Angherr Shisspa

Alternative Press
"This is superhero music of the future...perhaps the greatest group currently operating in the world."

Product Description
Some bands you just have to hear, and Japan’s Koenjihyakkei are just such a band. Headed by vocalist/composer/drummer extraordinaire Tatsuya Yoshida (of 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 Angherr Shisspa to Stereolab, Yes, Queen, Melt-Banana and "something so far off Broadway it’s on the moon."

All this makes the band sound indecipherable and impenetrable. Fortunately, that’s not the case. There’s plenty to latch onto here, densely packed into the album’s 50-minute running time. In the heady, heavy prog-circles, Koenjihyakkei 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 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.

Angherr Shisspa

Angherr Shisspa,Koenjihyakkei,Skin Graft Records,Avant-Prog,Experimental Rock,Pop,Prog-Rock/Art Rock,Rock,Rock/Pop

Angherr Shisspa

Average customer rating:

Studied and energetic, but uninteresting
I need more stars to rate this album
Wow!
Take me to the limit!

Angherr Shisspa
Koenjihyakkei
Manufacturer: Skin Graft Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Viva Koenji
Tzomborgha
Ahvak
Hyderomastgroningem
Pallaschtom

ASIN: B000B83832
Release Date: 2005-10-04

Tracks:

Tziidall Raszhisst
Rattims Friezz
Grahbem Jorgazz
Fettim Paillu
Quivem Vrastorr
Mibingvahre
Angherr Shisspa
Wammilica Iffirom

Album Description

Some bands you just have to hear, and Japan's Koenjihyakkei are just such a band. Headed by vocalist/composer/drummer extraordinaire Tatsuya Yoshida (of 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 Angherr Shisspa to Stereolab, Yes, Queen, Melt-Banana and "something so far off Broadway it's on the moon."

All this makes the band sound indecipherable and impenetrable. Fortunately, that's not the case. There's plenty to latch onto here, densely packed into the album's 50-minute running time. In the heady, heavy prog-circles, Koenjihyakkei 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 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.

Customer Reviews:

Studied and energetic, but uninteresting.......2007-01-02

Koenjihyakkei gets an "A" for effort. But like so much stuff these days, it sounds like music for those who have never heard the precedents.

This band's work is to music what student films are to cinema. With a typical Japanese sensibility, Koenjihyakkei demonstrates that they listened carefully to all the right albums, became fanatical adherents to that music, then resolved to synthesize something ostensibly new. If the result is not new, they can be forgiven for being classicists. If it is new, it is technically appropriate, but aesthetically pointless. Koenjihyakkei's work is the music that the most rabid modern prog fans would make if they could play and sing: Amusing and flattering to those they imitate, but embarrassingly naive.

For all that, it has its moments. This music might be for you if you are young and, in the spirit of 70s prog and fusion fans, you enjoy the audible spectacle of instrumental pyrotechnics as a vehicle for loosely defined conceptual grandiosity. Or if you're old and have a nostalgia for the originals, you may be charmed by Koenjihyakkei's devotion to the genre, especially their focus on Zeuhl.

I was there the first time around for prog, fusion, punk, etc. Even the best examples of those musics were derivative and relied on recombinant musical vocabulary. But there was more soulfulness then. There was then more often than not an aesthetic maturity and depth that I find wholly lacking from the music of Koenjihyakkei. Listen to King Crimson's "Red" and "Larks' Tongues in Aspic", Magma's "Köhntarkösz" or even "Attahk", or David Sancious and Tone's "Forest of Feelings"; the players had crazy chops, but the music always came first, even when the technique was flaunted, and the compositions have shape, subtext and emotive nuance. On the punk side, listen to Bad Brains' eponymous debut, or The Deabeats' or Devo's first works; high concept and excellent chops, but always lots of soul and 'music first'.

I have truly liked only one Japanese band that plays occidental music: Sadistic Mika Band. They loved music, could really play and generally succeeded in walking the fine line between formalism and soulfulness. At their best, Sadistic Mika Band rivaled the camp of early Roxy Music and zaniness of early Sparks. Even on their "Black Ship", after falling prey to self-seriousness (as all good 70s musical artists did), they imbued their music with a deference to aesthetics.

Koenjihyakkei reminds me of why I ceased to look to Japan for good music in the occidental style. If there are Japanese artists making new Japanese music, I would love to hear it. But Koenjihyakkei's music isn't it.

I need more stars to rate this album.......2006-09-02

This is the best of the best.... There is hardly anything else to say. I wish I could translate what this music speaks. It's somewhat comparable to some of Frank Zappa's mindless work, yet this seems to go more places then Zappa could even of imagined... It could be just the better quality recording possible for koenjihyakkei, but I hate to think so... With Yoshida Tatsuya you can't go wrong....EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

buy this cd..... if you don't just go die

Wow!.......2006-08-05

It amazes me how much good music comes from Japan. Between Keiji Haino, Merzbow, Muddy World, Ruins, Otomo Yoshihide, Acid Mothers Temple and the Boredoms, you'd think the place would be bled dry of anything new to offer up. Alas, such is not the case as Koenjihyakkei prove, who manage to add their name to the list of great avant/prog artists like those above. I honestly hear something new every time I throw this one in the changer. The shifting dynamics, tight compositions and excellent playing ability of all involved makes this one of the best whim purchases for me thus far. I really can't think of anyone or anything to compare this band to, but if you're into something new, at least moderately interested in the avant-garde and prog scenes, or fascinated with Japanese music, you'll find something to like here.

Take me to the limit!.......2005-11-05

If you experienced these guys last album you know what to expect. Heavy and dense yet layered prog music that rocks. Magma is the closest comparison...but they are moving away from that specific style and becoming their on voice in the 'Zeuhl' idiom. In this outing you can feel the band has grown in experience: tighter arrangements (if that is posible!), better command of dynamics and voicings and a deeper conviction in the whole 'Zeuhl' thing.
Love it and comes highly recommended!

Rap Music:

Rap Music

rap music

Recommended Music:

Is Harry on the Boat [Import]

Shostakovich Plays Shostakovich, Vol.2

Paradise Is Awfully Nice [Live]

Music: Let the People Sing, Vol. 2

The Cider House Rules: Music from the Miramax Motion Picture [Soundtrack]

The Album [Explicit Lyrics] [Soundtrack]

Retrospective [Hybrid SACD] [SACD]

Sticky [Explicit Lyrics]

Romance Affair [Import]

Stanford: Symphony No. 5; Irish Rhapsody No. 4

Pleyel: Live 10-25-60 [Live] [Import]

Refraction

Progress in Works [Import]

Aguirre

The Complete Collection