Improvised Music from Japan / Discography

Hikasu

Changing like Myxomycetes

(Toshiba-EMI, TOCT-9775) (Japan) (CD)

  1. All the End of the 20th Century (4:36)
  2. Faces of Humankind (3:46)
  3. Unsingable Song (3:26)
  4. Peek into Heaven (4:06)
  5. Courteous Hospitality (4:43)
  6. Pike (5:23)
  7. A Waste of Inspiration (2:59)
  8. Biro-biro (4:17)
  9. Chimaera (4:58)
  10. Smile of Japan Thema and 14 Variations (10:23)

All words by Koichi Makigami
Music by Koichi Makigami (1, 8), Masamichi Mitama (2), Masami Sakaide (3, 7, 9), Kazuhiro Nomoto (4), Freeman Mita (5), Yasushi Yamashita (6), and Makoto Inoue and Torsten Rasch (10)
Arranged by Hikashu except track 1, by Freeman Mita and Kozo Niida; tracks 2 and 8, by Koichi Makigami; tracks 3 and 9, by Masami Sakaide; and track 4, by Kazuhiro Nomoto
Orchestral arrangement by Torsten Rasch (10)

Hikasu
Koichi Makigami: vocals (1-10), sampler (1), girigiripee (1), slidewhistle (4), cornet (5), throat singing (6), Jew's harp (8), programming (8)
Freeman Mita: electric guitar (1-7, 9), chin (1), acoustic guitar (4, 9), voice (5), chorus (8)
Kazuhiro Nomoto: baritone saxophone (1, 5, 6), alto saxophone (1, 2, 4-6), tenor saxophone (3, 5, 7), soprano saxophone (7), clarinet (5, 9), bass clarinet (4, 7, 9), flute (7), oboe (9), voice (5), chorus (8)
Torsten Rasch: sampler (1, 3-9), piano (4-7), Fender Rhodes piano (9)
Makoto Yoshimori: synthesizer (1, 2, 5-7, 9), Hammond organ (3, 6), piano (3), accordion (4), chorus (8)
Masami Sakaide: bass (1-3, 5, 6, 9), bass drum (1), sampler (1), Framus bass (4), fretless bass (7), chorus (8), additional programming (8)
Kozo Niida: drums (1-7, 9), oil drum (1), 28-inch bass drum (1), conga (3, 5, 7)

Guests
Shonosuke Okura: otsuzumi (2)
Yukihiro Isso: nokan (2), dengaku-bue (1)
Michie Yagi: koto (2)
Tetsuya Kajiwara: drums (1)
Masayuki Kobayashi: drums (1), oil drum (1), Chinese cymbals (1)
Toshiyuki Suzuki: drums (1)
Kyoko Tomita: drums (1), oil drum (1)
Sachiko Nagata: marimba (4), percussion (4)
Novko Hasebe: chorus (4)
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Bratislava (10)
Robert Stankowsky: conductor (10)

Recorded by Seiji Okumura and Masataka Saito, and mixed by Seiji Okumura at Toshiba-EMI Studio and Studio Terra, September 14-November 22, 1996, except track 10, recorded at Slovak Radio Management for Orchestra and Recording Studio
Mastered by Mitsuharu Harada at Disc Lab
Art direction by Koichi Makigami
Design by Toako Yoshizawa
Photos by Junsuke Takimoto and Masana Izawa
Produced by Koichi Makigami
Includes a 20-page booklet with liner notes by Koichi Makigami and lyrics in Japanese and English (translation by Haruna Ito), and photos

Released in December 1996