Central do Prog: Lacrymosa – Bugbear + Joy Of The Wrecked Ship (1984-85/ 1994, 2 CD, Japan) plus bonus

December 30, 2017

Lacrymosa – Bugbear + Joy Of The Wrecked Ship (1984-85/ 1994, 2 CD, Japan) plus bonus

In the little world of avant/chamber bands, one must definitely not forget Lacrymosa from Japan. Lacrymosa started out as a project formed by bassist/violinist Chihiro Saito in Tokyo during the early 80's with several different musicians in the band before forming a solid line-up of 13 musicians, including himself, in 1983. With such a lineup, the use of instruments is of course quite varied, including sax, violin, clarinet, guitar, crumhorn, etc. Shorly after their formation, the band started working on their debut album, simply entitled "Lacrymosa" (later known as "Bugbear" on the CD re-issue in 1993) and got released in 1984. On this album, they provided a challenging and dynamic fusion of contemporary classical music and avant progressive rock, not unlike Univers Zero from Belguim or Art Zoyd from France, with strong elements of both beauty and terror. Their second album, "Joy of a Wrecked Ship" from 1994, was similar, but with even more dynamic and powerful compositions and a slightly altered line-up. Overall, a very exciting and interesting band, definitely worth checking out if you like Art Zoyd, Univers Zero, Zypressen or avantgarde classical music in general. Both of their releases are strongly recommended!

BUGBEAR (1994)

Lacrymosa is a collective of musicians loosely organized around bassist Chihiro S. (see also Golden Avant-Garde). Their sound could be described as chamber rock, yet not in the traditional European sense; while the influences of bands like Art Zoyd and Univers Zero are evident, an equal influence is brought in from Japanese / eastern folk themes, giving the band a very unique character. Instruments used include synths, piano, violins, oboes, flute, clarinet, cello, percussion, and so on, and of course, bass. There are some occasional vocals, mostly by Chihiro himself, but primarily this is an instrumental band. The CD Bugbear contains all of the band's first self-titled album from 1984, the Gishin-Anki EP from a year later, and five bonus tracks from the earliest recordings, circa 1983. This is more acoustic than the following release (Joy of the Wrecked Ship), and may prove to be the easiest first step for those not familiar with the band. exposé

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Opus 2 (7:53)

2. Le Chant Par Blace Cendrars (4:15)

3. Junkie's Lament (5:47)

4. Suspicion & Bugbear (5:23)

5. Vision I - The Death OF The Bird OF Paradise (2:09)

6. Gonfined in The time Prison (3:47)

7. Vision II - The Chukle Laughrer in The Question (3:12)

8. The Resurrection (7:40)

9. Vision III - The Secret Treaty OF The Age OF Mairreya (5:58)

Bonus tracks:

10. Flash back (0:56)

11. Metamorphosis (3:34)

12. Lacrymosa (4:20)

13. In A Grass House - The Reefer Effect (Live) (2:01)

14. Junkie's Lament (Live) (5:20)

15. The embankment on Sundown (Live) (1:04)

16. Vision I - The Death OF The Bird OF Paradise (Live) (2:06)

17. Opus 1 (Live) (4:15)

Total time: 69:40

Line-up / Musicians

Chihiro Saito / Bass, Voice, Violin

Masa Sasaki / Drums, Percussion

Naohiro Yamazaki / Piano

Ash / Violin

Tsuyoshi Nakagawa / Recorder, Crumhorn, Gemshorn

Seiichi Nakata / Clarinet

Keiko Koyama / Voice

Shinichiroh Yamazaki / Sax

Jungo Tashihara / 10 String Guitar, Viola

Sawako Fujita / Piano, Hapsichord

Masahiro Kawamura / Drums, Recorder

Satoshi Watanabe / Flute

Yoshiro Yamaguchi / Oboe

Atsushi Hiroike / Voice

Nobuyuki Tanaka / Drums

Kohta Miki / Cello

JOY OF A WRECKED SHIP (1994)

It’s been quite a long time since S. Chihiro (flip through an issue of Marquee, he's the one with the bass and the weird helmets) and company have released a full album – about ten years. Yes, there was the reissue of their "Gishin-Anki" single on the Lost Years in a Labyrinth compilation a couple years back, but Chihiro has been quiet musically for the last few years, occasionally writing for Marquee. So here's a new album in the 70 minute realm of rather short compositions made to flow as a whole and in the familiar Lacrymosa style. Lacrymosa, like the Japanese group Katra Turana, were very much influenced by Atem stable – you know groups like Art Zoyd, Present, and Univers Zero or those related like Nazca. Easily you should be able to get an idea of whether or not you'll finish this review! While the jagged neo classical chamber rock musings are certainly here, Lacrymosa mix a good dose of Eastern influence into the music similar in many ways to the first album (aka Bugbear). The difference here is maturity. The instrumentation is very diverse, rarely does one track sound like another. The chromatic stylings typical to the bands related above isn't everywhere - sometimes there are much more melodic tracks with female vocals and traditional instrumentation. Obviously there is a lot of classical music in here like Bartók, Stravinsky, Dvořák, or even Satie at its most whimsical moments. For seventy minutes there's an awful lot going on to be able to absorb it all in a few listens, but the more I listen to it the more I like it. It is obviously all well thought out and professionally executed and overall rather original. Well done. exposé

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Wreck (1:10)

2. Overdose (4:13)

3. The Resurrection (7:36)

4. Balkanic Dance (2:47)

5. Vision IV (4:24)

6. Divine wind (3:31)

7. Just A Junkie (5:17)

8. Palestine (2:37)

9. Waiting for the Sun (3:35)

10. Wel dance "Wascha mesa" (3:17)

11. King OF The Fairies (3:33)