new weird japan

Rovo is a psychedelic rock-jazz band founded in 1996 in Tokyo by former Boredoms guitarist Seiichi Yamamoto (山本精一), electric violinist Yuji Katsui (勝井祐二), and synthesizer/effects technician Tatsuki Masuko (益子樹), with Jin Harada (原田仁) on bass guitar, Hiroshi Nakanishi (中西宏司) on synths, and featuring two drummers/percussionists, the prolific Yasuhiro Yoshigaki (芳垣安洋) (of legendary improv noise group Ground-Zero) and Yoichi Okabe (岡部洋一).

Read more about ROVO on Last.fm.

In the all-female duo Coa, Eddie Corman trades on volume and velocity in a howling rock beast that could well fit the bill soundtracking an apocalyptic horror movie. Both Eddie and Marcon first played together in an early incarnation of LSD-March, pysch-blasted legends of the Japanese underground. Combining their names to form a new endeavour into Japanese acid folk, Eddie and Marcon as Eddie Marcon have been working in much quieter tones to make delicate, gorgeous and esoteric music.

There are four different bands named Altered States, listed in order of popularity: a Japanese free/noise jazz / avant-prog group from the 90s, an 80s gothic rock band, a Bass music production trio from Manchester and a psychedelic rock band from Dallas. 1. If pure musicianship is the guiding criterion, Altered States are arguably one of the greatest guitar/bass/drums trios in the history of rock, which may strike some as an overstatement but the evidence is there for anyone willing to seek out the band's Japanese label releases.