Les Rallizes dénudés - Night Of The Assassins [320kbps, best pressing]

Takashi Mizutani of Les Rallizes Dénudés formed in 1967 in Kyoto, Japan. Mizutani maintained a reclusive lifestyle, avoiding interviews and public appearances. Takashi Mizutani remains an almost mythical figure—an artist who chose silence and distortion as his form of expression. The group was linked to the Japanese Red Army after bassist Moriaki Wakabayashi participated in the hijacking of Japan Airlines Flight 351 in 1970. This episode placed Mizutani under suspicion from the Japanese government, further complicating the band's activities. A literature student at Kyoto University, Mizutani founded the band in 1967 with classmates from the university's light music club. Inspired by the Velvet Underground, particularly the track "Sister Ray," Mizutani abandoned folk and immersed himself in a world of psychedelic noise, feedback loops, and hypnotic repetition. The band had recently been recording in the studio—their discography is composed almost exclusively of bootlegs and live recordings, such as the legendary '77 Live. The band's aesthetic profoundly influenced Japanese noise rock and artists such as Keiji Haino, Fushitsusha, and even Western bands like The Jesus & Mary Chain. One of the final appearances of Mizutani Takashi, frontman of the legendary noise-rock band, Les Rallizes Dénudés. Here, he's filling in for the guitarist of the band, Shizuka (1996) The last Les Rallizes Dénudés appearance was a concert at Club Citta in Tokyo, on October 4, 1996. The last public appearances of Mizutani were two live performances in 1997 at MANDA-LA2 with jazz saxophonist Arthur Doyle and drummer Sabu Toyozumi. Mizutani was reported by friends and former colleagues to have died in 2019 Japrocksampler was published in 2007 by Julian Cope, where Les Rallizes Dénudés is discussed at length. The book's contents and sources cannot be verified, but even if the information contained is unverifiable, it greatly increased Western awareness about the band Initially active between 1967 and 1988, and then again briefly between 1993 and 1996 before permanently disbanding; their style of instrumentation and overall musical sound developed greatly throughout time. Bands like Blue Cheer, Captain Beefheart, the Velvet Underground, and chanson singers like Antoine greatly shaped the earlier late-60's early-70's sound of the band,resulting in music similar to that found on albums like White Light/White Heat or The Stooges This raw sound presaged the later music of the New York City noise rock scene. Both periods included lyrics in Japanese (uncommon among Japanese rock bands of the late 60s) inspired by French poètes maudits like Rimbaud, Lautréamont, and Cocteau. Takashi Mizutani felt this perturbing atmosphere backstage. As he wandered towards the flickering spotlight, he was bursting with uncomfortable anxiety, like a bus driver’s bladder as they approached the last stop of the day. He knew why, too. He was certain that the fellows in the newest, uncreased leather jackets, the ones observing him now with a sober glare, were all spies. remaining members of the band – Makoto Kubota, a Rallizes multi-instrumentalist and producer behind recent reissues like YaneUra Sept. ‘80, and the mystically named Doronco – decades after this fateful gig, I asked them whether it’s true that, for a period, their shows were infiltrated with spies. “I mean, probably,” Kubota exclaims, that tends to happen when one of your members has hijacked a plane. Mizutani was known to be a multi-instrumentalist. He typically played lead guitar, but occasionally played the electric bass, electric organ, and small wind instruments like the kazoo and harmonica. His soloing technique revolved heavily around the use of barre chords and fingerstyle picking. Mizutani most frequently used the Gibson SG and the Fender Telecaster, but has been seen using other guitars in various concert images and footage. Mizutani supposedly used around "8 to 10" effects pedals, including tape echos, fuzz pedals, Big Muffs, and wah-wah pedals The meaning of the name Les Rallizes Dénudés has been debated, and there are various conflicting reports regarding the name's origin. According to former member Moriaki Wakabayashi, the word Rallizes comes from the Japanese word Rariru, which means being high, and the word Dénudés (the French word for naked) representing their raw selves. The band members came up with the name after attending a performance at Kyoto Kaikan, where Mizutani, Wakabayashi, and Nakemura walked around Kyoto high on Hyminal sleeping pills. Some reports also state that the word "Rallizes" was a piece of fake French slang invented by Kyoto-based theater group Gendai Gekijo meaning "empty suitcases", and others say it is a reference to Naked Lunch Les Rallizes Dénudés in 1974. Mikio Nagata, Takashi Mizutani, Shunichiro Shoda, Takeshi Nakamura Mizutani -- lead guitar, vocals Nakamura Takeshi -- electric guitar Hiroshi -- bass guitar Mimaki Toshirou -- drums