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Kimica Golden Package
Kimica Records (2006) |
Although
Kimica Colden Package is officially a Kimica Records compilation, it is actually more of a showcase for Kimica's parent organisation, the recently formed Perfect Music. It brings together work not only from Kimica bands but also from aligned labels as Headache Sounds (run be
Panic Smile's Hajime Yoshida) and Rhythm Tracks (run by underground legend Shougo Katayama), contributing to a wider range of music than most Japanese compilations. At the more mainstream extreme there are bands like
Bambino Radio and neo-shoegazers
Sportsman, but balanced against this there are bands like
Large 400 and
Deepslauter, walking a thin line between hardcore and metal, as well as more psychedelic and experimental bands such as
Natsumen. Obviously, with the tracks coming from such a variety of different sources there is little cohesion in terms of recording quality --
Natsumen, as always, sound immaculate;
Saladabar (ex-
Natsumen guitarist Yuuki Yashiro's band) less so -- which makes it an album that you dip into rather than listen to as a whole. However, the variation works in its favour as well, painting the most accurate portrait of the extent of Tokyo's rock scene of any other recent compilation.
Ian Martin Dec.10.06
