Japanese | musicalphabet

On May 2, 1998, Hideto Matsumoto, died aged 33. He was singer-songwriter, musician (guitar) and record producer. He was the lead guitarist of the rock band X Japan, founding member of the band Zilch, and had a successful solo career. X Japan rose to prominence in the late 80s and early 90s, credited as founders of the Japanese visual kei movement. Hide was seen as an icon of the Japanese youth rebelling against the country’s conformist society, and his death was labeled “the end of an era”. More than 70,000 people attended his funeral on May 7^th, with security of 100 police officers, 170 security guards, police boats and helicopters. 21 people were hospitalized for injuries caused by the massive crowd at the funeral.

On June 2, 2017, “Infectious Music” and “Canvasback Music” label released “Relaxer”, the third alt-J studio album. It was recorded August 2016 – January 2017, at “Iguana Studios” in Brixton,”Abbey Road Studios” in Westminster, “The Church Studios” in Crouch End, “Strongroom Studios” in Shoreditch, “Ely Cathedral” in Ely, and was produced by Charlie Andrew. The album art was taken from a video game made specifically for the band by Japanese artist Osamu Sato. It was inspired by Sato’s 1998 “PlayStation” video game LSD.

Personnel:

Joe Newman – vocals, guitar
Gus Unger-Hamilton – vocals, keyboards
Thom Sonny Green– drums, percussion, programming
Martin Williams – tenor saxophone
Joe Auckland – trumpet
Adrian Hallowell – trombone
Mike Kearsey – trombone
Trevor Mires – trombone
London Metropolitan Orchestra– strings
Ellie Rowsell, Marika Hackman– vocals
Hinako Omori – backing vocals
Ely Cathedral Boy Choristers – choir
Charlie Andrew – programming, engineer, mixing
Brett Cox, Jay Pocknell – engineer
Stefano Civetta, Paul Pritchard, Graeme Baldwin – engineer assistant
Dick Beetham – mastering

Track listing:

All tracks by Joe Newman, Gus Unger-Hamilton and Thom Sonny Green, except where noted.

3WW
In Cold Blood
House of the Rising Sun – traditional
Hit Me Like That Share
Deadcrush
Adeline – Joe Newman, Gus Unger-Hamilton, Thom Sonny Green, Hans Zimmer
Last Year
Pleader