Saboten ‎– Floor Et Satie
Saboten ‎– Floor Et Satie

Saboten ‎– Floor Et Satie

Regular price £25.00 Sale

Label: EM Records ‎– EM1114DLP
Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album, Compilation, Reissue, Remastered
Country: Japan
Released: 30 Jun 2013
Genre: Rock
Style: New Wave, Post-Punk, Art Rock

Spiky, all-female Japanese post-punk revived by the excellent EM label.  One of the great long-lost acts of their generation.. more below.. (mint / new)

Formed in 1981 in Tokyo, Saboten must now be considered one of the great lost post-punk bands. Rejecting the traditional rock group hierarchy of lead guitar and/or preening vocalist supported by a rhythm section, Saboten were true masters of band-as-unit, with the trio meshing and melding in a non-grandstanding manner that wonderfully emphasizes their individual contributions to the group sound. One of the original impulses that led to the formation of the group was a desire to hear the results of an electric rock combo playing Erik Satie, and the French composer's sense of whimsy and feeling of openness are well-represented. There are even a number of Satie "covers" here, but far from being pastel homage, they are imaginative reconstructions, aided by the late Lol Coxhill on several pieces. The band, despite the Satie influence, are most definitely a rock unit of the post-punk variety, masters of a tight, brittle funk and a supple sense of propulsion and interlocking instrumentation that will appeal to fans of groups like The Slits, The Raincoats and even ESG, but with a unique element that is all their own. FLOOR et SATiE is available on vinyl only, and provides an excellent overview of an excellent band. Disc one is a newly re-mastered version of their first album, Saboten, which was originally produced by the late great Eiichi Tsutaki of Totsuzen Danball and issued as the first release of Tsutaki's own label Floor Records in 1982. Disc two ranges from the charmingly lo-fi Satie pieces, to some selections from a D.I.Y. self-released 7", two songs from their second album Awake, and a piece produced by Fred Frith. Saboten means "cactus" and, like their namesake, they are spiky and yet oddly beautiful.

Tracklist
From Saboten (1982)
A1 エメラルドの山彦 Emerald No Yamabiko (Emerald Echo)
A2 ヘビ使いのうた Hebitsukai No Uta (The Snake Charmer's Song)
A3 低い椅子 Hikui Isu (The Low Chair)
A4 余計な予感 Yokei Na Yokan (Useless Foresight)
B1 Accel
B2 日の丸 Hinomaru (The Rising Sun)
B3 エテンラク Etenraku (Etenraku)
B4 Knee Guitar
B5 彼女~ヨロコビ~馬 Kanojo (She)
B6 ヨロコビ Yorokobi (Pleasure)
B7 馬 Uma (Horses)
From Let's Satie! (1992)
C1 食欲をそそらないコラール~インプロヴィゼーション (Choral Inappétissant/Unappetizing Chorale – Improvisation)
C2 ブランコ (La Balançoire/In A Swing)
C3 エテンラク~海水浴 (Etenraku – Bain De Mer/Sea Bathing)
C4 競馬 (Les Courses/Race)
C5 タンゴ (Tango)
From Others
D1 未来の記憶 Mirai No Kioku (Memory Of The Future) (1984)
D2 ゴルフ (Golf) (1984)
D3 箱庭 Hakoniwa (Miniature Garden) (1984)
D4 自転車 (Bicycle) (1992)
D5 島の生活 Shima No Seikatsu (Island Life) (1992)