KEN MATSUTANI, guitar, vocals
RIE MIYAZAKI, bass, chorus
YASUYUKI WATANABE, drums, percussion, chorus,
synthesizer
TAROU ARAKAWA, drums, percussion, chorus
BROWN’NOSE No.2, guitar

Der Opener ‚Old Fish’ ist ein episch-monotoner Rocker wie ihn auch Acid Mother’s Temple nicht besser hinbekommen hätten. Ein Bass wie brodelnde Lava, die Drums klingen wie eine Horde Mammuts, die Gitarren wie die Schreie eines Schwarms Ichthyosaurier. Mit einem Wort: Unglaublich! (Ein Wort, das in Verbindung mit japanischen Bands häufiger auftaucht). Wo einem nach dem ersten Track schon der Mund offen stehen bleibt, setzt die Band im zweiten gleich noch einen drauf. (Dass dieser ‚Fla Fla Heaven’ heißt, legt weiteres Zeugnis von der Andersartigkeit der Band ab.) Ein stampfender Rocker mit einer simplen, unwiderstehlichen Melodie, ähnlich hymnisch und schnurgerade wie die besten Songs der Wipers. Ein absoluter Ohrwurm. Der Track klingt, als ob man mit 120km/h über die Landstraße knallt und dabei rechts und links die Begrenzungspfähle an sich vorbeiziehen sieht. Und just in dem Moment, in dem man denkt, dass dieser Sound nicht mehr zu toppen sei, knallt eine fast schon absurd verzerrte Gitarre ins Bild, die alle anderen Instrumente an die Wand spielt. Marble Sheep sind eben auch Dekonstrukteure ihres eigenen Sounds. Und haben es faustdick hinter den Ohren. Wen wundert’s also, dass bei ihren Auftritten ein weißes Schaf mit Gitarre die Bühne besteigt? Marble Sheep sind die Merry Pranksters des 21. Jahrhunderts. Sie bewegen sich irgendwo zwischen Motörhead, Grateful Dead und Monty Python, bringen aber mehr Rock’n’Roll auf die Waage als alle drei zusammen!

Wer jetzt noch nicht ins Universum der marmornen Schafe abgetaucht ist, wird spätestens von dem fast 14-minütigen ‚Rain’ mit seinen synchron gespielten Gitarrensoli um den letzten Rest Verstand gebracht. Ein langer Jam, an dessen abruptem Ende man plötzlich merkt, wie schnell die Zeit vergehen kann, wenn man sich von dieser Musik hypnotisieren lässt. Denn das wollen und können die Musiker von Marble Sheep: Ihre Hörer ins Universum hinauskatapultieren, in andere Sphären. Und diese Sphären sind genau so far out wie die eines Sun Ra. Ich darf mich wiederholen: Unglaublich.

Und wer meint, zu dieser Musik noch bewusstseinserweiternde Drogen einnehmen zu müssen, der oder die hat etwas falsch verstanden. Denn diese Musik IST eine bewusstseinserweiternde Droge. In diesem Sinne: Have a nice trip!

english version top

America – land of boundless opportunities. 'Wait a minute', some may say, 'the land of boundless opportunities? America? You mean in the sense that everybody can become president or at least governor? Because musically, it isn't anymore.' And they're right, for it seems that for the moment, that land is Japan. In the last ten years, bands like the Boredoms, White Heaven or the almighty Acid Mother’s Temple have secretly re-invented rock (especially its psychedelic form). Marble Sheep are another band who have played their part in this process. Founded in 1987 by ex-White Heaven guitarist Ken Matsutani, they played extensive jams and experimental improvisations in their formative years. They also excelled at the odd Velvet Underground- or Pink Fairies-cover. With the incredible volume of their shows, they often brought the power-system of the clubs they played to collapse. Which is exactly what their new album For Demolition Of A Spiritual Framework sounds like. Only more extreme. For this music is absolutely heavy. At least as heavy as Hawkwind, Black Sabbath and St. Vitus combined. And if one isn't careful, one might have one's spiritual framework demolished by this music -–as the album's title already suggests.

The opener 'Old Fish' is a monotonous and epic rocker that Acid Mother's Temple couldn't have played better. A bass like bubbling lava, drums sounding like a herd of mammoths, guitars like the cries of a flock of ichthyosaurs. To put in a nutshell: Unbelievable! (A word which crops up frequently in the description of those Japanese bands.) But where the first track leaves one open-mouthed, the band manages to exceed this effect with the second track on this CD. (The fact that it is called 'Fla Fla Heaven' bears further testimony to the band's 'otherness'). A stomping rock-song with a simple, irresistible melody; similar in its hymnal appeal to the best songs by the Wipers. A catchy tune if there ever was one. The track is the aural equivalent to driving along a country road with 120 km/h and observing the fence posts rushing by. And just at the moment, when you think that this sound just cannot be topped, an almost absurdly distorted guitar crashes into the picture and almost eclipses all other instruments. For Marble Sheep are also the deconstructors of their own sound. And they're always up to tricks. Thus one isn't really unprepared when one witnesses a white sheep with a guitar taking the stage during one of their concerts. Marble Sheep are the Merry Pranksters of the 21st century. They are located somewhere between Motörhead, the Grateful Dead and Monty Python – but having more rock'n'roll in their blood than all of these combined!

Anyone who by this stage has not dived head first into the universe of the Marble Sheep will be drawn into it by the sheer insanity of the 14 minutes of 'Rain' and its simultaneous guitar-solos. A long jam, at the end of which one will most likely notice how fast time can pass, if you let yourself be hypnotised by this music. And this is just what the musicians of Marble Sheep want and at which they excel: To propel their listeners out into the vastness of the universe, into otherworldly spheres. And these spheres are probably as far out as those someone like Sun Ra moved in. If I may repeat myself: Unbelievable!

Anyone who thinks that one should take mind-expanding substances to accompany this music, has got something wrong. For this music IS a mind-expanding substance. Have a nice trip!