Have you ever been to Miyazaki? It’s a prefecture on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, facing the Pacific. Palm trees. Humid subtropical climate. This is the home of Maple Fyshh, a musical artist whose late-80s/early-90s recordings have been collected and reissued here. Liberated by the advent of 4-track cassette home recording technology, inspired by a love of 60s pop oddball production mavens like Phil Spector and Joe Meek, as well as American hot rod and surf music, these Maple Fyssh songs glow with an outsider’s love of the transformative power of newly-available sound technology, allowing him to pull his inspirations across decades and oceans to his 1990s Miyazaki home studio. The tracks here are a d.i.y. dream-pop wonderland, compiling songs from his first LP “Mariko” and second LP “Dokitto Station!!”, both self-produced, both released in 1995. The A-side of this release features tracks from the concept album “Mariko”, a masterpiece of daydream pop introspection, recorded in 1994-95, inspired by a poem submitted to a manga magazine. The B-side features tracks from “Dokitto Station!!”, slightly earlier recordings that draw inspiration from a range of 60s pop including girl groups, surf music and acid folk. All the music here demonstrates Maple Fyshh’s deep understanding and appreciation 60s pop moves, and also his mastery of the limited technology at his disposal.
Tracklist
- The Prelude
- You Are Leaving My Mind
- You Are the Other Reality and I Am This Reality Okay Okay No More Scary Faces
- You Are Leaving My Mind (Reprise)
- Mariko - The Finale Sands and Sun (Instrumental)
- A Peeling Off Poster Part 2 (Instrumental)
- Sha-la-la on the Hill: A Dawn Poem
- Bells of Spring
- Lipstick Boy
- Love Gone to the Blue Sea Once Again on the Seaside Path
- Twistar Sister Pylot Twinkle Star Patrol
