Harumi - self titled

This is one of my all time dollar bin scores. Harumi was a young man from Japan who traveled to the U.S. in the mid sixties. Upon arrival, he somehow managed to get an double album produced by Tom Wilson on the Verve Forecast label, which was released in 1967. This album is a psychedelic pop masterpiece that definitely becomes more and more enjoyable with every subsequent listen.

The opening track, "Talk About It", is like a lost Magical Mystery Tour track sung by Damo Suzuki, with phased horns and drums. "First Impressions" bears a similarity to the lighter pop sound of the Velvet Underground. The bright funk of "Sugar in Your Tea" and "Hello" are both kaliedoscopic and groove inspiring. "Hunters of Heaven" almost recalls early Genesis or the Grass Roots with a really fascinating string arrangement and a driving rhythm. "Hurry Up Now" has the positivity and bounciness of a Brenton Wood song or up-tempo track by the Impressions. While all of these influences seem disparate in writing, they all come together to make for a fairly cohesive and extremely enjoyable listening experience.

The second LP contains one song on each side, each hovering around 20 minutes in length. The first side features the track "Twice Told Tales of The Pomegranate," which is about as ridiculous as it sounds, but has its charm. Imagine Timothy Leary narrating a vibraphone exploration of the meaning of life, with all the frivolity and kitsch that comes along with such a thing. Side two is comprised of a pretty crazed 24 minute freak-out entitled "Samurai Memories." The similarity of sound here to the Velvet Underground is not surprising, considering that the album was helmed by Tom Wilson and was also on the Verve label.

Some detractors, such as Julian Cope have commented that there is little happening here that can be classified as authentically Japanese. However, such critics miss the charm of the slightly out of tune singing as well as the incredible horn and string arrangements that accompany these thoroughly catchy and charming pop songs. Please enjoy, >ありがとう<

http://www.zshare.net/audio/537049302fabeab7/

Lieutenant E.