I’ve been fascinated with Japanese psychedelic rock since The Third Eye premiered a new single from Tokyo-based Tō Yō’s upcoming album, Stray Birds From the Far East. I’m usually always interested in psychedelic music outside the United States because it’s awesome to hear the influences of different cultures and how international bands interpret psychedelic music.
I haven’t done much research for this post, but I did enough to discover that Japan has a rich history and legacy of psychedelic rock. I wrote a post for Monster Riff a year or so ago about Doom Metal in Japan, and it seemed as though stoner and doom aren’t as entrenched in Japanese music culture as psychedelia is. I could be wrong on that, though – and Weedian’s Trip to Japan from June 2022 shows there’s plenty of Japanese stoner rock to listen to.
I set out to make a sampler playlist of some of the best Japanese psychedelic rock I could find, and I narrowed it down to 44 songs (about 5-and-half hours of music). The list could grow over time, but that’s where it stands now. I’m calling it “The Land of the Rising Psych Rock,” and I think of it as a tribute to Japanese psychedelic rock inspired by the upcoming Tō Yō album – which I plan to review soon and will be released via King Volume Records on August 18, 2023.
Some bands I found were familiar to me, and some weren’t. For example, Acid Mothers Temple is a well-known band that’s been around for 25 years, collaborated with several bands, and releases a ton of music under different aliases. Most will also recognize Kikagaku Moyo, a popular Japanese psych band that gained an international audience and surprisingly called it quits after a 2022 farewell tour. There’s also Flower Travellin’ Band, a psych-proto-metal act that started in the Sixties and was actually the first band to cover Black Sabbath in a recording (fun fact I learned from the Monster Riff article).
But while making the playlist, I discovered a ton of other under-the-radar psych acts from Japan, old and new such as Taj Mahal Travelers, Far East Family Band, Shinki Chen, Minami Deutsch, and Dhidalah. I also discovered a cool, small label run by the boys of Kikagaku Moyo called Guruguru Brain that puts out a ton of great releases from bands across Asia, many of them psychedelic.
I tried to curate the list as much as possible and removed some bands and songs I added initially but didn’t like as much after a few listens. I also heavily consulted an article on Metal Hammer where Kannan’s bass player Eskild Myrvoll gives some great recommendations for underground Japanese psych rock.
So, enjoy the playlist and use this as an introduction to the sounds of Japanese psychedelic rock. Look for my Tō Yō album review coming soon and check out the new single Tō Yō just released via King Volume called “Hyu Dororo.” Be well!
Here’s the link to the Spotify playlist:
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