A recent line-up pictured, from left: Taku Yabuki, Ah, Tatsuya Yoshida, Keiko Komori, Kengo Sakamoto
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| "Some bands you just have to hear. Japan's KOENJIHYAKKEI (aka Koenji Hyakkei aka Hundred Sights of Koenji) are just such a band. Headed by vocalist / composer / drummer extraordinaire Tatsuya Yoshida (of the renowned bass and drum duo RUINS), KOENJIHYAKKEI is Area and ELP at their most excessive; Deus Ex Machina with tempo changes multiplied by 100; and Magma at their orff-ian choral, fusion jazz, overcharged gospel peak. All of which is meaningless to those unfamiliar with the aforementioned bands. Maybe that explains why advance listens have yielded head-scratching comments comparing KOENJIHYAKKEI's fourth albukm (and USA debut) "Angherr Shisspa" to Stereolab, Yes, Queen, Melt-Banana and "something so far off Broadway it's on the moon". All that makes the band sound indecipherable and impenetrable. Fortunately, that's not the case, there's plenty to latch onto, densely packed into the album's 50 minute running time. In the heady, heavy prog-circles, Koenji is already firmly established; renowned as the ultimate contemporary progressive rock outfit; with three albums and a live dvd released in their native Japan (and heavily exported around the world). KOENJIHYAKKEI explodes with glittery keyboard lines, speedy bass/drum workouts, emotive reed respites, and operatic female vocals that take the listener from sheer exuberance to absolute apocalypse... And all this is performed with superhuman technique in extremely catchy, complex arrangements." - Skin Graft Records |
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| "Few bands are more enigmatic than Koenji Hyakkei (written in Japanese Koenji Hyakkei). Though firmly grounded in the Zeuhl style of Magma, they have taken it to new and unexplored places. Fronted by drummer Yoshida Tatsuya, of Ruins fame, their lineup shifts as rapidly as their style does. However, two things remain constant in their music- lyrics in a made up (and probably nonsensical) language, and an exotic, almost folk feel to the music. The combination of the two gives a sense that you’re listening to the music of a culture that exists only in minds of a handful of creative people. Until recently, their ensemble has consisted of drums, bass, guitar, keyboard, and female vocals (usually operatically trained). With their latest album, Angherr Shisspa, they have replaced the guitar with reed player Komori Keiko (mainly on soprano sax). With this change in instrumentation, their style has veered into a new direction to match the change in tone color. Through their evolution of style, their rhythmic and formal complexity have expanded greatly, incorporating polyrhythms, asymmetrical time signatures (i.e. not all beats are the same length), as well as more complex and varied sections, often containing polyphony and counterpoint. However, through all these impressive technical feats, they have managed to keep the overall feel very simple and melodic, to the extent that most other music feels hideously normal after listening to Koenji Hyakkei." - Andrew Thompson/circlewithadot.net |
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| "Japan's Tatsuya Yoshida has seen it all. As half of the kinetic duo Ruins (and countless other projects), he's helped usher in the idea that rock bands can both "rock" and do "crazy shit," usually at the same time. He had precedents (see prog's extended canon), but is easily seen as a godfather of today's blossoming art-rock-noise-pop scene. Koenjihyakkei (or "hundred sights of Koenji", referring the area of Tokyo where Yoshida lives) is my favorite of all his bands: imagine Ruins + three or four more people doing interplanetary opera, and you're getting there. The most obvious reference is to French avant-proggers Magma, but on Angherr Shisspa, the band's fourth album, there are also ties to Canterbury prog (Hatfield and the North, National Health) and RIO (Henry Cow, Art Bears). Koenjihyakkei's sound is a compact mix of operatic vocals, repetitive unison riffs, lots of drums and piano, and, with the recent addition of reedist Komori Keiko, the occasional sax solo. The overall sound is aggressive and quick, though perhaps not as violent as many of Yoshida's other projects can be. Still, his stuff towers over most modern progressive rock because of an attention to detail and almost overwhelming force of conviction. No irony here: this rocks with the teeth and heart to cut through scenes and the "overground" like a knife." - Dominique Leone/Pitchfork |
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artist: Koenjihyakkei
title: Hundred Sights Of Koenji
type: album
label: God Mountain
release date: 1994
length: 45:47
genre: avant-prog
country: Japan
language: nonsense
format: mp3
bitrate: 256kbps
codec: lame 3.91
Recorded and mixed at Gok Sound, Tokyo, Japan, April-May 1994.
credits:
Tatsuya Yoshida - drums, vocals
Shigekazu Kuwahara - bass, vocals
Aki Kubota - keyboards, vocals
Ryuichi Masuda - guitars, vocals
tracklist:
1. Ioss
2. Doi Doi
3. Molavena
4. Gepek
5. Yagonahh
6. Ozone Fall
7. Zhess
8. Zoltan
9. Avedumma
10. Sunna Zarioki
---
artist: Koenjihyakkei
title: Ni
type: album
label: God Mountain
release date: 1997
length: 58:50
genre: avant-prog
country: Japan
language: nonsense
format: mp3
bitrate: 256kbps
Recorded and mixed at Gok Sound, Tokyo, Japan, august 1996.
credits:
Tatsuya Yoshida - drums, keyboards, vocals
Kengo Sakamoto - bass, vocals
Jin Harada - guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals
Aki Kubota - keyboards, vocals
tracklist:
1. Grembo Zavia
2. Graddinoba Revos
3. Sllina Vezom
4. Quidom
5. Aramidda Horva
6. Brahggo
7. Cembell Rotta
8. Rissenddo Rraimb
9. Guoth Dahha
10. Pamillazze
---
artist: Koenjihyakkei
title: Nivraym
type: album
label: Magaibutsu
release date:
length: 58:38
genre: avant-prog
country: Japan
language: nonsense
format: mp3
bitrate: vbr (255-266kbps avg)
codec: lame 3.98
credits:
Tatsuya Yoshida - drums, vocals
Kengo Sakamoto - bass, vocals
Jin Harada - guitar, vocals
Oguchi Kenichi - keyboards
Nami Sagara - vocals
tracklist:
1. Nivraym
2. Becttem Pollt
3. Lussesoggi Zomn
4. Vissqauell
5. Mederro Passquirr
6. Axall Hasck
7. Maschtervoz
8. Gassttrumm
9. Vallczeremdoss
---
artist: Koenjihyakkei
title: Angherr Shisspa
type: album
label: Magaibutsu
release date: 2005
length: 50:09
genre: avant-prog
country: Japan
language: nonsense
format: mp3
bitrate: vbr (241-269kbps avg)
codec: lame 3.98
credits:
Tatsuya Yoshida - drums, vocals
Kengo Sakamoto - bass, vocals
Miyako Kanazawa - keyboards, vocals
Keiko Komori - reeds, vocals
Kyoko Yamamoto - vocals
tracklist:
1. Tziidall Raszhisst
2. Rattims Friezz
3. Grahbem Jorgazz
4. Fettim Paillu
5. Quivem Vrastorr
6. Mibingvahre
7. Angherr Shisspa
8. Wammilica Iffirom
---
artist: Koenjihyakkei
title: Viva Koenji!!
type: album
label: Skin Graft Records
release date: 2006
length: 58:58
genre: avant-prog
country: Japan/US
language: nonsense
format: mp3
bitrate: vbr (237-297kbps avg)
codec: lame 3.98
This is a re-release of the album Ni (1997). Recorded and mixed at Gok Sound, Tokyo, Japan, august 1996. Remastered in 2006.
credits:
Tatsuya Yoshida - drums, keyboards, vocals
Kengo Sakamoto - bass, vocals
Jin Harada - guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals
Aki Kubota - keyboards, vocals
tracklist:
1. Grembo Zavia
2. Graddinoba Revos
3. Sllina Vezom
4. Quidom
5. Aramida
6. Brahggo
7. Cembell Rota
8. Rissenddo Rraimb
9. Guoth Dahha
10. Pamillazze
---
artist: Koenjihyakkei
title: Hundred Sights Of Koenji
type: album
label: Skin Graft Records
release date: 2008
length: 45:59
genre: avant-prog
country: Japan/US
language: nonsense
format: mp3
bitrate: vbr (236-291kbps avg)
codec: lame 3.98
Recorded at Gok Sound, Tokyo, Japan, April-May 1994. Drums re-recorded and whole album remixed by Tatsuya Yoshida in winter 2007. Remastered in 2008.
credits:
Tatsuya Yoshida - drums, vocals
Shigekazu Kuwahara - bass, vocals
Aki Kubota - keyboards, vocals
Ryuichi Masuda - guitars, vocals
tracklist:
1. Ioss
2. Doi Doi
3. Molavena
4. Gepek
5. Yagonahh
6. Ozone Fall
7. Zhess
8. Zoltan
9. Avedumma
10. Sunna Zarioki
---
artist: Koenjihyakkei
title: Nivraym
type: album
label: Skin Graft Records
release date: 2009
length: 58:15
genre: avant-prog
country: Japan/US
language: nonsense
format: mp3
bitrate: vbr (255-272kbps avg)
codec: lame 3.98
Previously available only in Japan, Nivraym has been extensively rebuilt for this 2009 worldwide release. The band has gone back to the original master recordings and the current line-up has added new flourishes, additional overdubs, re-recorded drum tracks and the entire album has been remixed and remastered at Japan's Magaibutsu Studios.
credits:
Tatsuya Yoshida - drums, keyboards, vocals
Kengo Sakamoto - bass, guitar, vocals
Jin Harada - guitar, vocals
Oguchi Kenichi - keyboards
Nami Sagara - vocals
Taku Yabuki - keyboards
Keiko Komori - bass clarinet, sopranino saxophone, soprano saxophone
Ah - vocals
tracklist:
1. Nivraym
2. Becttem Pollt
3. Lussesoggi Zomn
4. Vissqauell
5. Mederro Passquirr
6. Axall Hasck
7. Maschtervoz
8. Gassttrumm
9. Vallczeremdoss