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Rating:
THE REVIEW
Don't forget these names: Yasuhiro Yoshigaki, Otomo Yoshihide, Ryoichi Saito, Hiroaki Mizutani, because they have silently and discreetly contributed to defining a canon in Japanese modern music, at times innovating and at times literally grinding the past and tradition. We could call it psychedelic swing jazz, but we would be very far from the point.
The roaring guitars of Yoshihide and Saito plunder, digest, and spit to the wind the highest moments of Japanese musical history, sometimes immersing themselves in refined post-bop scansions, where the interplay becomes simply fierce, and sometimes letting themselves be carried away by the acidic magma spiced with wah, as per the recipe of the absolute master of the effect, Kimio Mizutani.
A cover album, from Mingus ("Better Git Hit in Your Soul", electrified and menacing) to Bacharach (the masterpiece "I Say a Little Prayer", transformed into a two-faced Janus: first a very sweet ballad scented with zen, then a coughing and metaphysical stream of consciousness on the wave of noise leading to the final explosion) up to the Lennon/McCartney duo, ridiculed in the brief five minutes of Good Night.
Covers that serve to distract the listener by confronting them with the past, here depicted with the traits of a cultured music that musicians must mock, throwing in the class of those who know how to solve your evening even while playing the usual tunes. And this, in my house, is talent, a distillation of genius and bestial creativity. Ironic and irreverent (post-bop - psycho swing?) it has the imprints of history. Period. Conservatories of the world, listen to these records as breaths of fresh air, come and taste the intoxicating drug of absolute freedom. Fireworks explode into millions of colorful pieces over Toshimaen, while Otomo and his friends make the guitars whistle like rifles shooting streamers.
Masterpiece, to be placed alongside all the records produced by the quartet. To be placed alongside the trimurti Yamashita - Mizutani - Moryama.
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Summary by Bot
The album showcases the talents of key Japanese musicians blending psychedelic swing jazz with innovative reinterpretations of classic covers. Emergency! boldly transforms familiar tunes into fierce, experimental compositions. The review highlights the band’s unique creativity, historical reverence, and genius in pushing musical boundaries. This record is praised as a masterpiece in modern Japanese music.Tracklist
Emergency!
A Japanese ensemble documented in the provided review for performing inventive covers that mix psychedelic swing, post-bop interplay and noise. Contributors named in reviews include Otomo Yoshihide, Yasuhiro Yoshigaki, Ryoichi Saito and Hiroaki Mizutani.01 Reviews
