At first glance this may appear to be an album from Japan, but upon further inspection, one will find that the title is most definitely in French. Before Thomas Bangalter and Guy Manuel would become one of France's best known duo's, Daft Punk, Bangalter's father, Daniel Vangarde, and his own musical compatriot, Jean Kluger, collaborated to create this absolutely bizarre masterpiece. Apparently the majority of this album is complete gibberish, with only a few phrases being close to actual Japanese. This album is chock full of funky early 70's grooves, chiildren's choirs, and a screaming Japanese (?) man.
This is probably the most conflicted I've ever felt about an album. If the music existed in a vacuum devoid of cultural context, it'd be an easy 4/5. Simply great sounds. How many killer breaks came out of this?
But after I finished listening to it, I felt like I wanted to take a shower. It's less historically fraught than what I'm about to liken it to, but the closest analogy I can think of is a minstrel show without visuals and with the anti-blackness swapped out for orientalism... in the 1970s at that...
No, that screaming man is not Japanese. Everything about this is one giant caricature, and that could have been avoided if the composers did some actual research and actually cared, instead of wanting to make a buck off aural yellowface. Blech.
To be clear, I say this not to impugn the morals of anyone who enjoys this. It does sound fantastic after all. Just had to get these feelings off my chest.
I can understand that Bay, and I've thought about it before. My view is that it's so over the top that it almost becomes a satire of the kind of album it hearkens back to. (Les Baxter and the others). If that makes any sense.
baystateoftheartNeil Young as a butternut squashProfile Massachusetts
I can understand that Bay, and I've thought about it before. My view is that it's so over the top that it almost becomes a satire of the kind of album it hearkens back to. (Les Baxter and the others). If that makes any sense.
That would be the best-case scenario. But I feel like if it were a satire of racism there'd be some quotes from them to indicate that, given they're both still alive and a lot of people have had similar reactions to mine since it was released. Also Occam's razor. _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
That would be the best-case scenario. But I feel like if it were a satire of racism there'd be some quotes from them to indicate that, given they're both still alive and a lot of people have had similar reactions to mine since it was released. Also Occam's razor.
True.
Nice Erykah song BTW.
baystateoftheartNeil Young as a butternut squashProfile Massachusetts
This is an interesting release for the Impulse label, as it doesn't really follow what any of the other artists were doing at the time. This is a trio of Kuhn, Ron Carter, and Marty Morrell that is accompanied by strings and woodwinds composed by Gary McFarland. Despite the kind of cheesy cover, I think this album may surprise a few people. It's not quite what it seems.
This is great! The third stream I've listened to has usually been more intense, so it was interesting to hear a blend of classical and cool jazz. Love the arrangements. _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
baystateoftheartNeil Young as a butternut squashProfile Massachusetts
Also sorry for getting ahead of you (because I'm listening to everything that's on streaming first), but this is gorgeous and sublime new age. I haven't heard much in the genre, but this is a contender for the best of what I have. Crafting such smooth, relaxing contours while keeping it this engaging is no mean feat. 4/5. _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
Also sorry for getting ahead of you (because I'm listening to everything that's on streaming first), but this is gorgeous and sublime new age. I haven't heard much in the genre, but this is a contender for the best of what I have. Crafting such smooth, relaxing contours while keeping it this engaging is no mean feat. 4/5.
Nice. It's definitely been one that has grown with further listening, and I have found it suitable for a lot different moods. I'll have my complete thoughts later.
FischmanRockMonster, JazzMeister, Bluesboy,ClassicalMasterProfile Land of Enchantment
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