Audiopile Review: Western psyche rock groups often nodded to some vague idea of ‘far-eastern spirituality’. Japan’s High Rise turned this on its head by having songs called things like ‘Eucharist’ and ‘Deuteronomy’. You really notice the songs titles with this group because the same ones come up repeatedly across its releases, which spanned the ‘80s and ‘90s. High Rise, in a sense, could be seen as the archetypal jam band, whose core repertoire was reinvented again and again via collective interplay. But if the term ‘jam band’ makes you think of aimless stoned noodling, you are way off with this crew. These were, after all, the original Psychedelic Speed Freaks who gave the legendary PSF label its name. And on ‘Disturbance Trip’, the latest High Rise collection from Black Editions, they come absolutely storming out of the gate with raging versions of ‘Induced Depression’ and ‘Outside Gentiles’. This is High Rise at its most fired up and blown out. It’s a glorious blur of fuggy fuzz and barely controlled wailing. The energy hardly lets up until the final feedback shriek of a ten-minute ‘Pop Sicle’. But as physical as this music is, it’s also a head trip, and strangely dreamy in its own way. These multifarious elements of the group’s sound are gloriously represented on the previously unavailable 1992 live recordings presented on ‘Disturbance Trip’. A real treat for fans of all things Japanese, noisy, and psychedelic.

Ten blistering performances from Tokyo’s legendary High Rise. Recorded live in 1992, Disturbance Trip (BE 016LP) is a previously unreleased, distortion-saturated gem recorded in the same era as their third studio album, Dispersion. Guitarist Munehiro Narita’s unmatched ability to channel the pure energy/spirit of rock and roll and hard psychedelia is on full display; his riffs are heavy and propulsive, his solos dizzying and transcendent. Nanjo’s fuzz bass lays down hypermobile lines that swing and thunder as he intones lyrics that echo in the distance. Disturbance Trip is the first release on the resurrected La Musica Records, Asahito Nanjo’s mystifying, apocryphal cassette label started in the 1990s and documenting the most obscure reaches of the Japanese psychedelic underground. Deluxe double LP housed in custom Unipak-style gatefold jacket and printed inner sleeves with spot metallic inks and gloss UV coating. Featuring: Nanjo Asahito {bass, vocals); Narita Munehiro (guitar); Dr. Euro (drums). Recorded Live in 1992, Tokyo, Japan.