Brand new instalment in this legendary compilation series from PSF, now in its seventh volume. For this latest survey of the state of the contemporary Japanese psychedelic underground the label ran a special live night at Koenji Show Boat in May of 2009 and recorded all of the players’ sets. The disc opens with the outer space choral folk of Le Son De L’os, a trio that features Yuko Hasegawa of Onna-Kodomo on guitar and vocal, Masahiro Deguchi of Gendai Sokkyo on flute and guitar and Shizuo Uchida on bass. Bo No Kubo are a drums/acoustic bass/guitar improvisatory unit that translate the Incus aesthetic to Tokyo. Derakushi are a phenomenal free jazz/psych ensemble who use electric rock firepower to propel the furious saxophone of Shun Suzuki; expect a full-length album from these guys on PSF very soon. There’s a great, minimal tracks from shakuhachi player Sabu Orimo, here with his new unit that features drummer/harmonica player Tomohiko Namiki. Touyounomajyo are a classic guitar/bass/drums power trio that would have fit in just as well on some of the earlier volumes and Hasegawa-Shizuo, who have had a bunch of previous releases on labels like PSF and Tiliqua, close the set with an epic drone imagining. Nothing cuts to the heart of the Tokyo underground like PSF’s Flashback series. Recommended.

New album from this Japanese deep-drone duo that share members with Kito Mizukumi Rouber. Lift is a very minimal performance that seems, once again, to have been recorded outdoors. The piece opens with a series of punctuating clicks before the sound of the environment – wind across the mouth of the microphone, the acoustics of the place – amplifies the feel of a specific acoustic space. Then strafing angel vox tones and what sounds like heavily treated string drones start to push against the initial parameters, creating a claustrophobic form of drone that combines the minute mechanics of its creation with transcendent instrumental settings. Blurring the lines between a site-specific investigation of area sonorities and a ritual working, Lift is another shot out of leftfield from these two.

Debut album for this great pastoral/acoustic psych unit who made their debut on the recent Tokyo Flashback. Le Son De L’Os is basically the duo of Hasegawa-Shizuo (who also play in Kito Mizukumi Rouber) alongside Masahiro Deguchi. The trio use acoustic guitar, vocals, flutes, pianos, bells and a one string bass to navigate a void of tone that crosses dosed and beautifully mistranslated UK acid folk moves with advanced improvisatory strategies. If you can imagine Mark Fry cutting some avant jams for Incus back in the ‘day’ then I salute you, visionary.