THE GEROGERIGEGEGE

[Minus1]

Someone did a long and very detailed series of reviews covering the entire discography: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/notchtc/%F0%9D%86%93-aka-we-are-the-gerogerigegege/

Wow. The Dude Abides. I looked at a few - even the 10CD. Well done!

I feel like I have learned a lot just from skimming these reviews!  (The #1 thing being that I need to buy more Gero...)

😂 Prefuckingcisely!

Although I've been frustrated in finding certain items.

[Balor/SS1535]

Someone did a long and very detailed series of reviews covering the entire discography: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/notchtc/%F0%9D%86%93-aka-we-are-the-gerogerigegege/

Wow. The Dude Abides. I looked at a few - even the 10CD. Well done!

I feel like I have learned a lot just from skimming these reviews!  (The #1 thing being that I need to buy more Gero...)

😂 Prefuckingcisely!

Although I've been frustrated in finding certain items.

You mean you haven't been able to track down any of the one-off denture "albums"?

[Minus1]

I have...limits! 😂

Even his most well-known CDs...fuckall on discogs, month after month.

[k.p.g]

Wow -- Minus1 revives a thread that I needed; always reliable!

This morning, I listened to William Bennett is My Dick on the way to work.  Story is that this was originally intended to be a Nihilist Surfin' Group record, but RRRon had other ideas once Juntaro dicked him over on some distro.  But is this a case of the prankster being more in the right than the artist?  Cuz honestly, I think this one is more on brand for The Gero's brand of trickery than it would have been for NSG.  And for what it's worth, Juntaro pulls off the 80s Whitehouse sound pretty well for a pisstake.  It's kind of hilarious how Side A achieves that Whitehouse mic feedback almost perfectly, just to be undercut by the iconic disco loop.  Hah.  Great.

[Minus1]

(I'd give the revival credit to SS1535.) 😂

[chtc]

I see that mention of my reviews briefly revived this thread. I'm proud of them, but at the same time I think they need improvement. Maybe I'll keep rewriting them, while hoping some news arrives from Juntaro or another release surfaces. There are many things I could talk about but currently I'm most interested in all kinds of info about The Gerogerigege. Stories, rumors, correspondence, mail order catalogues, magazines, etc. You can find many things on the internet, but the rest is in people's minds, shelves, old dusty hard drives, lost chats/forums, in a box in the attic, etc.

To kick things off I'll throw in something I don't think I've heard anyone talk about. Apparently Juntaro had a short-lived marriage in the 90s. I found about this when looking through the blog of Hironari Iwata (RIP) of Toukaseibunshi. He has written liner notes for Senzuri Champion, die hard edition of Moenai Hai, and >(decrescendo) is 100% dedicated to him. You can find quite a few posts on his Twitter where he hangs out with JY. Clearly was good friends with him, so it's safe to say that he isn't pulling this out of his ass. Here's the relevant excerpt (machine translated).

We were best friends when we were teenagers.
Around the time I was 20 and about to quit music, I apparently said to him on the phone, "How long are you going to keep doing something so boring? No matter how many boring things you pile up, in the end, it's just boring," spitting it out at him.
I think what a terrible thing to say, but I guess I was trying to break away from music in my own way.
Then, a few years later, he called me to say he was getting married. While congratulating him, I apparently advised him, "You're an artist, so don't have children."
Apparently, due to circumstances around them, they divorced after a year and a half, so maybe my advice wasn't entirely wrong.

(I say the 90s because Iwata disappeared in 1988.)
Source: http://blog.livedoor.jp/aqua9803/archives/2014-08.html

[Theodore]

RE: Toukaseibunshi and Juntaro : Apparently there is a release of a live collab of them, with Vasilisk guy too. Basically Toukaseibunshi show and friends joined in.

Years ago i was killing my time on Soulseek and in an unknown user's folders i found WAV files of this also with PDF looking like CD / CDR cover and text doc like press info in japanese. Did this release ever happened ? I have no idea. Anyone knows for real ?

I remember i had translated the japanese text to find the info. Gig was at 2012 ? I don't remember. But i had confirmed it via Google.

I still have the files in a drive somewhere. And if there isn't an actual release of it, or wouldn't be, then somewhen i will bootleg it, not for profit, just cause Juntaro loves bootlegs and he owes me tapes. To make him 'happy' . Joking aside i recall it was good stuff, Toukaseibunshi style.

Edit : That's your site , isn't it ? https://tokyoanaldynamite.com/articles/the-return-of-juntaro-yamanouchi/
When you say guest performer you mean Juntaro performed alone or as collaborator ?

[chtc]

RE: Toukaseibunshi and Juntaro : Apparently there is a release of a live collab of them, with Vasilisk guy too. Basically Toukaseibunshi show and friends joined in.

Years ago i was killing my time on Soulseek and in an unknown user's folders i found WAV files of this also with PDF looking like CD / CDR cover and text doc like press info in japanese. Did this release ever happened ? I have no idea. Anyone knows for real ?

I remember i had translated the japanese text to find the info. Gig was at 2012 ? I don't remember. But i had confirmed it via Google.

I haven't heard anything about a release, that sounds interesting. If it contains Juntaro, I doubt it was from 2012. Juntaro only started resurfacing in 2013 and Iwata himself states that the August 16th, 2014 Toukaseibunshi show was (apparently) Juntaro's first live performance in 16 years. I also didn't find a show where Iwata, Juntaro and Vasilisk performed together, closest thing would be the August 30th, 2014 show where Grim played with Juntaro, and Toukaseibunshi and Vasilisk (as a duo with Ungeziefier) performed separately. Juntaro did perform with Vasilisk at HovH's (GRIM + Vasilisk) September 12th, 2014 show.

In June of 2016, Iwata also mentioned that he was recording with Juntaro and Ken Matsutani (Marble Sheep, Mickey Guitar Band) as Toukaseibunshi α since May 2016  but nothing from those sessions got released. I doubt those live shows and sessions will get released officially since Iwata passed away and Juntaro currently seems finished (though his Facebook post about quitting music has disappeared). There was one posthumous Toukaseibunshi release but I just don't think this will happen.

Could you show something from that PDF?

When you say guest performer you mean Juntaro performed alone or as collaborator ?

As collaborator, as far as I know there weren't any post-hiatus solo Juntaro performances besides the opening DJ set he did for RomanPorsche. in 2017.

Also coming back to that Juntaro's first show in 16 years thing, that implies his last was in 1998... I really wish Juntaro did an updated Gero live history; maybe even a complete "Juntaro Yamanouchi" live history. But I can only wish about that. From what I know he just did less Gero live shows after 1991, but there might be some undocumented performances. The last show before the disappearance that I know of is from 1996. This makes me wonder whether Iwata got the numbers wrong (or maybe Juntaro...), or did Juntaro perform as Gero or maybe as a collaborator for someone after 1996. So many mysteries...

[Theodore]

No, don't take the 2012 date for certain. That was what came in my mind, approx. I ll search for the files and come back with accurate info, as soon as i can, in the next few days. I have 8 drives in a drawer ...

PS: You have done meticulous work with your site !

[chtc]

No, don't take the 2012 date for certain. That was what came in my mind, approx. I ll search for the files and come back with accurate info, as soon as i can, in the next few days. I have 8 drives in a drawer ...

PS: You have done meticulous work with your site !

Okay, I understand. Let's hope you'll manage to find the files quickly! Even if there won't be Juntaro, this still sounds interesting. And thank you for the complement!

[Theodore]

Files in my drive dated from 2018. There wasnt PDF + Text , just a .doc with a photo and text. Seems it's an actual release ! CDR . I extracted the photo :



Text in japanese translates via Google :

This is an ultra-rare, long-out-of-print masterpiece by Toukaseibunshi—a renowned pioneer and titan of the Japanese underground psychedelic-noise scene—originally released as an extremely limited-edition CDr. Titled *Toukaseibunshi & Friends*, this classic work features the mastermind behind Toukaseibunshi collaborating with several key figures from the Japanese avant-garde underground. The contributors include two legendary, enigmatic icons of the scene: Juntaro Yamanouchi—the creative force behind the legendary psychedelic-noise act The Gerogerigegege—and Tomo Kuwahara, the mastermind behind the seminal Japanese dark-tribal avant-garde group Vasilisk. It is a truly explosive, once-in-a-century collaboration!
Toukaseibunshi's music functions like a highly academic sonic report on "cosmic psychedelic sounds"—it is "serious," "composed," and possesses a profound "artistic sensibility." *Toukaseibunshi & Friends* stands as the pinnacle of the project's body of work, further elevated by the participation of these two master-level artists. It is an intensely mysterious exploration of "cosmic psychedelic sound" and an exceptionally rare artifact linking Toukaseibunshi with The Gerogerigegege.
About Toukaseibunshi
Hironari Iwata, the mastermind behind Toukaseibunshi, and his guest collaborator Juntaro Yamanouchi (of The Gerogerigegege) were both leading figures in the Japanese avant-garde psychedelic scene during the 1980s. The latter, in particular, is renowned for founding the formidable "perverted" avant-garde noise group The Gerogerigegege in 1985—a contribution that left an indelible mark on the Japanese underground music and noise scenes, earning him immense stature within the underground community.
The duo pioneered a unique, "destructive" guitar-playing technique that continues to be emulated by many contemporary artists in the same vein. In his earlier years, Hironari Iwata released a small body of avant-garde work under the moniker "Haiginsha" and engaged in extensive recording and live collaborations with The Gerogerigegege. This forged a decades-long partnership and a steadfast friendship with the group's mastermind, Juntaro Yamanouchi. It was during this period, at Iwata's instigation, that the two began their creative project, Toukaseibunshi (透過性分子).
Furthermore, Iwata established "Angakok," a label dedicated to avant-garde, psychedelic, and noise music released on cassette, while also contributing articles to various underground avant-garde magazines. His influence and contributions to the Japanese underground—spanning the avant-garde, psychedelic, and noise spheres—are profound.
Among the eccentric and rare recordings issued by P.S.F. Records, the label's enigmatic "Japanese Avant-Garde Cassette Reissue Series" stands out as particularly unique and "alternative"—a collection that includes the release *Meta-Inorganicmatter Meta-Newlon* by Toukaseibunshi.
The primary objective of P.S.F. Records' "Japanese Avant-Garde Cassette Reissue Series" is to "salvage" and rescue the most obscure yet valuable works from the vast ocean of Japanese underground music—treasures that had otherwise been forgotten by history. Regrettably, P.S.F. Records only managed to "salvage" these two albums before the label folded—long before any further works could be released.
*Meta-Inorganicmatter Meta-Newlon* by Toukaseibunshi is a profoundly avant-garde creation—an intensely enigmatic work centered on the genesis of "cosmic sonic mysteries." Had it not been for the immense influence and dedicated excavation efforts of P.S.F. Records, these magnificent recordings would have remained buried six feet under, hidden from the light of day.

Probably show happened in 2014. https://www.ftftftf.com/2014.html . Search the page for Vasilisk to find the entry quickly. It has Toukaseibunshi on that day too. Nothing is mentioned about Juntaro though.

Audio is 2 tracks. ~ 51 minutes total.