Label: Vanity Records – VA-S1 Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM Country: Japan Released: 1980 Genre: Electronic Style: New Wave, Experimental, Minimal
Fabled debut 7” from Japanese home-studio pioneer Yoshifumi Niinuma aka Sympathy Nervous recorded in the crowded living room of a tiny Tokyo apartment.
The first 7” in a trio of unbelievable singles whose influence continues to be felt in many pockets of experimental / new-wave and dance music.I always think it’s worth pointing out the influence of Throbbing Gristle with the early Vanity 7”s and cassettes - the overall design and sonic aesthetic feels like an exact facsimili.Niinuma lists classical music and krautrock of his influence yet how he ended up birthing a unique strain of strikingly prescient pronto-techno / minimal electronics without being introduced to those early TG releases is hard to believe.The bouncing, almost catchy title track of Polaroid may get all the attention but surely the slow nihilistic creep of Polyester 35 Micron on the B-side is where it’s at - it’s deviant array of scorched error tones and dead-behind-the-eyes lurch still unrivalled in the last 45 years.Impeccable design and a true artefact of underground music.(NM)
Tracklist A Polaroid B1 Polyester 35 Micron B2 d•b•TV
