Les Rallizes Dénudés
Les Rallizes Dénudés in 1974. Left to right: Mikio Nagata, Takashi Mizutani, Shunichiro Shoda, Takeshi Nakamura
Les Rallizes Dénudés in 1974. Left to right: Mikio Nagata, Takashi Mizutani, Shunichiro Shoda, Takeshi Nakamura
Background information
Also known as裸のラリーズ
OriginKyoto, Japan
Genres
Years active
  • 1967 (1967)–1988 (1988)
  • 1993 (1993)–1996 (1996)
Labels
  • Rivista
  • Temporal Drift
  • Tuff Beats
Past membersTakashi Mizutani
Takashi Kato
Takashi Tada
Moriaki Wakabayashi
Takeda Kiyohiro
Tsutomu Matsumoto
Takeshi Nakamura
Shunichiro Shoda
Hiroshi Nar
Fujio Yamaguchi
Toshirou Mimaki
Makoto Kubota
Doronco Gumo
Mikio Nagata
Noma Yukimichi
Maki Miura[3]
Websitelesrallizesdenudes-official.com

Les Rallizes Dénudés (裸のラリーズ, Hadaka no rariizu) were a Japanese rock band formed in 1967 at Kyoto's Doshisha University.

History

Les Rallizes Dénudés was formed in 1967 by a group of students at Kyoto's Doshisha University. The band originally planned to record in a studio, but after being dissatisfied with the results, they decided to exclusively perform live shows.

The band was initially active between 1967 and 1988, and then again briefly between 1993 and 1996 before permanently disbanding. The true meaning of the name Les Rallizes Dénudés is debated. However, according to former member Moriaki Wakabayashi, the word Rallizes comes from the Japanese word Rari, which means being high, and the word Dénudés (the French word for naked) representing their raw selves.[4][5] The band's style is typified by simple, repetitious instrumental passages, shrieking, cacophonous guitar feedback and folk arrangement. Their discography is made up mostly of live bootlegs, soundboard archives, and even a few rare aborted studio recording attempts. Archive releases on independent labels such as Univive, Rivista, Phoenix, and Bamboo exist, as well as releases from former members and affiliates of the band.[6] Three records from Rivista ('77 LIVE, '67-'69 STUDIO et LIVE and MIZUTANI / Les Rallizes Dénudés respectively) released in 1991 and a self-titled 7" single released as a bonus with issue number 2 of the Japanese magazine Etcetera in 1996 are the only archival records purported to be official by the estate of Takashi Mizutani.[7]

Although the band itself was not explicitly political, members were known to participate in various protests, with the band even performing at a university auditorium while it was held by students during a protest. In 1970, original bassist Moriaki Wakabayashi, who was known to have attended several of these protests, assisted in the hijacking of Japan Airlines Flight 351 orchestrated by the Communist League's "Red Army Faction."[6][8]

Very little is known about the band's frontman Takashi Mizutani, aside from his former affiliation with members of the Japanese Red Army and involvement early on in theater at Doshisha University. After the hijacking of Flight 351, Mizutani became extremely paranoid and went into hiding for many years, only occasionally emerging to play shows. The last appearance of Les Rallizes Dénudés was a concert at Club Citta in Tokyo, on October 4, 1996.[9] The last public appearances of Takashi Mizutani without the Rallizes moniker were two live performances in 1997 with jazz saxophonist Arthur Doyle and drummer Sabu Toyozumi.

A live film about the band was released on VHS in 1992 by an independent filmmaker named Ethan Mousiké (who many believe to be a pseudonym of Mizutani), consisting of over 2 hours of live footage of the band.[10]

In October 2021, an official website was launched for the band by the record label The Last One Musique, claiming to be a collaborative effort by former band members and associates of Mizutani. It announced its intention to release official Rallizes recordings with "more alive and striking sound than the bootlegs that have been circulating over twenty years".[11] The website states on its homepage that Mizutani passed away in 2019,[12] and this is further supported by statements from Aquilha Mochiduki (sometimes spelled Mochizuki), a photographer associated with Les Rallizes Dénudés.[13] In a 2020 interview, former member Makoto Kubota (who is himself credited on the official website) stated that he had conversed with Mizutani through phone calls in which he told him that his band had become popular in America and that it could even possible for the band to play a revival concert there. The article was amended on 28 October 2021 to state that the phone calls had taken place in late 2019, before Mizutani's passing.[14]

In 2022, the album "The OZ Tapes" was released on the Temporal Drift record label,[15] which was remastered from the original tapes, discovered after Mizutani's passing, under the supervision of former band member Makoto Kubota. Kubota stated in an interview with The Quietus that he plans to remaster all of the albums released under the Rivista label.[16]

On the 28th March 2023, an event called Enter the Mirror: A Celebration of Les Rallizes Dénudés was announced, organized by Temporal Drift, Empty Bottle, and endorsed by The Last One Musique. It took place at the Bohemian National Cemetery in Chicago on the 17th June 2023 and consisted of Les Rallizes Dénudés inspired performances by Cindy Lee, Steve Gunn, Who Is The Witness?, Oui Ennui, Cafe Racer and MANDY, as well as a Les Rallizes Dénudés covers set by John Dwyer with Tom Dolas, Drew St. Ivany and Bill Roe.[17]

On the 26th May 2023, Temporal Drift announced a new album called CITTA' '93, the first all-new album in the reissue campaign.[18] It was released on August 18th, 2023.[19]

Discography

Official releases

Releases that have been authorized or released officially by the band.[19][7]

Year Title Label Format
1991 '67–'69 STUDIO et LIVE Rivista/Temporal Drift CD, LP, Cassette
1991 MIZUTANI / Les Rallizes Dénudés Rivista/Temporal Drift CD, LP, Cassette
1991 '77 LIVE Rivista/Temporal Drift CD, LP, Cassette
1996 Les Rallizes Dénudés Etcetera 7"
2021 White Awakening Temporal Drift Digital download
2022 Vertigo Otherwise My Conviction Temporal Drift Digital download
2022 The OZ Tapes Temporal Drift Digital download, LP
2023 Romance of the Black Pain Otherwise Fallin' Love With Temporal Drift LP
2023 CITTA' '93 Temporal Drift Digital download, LP
2023 BAUS ‘93 Temporal Drift Digital download, LP, CD/DVD

Other appearances

Year Title Label Format
1973 OZ Days Live OZ Records 2xLP
2003 Rome Wasn't Burned In A Day Head Heritage CD
2003 Electric Pure Land Stars Dead Flower CD/DVD
2004 夕焼け祭り Dead Flower DVD
2006 An Anthology of Noise & Electronic Music Sub Rosa 2xCD
2006 Underground Tracks 70's Dead Flower 2xCD
2008 Electric AllNight Show @ Saitama Univ. 1973.11.3-4 Dead Flower 2xCD
2009 Nihon Nihilist Not on Label CDr
2011 音楽70 = Ongaku 70 Hiruko Records LP
2015 Don't Turn Off The Lights Not on Label Cassette

Bootleg releases

Significant or well-known bootlegs include:

  • Blind Baby Has Its Mother's Eyes (2003)
  • Cable Hogue Soundtrack (2007)
  • Double Heads: Legendary Live (2007)
  • Tripical Midbooster Winter 1981-82 (2009)
  • France Demo Tape (2007)
  • Great White Wonder (2006)
  • Heavier Than a Death in the Family (2002)
  • Mars Studio 1980 (2004)
  • Flightless Bird Needs Water Wings (溺れる飛べない鳥は水羽が必要, Oboreru tobenaitori wa Mizuha ga hitsuyō) (2007)
  • Volcanic Performance (2008)

References

  1. ↑ Semprebon, Rolf. Les Rallizes Dénudés at AllMusic. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  2. ↑ Joanna Demers (December 11, 2015). Drone and Apocalypse: An Exhibit Catalog for the End of the World. Zero Books. p. 19. ISBN 9781782799948.
  3. ↑ "doronco／灰野敬二＋三浦真樹／LAPIZ TRIO／ヨシノトランス＋川口雅巳＠国立 地球屋 2013.5.17（fri） – A Challenge To Fate". Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  4. ↑ "Moriaki Wakabayashi 2017 Interview Translation". legitvidya.com. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  5. ↑ Moriaki Wakabayashi Interview (2017) w/ English Subtitles, retrieved 2023-04-11
  6. 1 2 Cope, Julian (2016-05-19). Japrocksampler. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4088-8067-8.
  7. 1 2 "Discography". Les Rallizes Dénudés (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  8. ↑ Andrews, William (2016). Dissenting Japan: A History of Japanese Radicalism and Counterculture, from 1945 to Fukushima. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-1-84904-579-7.
  9. ↑ Les Rallizes Dénudés - 13 CDs「裸のラリーズ13枚組限定CDボックス」, retrieved 2023-01-03
  10. ↑ Les Rallizes Dénudés - 裸のラリーズ, retrieved 2022-08-28
  11. ↑ "Statement". Les Rallizes Denudes. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  12. ↑ "Les Rallizes Denudes". Les Rallizes Denudes (in Japanese). Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  13. ↑ "[Event] Fall and Rise of Les Rallizes Dénudés Vol.3". Les Rallizes Dénudés. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
  14. ↑ "久保田麻琴が振り返る70年代の日本のロック". Mikiki (in Japanese). 24 June 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  15. ↑ "The OZ Tapes, by Les Rallizes Dénudés". Les Rallizes Dénudés. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
  16. ↑ "The Quietus | Features | A Quietus Interview | Makoto Kubota Of Les Rallizes Dénudés Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
  17. ↑ "Announcment of the Enter the Mirror event on Temporal Drift's Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  18. ↑ "CITTA' '93 announcement on Temporal Drift's Twitter".
  19. 1 2 "裸のラリーズ --- Les Rallizes DeNudes / Discography". 裸のラリーズ - Unofficial -. Archived from the original on 2007-01-02. Retrieved 21 October 2021.

Further reading

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