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GRIM — Message
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Grim is the one-man project of Jun Konagaya - formed from the ashes of White Hospital, his legendary early 1980s noise duo with Tomosada Kuwahara - which, accepting a long hiatus in the middle, has bridged the worlds of industrial music, power electronics, and noise for nearly three decades. Belonging roughly to the first wave of Japanese noise, Konagaya is particularly noteworthy among his peers for casting an eye further afield, drawing influences from bands like Whitehouse and SPK, rather than members of his own scene, as well varied reference points as far afield as the traditional folk music of Tibet. That understood, nothing was likely to prepare the context of Japanese noise for what was delivered by his 1987 EP Message.
It belongs to a body of three releases created by Grim during the 1980s, including the full length, Folk Music, issued by Eskimo Records in 1986, and the EP, Amaterasu, released by G.A. Propaganda in 1985. While its two predecessors are brilliant and more or less what you might expect from a seminal artist of Japanese noise, Message follows a markedly different path, delving toward the realm of pop and folk via a series of six songs that emit a stronger connection to Daniel Johnson, Syd Barrett, Sebadoh, and Tenniscoats than anything the noise scene has ever produced; it feels like walking through an ancient fairy tale forest, all hazy, magical and slightly eerie.
Dreamy and meandering, drawing on '60s psychedelia, DIY aesthetics, and folky undercurrents, Grims Message is a masterstroke in underground Japanese pop, pushing radically forward, while challenging the boundaries of the scene to which the project predominately belongs. Following the albums original release in 1987, Jun Konagaya followed different paths beyond the world of sound, before unexpectedly relaunching an incredibly prolific career, returning to more explicit territories of noise. As such, Message remained a coveted, rare artefact of a road less traveled and a window into the diverse talents and temperaments that rest below all of his output.
One of the most distinct and unexpected artifacts of the Japanese scene during the period, rather than the full throttle fury for which it has been widely known, here we encounter the one-man project of Jun Konagaya weaving stunningly beautiful passages within the realm of pop and folk, incorporating elements of '60s psychedelia and Lo-Fi DIY, with Yukio Nagoshi, founding member of the Vasilisk unit, on guitar and percussion and A. Takahashi on vocals, with collaboration and technical support from Tomosada Kuwahara, partner and co-founder with Jun Konagaya of the legendary group White Hospital. First ever reissue of the album furthers these insights, extending the original EP with an entirely new body of noise-oriented reworks by Grim of the original six tracks, effectively doubling in length to a full-length release.
https://urashima.bandcamp.com/album/message
"Htten die subkulturellen Phnomene, die irgendwann von Juristen und Journalisten als Wreckers of Civilization oder Englands Hidden Reverse bezeichnet worden sind, ein Pendant in Japan gehabt, dann wre Jun Konagaya alias Grim wahrscheinlich das zentrale Flaggschiff dieser Bewegung gewesen, denn sein Interesse am Abseitigen hatte in Anstzen bereits bei seiner Band White Hospital Zge des okkult-autistischen Dandyismus, die man hufig bei den englischen Kollegen beobachtete.
Nachdem Konagaya bereits einige Erfahrungen mit lrmenden Soundcollagen gesammelt hatte, entdeckte er Mitte der 80er seine Leidenschaft fr das Songformat und fr eine Art folkigen Pop, der Schrgheit mit gut dosiertem Kitsch verbindet, und so erschien 1986 das heute als heimlicher Klassiker geltende Album Folk Music auf Grims eigenem Label Eskimo Records. Zu dessen Nachwehen gehrt auch die im Jahr darauf erschienene EP Message (ebenfalls Eskimo), die mit einer Handvoll an Gsten eingespielt wurde und jngst von Urashima Records neu aufgelegt wurde.
Whrend Grims Wurzeln in der Geruschmusik in Folk Music noch deutlicher zu hren waren, knnte man diese in Message eher subtil in einer unterschwelligen Unbehaglichkeit aufspren, denn rein stilistisch bewegen sich die sechs Stcke fast komplett im Bereich poppig angehauchter Folk-Lullabies, in denen sanfte Gitarrenakkorde und dazu passender Gesang, bei dem nicht immer ganz klar ist, ob man gerade eine Sngerin oder einen Snger hrt, das Bild prgen. Der Opener Heritage startet gleich mit Picking und lieblichem Gesang, und schon in diesem Stck fllt in der gefhlvollen Mollastigkeit eine galoppierende Euphorie auf, deren verhuschte Exzentrik durch die launige Trompete gegen Ende noch einmal extra unterstrichen wird.
Jedes der Stcke hat seine eigenen Marotten: Bei Deep in Meditation ist es das Zusammenspiel von Walzertakt und etwas, dass wie eine Melodika klingt, bei Parable & Cole das Paradox einer lieblich-pastoralen Monotonie als Kulisse intimer Flsterstimmen. Bei Mooncalfs Walz der leicht verzerrte Moment zu Beginn, der aber recht schnell einer noch fiepsigeren Lieblichkeit die Tr ffnet. Diese erreicht bei Klaras Song den Hhepunkt an Kindlichkeit, und trotz psychedelischer Twangs schwebt ber all dem eine 80er Jahre-Stimmung, die sich neben der rauen und sicher gewollt einfachen Klanggestaltung einem Esprit verdankt, den man nicht knstlich erzeugen kann. Man sollte als weitere Klammer aber auch das leicht unbehagliche Element einmal mehr betonen eine seltsame Weltfremdheit, die sich in den allzuschnen Arrangements bei genauerem Hinhren offenbart und den Eindruck entstehen lsst, dass dieses Idyll nicht nur von Feen und Folksternchen bevlkert ist, sondern ebenso sehr von dmonischem Gesindel.
Heute werden gerne renommierte Sngerinnen und Snger aus Folk und Psychedelic der Jahre um 1970 genannt, wenn man sich auf Grims hier durchgezogenen Stil einen Reim machen will. Wer allerdings zu Konagayas eigener Generation gehrt und mit undergroundigen Songs der 80er und 90er sozialisiert worden ist, hat vielleicht spezifischere Assoziationen, und die knnen von Strawberry Switchblade ber frhe Psychic TV und die Legendary Pink Dots bis zu den ersten folkigen Versuchen von Current 93 oder Death in June reichen ein merkwrdiges Kuriosum, bei dem ich nie ganz ber den Gedanken hinweg komme, wie nah das alles an einem potentiellen Pop-Hype vorbeigeschlittert ist. Interessant und hervorhebenswert ist dabei, das Grim eine solche Musik bereits perfektionierte, als diese auch in Europa erst im Entstehen begriffen war.
Der Wiederverffentlichung, die diese Songs erneut auf Vinyl prsentiert, sind einige Remixe als Bonustracks hinzugefgt ultranoisige Versionen, die die Spuren spterer Entwicklungen Konagayas tragen, die aber die slich suselnden Stimmen immer noch geisterhaft im von Lrm erfllten Raum schweben lassen." [U.S./ African Paper]
"Returning off the back of an incredible run of deep dives into numerous historical contexts of noise, Urashima brings us the first ever vinyl reissue of Grim's legendary 1987 EP, Message, now expanded to a full album's length.
One of the most distinct and unexpected artifacts of the Japanese scene during the period, rather than the full throttle fury for which it has been widely known, here we encounter the one-man project of Jun Konagaya weaving stunningly beautiful passages within the realm of pop and folk, incorporating elements of '60s psychedelia and Lo-Fi DIY.
This highly sought-after holy grail of the 1980s underground is issued by Urashima in a limited edition of 199 copies, and won't sit around for long.
Grim
"Message"(LP)
Since its founding during the late 2000s, the Italian imprint, Urashima, has become a definitive voice in the landscape of noise, sculpting a singular vision of one of the most vibrant and revolutionary bodies of experimental sound to have graced the globe. Already in 2022, theyve delivered beautiful, ambitious limited edition releases like Controlled Deaths Death Synth Box, Merzbows Collection 001-010 and Hybrid Noisebloom, as well as Masonnas Masonna Vs. Bananamara and Hijokaidans Zouroku No Kibyou.
Beginning the labels final push toward the end of the year is the first ever vinyl reissue of Grims legendary, highly sought after 1987 EP, Message, now expanded with new material to a full LP in length. An inexplicable hybrid of folk, indie pop, electronic music, and experimentalism, theres almost nothing like it within the territory and context of sound within in which it rests. A true holy grail of the 1980s Japanese underground, with original pressings commanding crazy money on the collectors market, this very limited edition of 199 copies is going to be gone in a flash. Dont sleep!
Grim is the one-man project of Jun Konagaya - formed from the ashes of White Hospital, his legendary early 1980s noise duo with Tomasada Kuwahara - which, accepting a long hiatus in the middle, has bridged the worlds of industrial music, power electronics, and noise for nearly three decades. Belonging roughly to the first wave of Japanese noise, Konagaya is particularly noteworthy among his peers for casting an eye further afield, drawing influences from bands like Whitehouse and SPK, rather than members of his own scene, as well varied reference points as far afield as the traditional folk music of Tibet. That understood, nothing was likely to prepare the context of Japanese noise for what was delivered by his 1987 EP Message.
Message belongs to a body of three releases created by Grim during the 1980s, including the full length, Folk Music, issued by Eskimo Records in 1986, and the EP, Amaterasu, released by G.A. Propaganda in 1985. While its two predecessors are brilliant and more or less what you might expect from a seminal artist of Japanese noise, Message follows a markedly different path, delving toward the realm of pop and folk via a series of six songs that emit a stronger connection to Daniel Johnson, Syd Barrett, Sebadoh, and Tenniscoats than anything the noise scene has ever produced.
Dreamy and meandering, drawing on '60s psychedelia, DIY aesthetics, and folky undercurrents, Grims Message is a masterstroke in underground Japanese pop, pushing radically forward, while challenging the boundaries of the scene to which the project predominately belongs. Following the albums original release in 1987, Jun Konagaya followed different paths beyond the world of sound, before unexpectedly relaunching an incredibly prolific career, returning to more explicit territories of noise. As such, Message remained a coveted, rare artefact of a road less traveled and a window into the diverse talents and temperaments that rest below all of his output. Urashimas first ever reissue of the album furthers these insights, extending the original EP with an entirely new body of noise-oriented reworks by Grim of the original six tracks, effectively doubling in length to a full-length release.
Visionary, wild, and weird, this beautifully produced LP is issued in a very limited edition of 199 copies, and is an absolute must for any fan of Grim, Japanese noise, and '80s DIY psychedelic pop." [Soundohm]
It belongs to a body of three releases created by Grim during the 1980s, including the full length, Folk Music, issued by Eskimo Records in 1986, and the EP, Amaterasu, released by G.A. Propaganda in 1985. While its two predecessors are brilliant and more or less what you might expect from a seminal artist of Japanese noise, Message follows a markedly different path, delving toward the realm of pop and folk via a series of six songs that emit a stronger connection to Daniel Johnson, Syd Barrett, Sebadoh, and Tenniscoats than anything the noise scene has ever produced; it feels like walking through an ancient fairy tale forest, all hazy, magical and slightly eerie.
Dreamy and meandering, drawing on '60s psychedelia, DIY aesthetics, and folky undercurrents, Grims Message is a masterstroke in underground Japanese pop, pushing radically forward, while challenging the boundaries of the scene to which the project predominately belongs. Following the albums original release in 1987, Jun Konagaya followed different paths beyond the world of sound, before unexpectedly relaunching an incredibly prolific career, returning to more explicit territories of noise. As such, Message remained a coveted, rare artefact of a road less traveled and a window into the diverse talents and temperaments that rest below all of his output.
One of the most distinct and unexpected artifacts of the Japanese scene during the period, rather than the full throttle fury for which it has been widely known, here we encounter the one-man project of Jun Konagaya weaving stunningly beautiful passages within the realm of pop and folk, incorporating elements of '60s psychedelia and Lo-Fi DIY, with Yukio Nagoshi, founding member of the Vasilisk unit, on guitar and percussion and A. Takahashi on vocals, with collaboration and technical support from Tomosada Kuwahara, partner and co-founder with Jun Konagaya of the legendary group White Hospital. First ever reissue of the album furthers these insights, extending the original EP with an entirely new body of noise-oriented reworks by Grim of the original six tracks, effectively doubling in length to a full-length release.
https://urashima.bandcamp.com/album/message
"Htten die subkulturellen Phnomene, die irgendwann von Juristen und Journalisten als Wreckers of Civilization oder Englands Hidden Reverse bezeichnet worden sind, ein Pendant in Japan gehabt, dann wre Jun Konagaya alias Grim wahrscheinlich das zentrale Flaggschiff dieser Bewegung gewesen, denn sein Interesse am Abseitigen hatte in Anstzen bereits bei seiner Band White Hospital Zge des okkult-autistischen Dandyismus, die man hufig bei den englischen Kollegen beobachtete.
Nachdem Konagaya bereits einige Erfahrungen mit lrmenden Soundcollagen gesammelt hatte, entdeckte er Mitte der 80er seine Leidenschaft fr das Songformat und fr eine Art folkigen Pop, der Schrgheit mit gut dosiertem Kitsch verbindet, und so erschien 1986 das heute als heimlicher Klassiker geltende Album Folk Music auf Grims eigenem Label Eskimo Records. Zu dessen Nachwehen gehrt auch die im Jahr darauf erschienene EP Message (ebenfalls Eskimo), die mit einer Handvoll an Gsten eingespielt wurde und jngst von Urashima Records neu aufgelegt wurde.
Whrend Grims Wurzeln in der Geruschmusik in Folk Music noch deutlicher zu hren waren, knnte man diese in Message eher subtil in einer unterschwelligen Unbehaglichkeit aufspren, denn rein stilistisch bewegen sich die sechs Stcke fast komplett im Bereich poppig angehauchter Folk-Lullabies, in denen sanfte Gitarrenakkorde und dazu passender Gesang, bei dem nicht immer ganz klar ist, ob man gerade eine Sngerin oder einen Snger hrt, das Bild prgen. Der Opener Heritage startet gleich mit Picking und lieblichem Gesang, und schon in diesem Stck fllt in der gefhlvollen Mollastigkeit eine galoppierende Euphorie auf, deren verhuschte Exzentrik durch die launige Trompete gegen Ende noch einmal extra unterstrichen wird.
Jedes der Stcke hat seine eigenen Marotten: Bei Deep in Meditation ist es das Zusammenspiel von Walzertakt und etwas, dass wie eine Melodika klingt, bei Parable & Cole das Paradox einer lieblich-pastoralen Monotonie als Kulisse intimer Flsterstimmen. Bei Mooncalfs Walz der leicht verzerrte Moment zu Beginn, der aber recht schnell einer noch fiepsigeren Lieblichkeit die Tr ffnet. Diese erreicht bei Klaras Song den Hhepunkt an Kindlichkeit, und trotz psychedelischer Twangs schwebt ber all dem eine 80er Jahre-Stimmung, die sich neben der rauen und sicher gewollt einfachen Klanggestaltung einem Esprit verdankt, den man nicht knstlich erzeugen kann. Man sollte als weitere Klammer aber auch das leicht unbehagliche Element einmal mehr betonen eine seltsame Weltfremdheit, die sich in den allzuschnen Arrangements bei genauerem Hinhren offenbart und den Eindruck entstehen lsst, dass dieses Idyll nicht nur von Feen und Folksternchen bevlkert ist, sondern ebenso sehr von dmonischem Gesindel.
Heute werden gerne renommierte Sngerinnen und Snger aus Folk und Psychedelic der Jahre um 1970 genannt, wenn man sich auf Grims hier durchgezogenen Stil einen Reim machen will. Wer allerdings zu Konagayas eigener Generation gehrt und mit undergroundigen Songs der 80er und 90er sozialisiert worden ist, hat vielleicht spezifischere Assoziationen, und die knnen von Strawberry Switchblade ber frhe Psychic TV und die Legendary Pink Dots bis zu den ersten folkigen Versuchen von Current 93 oder Death in June reichen ein merkwrdiges Kuriosum, bei dem ich nie ganz ber den Gedanken hinweg komme, wie nah das alles an einem potentiellen Pop-Hype vorbeigeschlittert ist. Interessant und hervorhebenswert ist dabei, das Grim eine solche Musik bereits perfektionierte, als diese auch in Europa erst im Entstehen begriffen war.
Der Wiederverffentlichung, die diese Songs erneut auf Vinyl prsentiert, sind einige Remixe als Bonustracks hinzugefgt ultranoisige Versionen, die die Spuren spterer Entwicklungen Konagayas tragen, die aber die slich suselnden Stimmen immer noch geisterhaft im von Lrm erfllten Raum schweben lassen." [U.S./ African Paper]
"Returning off the back of an incredible run of deep dives into numerous historical contexts of noise, Urashima brings us the first ever vinyl reissue of Grim's legendary 1987 EP, Message, now expanded to a full album's length.
One of the most distinct and unexpected artifacts of the Japanese scene during the period, rather than the full throttle fury for which it has been widely known, here we encounter the one-man project of Jun Konagaya weaving stunningly beautiful passages within the realm of pop and folk, incorporating elements of '60s psychedelia and Lo-Fi DIY.
This highly sought-after holy grail of the 1980s underground is issued by Urashima in a limited edition of 199 copies, and won't sit around for long.
Grim
"Message"(LP)
Since its founding during the late 2000s, the Italian imprint, Urashima, has become a definitive voice in the landscape of noise, sculpting a singular vision of one of the most vibrant and revolutionary bodies of experimental sound to have graced the globe. Already in 2022, theyve delivered beautiful, ambitious limited edition releases like Controlled Deaths Death Synth Box, Merzbows Collection 001-010 and Hybrid Noisebloom, as well as Masonnas Masonna Vs. Bananamara and Hijokaidans Zouroku No Kibyou.
Beginning the labels final push toward the end of the year is the first ever vinyl reissue of Grims legendary, highly sought after 1987 EP, Message, now expanded with new material to a full LP in length. An inexplicable hybrid of folk, indie pop, electronic music, and experimentalism, theres almost nothing like it within the territory and context of sound within in which it rests. A true holy grail of the 1980s Japanese underground, with original pressings commanding crazy money on the collectors market, this very limited edition of 199 copies is going to be gone in a flash. Dont sleep!
Grim is the one-man project of Jun Konagaya - formed from the ashes of White Hospital, his legendary early 1980s noise duo with Tomasada Kuwahara - which, accepting a long hiatus in the middle, has bridged the worlds of industrial music, power electronics, and noise for nearly three decades. Belonging roughly to the first wave of Japanese noise, Konagaya is particularly noteworthy among his peers for casting an eye further afield, drawing influences from bands like Whitehouse and SPK, rather than members of his own scene, as well varied reference points as far afield as the traditional folk music of Tibet. That understood, nothing was likely to prepare the context of Japanese noise for what was delivered by his 1987 EP Message.
Message belongs to a body of three releases created by Grim during the 1980s, including the full length, Folk Music, issued by Eskimo Records in 1986, and the EP, Amaterasu, released by G.A. Propaganda in 1985. While its two predecessors are brilliant and more or less what you might expect from a seminal artist of Japanese noise, Message follows a markedly different path, delving toward the realm of pop and folk via a series of six songs that emit a stronger connection to Daniel Johnson, Syd Barrett, Sebadoh, and Tenniscoats than anything the noise scene has ever produced.
Dreamy and meandering, drawing on '60s psychedelia, DIY aesthetics, and folky undercurrents, Grims Message is a masterstroke in underground Japanese pop, pushing radically forward, while challenging the boundaries of the scene to which the project predominately belongs. Following the albums original release in 1987, Jun Konagaya followed different paths beyond the world of sound, before unexpectedly relaunching an incredibly prolific career, returning to more explicit territories of noise. As such, Message remained a coveted, rare artefact of a road less traveled and a window into the diverse talents and temperaments that rest below all of his output. Urashimas first ever reissue of the album furthers these insights, extending the original EP with an entirely new body of noise-oriented reworks by Grim of the original six tracks, effectively doubling in length to a full-length release.
Visionary, wild, and weird, this beautifully produced LP is issued in a very limited edition of 199 copies, and is an absolute must for any fan of Grim, Japanese noise, and '80s DIY psychedelic pop." [Soundohm]