​UP-TIGHT  official website

2005年。Acid Mothers Templeの河端一とのインプロビゼーションによるコラボレーションアルバム。プロデュースも川端氏が担当。Galactic Zoo Disc(USA)からのリリース。

Valcanic Tongue(UK)
Flattening new CD from one of the greatest live psych groups in the world. Anyone who witnessed their monolithically powerful set at Instal 2005 needs this incredible disc, one of the most epic and dynamically damaged post-Velvets acid rock re-thinks in recent memory. The addition of Acid Mothers Temple guitarist Makoto Kawabata brings an even darker/more elegantly fucked sensibility, with the result that every track feels like it could explode into narcotic chaos at any moment. Aoki’s vocals strike the perfect post-Reed/Verlaine/Hell level of decadent damage and the songs are just beautifully rendered, with the group stretching mantric rock forms into whole new zones of affirmative electric beauty. Fuck. Highest recommendation. Comes with great Velvet Underground rip-off sleeve, too.

Aquarius Records(USA)
The dark shadows cast by this underground Tokyo psych trio have been getting longer of late. We've had two cds from them, both of 'em well-received by the AQ community (the excellent US release Five Psychedelic Pieces on Static Records, and then the maybe even better Lucrezia on Japan's Alchemy label), and some of us here were also just lucky enough to get to witness the power and intensity of Up-Tight's live show when they played in San Francisco quite recently, bringing their melanchoic vox, mantric drum beating, rigid bass pulsations, and guitar-heavy sadness and squall to the tight confines of the Hemlock. As displayed there, Up-Tight's sunglasses-at-night music is aligned with the likes of current Tokyo scene brethren LSD-March in worship of '70s Japanese distorto-psych legends Les Rallizes Denudes, and that's nothin' but a good thing. So another new Up-Tight document is cause for excitement. That this one also features the guitar and drones of Acid Mothers Temple beardlord Kawabata Makoto, is only the icing on a rather heavy cake. Jamming together on such co-compositions as "The Scat Singer At The Gate Of Midnight" (?) and "Rainy Day Girl #12 & 35", the Up-Tight/Kawabata alliance turns in a particularily anguished, feedback-filled set. Demons being exorcised here for sure. It's noisy and droney and dark, and the presence of guest guru Kawabata only further stimulates the spirits of Les Rallizes that swirl about Up-Tight's amps. Sure Up-Tight have their softer side, but with Kawabata on board, it's the destructive jet engine guitar sound that gets emphasized! AMT fans who haven't heard Up-Tight (but like the harsher, "Electric Heavyland" side of Kawabata's output) will happily "Mellow Out" to this! Produced and mixed by Kawabata as well, for maximum void-dwelling clangor. It's a limited edition disc, too, we're told...

Apex On Line
incredible garage-psych from Japan with the addition of Makoto Kawabata - at their most structured Up-tight sound like the Velvet Underground unanchored from Lou Reed's pop sensibilities, at their wildest they rip the dark heart of garage rock to shreds