Les Rallizes Denudes
| Les Rallizes Dénudés | |
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Les Rallizes Dénudés in 1974. Pictured (left to right): Mikio Nagata, Takashi Mizutani, Shunichiro Shoda, Takeshi Nakamura.
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | 裸のラリーズ |
| Origin | Japan |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1967–1996 |
| Associated acts | Fujio Yamaguchi, Taj Mahal Travellers, Acid Seven, Masato Minami, Arthur Doyle, Shizuka, Suishou no Fune |
| Past members | Takashi 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 Maki Miura |
Les Rallizes Dénudés (裸のラリーズ, Hadaka no Rallizes) were a Japanese rock band. They originally began in 1962 as a musical theatre troupe, however the formation of the band was not until 1967 at Kyoto University. 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 as they have never officially released any of their own material, although there are archive releases on independent labels such as Univive, Rivista, Phoenix and Banzai.
Much of Les Rallizes Dénudés' history remains largely shrouded in mystery and nearly nothing is known about their highly enigmatic frontman Takashi Mizutani. A few very sparse first person accounts and documentation describe Mizutani as an extremely introverted and reclusive individual with very nihilistic and solipsistic views on life. It is also evident that he had very radical leftist views and supported the Japanese Red Army.
Les Rallizes Dénudés emerged from the late 60's underground rock scene that was forming in the Kyoto commune scene. Other notable groups to emerge from this scene were The Taj Mahal Travellers, The Ubiquitous Acid 7 group and Masato Minami. Les Rallizes Dénudés and The Taj Mahal Travellers are often seen as well ahead of their contemporaries at the time and far more original and innovative, as their styles were not largely utilized in the underground rock and psychedelic scenes yet.
The earliest recordings of Les Rallizes Dénudés date back to an aborted studio session recorded some time in either late 1967 or early 1968. Supposedly, Mizutani was so dissatisfied with the sound of the recordings that he decided to completely abandon the idea of recording studio material. After that point, he made very rare studio visits making another unsuccessful studio recording attempt in 1980. Some of the more notable recordings from the 1967-68 recording are "Otherwise My Conviction" and another track which roughly translates to either "Birdsong" or "Cry of a Bird". The latter of the two recordings was recycled often in their live sets. Later in 1968 they performed a live track that has gained some recognition as their first real foray into noise, the nearly 20 minute long "Smokin Cigarette Blues". Although poorly recorded, the recorded is considered to be very important in the development of noise rock.
Their Live performances originally accompanied performances by avant-garde theater groups (such as Shuji Terayama's troupe). Their performances were quickly deemed too loud and intense to back a theater performance, as it would be too distracting. One of their earliest and most infamous concerts was a concert at a Kyoto Kyoto University during the student protests that were going on at the time. This particular concert was dubbed "Barricades-A-Go-Go". A posthumous compilation entitles "'67-'69 Studio Et Live" contains a recording of a live performance which may have been from that event.
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