Daimonji - Improg

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Daimonji - Improg

Artist:	Daimonji
Title:	Improg
Label:	Musea FGBBG 4522.AR, Poseidon PRF-014
Length(s):	77 minutes
Year(s) of release:	2003
Month of review:	[01/2004]

Line up

Hoppy Kamiyama - keyboards, vocals
Tatsuya Yoshida - drums, vocals
Nasuno Mitsunu - bass

Tracks

1)	Glimpse	14.29
2)	Mongolian Bandits	22.03 MP3
3)	Night Dust (Monosyllabic Sex)	19.12
4)	Ombre Moned	21.25

Summary

Four mile long tracks from Japan. Surprisingly enough, the booklet mentions the website of the Japanese band Ruins. Might this band have anything to do with that modern Zeuhl duo? And indeed, drummer Yoshida is one the members of Ruins (he is with one Kimoto on the single album that I have by them).

The music

The album opens with the shorty of the album, Glimpse, only fourteen and a half minute long. The opening shows that the name Improg was not selected senselessly, because that is what this is about exactly: warm meandering vibes, fast jazzy drumming, the works. After five minutes or so, the music becomes more frantic and the band shows how it distinguishes itself from the other jazzrock oriented bands that have been coming to us from Japan. These are the Magmaesque vocals (including Klaus Basquiz like high pitched squeak). This alone makes the music of Daimonji very Magma like, in fact, little or nothing distinguishes it from the real, later Magma thing where the music was also strongly rooted in fusion. By comparison, the music seems to me quite a bit lighter than albums like Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh, but it may also be that I have grown more used to this kind of material over the years. Halfway, the music does become a bit darker and dissonant, a bit of Canterbury hidden in there. I guess the vibes also help there. The meandering continues when the freaky keyboards set in. The vocalists make it to the finishing line, but it is difficult to tell which of the two actually wins.

The next one up is with over twenty two minutes the longest one. The wavery Basquiz style vocals open here, while the sound is vaguer more psychedelic. The structure of the song hangs up in the air somewhere, again we are treated to long improvisational elements, a bit sparser than earlier, more directed towards spooky atmospheres. At times, the groove and beat set in, but on the whole the song is quite similar to the previous one.

The third one, Night Dust (Monosyllabic Sex), proceeds with lone guitar tones, long stretched, occasional and noisy. Slowly, the pacey rock gets underway. This is quite a bit more modern than the previous songs. The singing is very expressive, and a lot less in the vein of Magma. It seems that this band has transformed itself into new alternative rock band in the line of (early) King Black Acid. The vocals are quite different though. Later the track moves back into the direction of the first two tracks, continuing a heavy pace and repetitive outlook on things. Some dissonance enters the play towards the end of the song when the quick piano runs can be quite frantic.

Given what we have heard before, you will not be very surprised by the closer Ombre Moned. Plenty of hacking away by Yoshida here and including some Crimsonesque guitar noise too. Plenty of tension here too, with the bottom dropping out of the music quite suddenly, and the instrumentalists giving way to mood. Quite intense playing here round the fourteen minute mark, but you do have to take account of the rather rough live sound. The energy is there though. Around the eighteen minute mark we get some melodic piano playing, something else again.

Conclusion

Take a large dose of Magma (including Basquizian vocals and weird incantations), add to this the fusionish sound of later Magma and some Canterbury to stir things up. A bit of modern psychedelic and Crimson like adventures may be added as final flavours. Cook this into four large pieces, fully improvised and the result is Daimonji's Improg. In view of the participation of Ruins' Yoshida this is maybe not so surprising. However, do not think this is Ruins, they are way more crazy and distinctive. On this album, improvisations set the tone, and the sound is live (very audible in the production too) and mainly jazzy. An album with some strong moments, but on the whole a tad longwinded. Still, many a Magma fan will want to check this out.