Maher Shalal Hash Baz is a Japanese music ensemble based in Japan, and the artistic alter ego of Tori Kudo, a Japanese naivist composer and musician.
The name is taken from Maher-shalal-hash-baz in the Book of Isaiah verses 8:1 and 8:3, and translates roughly as "Hurrying to the spoil, he has made haste to the plunder." Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz is also mentioned in the Book of Mormon in verses 2 Ne 18:1 and 18:3.
Tori Kudo has been evasive about details of his life before Maher Shalal Hash Baz. He was once a member of a political party in Japan, although he has dissociated himself from politics since joining the Jehovah's Witnesses. He also works as a ceramicist.
He claims to have played classical and jazz piano, as well as playing organ in a Protestant church. His other musical influences included T.Rex and saxophonist Steve Lacy. He and his wife Reiko Kudo joined a band called Worst Noise when they moved to Tokyo; other members dropped out, leaving Tori and Reiko as a duo, known simply as Noise. Under this name they released an album called Tenno (English translation - Emperor).
The impetus for Maher Shalal Hash Baz came when Tori met euphonium player Hiroo Nakazaki on a building site, and found that they shared an interest in the music of Mayo Thompson and Syd Barrett. Apart from the core trio (Tori on guitar and vocals, Reiko as vocalist, Hiroo with his euphonium), the lineup has always been fluid. After a couple of self-released cassette albums, the Japanese Org label released Maher Goes To Gothic Country (1991) and the 83-track box set Return Visit to Rock Mass (1996).
The group's profile outside Japan became much higher when Stephen McRobbie of The Pastels signed them to his Geographic label. They have released two albums on Geographic: the compilation From a Summer to Another Summer (An Egypt to Another Egypt) (2000) and the 41-track Blues Du Jour (2003); plus a number of EPs on various labels, including Souvenir De Mauve (Majikick, 1999), Maher On Water (Geographic, 2002), Faux Depart (Yik Yak, 2003) and Live Aoiheya January 2003 (Chapter Music, 2005).
Tori Kudo has resisted defining the sound of his band, although in an interview with Tim Footman in Careless Talk Costs Lives magazine (August 2002) he declared: "I am punk." There are also elements of folk, psychedelia and free jazz; the band's tendency to ask members of the audience to join in adds a sense of "danger" in live performance. Perhaps the best description comes from his own sleeve notes to From a Summer to Another Summer: "Error in performance dominates MSHB cassette which is like our imperfect life."
The group is comprised of Tokyo-based duo Tenniscoats (Saya and Takashi Ueno), Markus Acher (The Notwist, Rayon), Cico Beck (Aloa Input, The Notwist) and Mat Fowler (Jam Money, Bons). Crossing boundaries geographically and musically, each member contributes rich experiences in collaboration. But experience can be a tricky friend to navigate, often leaving musicians trapped in their comfort zones. However, Spirit Fest embodies the idea of perpetual motion. Ever-changing and keeping their music alive, the singular souls of Spirit Fest have been drawn together a second time.
In the wake of releasing their first record, the group embarked on an European tour where they found their own distinct character and collective voice. From this shared experience, new songs and recordings followed, encompassing ‚Anohito‘ (Japanese for ‚that person’).
The first two album tracks were constructed on a day off in London. The triumphant opener ,Anohito (Till The Gate)’, an extraordinary minor key title track, sets the tone of the record; Saya’s tender voice and the shimmering, delayed guitars and zither reach delicate and pastoral heights. The loopy folktronica of ‚Fête De Départ’ continues to preserve the pace of the album perfectly.
Spirit Fest recorded the remainder of ,Anohito’ at Markus’s home in Munich. Only Mat operated from London, contributing additional recordings in the form of a tape exchange. These begin with the collective lament of ‚Yuri’s Zahn’, followed by Markus’s evocative banjo pop ‚Look At The Colours’ and the twisted Raymond Scott/Dick Hyman-ish wonk of ‚Ueno The Future’. The album draws to a close with ‚Takeda No Komoriuta’ (‚Lullaby Of Takeda’), a beautiful cover of a dark Japanese traditional, followed by the instrumental track ‚Bye Bye’ – a perfect collage to close and document this rich and playful collaboration by highly imaginative & ego-free musicians.
There is no schedule or ticket right now.
日本、〒150-0044 東京都渋谷区円山町２−３ Owestビル Map
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Tokyo", "Maher Shalal Hash Baz", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
Content listed above is edited and modified some for making article reading easily. All content above are auto generated by service.
All images used in articles are placed as quotation. Each quotation URL are placed under images.
All maps provided by Google.