Wednesday, 18 November 2009

Astro + Reiko.A - Lilith's Ilium (2007)


It's kind of ironic (or well, maybe it isn't...) that this CD was released on such a small (but no less great) label, seeing as it's something of a wet dream to anyone who is into old-school Japanoise. What we have here is a live collaboration between Hiroshi Hasegawa (i.e. Astro from C.C.C.C.) and Reiko Azuma of (primarily) Merzbow fame (having contributed to Flare Gun, Artificial Invagination, Marfan Syndrome, etc. - not the least of Merzdiscs!), recorded live at Penguin House in Tokyo.

In the booklet from the Early Works box set, Fumio Kosakai described C.C.C.C.'s sound most fittingly as "psychedelic, cosmic and erotic". He went on to (rightfully, no doubt) assert bass player Nagakubo's vital importance to and even leading role in the achievement of the sound, but, especially with later Astro recordings in mind, it is little controversial to state Hasegawa had a hand in it as well. Lilith's Ilium is highly psychedelic and cosmic (eroticism is less salient, at the least), with Hasegawa's synth whooming and spacing all throughout; Azuma plays the theremin and lays down some more of her laser gun sounds (which fit perfectly here). The results is interesting and captivating: Hasegawa seems to do the broad strokes, lays down the structure of the work, fills the track wholly with an unending buzz, while Azuma fills in the details, filling in the higher end of the mix more sparingly.

Lilith's Ilium is definitely no longer in print, but if you put in the effort you can probably still get a copy. It may be worth trying Ronez of Doufu Records (which seems to've been revived fairly recently), and you can also find a copy of it in Astro's webstore (some last few copies).

In the mean time, enjoy!

Lo! (MU unfortunately, since it's slightly over 100 megs)

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