but – wonderfully – that’s not what they were about.
Also out this month
In the latest edition of her Timbre of Guitars album series (Musicmine/Sublime Records), Tokyo-based classical guitarist Ayane Shino reinterprets the glitchy electronic music of the late Rei Harakami through her own medium. Lush, fluttering strings replace Harakami’s signature Roland synth in this intimate tribute record, which – just like Harakami’s productions – is sometimes sprightly, sometimes melancholy, but always soothing. Another collection of spacious, meditative compositions comes via Music Belongs to the Universe (Leaving Records), the new LP by California keyboard player Nico Georis. Layering twinkling melodies over gently percolating backdrops, it’s a lovely, light soundtrack for spring mornings. The Rising Wave (AD 93) is the first outing of vocalist Marlene Ribeiro and electronic producer Shackleton as Light-Space Modulator. Over the album’s eight tracks, the pair warp dreamy, harmonising vocals and atmospheric synths into something more disorientating than easy listening, through trickling percussion, deep low-end frequencies and swathes of echo.
