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CD
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GB 169CD
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Kuunatic's hotly anticipated second album Wheels of Ömon takes another adventuresome deep dive into their self-made fantasy mythology, proposing whole new worlds of psychedelic drama and ritual. In addition to their core sonic palette of tribal drums, pulsing bass, atmospheric keyboards and grouped female vocals, the acclaimed Japanese psych-rock trio played an array of Japanese traditional instruments on Wheels of Ömon. The result is a thrilling, kaleidoscopic album that brushes against tradition as it whirls into an other-worldly future. Kuunatic are the trio of Fumi Kikuchi on keyboards, Shoko Yoshida on bass and Yuko Araki on drums. All three of them also sing. They formed in 2016 and released an EP and 7" single before, in 2021, dropping their debut album, Gate of Klüna (GB 117CD, 2021), on an unsuspecting public. Wheels of Ömon builds on the story of Gate of Klüna with more tales of prophecy, mysterious powers and magical healing lakes. Kuunatic's imaginative flights of visionary fancy achieve the same kind of epic, science-fiction world-building as legendary French jazz-prog heroes, Magma. But their inspirations come from further afield. "The three of us listen to completely different types of music so our ideas and influences come from all different places," they say. "We create fantasy stories," they say, "but it's deeply influenced by historical events that happened on Earth. So, when we stayed in Switzerland, looking at the Alps and Vallée du Rhône, they made us imagine vast histories of a grand Earth and times of several hundred million years ago. Perhaps it's this majestic natural setting that has imparted to the new album a deep connection to folk traditions, to human stories, to the very roots of storytelling. It's a mood that manifests most powerfully in the album's varied use of Japanese traditional instruments. Throughout the album, Kuunatic play chappa (hand-sized cymbals used at temple rituals or festivals), sasara (a percussion instrument of 108 wooden plates strung with a cotton cord), ryuteki (a flute used in gagaku), kagurabue (a flute used for Japanese traditional shrine music) ougidaiko (a fan-shaped hand drum), kokiriko (small bamboo stick instruments), and wadaiko (a huge traditional drum that has been used for rituals or festivals since ancient times)."
"Grumbling psych played on a whirring blender of guitars, synths and traditional Japanese temple instruments" -- The Wire
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LP
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GB 169LP
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$28.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 4/11/2025
LP version. Kuunatic's hotly anticipated second album Wheels of Ömon takes another adventuresome deep dive into their self-made fantasy mythology, proposing whole new worlds of psychedelic drama and ritual. In addition to their core sonic palette of tribal drums, pulsing bass, atmospheric keyboards and grouped female vocals, the acclaimed Japanese psych-rock trio played an array of Japanese traditional instruments on Wheels of Ömon. The result is a thrilling, kaleidoscopic album that brushes against tradition as it whirls into an other-worldly future. Kuunatic are the trio of Fumi Kikuchi on keyboards, Shoko Yoshida on bass and Yuko Araki on drums. All three of them also sing. They formed in 2016 and released an EP and 7" single before, in 2021, dropping their debut album, Gate of Klüna (GB 117CD, 2021), on an unsuspecting public. Wheels of Ömon builds on the story of Gate of Klüna with more tales of prophecy, mysterious powers and magical healing lakes. Kuunatic's imaginative flights of visionary fancy achieve the same kind of epic, science-fiction world-building as legendary French jazz-prog heroes, Magma. But their inspirations come from further afield. "The three of us listen to completely different types of music so our ideas and influences come from all different places," they say. "We create fantasy stories," they say, "but it's deeply influenced by historical events that happened on Earth. So, when we stayed in Switzerland, looking at the Alps and Vallée du Rhône, they made us imagine vast histories of a grand Earth and times of several hundred million years ago. Perhaps it's this majestic natural setting that has imparted to the new album a deep connection to folk traditions, to human stories, to the very roots of storytelling. It's a mood that manifests most powerfully in the album's varied use of Japanese traditional instruments. Throughout the album, Kuunatic play chappa (hand-sized cymbals used at temple rituals or festivals), sasara (a percussion instrument of 108 wooden plates strung with a cotton cord), ryuteki (a flute used in gagaku), kagurabue (a flute used for Japanese traditional shrine music) ougidaiko (a fan-shaped hand drum), kokiriko (small bamboo stick instruments), and wadaiko (a huge traditional drum that has been used for rituals or festivals since ancient times).
"Grumbling psych played on a whirring blender of guitars, synths and traditional Japanese temple instruments" -- The Wire
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Artist |
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LP
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GB 117LP
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LP version. Kuunatic is a thrilling Tokyo based tribal-psych trio bolstered by diverse global sonics and powerful female vocals. Drawing on the members' different musical and cultural perspectives, their music explores ritual drumming, pulsing bass lines, atmospheric keyboard sounds and Japanese traditional instruments. Gate of Klüna is Kuunatic's much awaited debut album. Produced by Tim DeWit (Gang Gang Dance) the record reveals a mesmerizing soundworld that transcends genres and hemispheres and succeeds in being both boldly experimental and wildly catchy. Kuunatic are: Fumie Kikuchi on keys and vocals, Yuko Araki on drums and vocals, and Shoko Yoshida on bass and vocals.
Although formed in Tokyo in 2016, a city that is very much on this planet, Kuunatic first looked to another heavenly body to shape their project. In interviews the band have cited that their name is drawn from kuu, the Finnish word for the moon; inspired in part by original Finnish guitarist, Sanni. The listener is advised not to cast their net too narrowly, as Kuunatic's music seems to invoke many responses around the world. You might hear echoes of weird off-kilter hybrids and psyched-out chamber music from the likes of Os Mutantes, Basil Kirchin, The Raincoats or Manfred Hübler. But musical interpretations will inevitably circle around their home base on their "other" planet, Japan. Japanese audiences sometimes consider Kuunatic as "amplified" Shinto shrine maidens (miko). Fumie chips in. "Our sound consists of many different kinds of music, but certain unique Japanese instruments and their sounds give a special atmosphere to Kuunatic's world. Japanese traditional music exists in very close proximity to us even if we don't go to see Gagaku (Japanese shrine music) or Kabuki (Japanese traditional theatrical performance). Fumie has been playing the Kagura flute (Japanese shrine music flute) since childhood, Shoko's name includes the Japanese character 笙 which means a Japanese traditional instrument, and Yuko sometimes visits a Homa burning at a temple and listens to their powerful chanting rhythm..." The possibilities to project onto Kuunatic's music are endless. This is because the band has created that rare thing, catchy music that is impossible to pigeonhole. The track "Lava Naksh" is a form of renaissance dance; a pavane, maybe, albeit with Kraftwerk's early organ sound. "Full Moon Spree" could be a ritual version of The Fall's "What You Need". "Raven's War" is a dry-as-dust progressive soundtrack, it could be a lost cut from the Valley of the Dolls record. The transportive elements in all are key: certain beats and near-melismatic melody lines hark back to archaic processional and ritual music.
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Artist |
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CD
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GB 117CD
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Kuunatic is a thrilling Tokyo based tribal-psych trio bolstered by diverse global sonics and powerful female vocals. Drawing on the members' different musical and cultural perspectives, their music explores ritual drumming, pulsing bass lines, atmospheric keyboard sounds and Japanese traditional instruments. Gate of Klüna is Kuunatic's much awaited debut album. Produced by Tim DeWit (Gang Gang Dance) the record reveals a mesmerizing soundworld that transcends genres and hemispheres and succeeds in being both boldly experimental and wildly catchy. Kuunatic are: Fumie Kikuchi on keys and vocals, Yuko Araki on drums and vocals, and Shoko Yoshida on bass and vocals.
Although formed in Tokyo in 2016, a city that is very much on this planet, Kuunatic first looked to another heavenly body to shape their project. In interviews the band have cited that their name is drawn from kuu, the Finnish word for the moon; inspired in part by original Finnish guitarist, Sanni. The listener is advised not to cast their net too narrowly, as Kuunatic's music seems to invoke many responses around the world. You might hear echoes of weird off-kilter hybrids and psyched-out chamber music from the likes of Os Mutantes, Basil Kirchin, The Raincoats or Manfred Hübler. But musical interpretations will inevitably circle around their home base on their "other" planet, Japan. Japanese audiences sometimes consider Kuunatic as "amplified" Shinto shrine maidens (miko). Fumie chips in. "Our sound consists of many different kinds of music, but certain unique Japanese instruments and their sounds give a special atmosphere to Kuunatic's world. Japanese traditional music exists in very close proximity to us even if we don't go to see Gagaku (Japanese shrine music) or Kabuki (Japanese traditional theatrical performance). Fumie has been playing the Kagura flute (Japanese shrine music flute) since childhood, Shoko's name includes the Japanese character 笙 which means a Japanese traditional instrument, and Yuko sometimes visits a Homa burning at a temple and listens to their powerful chanting rhythm..." The possibilities to project onto Kuunatic's music are endless. This is because the band has created that rare thing, catchy music that is impossible to pigeonhole. The track "Lava Naksh" is a form of renaissance dance; a pavane, maybe, albeit with Kraftwerk's early organ sound. "Full Moon Spree" could be a ritual version of The Fall's "What You Need". "Raven's War" is a dry-as-dust progressive soundtrack, it could be a lost cut from the Valley of the Dolls record. The transportive elements in all are key: certain beats and near-melismatic melody lines hark back to archaic processional and ritual music.
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