Various - Even A Tree Can Shed Tears: Japanese Folk & Rock 1969-1973There was something in the air in the urban corners of late 60s Japan. Student protests and a rising youth culture gave way to the angura (short for underground) movement that thrived on subverting traditions of the post war years. Rejection of the Beatlemania inspired Group Sounds and the squeaky clean College Folk movements led the rise of what came to be known in Japan as New Music, where authenticity mattered more than replicating the sounds of

the gnomic qualities of two 'Get On Jolly' pieces are intensi•ed

and everything is slowly losing its meaning

Chris Forsyth’s Solar Motel Band & Arthur Doyle’s New Quiet Screamers

I rememberåÊwatchingåÊsome of these tunes get banged out live in a sweat pit in Oakland

the Dream Syndicate) alongside John Cale

the charming DIY storytelling of Italian-American go-getter Joe Tossini and the ethereal slow dance themes of Parisian artists Nini Raviolette and Hugo Weris

Kankyō Ongaku helps to broaden our understanding of this quietly profound music

'LP1' features none of these previously released songs

98 EP - Garage Days Re-Revisited

An alternative measure of its enduring magnificence can be gauged by MF Doom sampling Paul Horn's wonderful version

This period of time

There are at least two persuasive reasons to hear these recordings: firstly