Koenjihyakkei

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Few bands are more enigmatic than Koenji Hyakkei (written in Japanese 高円寺百景). Though firmly grounded in the Zeuhl style of Magma, they have taken it to new and unexplored places. Fronted by drummer Yoshida Tatsuya, of Ruins fame, their lineup shifts as rapidly as their style does. However, two things remain constant in their music- lyrics in a made up (and probably nonsensical) language, and an exotic, almost folk feel to the music. The combination of the two gives a sense that you’re listening to the music of a culture that exists only in minds of a handful of creative people.

Until recently, their ensemble has consisted of drums, bass, guitar, keyboard, and female vocals (usually operatically trained). With their latest album, Angherr Shisspa, they have replaced the guitar with reed player Komori Keiko (mainly on soprano sax). With this change in instrumentation, their style has veered into a new direction to match the change in tone color.
Through their evolution of style, their rhythmic and formal complexity have expanded greatly, incorporating polyrhythms, asymmetrical time signatures (i.e. not all beats are the same length), as well as more complex and varied sections, often containing polyphony and counterpoint. However, through all these impressive technical feats, they have managed to keep the overall feel very simple and melodic, to the extent that most other music feels hideously normal after listening to Koenji Hyakkei.

Tagged as:

zeuhl, avant-garde, progressive rock, experimental, japanese
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It-Alien wrote:
yesterday morning

..seriously speaking, "Koenji Hyakkei" has alread been redirected to "高円寺百景", so I see no reason not for doing this, other than being an ass kid, of course.

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It-Alien wrote:
yesterday morning

maybe we all should suggest to spell 高円寺百景as Koenjihyakkei?

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Hirohissun wrote:
Wednesday morning

no

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It-Alien wrote:
Tuesday morning

maybe we all should suggest to spell this band as 高円寺百景 through the link on the right?

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Martinchus89 wrote:
last week

es que son cosas distintas pelotudos, ¿hasta cuando seguimos con la inmadurez de comparar peras con manzanas? [3]

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nancyghost wrote:
last week

Por qué no podría comparar peras con manzanas? A mí me gustan manzanas mucho mejor. ;) Pero Magma o Koenjihyakkei no sé... me encantan los dos igualmente.

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LightDistortion wrote:
last month

es que son cosas distintas pelotudos, ¿hasta cuando seguimos con la inmadurez de comparar peras con manzanas? [2]

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melez102 wrote:
last month

They are great, Magma is much easier to listen though.

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Edelce wrote:
last month

es que son cosas distintas pelotudos, ¿hasta cuando seguimos con la inmadurez de comparar peras con manzanas?

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SimpatiK wrote:
last month

No, they actually are.

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Waeldchengarten wrote:
last month

"I think they're better than Magma." - I hope you're trolling : >

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closedmouth wrote:
last month

o_o streaming

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twin_zygote wrote:
October 2009

this band is rad, rad rad rad. rad, rad rad rad.

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Ackibear wrote:
October 2009

Rissenddo Rraimb fucking blew me away. Holy shit.

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Caneles wrote:
October 2009

zeuhlcore (2)

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Karppaky wrote:
October 2009

Woah those 2 new songs are Amazing

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BebopBeatnik wrote:
October 2009

I'm....I'm scared and confused.

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luishoracio2 wrote:
September 2009

Incredible live show!!

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navitatl wrote:
September 2009

2 new songs: http://textsave.de/?p=21717

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Prayermad wrote:
September 2009

tastes like chicken

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