Acid Mothers Temple
April 19th, 2009
DC9
Washington, D.C.


Source:
Roland Edirol R-09 (on-board mics, low cut on & AGC off, saved as 16 bit 44.1khz .WAV) > WaveLab (SL-1 Stereo Expander @ 100% > Puncher (soft density, 70% effect, 0% output gain - note that Puncher was not used on Dark Stars for reasons likely detailed somewhere below)) > CDWAV (tracks split and saved as .FLAC level 8 ) > foobar2000 (Tags + ReplayGain)

Location: House front-center, approximately four feet from Higashi. Dark Stars was recorded on-stage.

Taper: ZaPenguin (pjzyhfz02(AT)sneakemail.com or
http://db.etree.org/ZappaPenguin)


SOUND QUALITY: A- (a little bit muddy in places, but my first instinct is that this has better dynamics than my Philly recording, though it's also slightly more muddy (if one can imagine such a combination). Dark Stars is a solid A, some distortion perhaps, but it all sounds so vibrant - perhaps the only audience recording where Higashi's rhythm guitar is clearly audible)


THE BAND:
Tsuyama Atsushi: monster bass, voice, cosmic joker
Higashi Hiroshi: synth, guitar, voice, dancin'king
Shimura Koji: drums, latino cool
Kawabata Makoto: guitar, voice, speed guru


TRACK LIST:
CD1 [48:54]
01. "D.C. Experimental?" [2:02]
02. > Experimental Intro Jam [8:07]
03. Dark Stars in the Dazzling Sky [23:07]
04. Eleking the Clay [5:05]
--> 05. > "Is Mellow Experimental?" Mellow Hippie Jam [4:38]
--> 06. > Pa Pa Pa Pa [5:56]
[Total time of suite: 15:39]

CD2 [58:46]
01. "Is Acoustic Experimental?" Tsuyama Acoustic Song [5:13]
--> 02. > Pink Lady Lemonade [16:20]
--> 03. > Cosmic Soul Death Disco [9:04]
--> 04. > Pink Lady Lemonade [5:50]
--> 05. > "Is 'The End' Experimental?" [4:08]
--> 06. > Cometary Orbital Drive > Speed Guru [18:11]
[Total time of suite: 58:46, surprisingly enough]

Notes: D1T5, D1T6, and D2T1 probably have better / more official titles. Details would be quite forthcoming indeed!

MINI BIO:
"Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. (and subsequent offshoots) is a Japanese psychedelic band founded in 1995 by members of the Acid Mothers Temple soul-collective. The band is led by guitarist Kawabata Makoto and early in their career featured many musicians but by 2004 the line-up had coalesced with 4 core members and frequent vocal guests.

The band have a reputation for phenomenal live shows, and releasing frequent albums on a number of international record labels, as well as the Acid Mothers Temple family record label which was established in 1998 to document the activities of the whole collective."
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia which every 14 year old has edited.


BAND PAGE:
http://www.acidmothers.com


SETLIST:
"Are We Experimental?" intro jam, Dark Stars in the Dazzling Sky, Eleking the Clay > "Is Mellow Experimental?" Mellow Jam > Pa Pa Pa Pa, Tsuyama Acoustic Song > Pink Lady Lemonade > Cosmic Soul Death Disco > Pink Lady Lemonade > "Is the End Experimental?" (The End) > Cometary Orbital Drive > Speed Guru


SHOW NOTES:
While the DC9 certainly wouldn't be confused with the Knitting Factory L.A., it remains a very neat "Fenway Park" style venue. Cramped, with a low ceiling and a stage barely a foot off the ground, it delivers surprisingly nice sound (insert Red & Black tirade here), with friendly, laid-back staff, and a bona-fide dining section for that rustic, old-fashioned "dinner and a Japanese psych-metal show" experience sadly lacking in modern times. Unlike the Rock N' Roll Hotel (the Acid Mothers' D.C. stomping ground on the previous two tours), the DC9 is located within walking distance of the subway (which, of course, shuts down at 11:30 on all but Fridays and Saturdays, further solidifying its reputation as a self-important, expensive piece of shit primarily useful to yuppies nursing at Uncle Sam's teat and suburban high schoolers who want to blow a Saturday afternoon in the city).

That said, it's still a small club at heart, and at times the band seemed somewhat perturbed by the occasional feedback issues, regressing a little from the confident professionalism of last night's Philly show, with occasional dead-air and one or two rhythmic boo-boos. And THAT said, it must also be said that the performance was at times as beautiful as it was disorganized - so it was said (it's one of those "he said, she said" sorta situations).

Highlights and moments of said beauty include Tsuyama's delicate acoustic guitar solo that kicks off tonight's beast of a Pink Lady Lemonade, the goofy little "novelty rock" number that the band finds themselves in after the Eleking the Clay workout, and of course the very intense Cometary Orbital Drive.

The rest of the show is quite fine and peachy - Pink Lady rocks, Eleking the Clay (punked up version) is short but cathartic, and just what the heck is that goofy little "novelty rock" number, anyway?


RECORDING NOTES:
Inspired by some of Don Preston's stage recordings of the early Mothers of Invention (check out his recording of the 11/08/68 show with Wild Man Fischer for a demonstration of this technique at its finest), and figuring that if any band wouldn't mind a little Edirol plopped front-stage it'd be the Mothers of Acid Temples, I figured I'd give it a shot. The recorder was nudged onto the stage before Dark Stars, and removed after the conclusion of said song. I only wish I had the tecticular fortitude to leave the unit where it was, rather than scurrying to reclaim it out of fear the recording may be unlistenable. The results were far from unlistenable - saturated, but much more "alive" than the rest of the recording.


REQUESTS & REMINDERS:
Do not sell this recording. Do not buy this recording. Do not sell this recording, then buy it from yourself. Rumors of a possible SBD+AUD matrix of tonight's festivities are completely non-exaggerated.


Torrented by the taper: ZaPenguin

email - zappa.penguin(AT)gmail.com
web - http://db.etree.org/zappapenguin (always woefully out of date)

Band page: http://www.acidmothers.com