Since I broke the ice in discussing “bands I’m fascinated with but am not sure I actually like” with yesterday’s post about Nurse With Wound, I figured I’d continue the theme today and write a bit about the Japanese psych collective known as Les Rallizes Dénudés. Conveniently enough on the same trip on which I acquired Nurse With Wound’s Second Pirate Session I also picked up a trio of Les Rallizes records, including these two from the Azabu Studio demos in 1985.
First the obligatory disclaimer – I’m far from an expert on this band. Have I done some research beyond say just looking at the Wikipedia page? Yes. Have I read Julian Cope’s unfortunately-named book Japrocksampler? Indeed I have, and that’s where I first learned about Les Rallizes Dénudés. I’ve even gone as far as using Google Translate to help me read portions of former bassist Moriaki Wakabayashi’s website (more on that in a sec). So I’ve certainly poked around a bit over the years. But I’m far from an authority. Frankly I’m not sure who is – at this point they’re almost something out of mythology and separating fact from fiction isn’t always easy.
Anyway… Les Rallizes Dénudés. At the surface, the band was formed back in 1967 and is best described, at least to my ears, as psych, though many consider them noise rock (these two records would definitely not fall into the “noise” category). They were active to some extent through 1988, then back together for a bit in the mid-90s. As for their output, I think Wikipedia sums it up best: “Their discography is mostly made up of live bootlegs, soundboard archives, and a sparse collection of aborted studio recording attempts.” Their catalog is notoriously difficult to parse, many releases comprised of tracks taken from prior records, making the whole thing a mess to sort out. Discogs lists over 120 individual releases, but I suspect no one can say how much unique music this accounts for. (certainly far from 120 albums worth). The label The Last One Musique holds the official rights to Les Rallizes Dénudés’ music today, but that clearly isn’t stopping others from putting stuff out, as is evident by the two recent “unofficial” records from Italy I’m spinning today (The Last One Musique is, however, also licensing releases being put out legally by other labels).
Arguably the most bizarre story tied to the band is that of the aforementioned Moriaki Wakabayashi who, in 1970, was one of nine members of Japan’s Red Army Faction who hijacked JAL Flight 351. Originally slated to fly from Tokyo to Fukuoka, the hijackers allegedly first asked to be flown to Cuba where they hoped to receive paramilitary training they could then use to overthrow the Japanese government. However, when informed the Boeing 727 most definitely could not be flown to Cuba they instead asked to be taken to… North Korea. Which seems… insane. Regardless, though, that’s where they ended up and where Wakabayashi, now 77-years-old, still lives today in a compound with five others from Japan. Their families have been allowed to return, but the revolutionaries still face potential imprisonment if they go back home. They do, however, wish to return, and even have a website to communicate their plight (there is also an interesting 2014 article about them in English HERE). It’s all in Japanese, but Google Translate is pretty effective in converting, so if you want to go down a deep rabbit hole, it’s there.
It’s unfortunate this is the big story people associate with the band – something involving a person who was only a member for a few years and whose fame is completely unrelated to music. But that’s all part of what makes Les Rallizes Dénudés so intriguing. The best information out there, beyond Cope’s book, is probably the 2023 interview The Quietus did with former member Makoto Kubota. You can check it out HERE, and it’s a great read, one that gives some perspective on founding member and former frontman Takashi Mizutani. Kubota is currently mastering some of the old material, much of which was part of Mizutani’s estate, for future releases
So what about Azabu Studio Demo 1985 Vol. 1 & Vol. 2? Well, they sound pretty decent, especially compared to other Les Rallizes Dénudés material I have. Vol. 1 is the cleaner of the two and has a much stronger studio vibe, while Vol. 2 feels more live, the recording a bit muddier but still adequate. The songs across both records are slow and chill, better structured than much of the other live stuff I’ve heard, which can get a bit rambling and jam-band-ish. Are the representative of the band’s “sound”? I can’t say definitively, but they may be the most enjoyable Les Rallizes records I have, the most likely to get repeated plays.1 If you can get them for the right price, they’re well worth the listen.
- If it matters, I also have Oz Days Live 1973, Tachikawa 12th March 1977, Blind Baby Has It’s Mother’s Eyes, Heavier Than A Death In The Family, and the Great White Wonder box set. ↩︎