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2LP
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ZORN 052LP
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2021 restock. Aguirre Records present a reissue of Taj Mahal Travellers' August 1974, originally released in 1975. A monumental work by the Japanese experimental music ensemble. In April 1972 a group of Japanese musicians set off from Rotterdam in a Volkswagen van. As they crossed Europe and then made their way through Asia they made music in a wide range of locations. They also paid close attention to the changing scene and to differing ways of life. Midway through May they reached their destination, the iconic Taj Mahal on the bank of the Yamuna river in Agra, India. The Taj Mahal Travellers had fulfilled physically the promise of the name they adopted when they formed in 1969. The double album August 1974 was their second official release. The first July 15, 1972 is a live concert recording, but on August 19th, 1974 the Taj Mahal Travellers entered the Tokyo studios of Nippon Columbia and produced what is arguably their definitive statement. The electronic dimension of their collective improvising was coordinated, as usual, by Kinji Hayashi. Guest percussionist Hirokazu Sato joined long-term group members Ryo Koike, Seiji Nagai, Yukio Tsuchiya, Michihiro Kimura, Tokio Hasegawa, and Takehisa Kosugi. The enigmatic Takehisa Kosugi, whose soaring electric violin was such a vital element in their music, had been a pioneer of free improvisation and intermedia performance art with Group Ongaku at the start of the '60s. Later in that decade, before launching the Taj Mahal Travellers, he had become known internationally through his association with the fluxus art movement. During the mid-70s the Travellers disbanded and while his colleagues more or less stopped performing as musicians Kosugi continued to reach new audiences across the course of several decades as a composer, regular performer, and musical director for the acclaimed Merce Cunningham Dance Company. August 1974 captures vividly the characteristic sound of the Taj Mahal Travellers, haunting tones from an unusual combination of instruments, filtered through multiple layers of reverb and delay. Their music has strong stylistic affinities with the trippy ambience of cosmic and psychedelic rock, but the Taj Mahal Travellers were tuning in to other vibrations, drawing inspiration from the energies and rhythms of the world around them rather than projecting some alternative reality. Films of rolling ocean waves often provided a highly appropriate backdrop for their lengthy improvised concerts. Licensed from Columbia Japan. Remastered and lacquer cut by Rashad Becker.
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LP
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BAM 7011LP
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LP version. Takehisa Kosugi was a hippie who become an avant-garde composer. Born in Tokyo in 1938, he graduated in 1962 at the Tokyo University of Arts, and then founded the Japanese equivalent of the Fluxus movement, called Group Ongaku, a group devoted to improvisation and multi-media performances. In 1969 he formed the Taj Mahal Travellers, a psychedelic rock group that played lengthy improvised jams that can be summarized in three principles: a far Eastern approach to music as a living organism, an intense electronic processing of instruments and voices, and a semi-mathematical overlapping of frequencies. Basically: La Monte Young on acid. Kosugi mainly played violin. He was on the road with this group between 1971 and 1972, traveling in a Volkswagen minibus from Holland to the Taj Mahal itself. Two albums were made out of that experience: one of them this release, July 15, 1972. This is the first 180 gram vinyl release. Includes an English translation of the original Japanese LP insert. Digitally remastered.
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LP
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B 151LP
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Limited, last copies. "1972 was a busy year for Japan's favorite experimental rock band. After several months spent touring Europe, group leader Takehisa Kosugi (currently music director for the Merce Cunningham dance company in the USA) decided to make good on the band's name and embark on a monumental voyage across Europe and Asia, driving a VW bus from Rotterdam all the way to the Taj Mahal in India. Amazingly, the band got as far as Pakistan before having to fly the rest of the way to the Taj Mahal due to border restrictions. By July of 1972, the band was back home in Japan, and still playing nonstop. The three tracks on side A were recorded live during this historic tour, while side B was recorded a year later at the famous Oz Club in Tokyo, during a five day music festival celebrating the venue's final days." Clear blue vinyl in clear plastic sleeve with black lettering (limited edition 500 copies)."
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LP
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B 147LP
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"After returning from a year-long tour of Europe and Asia, the group returned home to Tokyo for this concert. Originally released on CBS Japan in 1972, the concert remained out of print for decades and has never before been reissued on vinyl. The line up features Takehisa Kosugi on electronic violin, vocals and radio oscillators, Ryo Koike on electronic contrabass, suntool, sheet iron, and harmonica, Yukio Tsuchiya on vibraphone, Michihiro Kimura on electronic guitar & percussion, Seiji Nagai on electronic trumpet, harmonica, castanets, and Tokio Hasegawa on vocals." Orange vinyl in clear plastic sleeve with black lettering. Limited edition of 500 copies.
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LP
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B 143LP
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Warehouse find, last copies. Part two, on clear vinyl in clear plastic sleeve with blue lettering. Limited edition 500 copies.
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