Japanese Independent Music, for Otakus

The gentle putdown "otaku" is one of the most useful, concise and specific words in the Japanese language. It refers to an obsessive, often socially stunted, know-it-all collector who fetishizes the act of collecting itself?an insular comics nerd who never actually reads or appreciates his expensive books, or an anal-retentive audiophile who won't play his vinyl LPs because he might scratch them. Most of these people memorize hundreds of little-known facts about their possessions but rarely exhibit any greater understanding of their chosen infatuations. They are the target of much playful mockery in their homeland. Such characters certainly exist outside of Japan, as well; witness the global army of overbearing Star Trek zombies and baseball-card enthusiasts. Thus, it's only natural that a stifling, exclusionary geekiness tends to typify both Western and non-Western followers of obscure Japanese rock and jazz.

Thankfully, the 360-page paperback Japanese Independent Music (Sonore, $31.99) is neither put together by nor aimed at otaku eggheads. Revised, translated and updated from a 1998 French anthology, this inviting, sharp-looking English edition will appeal to neophytes rather than assail them. It examines its arcane subject matter in a brainy but refreshingly holistic and easy-to-grasp overview that won't crush you under the weight of extraneous trivia. Chief coordinator and editor Franck Stofer, who runs the avant-garde record label and publishing imprint Sonore, has amassed a compendium of cultural essays, band overviews, artist interviews, directories and maps designed to whet the appetite of curious consumers and prime them for a daunting plunge into a sea of pricey imports and unfamiliar surnames. It's amazing that such a project wasn't conceived sooner; never has one source provided so much hard information on the elusive sounds of non-mainstream Japan. A high percentage of the content is also meaty and smart enough to win approval from all but the staunchest armchair historians and beard-stroking experts.

In his forward, Stofer wisely states that the work should not serve as a comprehensive or 100-percent accurate synopsis. Rather than dryly analyze an array of polarized subcultures, Japanese Independent Music carefully focuses on the links between the most fascinating scenes within a seemingly disparate, but rather incestuous underground. Essays such as Shigetoshi Miyamoto's "Dawn and Blossoming of Japanese Independent Music," Paul Collett's "Spacious Paradise" and Michel Henritzi's "Extreme Contemporary" make sense of the intertwining paths of noise, free jazz, indie pop, psychedelia, ethnic music, progressive rock and punk in the Far East. They explain the Japanese proclivity for fusing and reinterpreting Western styles while touching on the relationship between occidental and traditional forms, the exoticism and transgressive powers of noise, the social turmoil of the late 60s and early 70s and the reactions against political and artistic uniformity in Asian society.

Collectively, these texts compile a secret history of sorts that begins with posthippie radicals like Hadaka No Rallizes and Jacks plus the simultaneous, more enduring free-jazz bluster of Kazutoki Umezo, Toshinori Kondo and Motoharu Yoshizawa. This timeline moves through the late-70s punk/no-wave-influenced Tokyo Rockers and Minor family of groups, runs into the rough postpunk and fey techno-wave of the 80s and concludes with the explosion of hybrids that characterized the 1990s, when Japanese indie albums began to gain popularity in America. Special attention is paid to such pivotal, generation- and continent-bridging figures as PSF Records boss/shop owner Hideo Ikeezumi, improvisation icon Keiji Haino, Ruins mastermind Tatsuya Yoshida and producer/composer/label magnate Hoppy Kamiyama.

The remainder of Japanese Independent Music consists primarily of a vast, alphabetical, encyclopedia-like index of artists, complete with discographies and commentary. Think of it as The Trouser Press Record Guide for Nipponophiles. Though it's a commendable resource, jam-packed with generally reliable data, the tone of this section is slightly problematic. It's conceived from an all too European, hyperintellectual perspective that belittles or shuns several straight-ahead and visceral, but still crucial left-of-center rock acts. The writers overemphasize the avant-garde, electronic and noise cliques, while only breezing through plebeian punk, garage and hardcore, and totally ignoring the more subversive strains of metal. Such obviously important bands as Hi-Standard, Guitar Wolf, Aburadako, Canis Lupus, Captain Condoms, Taco, the Stalin, Lip Cream, Noizunzuri, Gastunk, Ogreish Organism, the Garlic Boys, Vasilisk, Lizard and ZOA don't merit individual entries; some aren't mentioned at all. (On the other hand, the contributors waste too much ink on a number of very minor Boredoms and Ruins side projects.) Even if the editors detest the aforementioned groups, they should have at least defined these performers' substantial impact on and innovations within their fields.

The authors' disdain for anything tangentially resembling "rock cliches" sometimes breeds sloppy, shortsighted research and sours their otherwise useful critical assessments. For example, YBO2, one of the prime trailblazers in the 80s indie scene, is dismissed as "a kind of heroic rock with Japanese lyrics." Huh? You mean like U2 or something? Never mind that nearly half of the combo's lyrics were in English, and that their canon combines Eastern melodies with psych mysticism, prog time changes and megadistorted crunch. Sodom, an industrial-percussion troupe that devolved into a commercial dance-funk atrocity, is misleadingly described as "a vague mixture of both rock and indie." And nobody bothered to find out anything about Dowser?who released several rockist CDs in the late 80s and early 90s?until the trio went electro-trendy in 1997. Even the Shonen Knife discography bafflingly omits their most influential 80s musings.

But bear in mind that these are minor grievances. Stofer's introduction qualifies the index as being "massive but non-exhaustive," noting that "many bands are missing and we even left out some musical styles" and that "any such selection will always be very arbitrary and our comments very subjective." Still, he could have been a bit more careful. Japanese Independent Music is admittedly a work-in-progress, so perhaps these holes will be patched in future editions.

Overall, the guide succeeds marvelously in proving that there's much more to indie Japan than the commonly namechecked Shonen Knife, Pizzicato Five, KK Null and Boredoms. Where else can you find succinct, accurate bios of deceased 70s altoist Kaoru Abe, punk-era speed-psych combo Gaseneta, baroque 80s art-rockers Vienna and contemporary computer ace Yuko Nexus6? Plus, you can't beat the jumbo list of label and Web contacts, along with the helpful subway maps and descriptions of hipster areas in Tokyo and Kansai. The package even includes an outstanding, varied CD boasting recent or previously unreleased tracks by Ruins, Haino, Haco, Gaji, eX-Girl, Acid Mothers Temple and countless others. Even an otaku would have to spend months toiling online to learn and hear a mere fraction of what Stofer and his cohorts have synthesized into a remarkable whole. Here's hoping they streamline, amend and expand upon it.

For more information, visit [www.sonore.com](http://www.sonore.com).