Vanity Tapes: Box Set / Cassette Edition

100 numbered copies Cat. number: 0g_archive 001 Year: 2020 Notes: Cassette: 6 volumes Box: 107x117x77 mm / chip cardboard coverd with cloth / riveted Poster: 410x297 mm / black and white print Card: 49x100 mm / black and white print Japanese label Edition Nord presents an exclusive box-set which includes all the six tapes originally published by Vanity Records in 1981 that were collected in the Limited Edition Vanity Records Box Set, now one of the rarest artifacts of that period. Founded by Agi Yuzuru - a legendary music critic and editor, publisher of Rock Magazine - Vanity was active in the late '70s and early '80s, and its releases rank among the best of early experimental underground music in Japan. The originator of this reissue project was Agi himself, who sadly passed away in 2018. Kentaro Hayashi, an artist highly acclaimed by Agi in his later years, took care of the remastering duties for this very special edition. The original design by Agi was reproduced as much as possible by Shin Akiyama the designer of '0g' the last editorial work of Agi. The box is not exactly the same as the original, but a poster of the development of the original box is attached. This new outer box was designed with the design concept of '0g', a flexible structure that traces the fragility of the original thin paper box and is temporarily fixed by riveting with a soft paper covered with clothes. The Vanity Tapes box-set includes the following albums: Tape 1: Salaried Man Club - Gray Cross Gray Cross features the signature sound of the trio Salaried Man Club who declare their white collar identity loudly with the industrial sound of an intellectual worker. They used to perform regularly at the club dee-Bee’s in Kyoto. They also appeared in Ylem’s compilation Awa (Foam). Tape 2: Kiiro Radical - Denki Noise Dance Kiiro Radical (Yellow Radical) is a group formed by Masaaki Mochida from Yonago City in Tottori Prefecture. The subtle, calculated, meticulous minimal electric noise ecstasy that Mochida presented was critically acclaimed by Agi as “the pinnacle of Japanese electronic music now” at the time of release. He also has 5 pieces included in the compilation Musik. Tape 3: Densei Kwan - Pocket Planetaria Densei Kwan is the group of Hidetsugu Saito from Fukushima. “Like a cause and effect interaction, the light bulb hidden in the boy’s trouser pocket, was actually a marble that was making some crashing sounds (pocket planetarium general statement)”. The original cassette release includes this Taruho Inagaki-esque quote attached to the quintessential electron (Densei Kwan) stirring up a miniature garden-like noise universe. Tape 4: Invivo - B.B.B. This is a project produced by Masao Tachibana from Zushi city. The first 6 tracks are called In Vivo: Inside The Living Organism and the remaining 6 tracks are entitled In Vitro: Inside a Test Tube. It is a biological term penned document of a bio-mutant generational experiment of atmospheric sounds. Invivo had one track included in the Musik compilation. Tape 5: Wireless Sight - Endless Dark Dream This is a project by Kunie Wakae who published the mini magazine called Musenongaku. Just playing piano, metronome, and radio noise, this artist created peaceful, post classical, spacious ambient sketches. He also did performances with visuals and dancers. Tape 6: Nishimura Alimoti - Shibou Ami Nishimura’s ensemble’s album, Shibou. With a band consisting of guitar, bass, drums and voice, this unit plays quite a primitive sound that recalls early Amon Duul, Metabolist and such. It digs heavily into the alt psychedelic rock field.