| White Heaven - Next To Nothing |
| There
are a lot of revered bands and artists in Japanese psych: Keiji Haino,
Acid Mothers Temple, Ghost, etc. Any list must also include White
Heaven, one of the original bands to find themselves on the scene
defining PSF label in the mid 80s, when things were starting to really
take off. Like virtually all the bands in the scene, White Heaven
had lineup changes galore, but retained core members, in this case
bassist / vocalist You Ishihara (Stars) and (with the exception of
1992's "Strange Bedfellows,") guitarist Michio Kurihara (Ghost, Stars,
Boris.) That said, there are two things that distinguish White Heaven. First, despite their pedigree, their releases are annoyingly difficult to find...only the thoroughly excellent "Out" is still in print. Second, and more importantly, White Heaven were less conceptually intense. I don't mean their music lacked intensity (anyone who has made it more than two minutes into "Out" knows better than that,) but rather they didn't distill their approach to the point of fetish. While there has always been a wide range of sounds and approaches in Japanese psych, they're quite often distinguished by an almost fanatical single mindedness, be it the in-the-red adrenaline rush of High Rise, the impossibly dark depths of Fushitsusha, or the soul wrenching hyperfocus of Kan Mikami. White Heaven were a looser beast, and as such are in many ways more accessible, a powerful, often dark, but less intimidating group that explores more traditional idioms with an effortlessness that is anything but typical of their peers. Nowhere is that approach more pronounced than 1994's "Next To Nothing," a four song EP that was the band's swan song (frustratingly, the vinyl issue had two more songs: "Strange Bedfellow" and "Wednesday.") "Next To Nothing" is straight up lounge jazz, a warm, delicious twenty minutes of lazy excellence. That the band manages to retain their edge in such laid back circumstances is remarkable indeed. They comfortably carve out a niche in very narrow territory, avoiding mawkish sentimentality while still managing to retain the core of, well, easy listening. The Bacharach / David chestnut "The Look Of Love" would be sappy, dull, or annoyingly ironic in lesser hands. Here, it's stripped of its considerable cultural baggage, leaving its core: beginning with a sinister but seductive intro, it retains a calm, dignified beauty that is delicately but effectively spiked with subtle psychedelic touches. As was becoming his habit, Kurihara's solo is a miracle, striking an improbable balance between menace and an almost classic grace, rising from the depths of the mix to placidly fry your brain. It's not just any band that can take a song that has long since lapsed into over familiarity and make it vital again, particularly since they haven't done anything to it that could be called extreme. It's a very straight reading, but such is the subtle power of the group that they make the song their own without any particularly obvious alteration. "Shadow Of The Sun" is the most explicitly lounge of the four tracks, "Girl From Ipanema" percussion layered with deep, warm reverb. "Warm" is the best adjective to use, as the song is a perfect adult lullaby, an invitingly psychedelic cocoon of gentle sounds. "Out There" is less lounge, more easy, approaching the softness of early Pink Floyd (think "A Pillow Of Winds," or a less sinister "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun.") As shown in "The Look Of Love," White Heaven have a strong talent for using cliché without being cliché, infusing what should be tediously familiar with a cool, unassuming, but vital new life. "Next To Nothing" was White Heaven's last, but it was hardly the end of the Ishihara / Kurihara alliance. They're constantly all over each other's projects, even joining forces with White Heaven bassist Chiyo Kamekawa to form The Stars. They're also, of course, all over Boris' "Smile" album and it's variations, as well as working closely with artists like Ai Aso. Perhaps it's best to view White Heaven as less a self contained group, and simply the beginning of one of the most artistically distinctive and fruitful collaborations in Japanese rock. That said, White Heaven do inhabit a specific place in Japanese psych history, a traditionally structured band that nonetheless managed to stand out in a field of rugged individualists. "Next To Nothing" shows how unassumingly "normal" they could be while retaining a power that was theirs alone. Now, if only there was a reissue... |