Tuesday 10 December 2013

Half Japanese - "Half Gentlemen,Not Beasts" (1980)

The american version of Danny and the Dressmakers were Half Japanese,except I rather suspect that Danny and the Dressmakers could actually play their instruments if they wanted to; this is not the case with Jad and David fair's crew of misfits.

"The only chord I know is the one that goes from the guitar to the amplifier" (J.Fair)
The music is a melange of stream of consciousness improv and primal scream (not the crap group) non-rock and non-roll. Its meaningless and primitive, a lo-fi portal straight from the art neanderthal that lurks within all of us.The insiders outsider punk that those sex pistols should have sounded like if you read all their press.Its also funny too!

"Tuning the guitar is kind of a ridiculous notion. If you have to wind the tuning pegs to just a certain place, that implies that every other place would be wrong. But that's absurd. How could it be wrong? It's your guitar and you're the one playing it. It's completely up to you to decide how it should sound." - David Fair, Half Japanese


And it came with a rather attractive booklet too. Evocative of the Modern Primitive or what? Oh those suburban Avant Punks eh?:
















Disc One
1. No Direct Line from my Brain to my Heart 2:00
2. 10th Avenue Freeze Out 1:49
3. Ta Sheri Ta Ta 4:55
4. My Girlfriend Lives Like a Beatnik 1:04
5. Her Parents Came Home 0:58
6. Shhh - Shhh - Shhh 2:12
7. Girls Like That 2:12
8. Rrrrrrrrrrrrr 1:26
9. No More Beatlemania 1:52
10. Tangled Up in Blue 3:44
11. Patti Smith 2:22
12. School of Love 1:07
13. Jodie Foster 2:15
14. Shy Around Girls 1:36
15. Grrrrrrrrrr 2:24
16. Bogue Millionares - Cool Millionares 2:10
17. Tn Tn Tn Tn Ki 3:10
18. I Can't Stand it Anymore 2:23
19. I Love Oriental Girls 1:44
20. Dream Date 1:32
21. Du Du Du - Du Du Du 7:22
22. Ain't Too Proud to Beg 1:10
23. Ann Arbor, MI 0:32
24. I'm Going to the Zoo 1:13
25. Shi Yi Yi 0:58
26. Rave On 1:42
27. I Ta Na Si Na Me Eee 1:02
28. Til Victory 2:16
29. Rip My Shirt to Shreds 0:19
30. I Don't Want to Have Mono No More 1:40
31. She Cracked 1:57
32. Bbbbbbb / Bbbbbbbb 1:36

Disc Two
1. Funky Broadway Melody 4:12
2. I'm Sorry 1:36
3. T-T-T-T-T-T 6:43
4. The Word I'd Ever Do 0:43
5. Live in Baltimore, MD 20:16
6. Live in Washington, DC 18:16
7. Battle of the Bands 1:59
8. Worst I'd Ever Do 0:42
9. Ann Arbor, Mi 0:53
10. School of Love 1:31
11. Her Parents Came Home 0:56
12. Shy Around Girls 1:10
13. Dream Date 1:42
14. Bogue Millionares - Cool Millionares 3:29
15. Knock on Wood 1:43
16. Top Secret 0:47
17. Guitar Solo 0:41
18. Calling All Girls 1:04

DOWNLOAD half gentlemen(part one) HERE!
and
DOWNLOAD half beast (part two)HERE!

6 comments:

bill said...

Dig those photos. Can't wait to hear this one. Thanks!

J.H.M. said...

It seems that at least one of the discs is missing here. Would you be able to put it up?

Jonny Zchivago said...

Fuck! Now someone tells me! This is the sites most downloaded record,believe it or not! In the thousands! And nobody noticed,or bothered to tell me that the file was incomplete?
Fear not i'll reupload it later today.

Jonny Zchivago said...

Re-upped!

Anonymous said...

Great album! Thanks for the photos too!

Jonny Zchivago said...

Yes great album indeed.Thanks for all your thanks.