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Nipponjin - Join Our Mental Phase Sound

Artist: Far East Family Band
Label: Vertigo
Catalog#: 6370850
Format: Vinyl
Country: Germany
Released: 1975
Tracklist
A1 Nipponjin 16:51
A2 The Cave 8:37
B1 Undiscovered Northern Land 2:54
B2 Timeless 4:25
B3 The God Of Water 2:06
B4 River Of Soul 8:28
B5 The God Of Wind 2:33
B6 Moovin' Lookin' 1:39
B7 Yamato 0:48
B8 Mystery Of Northern Space 5:57
Credits

Arranged By - Far East Family Band
Arranged By [Strings] - Mitsuo Miyamoto
Bass - Akira Fukakusa
Drums - Shizuo Takasaki
Engineer - Yoshio Mitsuo
Guitar, Keyboards, Sitar [Electric], Vocals - Fumio Miyashita
Guitar, Vocals - Hirohito Fukushima
Keyboards - Akira Ito
Keyboards, Percussion - Masanori Takahashi
Lyrics By - J.M. Burkard
Mixed By - Klaus Schulze
Music By - Akira Ito
Music By - Fumio Miyashita
Music By - Hirohito Fukushima
Producer - Fumio Miyashita

Notes

Mix-Down: August 1975 at Onkyo House
All Contact: Klaus Schutze, 3101 Hambühren 2, Fuhrkamp 9, Germany

Strawberry Bricks Entry: 
Led by Fumio Miyashita and Kei Ishikawa Far Out was one of the original Japanese psychedelic bands. They released one album of lo-fi psychedelic rock, 日本人 (“Japanese”), in 1973. Miyashta then recruited a new lineup as Far East Family Band, including two keyboardists: Akira Itoh and Masanori Takahashi, the latter more famously known as Kitaro. Nipponjin, which carried the subtitle, “Join Our Mental Phase Sound,” was mostly a re-recording of their “The Cave” Down To The Earth album, but with English lyrics and Klaus Schulze hired for the remix. “Nipponjin” opens the first side with bubbly synthesizers and sitar. Miyashita’s guitar and voice are upfront, and his tentative hold of the English language lends some charm; the track was first heard on the Far Out album but in guitar form. “The Cave” reveals a strong Pink Floyd influence and plenty of dynamics. The tracks on the second side run together, drifting in and out of the mix; but when they’re in, it’s mostly heavy psychedelic rock, while the quieter moments are either awash with Mellotron or silence. The closing “Mystery of Northern Space” rises to a symphonic finale. Though dated, this is venerable space rock, with a strong reflective or even hippie vibe—the precursor to Acid Mothers Temple, anyone? The album saw release on the Vertigo label in Germany and on Mu Land in Japan the following year. The band’s next album, Parallel World, was recorded directly under the hands of Schulze and guitarist Günter Schickert at Virgin’s The Manor Studio; as such, it should have been the more successful of the two albums, but unfortunately at the cost of much of their originality—especially on the long title track. Oddly, both Vertigo and Virgin turned the album down, and it only saw release in Japan. Both Kitaro and Itoh then split for successful solo careers with new age music. Miyashta, bassist Akira Fukakusa and guitarist Hirohito Fukushima recruited a new drummer and recorded the band’s final album, Tenkujin, for the US label All Ears Records. Far Out’s Ishikawa would form Chronicles in the mid-70s in Los Angeles, also releasing one album, ...Like A Message From The Stars, for All Ears Records in 1977. Miyashta eventually turned to a prolific career in electronic therapy music.
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