Ruins

YBO2 (Yellow Biomechanik Orchestra 2) were born around 1984 from the efforts of KK Null (guitar), Masashi Kitamura (bass and keyboards) and Tatsuya Yoshida (drums). After the singles The Sky is Falling (1986) and Doglamagla (1986), debut album Alienation (Trans, 1986) introduced a wildly unorthodox kind of prog-rock. The 12-minute Amerika is mostly a dissonant and ugly industrial chant a` la Foetus. The nine-minute Bizarre Song, propelled by dull flute hissing and percussive guitar riffs, sounds like a punk-era version of Amon Duul II after listening to Chrome's War Dance. The eight-minute Boys of Bedlam is a more conventional doom ballad that turns into a vicious voodoobilly. The eight-minute Heavy Waters sounds like a drunk version of Jimi Hendrix's power-blues .

Null left and a new guitarist joined for Kingdom Of Family Dream (1986), credited to Yhwh Black Omen II, whose material is vastly inferior and often redundant (the distorted warped theatrical Kingdom of Familydream goes on forever), followed by the double-LP Pale Face Pale Skin (1988), which spans a broad range of styles. One moment they sound like a chaotic and dissonant post-Hendrix power-trio (Howl Bark and Cry), and the next moment they are launching into a harmless folk dance (Tsubura ). They unleash the eleven-minute Oni, which begins in the style of latter-day King Crimson, and they ravage mellotron-tinged suites (The Plague, the ten-minute Lunar Animal). But only one song is truly memorable: the infernal chaos of Gravity. YBO2 died after Starship (1989), but several EPs, including Taiyo No Ouji (1986), containing an 18-minute version of Amerika, and Hikari No Kuni (1987), had ventured even further, approximating the cacophony of Einsturzende Neubauten and then even flirted with a semblance of ambient techno. Greatest Hits compiles YBO2 material from 1985-89.

Yoshida then formed the Ruins with bassist Kazuyoshi Kimoto. Their first EP, the eight-song Ruins (Trans, 1986), contains early versions of Body & Soul, Crisis, Cathastrophe, Epigonen, and Outburn, repellent noise-rock miniatures delivered with punk-rock frenzy (and Sanctuary is even better than those staples of their live performances). The ten-song mini-album Ruins (Trans, 1987) contains several other bullet-songs in the same style (notably Entropy and Essential Logic), but also completely different songs like Europe, a feral recitation over wild instrumental noise (a whopping four minutes long). These early recordings were reissued on the album II & 19 Numbers (SSE Communications, 1993) and then again as Ruins I and II (2022). Another preparatory mini-album, the 12-song Infect (Trans, 1988 - SSE Communications, 1993), contains the first versions of Mascari, Fragment, Ripples (a musichall skit with operatic female vocals), Octopus and especially the chaotically poignant Infect, as well the seven-minute dadaist instrumental jam Bug. The duo's first full-length album, Stonehenge (Shimmy Disc, 1990 - Magaibutsu, 1995), contains 21 compositions of absolute chaos and surreal humor, sometimes inspired by John Zorn's cartoonish thrash-jazz (Cathechism, Plexus, the funky Hexagon) and sometimes inspired by Captain Beefheart's subhuman blues-rock (Big Head, Stonehenge, standout Anaclasis), and sometimes simply demonic punk rave-ups (Kibbutz) or drunk aimless singalongs (October). Already obsessed with Magma, Yoshida's lyrics are written in a language of his invention.

Yoshida's first solo album, the 16-song Magaibutsu (Review, 1991 - Review, 2002), was even more experimental than the Ruins' albums. Yoshida, (who personally played all percussion, keyboards and guitars, and also "sang"), behaved like a mad genius of the recording studio, turning it into a merry-go-round of surreal catchy songs. The result is akin to the demented anti-pop of Half Japanese (Onodu, the circus fanfare Ayho, the manic neoclassical synth sonata Kasinuc, the grotesque choral singalong Amarotakt) or recalls the unorthodox trans-genre ditties of Frank Zappa (Joneoik, the drunk folk bacchanal Akasamoc), but many of the songs are merely childish dadaistic gestures (Nessang, Ijocuff).

For the Ruins' Burning Stone (Shimmy Disc, 1992 - Magaibutsu, 1995) Yoshida changed bassist and drafted Ryuichi Masuda.

The Ruins' six-song mini-album Graviyaunosch (Nipp Guitar, 1993) was produced by Steve Albini.

Ruins-Hatoba (Charnel Music, 1994), a collaboration with Seiichi Yamamoto's Omoide Hatoba, is one of their most irrational sets of songs (26 of them), with songs as short as 16 seconds.

The Ruins duo created Koenjihyakkei by adding vocalist and keyboardist Aki Kubota of Bondage Fruit and bassist Shigekazu Kuwahara. Their debut album, Hundred Sights of Koenji (may 1994 - God Moutain, 1994 - Skin Graft, 2008), is explicitly inspired by Magma but the sound is much closer to the Art Bears. The bombastic hymn Ioss, the catchy frenzy of Molavena and the ferocious Gepek are in line with expressionistic prog-rock of the 1970s. The operatic circus-like Yagonahh and the funeral music of Ozone Fall are more original, and even better still is Zoltan, a mini-mass for children's choir and church organ. The standout comes at the very end: Sunna Zarioki, another operatic number but this time with musichall overtones that recall Frank Zappa.

Devil From the East (Bloody Butterfly, 1994) collects tracks from records in which Yoshida played between 1983 and 1993: Ruins, YBO2, High Rise, ZOA, John Zorn, Gerogerigegege, Koenjihyakkei, Zeni Geva, etc.

Yoshida also recorded two sets of improvisations with multi-instrumentalist Ron Anderson of Rat At Rat R and Molecules: First Meeting (Commercial Failure, 1995) and A Is For Accident (FMN, 1997).

Saisoro (Tzadik, 1995) documents a collaboration with jazz improvisor Derek Bailey. Another Ruins collaboration was with guitarist and trumpet player Jason Willett (Megaphone Records, 1995).

Yoshida also released another solo, the live Drums, Voices, Keyboards & Guitar (Magaibutsu, 1995).

Zubi Zuva is a "freewheeling a-cappella vocal trio formed by Yoshida, Yukifumi Shibasaki and Hideki Takahashi. Jehovah (Tzadik, 1995) is their first album, devoted to Gregorian and Buddhist chants.

Hyderomastgroningem (Tzadik, 1995) is another merry-go-round of unbridled genius, from the psychedelic cacophony of Brixon Varromiks, halfway between Red Crayola and the Art Bears, to the Brechtian-dadaist skits of Memories Of Zworrisdeh, Del Fanci Kant and Bliezzanning Moltz), from madhouse bacchanals like Gravestone to Frank Zappa-esque instrumentals like Ordinary People In Idaho. When the duo unleash all their violence on riffs and rhythms, they approximate the intensity of heavy metal (Prrifth, Stone Eater, Speed Ball), but always with overtones of absurdist theater.

Meanwhile, Masashi Kitamura formed Differance that released All Along The Night (SSE), Night Crash and Affinity (SSE, 1995), evolving from King Crimson's prog-rock and Pink Floyd's psychedelia towards Led Zeppelin-ian hard-rock and Hawkwind-esque space-rock.

Sasaki Hisashi was the new Ruins bassist on Refusal Fossil (Skin Graft, 1997), 20 tracks of unreleased and live tracks that display the usual hystrionics of psycho operatic vocals and mad tempo shifts.

Ruins' drummer Yoshida Tatsuya and bassist Sasaki Hisashi also perform as RonRuins, a collaboration with guitarist, vocalist and keyboardist Ron Anderson that yielded Ketsunoana (Pandemonium, 1999).

Vrresto (Sonore, 1999 - Skin Graft, 2005) and Pallaschtom (Sonore, 2000 - Skin Graft, 2005) were typical of the Ruins' classic sound, self-indulgent to the point of insanity, overwhelming and torrential. Vrresto even displayed musical skills in the middle of the punk-jazz disorder of Warrido, in the dizzying King Crimon-ian vortex Kpaligoth, in the funk-punk variations of Jarregoh, and even in the atonal, Arto Lindsay-esque jamming of Beguotto. An unstoppable vomit of ugly sounds overruns Zumn-Vigo. Vrresto is the final and crowning movement of this nonstop breathtaking symphony of musical mistakes and excesses.

Koenjihyakkei's second album Viva Koenji (aug 1996 - God Mountain, 1997 - Skin Graft, 2006) confirmed that the project was, de facto, a Magma tribute band. Yoshida was helped here by Kubota, Jin Harada on guitar and Kengo Sakamoto on bass. The hysterical Grembo Zavia (with a dissonant coda), the epileptic Aramidda Horva (that turns into a thundering quasi-metal jam with delirious organ work) and the nine-minute Guoth Dahha, which mixes agonizing industrial repetition and screaming demonic riot, are worthy of vintage Magma. The virulent Zappa-esque bacchanal Quidom and the grandiloquent and martial hymn-like Cembell Rotta mark a rather expanded stylistic territory. Kubota is a major asset: her wordless operatic chant lead the messy game-arcade noise of Sllina Vezom and then she steals the show in the nine-minute gallopping organ-driven jazz-rock jam Rissenddo Rraimb (a career highlight). Kubota's instrumental skills and Yoshida's stormy drumming mature on this album. Koenjihyakkei is perhaps the first organ-driven band to outdo Keith Emerson's Nice.

The third Koenjihyakkei album, Nivraym (Magaibutsu, 2001 - Skin Graft, 2009), is more lunatic and a little fragmented. the choral singalongs are predictable, and, perhaps in search of a broader audience, mostly abandon the psychotic and operatic qualities of the previous two albums. The ten-minute Lussesoggi Zomn rehashes ideas of the previous albums, like a compendium of their instrumental and vocal repertory. The verve is still unadulterated in Vissqaguell and Axall Hasck, but the instrumental interplay of the nine-minute Gassttrumm lacks, at different moments, either imagination or energy.
On the other hand, Angherr Shisspa (2005), featuring reedist Komori Keiko, offers at times the best Canterbury-inspired prog-rock since the 1970s. The seven-minute Tziidall Raszhisst weds Kubota's most daring operatic vocals with jovial minimalist patterns and Nucleus-esque jazz-rock. But the core of this album is really Kubota's operatic voice: Grahbem Jorgazz is another great display of her soprano, this time over furious musichall piano, and the eight-minute Fettim Paillu is an exhausting vocal experience, with her shrieks colliding with male vocals and with a choir. The torrential Quivem Vrastorr feels like a sped-up punk version of a Rossini opera. The eight-minute Wammilica Iffirom can't quite sustain the momentum to the end. There is more than just wild singing: A gamelan-like pattern morphs into a Brazilian dance in the seven-minute Rattims Friezz; and Mibingvahre is a free-jazz jam that deconstructs African folk chanting while engaging in cacophonous jamming. Kubota's vocals are basically another woodwind dialoguing with the other instruments in a style close to free-jazz. It is all digested in typical Koenjihyakkei frenzy.

The (solo and collaborative) improvisations of Koenjihyakkei' bassist Nasuno Mitsuru were collected on Prequel Oct. 1998 - Mar. 1999 + 1 (Doubt Music, 2008).

Mandala 2000 (Tzadik, 2001) documents a live Ruins performance.

1986-1992 (Skin Graft, 2002) is an excellent 23-track Ruins anthology.

Ruins & Kazuhisa Uchihashi (Sound Factory, 2002) documents the first collaboration with Ground Zero's guitarist.

Tzomborgha (Ipecac, 2002) ventures into world-music, replete with the usual intesity and exaggerations. The duo is in top form, but, unfortunately, decides to waste most of the album in medleys and quotations.

Kyoaku No Intention is a collaboration between Munehiro Narita and drummer Shoji Hano that yielded the guitar and drums improvisations of Kyoaku No Intention and Astral Projection (PSF, 2004).

Yoshida and Fushitsusha's guitarist Keiji Haino recorded together Knead (PSF, 2002), eight psychedelic jams that also feature Ruins' bassist Hisashi Sasaki, and Until Water Grasps Flame (Noise Asia, 2002). Yoshida has also drummed in the quartet of jazz pianist Satoko Fujii: Vulcan (Libra, 2001) and Minerva (Jazzprints, 2002). Fuji and Yoshida also recorded Toh-Kichi (Victo, 2003) and Erans (Tzadik, 2004).

March - October 1997 (Enterruption, 2003) documents a 1997 performance.

The double-CD Improvisations Vol.1 (Magaibutsu) and the triple-CD Improvisations Vol.2 (Magaibutsu) collect jams with Ground Zero's guitarist Kazuhisa Uchihashi for a grand total of 360 minutes.

Korekyojin is a collaboration among Yoshida, guitarist Kido Natsuki of Bondage Fruits and bassist Nasuno Mitsuru of Altered States. Their albums Korekyojin (Tzadik, 1999) and Arabesque on Magaibutsu (Tzadik, 2004), as well as the live Isotope (Tzadik, 2005), and Jackson (Magaibutsu, 2006) are devoted to complex, brainy compositions. Swan Dive (Magaibutsu) contains both a live DVD and a CD of new music.

Episome (Tzadik, 2006) was the power-trio of Otomo Yoshihide (on electric guitar), Tatsuya and bassist Bill Laswell.

Territory (doubtmusic, 2006) was a collaboration between Tatsuya Yoshida and Imahori Tsuneo (former guitarist of Tipographica).

Slip Beneath The Distant Tree (Rhythm Tracks, 2008) was a collaboration between Tatsuya Yoshida and keyboardist Eiko Ishibashi, a tribute to his prog-rock roots.

Dots (Doubtmusic, 2008) is a collaboration between Tatsuya Yoshida and guitarist Imahori Tsueno.

Karakany (Vivo, 2007) is a collaboration between Yoshida and Polish pianist Piotr Zabrodzki.

Further collaborations between Yoshida and Fushitsusha's guitarist Keiji Haino were released as New Rap (2006), Hauenfiomiume (2008) and Uhrfasudhasdd (2008).

The Ruins (now Tatsuya Yoshida and Hisashi Sasaki) and Omoide Hatoba (the Boredoms' guitarist Seiichi Yamamoto and Atsushi Tsuyama) reunited ten years later under the moniker Ruinzhatova and released Close To The RH Kiki (Tractor, 2004).

Sanhedolin (PSF, 2005) was the title of both an album and a supergroup formed by Yoshida, guitarist Keiji Haino of Fushitsusha and bassist Mitsuru Nasuno of Altered States. Its follow-up was titled and credited to a new entity, Sanhedrin (Breathing Bass, 2009).

Tatsuya Yoshida collaborated with alto sax improviser Ono Ryoko on Yawiquo (Ipecac, 2009), credited to the Sax Ruins.

Yoshida and Kazuhisa Uchihashi continued their series with Improvisations Vol.3 (Magaibutsu, 2009) and Barisshee (Tzadik, 2012).

Ruins Alone (Skin Graft, 2011) was a solo album by Yoshida (truly solo, playing all the instruments by himself), revisiting old Ruins material too.

Barisshee (may 2011) was a collaboration between guitarist Kazuhisa Uchihashi and Yoshida.

The trio of Uchihashi Kazuhisa (guitar), Yoshida Tatsuya (drums) and Mishiba Satoshi (piano) recorded «live in studio» Deposition & Erosion (july 2012).

Korekyojin returned with Tundra (Magaibutsu, 2011), Fall Line (2015), Kaleidoscope (2017), and Mesopotamia (2021).

Welcome In The Void (Cuneiform, 2014) documents a collaboration with Richard Pinhas, a single 68-minute piece.

Process And Reality (Cuneiform, 2016) was another collaboration with Pinhas, adding Masami Akita (Merzbow). Pinhas, Yoshida and Makoto Kawabata recorded Bam Balam (2017). Yoshida, Yukihiro Isso and Yoriyuki Harada recorded a tribute to Cecil Taylor, the double-disc Tohyohyo Music (2018). The double-disc Badhead (2018) documents a collaboration with Chinese musicians.

The great vocalist and keyboardist Aki Kubota died in 2018.