FUSHITSUSHA - 1978: Eien no ho ga saki ni te o dashita no sa
From 1978, the earliest group recordings by Fushitsusha yet to be released. A vital document for understanding the Japanese underground and the truest, most exciting rock group of the contemporary era. Now heres something unexpected and utterly fascinating. The earliest years of Fushitsusha have long been shrouded in mystery, palely illumined by only the dimmest of rumours and half-facts. As a live entity the group seems to have begun sometime in 1978 (also the year that Friction, Japans first punk group formed), initially in a couple of strange duo line-ups, one of which included Tamio Shiraishi on synth. But soon after that it took on the familiar rock trio form, with Jun Hamano (of the legendary acid-splatter group Gaseneta) on bass, and a shady character called Takashima on drums. This version of the group lasted for about a year before falling apart, and documentation was pretty much non-existent. Until now. On the usual all-black textured paper gatefold, the only distinguishing mark is a small silver 1978. Unchanging timelessness is one of Fushitsushas most salient characteristics, and this release reveals that the groups radical dissection of rock rhythm, fracturing of attack and summoning of vibration was born entirely fully-formed. That the group has retained an identical level of intensity, experimentation and commitment for twenty-five years is a truly a testament to something. Either way, this is one more piece of a puzzle too vast to be grasped in its entirety by anyone other than Haino. And further proof, as if any was needed, that Fushitsusha are the most exciting rock group of the contemporary era. For those that pay attention to such things, the title means something approximately like It was eternity that reached out its hand first?
After nearly a decade of false starts, multiple game plans veering off the rails, and a handful of shattered hopes and/or dreams, the odyssey is finally complete—the new Fusetron site is here.
This is the first phase of a multipart rollout that will span the next few months: the currently browsable stock includes miscellaneous new releases from the past 8+ months (we have a lot of catching up to do), plus approximately a third of our backstock. Note that we’ve reduced/slashed prices on many titles and will continue to do so in order to make room for new stock. We’ll also be expanding / tweaking / improving / debugging the site itself (for example, we still have work to do on the automated international postage system, not to mention the inevitable inventory discrepancies that come with transferring an ancient and massive database to a new system).
Over the next few months, as we take inventory, clean house, and delve into our storage, we will be uploading thousands of additional items, gradually, on a near-daily basis. This will include the majority of the LPs, as well as many titles, in all formats, once thought long-gone. Many currently “sold out” items are likely to resurface.
Finally, once our general backstock is up (probably in the next two or three months) we’ll begin making our extensive stockpile of rarities available online for the first time: tons of random out-of-print titles, "deadstock," warehouse finds, secondhand collectibles, etc., accumulated over the past few decades.
Frequent/returning customers will be getting early access to these items. Details to follow on how this will work (a priority mailing list? a 'frequent flyer'-like program?), but it will not be based on dollars spent. We want to reward those who consistently support us, especially in the discogs marketplace era (to those who show up trying to poach five copies of a one-off rarity, and nothing else, ever… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).
So—we suggest you take some time to dig through the site—even we’ve been surprised by what’s been turning up, and there’s much more to come.
