A Completists guide to the best of rest Of Vanity Records (1978-1981)

BGM-"Background Music" 1980

Agata Morio - "Norimono Zukan" 1980

Tolerance - "Divin" 1981

Tolerance - " Anonym" (1979)

Aunt Sally - "Aunt Sally" (1979)

As the rest of the classic releases on this wonderful Japanese record label were posted on the equally wonderful non-japanese "Bleak Bliss" blog; I have provided convenient linkages to said quality obscure noise vessel above. Especially excellent is the post-punk classic "Background Music" by BGM; good enough to rival The Glaxo Babies,ESG, and Gang of Four for post-punk-funk perfection.
Check the descriptons on Bleak Bliss for further infotainment.

Morio Agata ‎– "恋のラジオシティ" ( Vanity Records – vanity 2003, 7" Flexi promo) 1980

Morio Agata was apparently a moderately successful pop singer in Japan in the 70's. So to keep up with the times he made some synth-pop tunes in 1980, which resulted in the cheesy new-wavesploitation album " 乗物図鑑" on Vanity.(Which you can download on the rather lovely 'Bleak Bliss' blog by clicking here!)
This Flexi-Disc, free with 'Rock Magazine' in Japan, has the first track from that album to wet your appetites for more electronic R'n'R such as this. Its a kind of Suicide number with the lights turned on, but with  Alan Vega and Martin Rev replaced by Keith Harris and Orville.(yep its trash culture reference time again....for foreigners,ie anyone who isn't British, click here to experience the Harris as introduced by John Peel on Top Of The Pops)

DOWNLOAD some prime jap cheese HERE!

Die Krupps ‎– "6 Jun 1981 At Krefeld Haus Blumenthal" (Vanity Records ‎– vanity 8104, 7"Flexi promo) 1981

Vanity also has their/his serial number on a plethora of promo Flexi Discs that came with the boss's (Yozuru Agi) "Rock Magazine". These are as rare as a Tory/Neo Con I don't want to kick seven shades of Shite out of.
This one features German Industrial/EBM old skoolers ,Die Krupps, named after another jolly German industrial giant who used slave labour during WW2. I suppose we can't critise them too much,what they did was legal in their country,and bastards like McDonalds still do it today,as it is still legal;coupled with the slow murder of generations of children with their provably poisonous unhappy meals.There should be an industrial group called Die McDonalds Die really,but it doesn't sound as good as Die Krupps.
Die Krupps, nowadays, are an incredibly awful Metal group, but back in 1980 they were good, so don't be put off. This Flexi disc captures 6 minutes of their very non-metal early live sound.

DOWNLOAD this celebration of slave labour HERE!

Sympathy Nervous ‎– "Polaroid" (Vanity Records ‎– VA-S1) 1980

There have been aspersions cast on the authenticity of the date that Sympathy Nervous made his prescient recordings.This single, especially the a-side, sounds very,almost too modern era techno.
There is absolutely no doubt as to when 'Polaroid' was set to tape in Yoshifumi Niiuma's living room.....1980.No  sophisticated sequencing required, just controlled voltage,and ,or, tape syncing. Not just ground breaking, he made the whole mine shaft to the mother-lode.
The other two tracks are a bit weirder, "D.B.TV" (Directed by TV) especially, sounding like  the soundtrack to Forbidden Planet being transformed into a fruit smoothie.

Tracklist:

A Polaroid
B1 Polyester 35 Micron
B2 D.B.TV

DOWNLOAD some cream for your polaroids HERE!

Perfect Mother ‎– "Youll No So Wit" (Vanity Records ‎– VA-S3) 1980

In house music journalist and label owner, Yuzuru Agi, again takes the producers chair for Perfect Mother's only vinyl release; and its a mad one.The three tracks on this seven incher which contain elements of ambient,post punk, and minimal synth pop,are almost devoid of anything you would associate with a pop single.There are no catchy melodies or hooks, no songs, but there are moments you can dance to, only if you're insane,or don't mind dancing on your own. Songs for a very 'Dark Disco',for example, one that has closed down for the night. Unhinged madness guaranteed to empty a room,never-mind a dance-floor; now that's my kind of Pop......Unpopular.

Tracklist:

A1	Dark Disco - Da. Da. Da. Da. Da. Run
B1	You'll No So Witt
B2	Ephemeral Pieces

Da Da Da Da Da DOWNLOAD ephemerally HERE!

Mad Tea Party ‎– "Hide And Seek" (Vanity Records ‎– VA-S2) 1980

Vanity released three 'Classic' singles, this being the best according to my tastes,which were firmly molded by the immediate UK post-punk period ; as if you didn't know.
This collection of three heavily UK influenced tunes (can you call 'three' a collection?);could have easily been a Rough Trade release,with its untuned GangofFour-isms, as fronted by Claire Grogan on Valium. Pop music has never sounded better,especially Japanese Pop Music.

Tracklist:

A	Hide And Seek	3:42
B1	Modern Time's Pop	2:08
B2	In A Tea Bag	4:21

DOWNLOAD and seek no more HERE!

Dada ‎– "Jyo" (Vanity Records ‎– vanity 0001) 1978

Vanity Records' first release is from their prog hangover period, before the New Wave had hit Japan. A bit like Virgin Records before 1977.
This Mike Oldfield meets Brian Eno epic, sits comfortably alongside this labels other prog epic by SAB,but seems from another universe in comparison to the post-punk stuff from a year or so later, or the minimal electronic cassettes from 1980/1. One for post-Syd Pink Floyd Fans.

Tracklist:

A1	Yuuen • Inraku • Gaki
A2	Udonbara
B1	Rokujinzuu
B2	Seijyo-No-Chi. Mizu

DADA DOWNLOAD HERE!

Den Sei Kwan ‎– "Pocket Planetaria" (Vanity Records ‎– VAT3) 1981

This reminds me of the time I bought a short wave radio from the Kays catalogue at 35p per week,it could also pick up the police radio and the transmissions of passing aircraft.Oh the hours of harmless fun I had.Then i started buying DIY cassettes from the DIY sections of Sounds and NME and realised that nearly everyone used a Short Wave Radio as an instrument.Who needed a synthesiser with a whole universe of weird noises and disjointed electronic rhythms  available at the twist of a dial.
That's basically what this entire cassette is, a bunch of Short wave radio interference,eastern European  blocking signals and drifting transmissions, masquerading as avant garde composition.
The ultimate Radio transmissions record is "The Conet Project" as featured earlier in this blog.This is  nowhere near as spooky as that release,but its probably the ultimate DIY method for anyone who can't be arsed to play an instrument or compose anything coherent.

Tracklist:

A1	Transparent Radio
A2	P×T×C=1
A3	Thugu-Rikwo
B1	Sarava Tetsudo
B2	Pocket Planetaria
B3	Plastic Garden

DOWNLOAD some stuff you could tape off your radio HERE!

Wireless Sight ‎– "Endless Dark Dream" (Vanity Records ‎– VAT5) 1981

Who or what Wireless Sight were or are, remains lost in the mists of this depressing foggy cassette.
Its the soundtrack to a sleeping old woman sitting in a chair in a quiet room.Only a ticking clock for company,waiting to die.
The Ticking clock is represented by......erm......a ticking clock! The loneliness, by an aimlessly played maltuned upright piano; maybe this should have been called 'Aimless Sight'? Nevertheless, it does seem endless, until it ends.....eventually.
It reminds one of the awkward silence one only finds in a Dentist's waiting room; which brings to mind a second alternative title for this lo-budget Eno facsimile,- "Music for Dentist's waiting Rooms"? Put this on in a Hospice and time how long it is before someone with Non-Hodgkinson's Lymphoma ,or their relative, smashes your compact disc player.
Wrist-slashing stuff,in the wrong sense of wrist-slashing.
That fucking ticking clock reminds one constantly of your approaching funeral,each tick of this cassette is one second that you'll never get back; in fact one thousand nine hundred and seventy seconds you ain't gonna get back.BEWARE!

Tracklist:

A	Automatic Funny Sight (16.32)
B	Endless Dark Dream (16.18)

DOWNLOAD from this endless site HERE!

Nishimura Alimoti ‎– "Shibou" (Vanity Records ‎– VAT6) 1981

As usual, I know Fuck all about Mr Alimoti,and I'd prefer it to remain that way.Mystery is an under-rated and increasingly rare commodity in today's overexposed planet, overdosed on information, both incorrect and partially false.The only truth available is the blank spaces from the past which we can fill in ourselves (DIY?) with that other under-rated,and again, sadly rare, process, 'Imagination'.
When I imagine Nishimura Alimoti recording this shadowy, rumbling, post punk shytsterpiece; I see a monochrome vision of a small sparingly furnished room in a high rise apartment block in the most unfashionable area of Osaka, with a twenty something (Japanese) male sitting at a table covered with recently acquired second hand musical gear.Hunched over a crap guitar,overdubbing to some bass and drums he'd recorded earlier; all in one take.
And that's what this sounds like, bedsit land pop from the twilight zone. Don't walk towards the light, its shit out there!

Tracklist:

A1	Bunbunbae
A2	Hyojyo No Uta
A3	Inkasanka
A4	Lock And Role
B1	Yasai Ga Kirai
B2	Ninshiki Yoso
B3	Moeagaru Chukinto
B4	Nakayubi Tomare
B5	Reito Shokki
B6	Tori Ga Tonda Rarara
B7	Zesshyo

DOWNLOAD something mysterious HERE!

Invivo ‎– "B.B.B." - (Vanity Records ‎– VAT4) 1981

Another lost and ignored cassette only release on Japan's Vanity Records.
This time we find ourselves in some minimal electro-tinted post-punk interplanetary void.Think of a shy, vocal-less,drum box version of DAF mark one and transport them to 1980's Nippon; then you are somewhere near the sound of Invivo.
They seem obsessed with the contents of Petri-dishes, and why not? Vanity Records herself is somewhat akin to that essential item in a chemists toolbox; in so much as, she allows unicellular lifeforms such as Invivo to reproduce themselves and spread,symbiotically, to a host, to multiply or die.Unfortunately most of the bacteria, or 'Bacteriodes', on Vanity died in quarantine before they could evolve into multi-cellular organisms. A shame really,because Invivo had the potential to grow into something special,but never had the right food;all the agar jelly was snaffled by the Anglo-Saxon rock'n'roll alliance! A fine argument against the principle of Survival of the Fittest; but sometimes the best fun is had remaining in the primeval soup,especially in the world of post-war pop music. Invivo remained with the blue-green algae rather than crawl onto land and become a Dinosaur.And as we all know, Dinosaurs  became mostly extinct,leaving the smallest ones to evolve into Birds. This is happening again thanks to the meteor strike otherwise know as the Internet. One day this tape will become a bird,catch it before it flys away.

Tracklist:

A1	B.B.B. Micoplasm (1983)
A2	I.D.50 (Live)
A3	M.I.C.
A4	Macrolide (C H NO)
A5	Bacteroides
B1	Invitro / Proteus Amoxicillin
B2	Klebsiella -
B3	Micoplasma (1979)
B4	Dead World (LCM)

DOWNLOAD this lost chapter from the origin of species HERE!

Salaried Man Club ‎– "Gray Cross" ( Vanity Records ‎– VAT1) 1981

More Foggy electronic minimalism on cassette from Japan's Vanity Records by the mysterious Salaried Man Club. 
Very little more than rudimentary fuzzy drum box rhythms interspersed by lonely basic synth noises that barely get far beyond the white noise setting.Punctuated by vocodered vocals which bring back images of a depressed Metal Mickey crossed with Marvin the Paranoid Android.
It conjures a vision of a version of the Exorcist as made by Nintendo for a Game Boy mark 1, sellotaped to a circuit bent Speak and Spell machine possessed by a Demon who has escaped a pixelated Sinclair Spectrum ZX version of Hell.
Another classic from the pre-cambrian waters of electronica.

Tracklist:

A1	Martial Music (5.09)
A2	Fe.(5.02)
A3	The Thought Of Y (7.14)
A4	Cinerama (5.54)
B	Gray Cross (Parts 1-4) (18.10)

DOWNLOAD an above average salary for a Japanese male HERE!

Kiilo Radical ‎– "Denki Noise Dance" ( Vanity Records ‎– VAT2) 1981

This cassette is a weird ,muffled,glitchy affair,that dips its toes deeply into circuit bending electronic noises that are as pleasurable as popping bubble wrap; well, maybe not that pleasurable,but satisfying in a fuzzy lo-fi kind of way. The transistor frying sounds are backed up by repetitive pink noisy beats to keep the casual listener involved, so its not all dry joints and cheaply manufactured resistors; you could dance(?) to it......if you are that way inclined.I can certainly see Metal Micky's castors sliding around to this. Thankfully i'm NOT Metal Micky,or have to watch that new low in seventies childrens telly; but i would listen to this obscure cassette while I'm making me sandwiches.
(You know what, I dunno what I'd do without popular trash culture references from the arse end of the twentieth century?)

TRACKS:

1. Denki Noise Dance 1 (4.21)
2. Denki Noise Dance 2 (2.13)
3. Denki Noise Dance 3 (2.35)
4. Denki Noise Dance 4 (2.57)
5. Denki Noise Dance 5 (3.31)
6. Denki Noise Dance 6 (0.23)
7. Denki Noise Dance 7 (2.20)
8. Denki Noise Dance 8 (2.19)
9. Denki Noise Dance 9 (23.02)

DOWNLOAD and do the denki noise dance HERE!

SAB ‎– "Crystallization" (Vanity Records ‎– vanity 0002) 1978

Vanity Records  were not always a fine early source of nineties style glitchy electronica and proto rave trance outs. In 1978 they were a German kosmiche copyists label,

コズミック or '宇宙の or 'Uchū no' (Japanese for cosmic?).

I don't know if this is on the NWW list,but it sounds like it should be. Equally as good as any 'lost' krautrock kosmiche discovery.
Unlike the new prog electronic classics from the UK around the end of the seventies,like Dave Jones,George Garside,Ian Boddy etc,these fellows did this stuff because they didn't know any better,not as a contrary reaction to the musical fashions of the time.A pure place free of the whims of peer pressure,and in the process producing a Jap-prog classic,遠大!Then came Techno Pop!

 

Tracklist:

A1	Yume-No-Ishi
A2	Marble
B1	Menou
B2	Agate

DOWNLOAD a memento of the japanese space program HERE!

R.N.A. Organism ‎– "R.N.A.O Meets P.O.P.O" (Vanity Records ‎– vanity 0006) 1980

A letter wot i found on da internet!

A strange beast indeed from that strange Japanese beast,Jap music critic, Yuzuru Agi's, Vanity Records.Not quite a monster to rival Mothra,more like 'Minya' aka Son of Godzilla, with that weird 'Waaah-kw-waaah' squeal,instead of Godzilla's gutteral scream.
This is so minimal,it could be called minimal minimal synth, like a kind of lounge music for Daleks, relaxing on their home planet of Skaro after a hard days exterminating. Listen to this of an evening,just as Davros would, relaxing in a foaming hot tub of therapeutic mineral salts. Thrill to its sparse repetitive rhythms and crisp analogue noises, and wonder as to what 'P.O.P.O' stands for.

Tracklist:

A1	Weimar 22
A2	Howareyou, Whyou
A3	After
A4	Bring To Naught
A5	Nativity
A6	Yes, Every African Must Be Free Eternally
A7	Say It Loud, I'm Dilettante, I'm Proud
A8	Matrix

DOWNLOAD a tab of ribonucleic acid HERE!

Normal Brain ‎– "Lady Maid" (Vanity Records ‎– vanity 0009) 1981

Normal (Brain) service has been resumed, after that admittedly wonderful new years day post, we return to some Japanese nascent electronica,by Normal Brain,on the cult label, Vanity Records.
Apparently this features on that trainspotters guide to alternative music the "Nurse With Wound List". Hiding amongst the awful eastern European bargain bin prog rock, anglo-american psychedelic rock copyists from Switzerland, and dull as fuck third rate kosmiche from former Czechoslovakia; we find this proto-electronica-glitch classic that could easily have been made today, or at least released on Warp records around 1995. A very post-rave vibe permeates the Speak and Spell machines, misspelling 'Music' for our delight. Definitely one of the bright spots on that nerdy list,along with PiL,Glaxo Babies,Homosexuals,Cabaret Voltaire and a few other surprise inclusions.I'd sooner listen to this than some twenty minute bland -out from another third rate Agitation Free-alike.(I am of course being rather harsh,purely for entertainment purposes naturally)
Basically,this record is rather good indeed.

Tracklist:

A1	M-U-S-I-C
A2	Frottage "One Way"
A3	You Are Busy, I Am Easy
A4	KE300
A5	Frottage "SW"
B1	Fragment

DOWNLOAD a normal brain at last HERE!

Sympathy Nervous ‎– "Sympathy Nervous" (Vanity Records ‎– vanity 0007) 1980

Surprisingly thin on the ground,even more so that in the USA, is decent Japanese Minimal Synth music from the cusp o'the eighties. There was plenty of plinky plonk synth pop like The Plastics,or awful high budget blandness like Yellow Magic Orchestra,but nothing to compare with the devastating Noise rock which that densely populated island produces en masse.
One shining exception was/is Sympathy Nervous, aka Yoshifumi Niinuma, who gleaned his inspiration from the German electronic underground of the so-called Krautrock era. A more tasteful Resurrection of the axis alliance to produce something of benefit to mankind with some timeless proto-techno of the highest order.

Tracklist:

A1 A Worm
A2 Go On And Off
A3 Temperament
A4 Deaf Picture
B1 Automatic Type
B2 Quick Starttype
B3 Inverted Type
B4 Sympathetic Nerves

DOWNLOAD sympathetically or nervously HERE!