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Jun Ray Sung Chang

Asa-Chang & Junray
1 disc

1. Hana
2. Preach
3. Kobana
4. Nigatsu
5. Goo-Gung-Gung
6. Kutsu # 2
7. Jippun
8. Kokoni Sachiari
9. Tabla Bol (Catastrophe) - (Catastrophe)
10. Radio-No-Youni (Comme a la Radio) - (Comme A La Radio)
11. Kutsu
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Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 22
Credits

Producer Asa-Chang
Engineer Kiyoshi Kusaka
Personnel: Hidehiko Urayama (guitar, programming); Asa Chang (trumpet, bongos).
Audio Mixer: Kiyoshi Kusaka.
Arranger: Asa Chang.
Tony Morley's fascination with the obtuse has carved out an enviable reputation for his London-based Leaf label. "Hana" opens the album, the disfigured call and response between cut-up spoken word and Asa-Chang's drunken clacks of percussion comparable to a Lynch-esque car crash, with a hair-raising blend of emotive string rises left to rein in the chaotic drum works. This first track pretty much summates an album which collates the band's recordings for the Hot Cha and Trattoria imprints, all recorded in the spirit of kidoairaku, a Japanese word encapsulating the full emotive spectrum of humanity, where thunderclaps are as likely as psychotic beats or simple jazz-folk compositions. A difficult, through ultimately rewarding, listen. ~ Kingsley Marshall
Critic Reviews

The Wire (7/02, p.55) - "...The Junray sound is at once tranquil and agitated, anarchic and controlled, melodic yet fractured....Asa-Chang manages to pull off a feeling of extreme dislocation..."
Mojo (Publisher) (1/03, p.76) - Ranked #39 in Mojo's "Best Albums of 2002" - "A record which sounds unlike anything you've heard before..."