Dhidalah
Moon People

We are still within the orbit of Guruguru Brain, the Made in Japan label based in Tokyo (with a sort of "branch" in Amsterdam in the Netherlands) and primarily dedicated to acid psychedelic music inspired by the champions of the genre whose feats are celebrated in the epic "Japanrocksampler" by Julian Cope. This time we are talking about Dhidalah, a trio based in the Japanese capital formed by bassist Kazuhira Gotoh, guitarist Ikuma Kawabe, and drummer Konstantin Miyazaki.

The group was formed in 2007. Ikuma Kawabe already had a past in the Tokyo doom metal scene as the guitarist for Church of Misery, a group that has also gained some international attention and releases on Southern Lord, which would be the label among others of All Pigs Must Die, Pelican, or Sunn O))). Joining the Guruguru Brain roster (Kikagaku Moyo, Minami Deutsch, Sundays & Cybele...) is practically automatic. After all, the trio's very acid sound fits perfectly into the label's aesthetic, a sound that is then practically taken up by most of the label's groups. I would mention as an exception the Sundays & Cybele, a group with less "acidic" sounds and more oriented towards song form and a psychedelic pop dimension. In contrast, Dhidalah perfectly represent the more acid and "vintage" dimension of Japanese psychedelic rock.

Indeed inspired by experiences such as Black Sabbath as much as by MC5 and Blue Cheer, as well as the kraut-rock of Ash Ra Tempel and Amon Duul II, this new release (digital only) named "Moon People" distributed online and on the group's Bandcamp page last April 8 comprises essentially a single long track lasting about 35-36 minutes and is substantially completely improvised in the recording studio. Moreover, this should indeed be the first release of a series of "improvisation jam" sessions by the group.

Clearly not recommended for those uninterested in long acid psychedelic jam sessions, "Moon People" is instead, in my opinion, a pretty powerful record in which one can indeed recognize all the typical features of 1960s-70s Japanese acid psychedelia, and where the group indeed picks up forms typical of USA rock concerning "beats" and the way of playing the guitar, the particular use of effects like fuzz, Jimi Hendrix acidity, and distortions. Noteworthy, however, is the great groove of the bass sound, while the drums, let's say, are mostly "instrumental" in keeping the whole together. Clearly, in this case, I would not speak of those typically compulsive obsessive kraut rhythms, because the sound unfolds on different planes, and the jam follows that same philosophy and Zen ethic of Buddhism borrowed from the samurai, pursuing the way of thought. Which, as such, is strong but at the same time flexible and mutable, like the seasons that alternate in the Tokyo sky when you try to raise your head high from that "underground" dimension where you can evidently only make your voice reach up there by pushing the pedal to the max. Of the wah-wah, of course.