Ghost Albums (9)
What The Critics Say
Japan's Ghost has always been a truly enigmatic kind of rock band. From the beginning, they've only recorded when they felt it was necessary, and only when they had something utterly new to say. In other words, there isn't a set Ghost sound. They turn themselves inside out on each recording, and no two sound the same. In Stormy Nights is no exception. It is as different from 2004's Hypnotic Underworld as it was from 1999's Snuffbox Immanence and its completely separate companion album released on the same day. Ghost can play everything from strange mystical folk music -- notice the gorgeous Celtic-Asian flavor of "Motherly Bluster" that opens this set -- to flipped out, spaced out psychedelic rock; give a listen to the cover of "Caledonia" by freak noise rockers Cromagnon, and get your head ripped open. The centerpiece of this set is the completely genre exploding "Hemicyclic Anthelion," clocking in at over 28 minutes. This cut was taken from numerous live performances and edited together by Ghost's spiritual leader and guitarist Masaki Batoh, who has spearheaded Ghost's direction since 1984. It is a series of sonic universes showcasing all the elements of Ghost's sound from folk to noise to free improv, feedback drone, and psych terrorism, and never loses its momentum despite its utter self-indulgence. Merzbow, John Zorn, the Holy River Family Band and Derek Bailey would all be proud. The sheer staccato piano, guitar, synth and drum workout that follows it in "Water Door Yellow Gate" is, conversely, a tautly scored song, where the riff is monotonous, played as a simple set of chords carved from the lower eight keys of the piano. With numerous layered typmpanis washing out middling noise textures and roiling, razored electric guitars played by Michio Kurihara haunting the background, a chorus of backing vocals underscore Batoh's voice like an opera choir in a horror film while a constantly throbbing and pulsing bassline by Takuyuki Moriya wrenches up the tension. Conversely "Gareki No Toshi" is the piece's mirror image. No less a formalist construct, its shouted -- not sung -- vocals are relegated to the background and are distorted, almost buried under waves of seductive synth wash (courtesy of Kazuo Ogino), guitar feedback, bashed drums (Junzo Tateiwa) and a syntactical cadence that inverts the entire sequence in another key. It's remarkable how seamlessly the two pieces fit. The album closes with the gentle medieval sounding folk that is "Grisalle." A crystal clear acoustic guitar played by Batoh and his voice in its lower register is supported by Taishi Takizawa's flutes, Kurihara, and sonic atmospheres courtesy of the rest of the band with beautiful muted tympani pacing the verse; it's as gorgeous a psychedelic folk ballad as one is likely to hear and sends the entire thing out on a cracked, spacious wail as Kurihara's guitar and Ogino's analog synth carry it out. The rest of the band checks in -- especially that deep contrabass of Moriya's -- to make sure the thing stays on the earth. In Stormy Nights is another step. It walks out further than before, and yet, its melodic sensibilities, harmonic invention, and sonic exploration are utterly accessible to any listener willing to approach it with an open mind. Since Ghost has no set sound, there can be no "best" Ghost recording; they all appeal differently. This one is no exception, but it is a work of absolute beauty, chaos, seductive darkness and cosmic light. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
'Overture: Live in Nippon Yusen Soko'
Release Date 1/1/2007
Tracks 2
Label Drag City
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What The Critics Say
This two-disc package showcases the mysterious majesty that is Japan's Ghost in new ways to American audiences. Containing one CD and a companion DVD, Overture: Live in Nippon Yusen Soko 2006, documents a single evening performance at a former warehouse space that has been converted into an art gallery. The band lined up in parallel in front of the audience, hidden from them and one another by large draped lace screens. Not being able to see one another, this set is an improvisation, one track, 56 minutes. It is slowly evolving, mysterious, haunting in places, noisy in others. It begins ominously and slowly, creeping, and is never hurried. At first just some percussive sounds and single guitar notes, eventually everything from reeds and woodwinds, stringed instruments, and throat singing to chanting, as well as other instruments which are introduced and disappear. Apparently the performance begins in complete darkness and no one was allowed to enter or exit; eventually a light show takes over and adds to the performance exponentially. The bottom line is there are far worse ways to spend the better part of an hour. This is the improvisational process not as wankery, but as creation. Ghost actually make music here, not noise, or just noise. Where the volume and chaos do pick up, they are still held within a dynamic center of tension and release, and texturally the music ebbs and flows. Watching the DVD, which is 36 minutes longer than the CD -- the entire performance is captured in three convenient chapters, and was not edited -- is a quiet revelation; it's trippy, dark, murky, and utterly beautiful all at the same time. It's artful as well as arty; it has nothing to do with rock & roll, and even the mighty guitarist Michio Kurihara reins himself in. This is psychedelic music to be sure, but in an inverse sense, it does not project itself onto your mind, rather, you do that yourself, inwardly as the music and/or DVD play through. It's a remarkable document, and three cheers to Drag City-Ghost's American label for releasing such a handsome and reasonably priced document. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
'Hypnotic Underworld'
Release Date 1/1/2004
Tracks 11
Label Drag City
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What The Critics Say
Five years after releasing both Snuffbox Immanence and Tune In, Turn On, Free Tibet, Ghost returned with Hypnotic Underworld, and there were some changes in the band. Cellist Hiromichi Sakamoto and percussionist Setsuko Furuya (whose marimba gave those albums such a distinct sound) are gone, replaced by a great young rhythm section of Takuyuki Moriya (bass, conta bass, cello) and Junzo Tateiwa (drums, tabla, percussion). Also, Ghost co-founder Taishi Takizawa continues as producer but rejoins the group as a musician as well (he has served only as producer since the mid-'90s). Of course, Masaki Batoh is still here, along with longtime keyboard player Kazuo Ogino and guitar hero Michio Kurihara. With a brief U.S. tour (October 2002) under its belt, the band really jelled, and with Hypnotic Underworld, Ghost have released their most expansive set yet. The four-part title track starts somewhere near the Heliocentric Worlds, with Takizawa's sax playing over the sparest of bass figures and percussion as wisps of electronic ether float in and out. This morphs into a fuzzbass-led groove with great soprano sax that leads into a hard rock movement with a choir adding to Batoh's vocals and an ending so surprising I'll leave it for the listener. This epic track is followed by a glorious cover of Earth & Fire's "Hazy Paradise." The production here is amazing, with harpsichords, Mellotron, and sitar melting into each other and a majestic Kurihara guitar solo at the end. "Kiseichukan Nite" features a very pretty Celtic harp and recorder over a simple bass ostinato and Batoh speaking in Japanese with little washes of electronic treatment creeping in. This album is all over the place stylistically, yet it all sounds like Ghost, even with the electronic treatments and almost prog rock keyboards that hadn't been present on their prior albums. They turn in a version of Syd Barrett's "Dominoes" that is so completely personalized as to be virtually unrecognizable. "Piper" is a rocker featuring some blistering guitar work, and "Ganagmanag" is a classic Ghost-style instrumental trance jam, highlighted by Takizawa's flute and amazing production work. Batoh's vocals have never been stronger, and Ogino's various keyboards add a new dimension to the Ghost sound. Kurihara, as mentioned, is brilliant on electric guitar. The sound achieved by Takizawa and the band is a stunning mixture of ancient acoustic, hard electric, and electronic that Jimmy Page should be envious of. Hypnotic Underworld is a new high-water mark from one of rock's most interesting bands. Highly recommended. ~ Sean Westergaard, All Music Guide
'Tune In, Turn On, Free Tibet'
Release Date 3/29/1999
Tracks 8
Label Drag City
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What The Critics Say
Conceived as a companion release to Snuffbox -- the two albums were released within a few weeks of each other and share some art -- Free Tibet is definitely much more the socially forceful flipside to that lovely album. The same core five-person lineup records here, but as photos and an impassioned essay from the liaison office of the Dalai Lama demonstrate, the goal is what's stated right in the title. Given Batoh's open inspiration, spiritually and musically, from that region, recording what amounts to both a celebration and call to action makes perfect sense. Certainly, Ghost aren't interested in simply recording a tribute to Tibetan music -- while the opening track "We Insist" starts with various Tibetan wind instruments, the focus is on Batoh, who speaks rather than sings, his words distorted heavily, the effect almost that of a government official dictating one's fate. The same sense of beautiful serenity that so often pervades Ghost's work is more than clear here -- all it takes is a listen to the grand "Way of Shelkar" to show that, its blend of Batoh, guitars, keyboards, and other instruments achieving a wondrous calm. Other songs like "Lhasa Lhasa" and "Change the World" deliver the key message with the same sweet grace. The album climaxes with the mind-blowing title track, the longest thing the group has ever done at over half-an-hour long. Whether it was carefully planned or a jam session, it's a stunner, ranging from acoustic gentility to percussion craziness to nuclear-strength electric roars, sometimes switching from one section to another on a dime. There's one interesting link to Snuffbox in terms of music -- as on that album, Ghost here salute a musical forebear, in this case Tom Rapp. His Pearls Before Swine track "Images of April" gets a stripped-down, softly whispered cover, both a worthy tribute to the original and a showcase for Batoh's own considerable work. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
'Snuffbox Immanence'
Release Date 3/29/1999
Tracks 10
Label Drag City
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
With a slightly reshuffled lineup, Ogino now clearly became Batoh's chief collaborator, while new percussionist Setsuko Furuya accompanied the returning Kurihara, cellist Hiromichi Sakamoto, and two brass players for Snuffbox, another striking, beautiful Ghost album. With its sense of fusion firmly grasped, able to slide from trumpet and flute-accompanied folk on the opening "Regenesis" to the initially acoustic then ragingly electric "Sad Shakers," Ghost achieved levels of inspiration that easily equaled many of Batoh's original role models. One of those early sources gets saluted in a sharp way -- the Rolling Stones' "Live with Me" gets a piano/vibe-heavy remake here, with Furuya getting to showcase his abilities in particular. Another neo-psych masterpiece is the title track -- Batoh's truly cool, spaced-out lyric gets backed perfectly by Ogino's harpsichord, his own acoustic and crunching electric guitar work, and plenty of production effects and tweaking for effect. The at-times underrated sense of playfulness which crops up in Ghost's work gets some airing here. "Soma" ends by shifting from a gentler flow to a quicker ending led by Batoh's banjo, while "Fukeiga" has similar fun with the vibes and Batoh's electric soloing offset against his clear acoustic work. Still, though, it's the sense of spiritual power and mantra-based music and performance that comes through the strongest on Snuffbox, a mostly calm and understated affair for its length. The fine instrumental "Daggma," with Ogino and Furuya's combination of keyboard and percussion instruments backed by Sakamoto's cello, is at once melancholic and uplifting. Batoh also clearly feels thoroughly comfortable with switching between his native tongue and English, splitting the amount sung in each language down the middle. "Hanmiyau" closes Snuffbox with a flourish, piano, guitar reverb, and more, Batoh's serene lyrics echoing up from the depths. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The incipient fascination with and appreciation of Tibetan culture by Batoh started to fully emerge with this album, in both title, design (the title is shown on the cover art in the style of the Tibetan alphabet, while art from that culture appears on the back) and similar other signifiers. Not that Lama Rabi Rabi is strictly about that country or its situation - Ghost would wait some years more for its specific effort on that front - but it does showcase the sense of depth Batoh brings to his art, evident throughout this strong album. The lengthy, fascinating "Mastillah" starts Lama on a striking high, with a series of percussive instruments meshed with acoustic drones and low, wordless mantras, leading to a steady rhythm pace from Yamazaki through a shimmering combination of the above, mixed with flute and stringed instruments. The immediately following "Rabirabi" makes this sense of religious celebration even stronger, with Batoh's slightly distorted vocals carrying through a rhythm-driven number, at once rock (thanks especially to the bass) and not, punctuated further by a chorus chanting the title. From there on in the majority of Lama addresses the heavier jam side of the band, where acoustic instruments easily have the force of their electric counterparts and often predominate. The banjo/flute/booming drum combination of "Mex Square Blue" and the more conventionally psych-fried "Bad Bone" are two fine examples. The more stripped-down, hushed folk side of Ghost emerges as well. "Into the Alley" is stunningly lovely, Batoh and his acoustic guitar accompanied by a variety of subtle background shadings from other instruments, while the brief "My Hump is a Shell" combines piano, guitar and what sounds like a musical saw to rich effect. Most striking of all would be "Agate Scape," an eleven-minute piece with both quiet beauty and echo-laden instrumental builds. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
A live album, but a live album unlike any other, Temple Stone is, as the liner notes indicate, a record of "some experimental performances at sacred places in recent years," in many but not all cases favoring acoustic over electric instruments (a notable exception is a great version of "Rakshu"). Playing at various temples and churches in Japan, Ghost mostly drew on songs from the self-titled debut and Second Time Around, with most of the recordings coming from sessions in 1993. The various selections aren't arranged in any particular order, while there's no hint if songs listed as taken from a performance at a particular site are all from the same or different evenings, so anyone expecting a straight record of the Ghost live experience at the time won't find it here. Those expecting more of the mysterious, fascinating acid folk-rock drama of early Ghost, though, will find plenty of that here. Not merely recreating the album recordings, the four piece lineup, supplemented at many different points by other guests, add further explorations to the arrangements, while the quality of the delivery alone makes the cuts rival the studio versions. "Guru in the Echo" is one standout; Taishi Takizawa's performance on flute is absolutely wonderful, while Batoh's impassioned singing makes it one of his finest recorded moments as well. "Sun Is Tangging," meanwhile, is pure a Amon Düül-style mega-jam at the end, an absolutely stunning all-around effort. Of the unfamiliar cuts, the most interesting is a reworking of the traditional "Blood Red River." Batoh plays it fairly straight himself in terms of singing and guitar, but the band as a whole turn it into a noisy freakout not far distant from the Birthday Party's similarly insane exorcisms of the blues. The sheer chaos at the end is a wonder to behold. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Ghost's second album, released one year after their self-titled debut, saw a slight shift in the lineup, with Krishna replaced by Iwao Yamazaki on percussion. Guest performer Kazuo Ogino also became permanent, introduced with his Celtic harp on the opening "People Get Freedom," while multi-instrumentalist Takizawa and bassist/singer Kohji Nishino remain from Ghost's debut. As always, Batoh remained the center around which everyone revolved, with even more eerily beautiful and powerful music than before. All members were credited with a large number of percussion instruments, from bell tree and Tibetan bells to "some nameless bells and stones," further intensifying the aura of ancient and mysterious rites that hangs through Ghost's music. The blend of influences both Western and Eastern results in a series of fine syntheses, perhaps even stronger than on Ghost. "Higher Power," with oboe and finger cymbals among other things, and "First Drop of the Sea," which could almost be a calmer Scott Walker number from the late '60s, both capture this sense of broad listening to grand effect. Batoh can be as straightforward as he chooses, as on the title track. He almost sounds a bit like Bowie in lighter cabaret mode (an approach he generally maintains throughout the record) even while the acid folk atmosphere gently kicks along, sometimes with quiet drama in the arrangements. When the band fully kicks in, as on the rolling "Forthcoming from the Inside," everything achieves powerful heights as a result. His lyrics throughout are often quite striking -- his images are ceremonious, seeking the spiritual amid the mundane, and more often than not, make a lot more sense than the fuzzier hoo-hah coming from his West Coast psych/Krautrock forebears. ~ 0 Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Give points to Ghost for defying expectations right from the start of their first album, at least if one is coming in merely expecting a drifty, new age type of experience. "Sun Is Tangging" may start off fairly quietly, but then it explodes in a noise fest and then returns to a calmer acoustic serenity throughout. With that as a fine surprise starting point, Batoh and company enter fully into their fascinating acid-folk-jam world with a strong number of songs. The group and its many guests -- no less than 11 -- explore everything from droning mysticism that sounds like it was recorded in mist-shrouded jungle temples to heavy-duty percussion-led songs that will make any Amon Düül fan smile in happiness. Given this wide range, Batoh's particular vision feels not merely like a tribute to his musical forebears but a striking new synthesis, while his main collaborators at this point match his dreams well. Mu Krishna, the chief percussion player, does a particularly fine job on his own or with various guests throughout, also contributing "whisper," as the credits name it. One moment where Batoh gets to step fully to the fore is the lovely "I've Been Flying," where his soft acoustic playing and understated but still strong singing float above a lovely electric guitar solo from then guest performer Kurihara. The immediately following "Ballad of Summer Rounder" is just as grand, Batoh's tender, evocative singing and playing accompanied about four minutes in by Takizawa's flute and guest drummer Shigeru Konno's steady, restrained percussion. It eventually ends in a classic jam, Takizawa switching to sax and going off over the head-nodding beat as Batoh seems almost to be speaking in tongues or mantras. "Rakshu" wraps up this quite fine debut with an intoxicating, hushed blend of percussion -- gongs, bells, blocks -- and Batoh's prayerful singing. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
