Les Rallizes Dénudés / '67-'69 STUDIO et LIVE (Cassette Tape)

Les Rallizes Dénudés, who garnered attention with analog and CD reissues, are now releasing "’67-’69 STUDIO et LIVE," a valuable collection of recordings capturing the band's fresh and vibrant early days, on cassette tape!

Les Rallizes Dénudés' original album, "'67-'69 STUDIO et LIVE," released in August 1991, is now available on cassette tape! This valuable collection of recordings from the band's formative years is packed with electric guitar feedback that would go on to define their later direction.

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[Commentary on Les Rallizes Dénudés' "'67-'69 STUDIO et LIVE" by Manabu Yuasa]

This is a reissue of "’67-‘69 STUDIO et LIVE," originally released in August 1991. It contains valuable early recordings of Les Rallizes Dénudés' activities. The selection and editing were done by Takashi Mizutani. For this reissue, the sound sources were re-examined, and the best available quality recordings were used, remastered by Makoto Kubota, a former member of Les Rallizes Dénudés. The CD version also includes two newly discovered bonus tracks.

In the autumn of 1967, Takashi Mizutani and Takeshi Nakamura, who knew each other from the light music club at Doshisha University in Kyoto, decided to form a band. Nakamura was the one who approached Mizutani. Mizutani, at the time, had unusually long hair and exuded a unique presence. Both were guitarists. So they sought out a bassist and a drummer. However, they didn't audition based on playing skills. They looked for cool people, people who intuitively clicked with them. That's how they found Moriaki Wakabayashi, who attended the same university.

"We talked about creating a band that would revolutionize the Japanese music scene,"

said Wakabayashi (published in October 2017, from an interview on Buzz Feed Japan by Ryosuke Kaniba).

The three quickly hit it off. Wakabayashi said that when he was approached by the two, he was contemplating confronting society after learning about the "10.8 Haneda Struggle." "10.8" refers to the protest where approximately 2,500 university students gathered around Haneda Airport to obstruct Prime Minister Eisaku Sato's visit to Southeast Asian and Oceanian countries, including South Vietnam, clashing with 2,000 riot police. A Doshisha University student died in the turmoil. This was a time when distrust of the government and anti-Vietnam War movements were growing daily. Later, this evolved into the Zenkyoto movement.

Across various cities worldwide, fundamental acts of dissent were occurring daily. Political activities and cultural acts progressed simultaneously. Various people were transforming protests/dissent against the guardians of dogma and authority of the old system into actions, behaviors, and works. This movement, this culture of spontaneous dissent, the counter-culture, was expanding globally. From 1967 to 1968, it grew explosively. Across literature, art, music, cinema, and other genres, diverse changes occurred. The "Langlois Affair" in January 1968, where French filmmakers united to protest André Malraux's unilateral dismissal of Henri Langlois, director of the Cinémathèque Française, through film boycotts and demonstrations, can be seen as a precursor to these movements. Four months later, in May 1968, the May Revolution occurred, where the intensification of student movements in Paris led to a general strike throughout France. Some dedicated themselves to anti-war activities, others to political struggles, environmental protection, performance art, sound performance, or street theater, each engaging in their unique forms of dissent.

The formation of Les Rallizes Dénudés resonated with these global waves.

Even though they clicked, Wakabayashi had no experience playing musical instruments. According to Nakamura, "from the beginning, sensibility and ideology were more important than instrumental technique." Mizutani likely shared this sentiment. Later, while the three were "rallies-ing" (wandering in a dazed state, pun intended) through the streets of Kyoto, the name "Rallizes" came to them. Wakabayashi says that "Dénudés" (naked) was added to signify an absence of pretense, and was not a reference to William Burroughs' "Naked Lunch."

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