Shibuboshi

Hey, it's my Patreon submission! Sorry to go for something that's not available on Spotify, but this was an album where one of my first thoughts after listening to it was: "Holy shit, I'm so glad I heard this before I died", so I thought it would be a perfect addition for the list (and since there's surprisingly not a lot of jazz on here). I've personally been on a kind of Jazz redemption arc for the past year-or-so after not understanding it for so long and this was one of the albums that made a bunch of stuff finally click in my head. (Do not read my old Jazz reviews on here, I was possessed by an evil demon. I'd change a bunch of them but I feel like that's kind of going against the spirit of this site. Still not a Miles Davis guy though lol). Just an absolutely bonkers, bombastic Japanese jazz record with rock elements featuring members of Sun Ra Arkestra. Real shame it's not more well known. "Naadam" especially might be one of the greatest songs ever recorded and that main melody is a dangerously potent earworm. Same with the two Sun Ra covers of "Images" and "Space is the Place". So cool. Ironic considering what the band name translates to. Blast this shit while my soul leaves my body at the humble age of 248 years old.

Yeah this is what the OG list should have been full of. This was fucking wild. My personal rating: 5/5 My rating relative to the list: 5/5 Should this have been included on the original list? Strong Yes.

This is delightfully discordant with vibes from the spaced out 70s and the interstallar cosmos. Thank you for having the vision to present this. I honour you.

Easy to forget 1600+ albums in that music doesn’t always have to be serious or convey a message, sometimes it just needs to be insanely fucking fun. This is one of those 1001 finds I live for, an out-there LP that I would never have found otherwise. The arrangements are stuffed to the gills, the instrumentation is incredible, and the production is stunningly clean for the era. It all adds up to a whirlwind jazz fusion album that had me grinning from ear to ear. Some of the interludes do get lost in their own sauce and meander a bit, but otherwise this LP feels simultaneously laser-focused yet ready to fall apart at any moment. Awesome add, we need more albums like this!

Cult fusion classic. Like walking into a space carnival

Shibuboshi is a free jazz album by japanese group Shibusashirazu. Some of the performers are former members of Sun Ra Arkestra. That means a lot of chaos and rock elements and even traditional music in "Naadam". It's a lot of energy and sometimes some John Zorn (Naked City) sounding horns. It is fun!

Fuck yeah, this is the sort of deal I signed for almost five years ago now. Something I have never heard of, and yet slaps SO f*cking hard from the very first minutes ("Images"), leaves an automatic imprint on your soul, and then keeps up that crazed-out pace until the end, with each main track building up to insane free jazz climaxes ("Naadam", starting with a somewhat understated post-bop introduction, to then explode into a full-blown Balkan brass mode ; "Pa!" or "Akkan", adding layers over layers of jazz-fusion bliss ; "Space Is The Place" paying a wonderful and lively tribute to Sun Ra -- but more on that later, of course...). The melodicism and textual layerings are as visceral as they are accessible for my ears, and the whole thing is so rich-sounding, it *does* evoke the soundtrack of a surreal sci-fI space opera. This Japanese jazz-rock collective is simply insane, and from what I've read online, there was also a strong visual element to their shows, with butoh dancers, crazy costumes, painters, animated films and whatnot. I haven't watched those videos yet, but I certainly will once I have a little more time on my hand... To go to a couple of specifics, the main hook found in first track of this record, "Images", also rung a bell from the get-go -- but it's only when I saw that "Space Is The Place" was on the tracklist that I recognized that this opener was also a cover of Sun Ra. (I have a few Sun Ra albums on my shelves, including *Space Is The Place*, and I should return to them more often!). SHIBUSASHIRAZU could therefore be considered as official inheritors of the delirious African-American jazzman. Yet the execution of the cover version of "Images" opening *Shibuboshi* even goes beyond that! It takes the Sun Ra composition to a whole other epic level here, with endlessly ascending notes additions making the whole track feel gripping and cinematic. Going through stuff online, I also quickly discovered that three pivotal members of the Sun Ra Arkestra (Marshall Allen, Elon Nascimento and Michael Ray) were actually invited to take part in the collective for the recording of this album. And what's very interesting here is that those three guests only played on the cuts that *didn't* cover or directly reference Sun Ra compositions... Passing off the torch to their Japanese counterparts, those three esteemed members of the American jazz scene were not merely involved to "play the hits", you see... They were here to rock as hard as their new friends. So even if *Shibuboshi* displays some welcome reverence for the past, it also looks forward a lot, which is probably what makes it sound 100% fresh for my ears -- and this even if the record was released more that 20 years ago. In a music genre that has been routinely bogged down by the weight of the past in its late 20th Century / early 21st Century output, this is an invaluable offering. What jazz needs is less Kenny G and less Branford Marsalis, and more SHIBUSASHIRAZU, more Shabaka Hutchings, more Jaimie Branch, more James Brandon Lewis or more Kamasi Washington. And I know those names are just the tip of the iceberg -- that there's a whole galaxy of terrific contemporary jazz artists to discover right now, who make the genre feel as vital or groundbreaking as it has been during the forties, fifties and sixties. Stoked that I can now add one of those names to my list today. 4.5/5 for the purposes of this list dedicated to essential albums, rounded up to 5. 9.5/10 for more general purposes (5 for the musicianship and production values + 4.5 for the artistry) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 116 (including this one) Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 119 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 267 ---- Émile, *quatre* nouveaux messages pour toi au dessus, du *Solid State Survivor* de Yellow Magic Orchestra au *Atrocity Exhibition* de Danny Brown

Oops it seems I listened to the wrong album and the right album isn’t on Apple Music. The album shibusaikayoutaizen opened like a late 70s Japanese cop show and wandered around in a sort of jazzy way that I loved. For now will give this a 5 based on that and will try to find the right album and check it out then update this review.

Great stuff

Hella fun, even for someone like me who doesn't really "get" jazz. Sounds like they would be an absolute blast to see live. Not on Spotify, but well worth the (tiny) effort to find it elsewhere. A great suggestion, that only misses out on full marks due to my own blind spots and lack of knowledge of the space they were working it.

This was excellent, but it also raised my anxiety and stress level at times. Reminds me of Sun Ra, whom I had the privilege of seeing live with his Arkestra sometime around 1990. 4 stars.

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Naadam, Akkan

I really liked this, kind of a Naked City vibe with a slower jam, though their origins seem nearly contemporary so who knows if there was any direct influence going either way (or both). Lost me a bit in some of the squeaker meandering interludes but overall a great listen.

Fun upbeat orchestral jamming! I like em and will explore more.

This album wasn't on Apple Music but I started listening to a different album and it made me break my rule and go to YouTube to listen to this one. Crazy fun jazz time

A loud, bombastic jazz EXPLOSION

This is fucking sick (for the most part)

I listened to some of it, but it wasn't as readily available on YT as I hoped - Link just presented search results (and not good ones). Kinda gave up searching and didn't like the lives. 3 because I couldn't judge properly.

never heard of japanese jazz, thanks.

Shibuboshi is absolutely bananas but in a really fun way, the musicianship is great, I have fucking no idea what's going on but it made me smile and if music does that it's good. High 3/low 4, I dunno if I could listen regularly because it's a mind melter but a hell of an experience anyway.

Interesting style of free jazz. I like that there are some Rock-Parts in it. But not something I would spontaniously play again

Imagine my shock when this was very brassy jazz.

Hmm

Jazz, Rock, Jazz fusion. Ritmo machacón. Se me ha hecho muuuuy largo. Un 2.

Not able to listen to