Geinoh Yamashirogumi
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Geinoh Yamashirogumi (芸能山城組) is a Japanese musical collective founded on January 19, 1974 by Shoji Yamashiro, consisting of hundreds of people from all walks of life: journalists, doctors, engineers, students, businessmen, etc.
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[edit] Biography
This array of talents and ideas brings a peerless degree of creativity to their work, which is known for a skillful fusion of traditional music with high technology. For example, in the 1980s, MIDI digital synthesizers could not handle the tuning systems of traditional gamelan music, so the group had to start from scratch, teaching themselves how to program in order to modify their equipment. The album that followed, Ecophony Rinne (1986) was a new direction for the group, the first time they incorporated computer generated sounds into their work. The success of this album brought them to the attention of Katsuhiro Otomo, who commissioned them to create what would become their most well-known work, the soundtrack of Akira. The soundtrack is built on the concept of recurrent themes or "modules". Texturally, the soundtrack is a mix of digital synthesizers (Roland D-50, etc), Indonesian chromatic percussion (jegog, etc.), traditional Japanese theatrical and spiritual music (Noh), European classical, and progressive rock. Several cuts from the soundtrack appear to be heavily influenced by the music from Koyaanisqatsi, composed by Philip Glass.
Geinoh Yamashirogumi has faithfully and accurately reproduced over eighty different styles of traditional music and performances from around the world, but despite having performed internationally to a high degree of critical acclaim, they remain relatively unknown.
It has been said that Yamashiro took his inspiration from a postwar 1950s group of similar characters that lived as a commune, but this could be apocryphal.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
- Chi-No-Hibiki Higashi Yu-roppu Wo Utau (Echoes Of The Earth Sing Eastern Europe) (1976)
- Osore-zan / Do No Kenbai (1976)
- Yamato Gensho (1977)
- Shonentachi Eno Chikyu Sanka (In Praise Of Earth‚ To Boys) (1979)
- Ecophony Rinne (1986)
- Ecophony Gaia (1990)
- Ougonrin Sanyo (2000)
[edit] Soundtracks
[edit] Live albums
- Geinoh Yamashirogumi Live (1978)
[edit] Compilations
- Nyumon (1994)
[edit] External links
- (Japanese) Geinoh Yamashirogumi's website
