The supremely interesting Japanese psych-rock collective Acid Mothers Temple released a partial discography of its music on May 2nd. Comprised of 24 hours of music, the digital album called AMT24 covers all of the collective’s works from its first album to 2007 and is a great find for lovers of the esoteric psych-rockers.
Acid Mothers Temple’s discography is vast, and they say it can be likened to a labyrinth, but this partial discography in digital form traces the band’s history. The collective said covering all their works in a mere 24 hours was impossible, so this release only covers a portion of them.
Kawamba Makoto re-mastered the songs and produced a special mix version for the release. At the album’s end, there’s a new song from the current members’ latest album and a rare live recording of a performance with Simeon (Silver Apples), who passed away in 2020.
If you don’t know much about Acid Mothers Temple, here’s a little history …
Makoto leads the group, comprising about 30 members, including famous and unknown musicians, artists, dancers, and farmers. The Acid Mothers Temple family record label was established in 1998 to follow and document their activities. The Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. group is just one part of the collective’s activities.
The collective’s members live in several houses all over Japan, and each is free to move between the houses. So, they’re not a commune in the sense that they all live together in the same place, but they sort of function as one. Some members like to travel, while others stay home. Our slogan is “Do Whatever You Want, Don’t Do Whatever You Don’t Want!!”
They explain that due to this philosophy, the collective has lost money and, in some cases, society’s trust. Members of the collective may have been mixed up with the notorious Aum Supreme Truth religious cult in the past, and neighbors have mistakenly thought AMT members’ houses were secret Aum hideouts.
Small Japanese mountain villages are also suspicious of them sometimes, and they get ostracized by these communities. “These kinds of problems pop up occasionally, but there’s not much we can do about it,” the group says.
The underground history of AMT is fascinating, though, almost as much as their music. They explain on their site that they have one member who traveled through the Australian deserts and lived with Aborigines. Other members are bumming around India. They say one went to Africa and never came back.
Another member “dropped out of a Yakuza gang and decided to travel around Japan searching for mermaids.” Regardless of what the members do, they all live according to their slogan and eventually return to the fold. “The ‘soul collective’ only exists so that we can protect our freedom,” they say.
AMT is a legendary underground psych band/collective, so whether many of these stories are genuine or rumors and tall tales is debatable. The group is based on communal values but is sometimes mistaken for a religious cult.
AMT’s music is what you may expect from a group with this type of history. It’s all freaky psychedelic jams, much of it inspired by krautrock and Seventies-style progressive rock. AMT even did a live Levitation Session in 2021, which is as great an introduction to these Japanese heads as there is one.
As for the recently released AMT24, it’s a tremendous deal on Bandcamp. The digital album features about 24 hours of music for 24 bucks. You can literally go through a partial history of the entire AMT collective for $1 an hour.
If you like Acid Mothers Temple, you can find much of the band’s music on Spotify and Bandcamp. There are also plenty of articles written about the group online if you want to dive deeper. Enjoy!
Check out AMT24 by Acid Mothers Temple on Bandcamp here.
You can support Acid Mothers Temple by finding them on Bandcamp, their official website, or social media (Instagram, Facebook).
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