CHOSEN
Cosmos is everywhere : in the quiet sound of the distant river. In this too-short night, whose reality is confirmed by the smell of morning coffee. In your perfectly adjusted lipstick, matching the bloodshot eyes you had when you left.
Favorite track: Hitoribotchi (On My Own).
河のほとりに すわって
あなたは 分かち合う
雲は漂い 時は流れてゆく
あなたは 分かち合う
雲は漂い 時は流れてゆく
あなたは 分かち合う
Sitting by the river,
You share.
Clouds drift by, and time flows on,
You share.
Clouds drift by, and time flows on,
You share.
✍️ Lyrics:
🇬🇧
Outskirts of the city, strolling down elongated alleys,
Through the stained mist, I saw a morning tram crossing the sea.
That's why I also want to gather the winds, gather the winds,
And run across the blue sky, across the blue sky.
As I passed through a beautiful sunrise
I saw a city with a scarlet sail that was anchored
Beyond the empty-looking breakwater.
That's why I also want to gather the winds, gather the winds,
And run across the blue sky, across the blue sky.
In a deserted morning café, passing time,
Through fractured glass, I witnessed the skyscrapers
Brushing against the pavement.
That's why I also want to gather the winds, gather the winds,
And run across the blue sky, across the blue sky.
🇯🇵
街のはずれの
背のびした路地を 散歩してたら
汚点だらけの 靄ごしに
起きぬけの路面電車が
海を渡るのが 見えたんです
それで ぼくも
風をあつめて 風をあつめて
風をあつめて
蒼空を翔けたいんです
蒼空を
とても素敵な
昧爽どきを 通り抜けてたら
伽藍とした 防波堤ごしに
緋色の帆を掲げた都市が
碇泊しているのが 見えたんです
それでぼくも
風をあつめて 風をあつめて
風をあつめて
蒼空を翔けたいんです
蒼空を
人気のない
朝の珈琲屋で 暇をつぶしてたら
ひび割れた 玻璃越しに
摩天楼の衣擦れが
舗道をひたすのを見たんです
それで ぼくも
風をあつめて 風をあつめて
風をあつめて
蒼空を翔けたいんです
蒼空を
Damp and drizzly, it’s raining again today
A mother holds an umbrella waiting for her children,
To welcome them back home.
Meanwhile, Mr sparrow seeks his food in the rain.
Rain plays ring-toss among the leaves,
Farmers in straw hats, looking busy,
Tending to the rice planting work.
Meanwhile, the goldfish blows his bubble in the rain.
Oversized rain boots, oversized raincoats,
Children in oversized rain gear.
Windows become rain curtains of glistening droplets,
"Pitter-patter," "Drizzle," they are having some conversations
Upon my black, old umbrella,
And I walk aimlessly in the rain, on my own.
湿々しとしと今日も雨が降ります
濡れて来ぬかと母は傘を持って
子供達をお迎えなのです
そして雀さんは雨の中餌探し
雨は緑の中に輪投げ遊び
蓑笠さしてお百姓さんは
忙がしそうに田植仕事です
そして泡くをぷかぷか 雨の中金魚さん
長靴ぶかぶか ぶかぶか雨合羽
長靴ぶかぶか ぶかぶか雨合羽の子供達
窓は光る雫の雨簾
「ぽたぽた」「しとしと」
何やら話し声
僕の黒い蛇の目の傘の上で
そして僕はとぼとぼ雨の中
ひとりぼっち…
A counterculture movement united by an expansive, experimental and deeply soulful sensibility, Japan’s rebel protest music challenged the status quo and changed the country’s music industry in the process.
（🇯🇵👇）
The birth of Japan’s nascent acid folk scene was rooted in the messy and invigorating political climate of the late 1960s. It is a story of Dadaists, communists, pharmacists and cult leaders, led by a young generation of upstart students, artists and dreamers hellbent on turning their world upside down.
Born on the campuses of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, and centred around newly formed independent label and left-wing stronghold URC, this uniquely Japanese form of folk expression provided an outlet for musicians who were tired of aping Western sounds and instead found ways to sing in Japanese and integrate traditional forms in new ways.
At the forefront of this movement was Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Haroumi Hosono, a polymath innovator whose band Happy End released the first Japanese language rock album, and whose influence would go on to be felt across Japanese music for decades. Alongside, and informed by the Kansai scene’s Takashi Nishioka and Happy End collaborator Ken Narita, they experimented with cadences and accents of the Japanese language to open the door for others to experiment with their own forms of psychedelic folk too.
Some, like Nishioka, were more inspired by Dadaism than drugs, while others, like Kazuhisa Okubo, would ultimately find work as a chemist, having founded two further folk groups that flirted with varying levels of success. Obstinately uncommercial, relentlessly creative, the music featured on Time Capsule’s Nippon Acid Folk represents a broad church of influences.
Perhaps the wildest addition to this congregation however was Hiroki Tamaki, a classically-trained violinist and committed iconoclast, whose synth-prog odysseys hinted at his obsession with the divine. Subsumed by the teachings of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, he penned an album in praise of the infamous religious leader of which two superbly mind-bending tracks are featured on this compilation.
Charting the decade from 1970 to 1980 as the dreams of political and spiritual liberation seeded in the ‘60s turned to dust, Nippon Acid Folk surveys a little explored corner of Japanese music history, but one which ultimately laid the foundations for an independent music industry, launching the careers of Hosono and others in the process.
Nippon Acid Folk 1970-1980 is pressed on 12” vinyl and represents the start of Time Capsule’s deep dive into Japan’s rich history of folk and psychedelic soul music.
The latest from UK artist MF Tomlinson sets sharp lyrics amidst a backdrop of acoustic guitar, lush keys, and soft percussion. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 12, 2021
