Name: Kazuki Tomokawa 1975-1977
Brand: Kazuki Tomokawa

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

BFBX002cd

{"blocks": [{"data": {"text": "BFBX002cd"}, "type": "paragraph"}]}

Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music US

Limited edition

Release date

2022-05-13

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier US

Secre­tly

Tax rate US

Sales:8.875

UPC / Barcode

769791979437

{"blocks": [{"data": {"text": "769791979437"}, "type": "paragraph"}]}

Total Cap

3 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Kazuki Tomokawa

Genre US

Asian

Label US

Blank Forms

Kazuki Tomokawa is a prolific Japanese folk singer, songwriter, poet, essayist, actor, betting tipster and artist. He was born on February 16, 1950 in Akita prefecture. Since releasing his first single on Toshiba in 1974, Kazuki has become known for his powerful songwriting abilities. His songs have been covered by various artists over the years. From 1993 onwards, he has released albums through P.S.F. Records.

With a diverse range of talents and creative pursuits, Kazuki Tomokawa has made a significant impact on the music industry and beyond. As an accomplished singer-songwriter and poet, his works resonate with audiences across Japan and beyond.

Throughout his career spanning several decades, Kazuki's unique blend of folk music has captivated listeners with its emotional depth and raw authenticity. His thought-provoking lyrics touch upon various themes such as love, life struggles, and social commentary.

Meticulously curated box sets featuring exceptional audio quality, stunning visuals, and exclusive bonus content. Explore genres, eras, and artists to find the perfect addition to your collection.

Box Sets

A poet, soothsayer, bicycle race tipster, actor, prolific drinker, self-taught guitarist, and living legend of Japanese sound, Kazuki Tomokawa catapulted into Tokyo’s avant-folk scene in the mid-1970s, forging a sound and sensibility marked by throat-wrenching vocals and searing ennui. Among his musical peers in postwar Japan, Tomokawa distinguished himself as a pioneer of radical individualism. He had “the personality of a hydrogen bomb”—as the notorious ultraleft band the Brain Police once put it—and a sound to match. 

Now, Blank Forms Editions gathers Tomokawa’s earliest records for the first time in a deluxe three CD boxed set comprised of Finally, His First Album (Harvest Records, 1975), Straight from the Throat (Harvest Records, 1976), and A String of Paper Cranes Clenched Between My Teeth (Harvest Records, 1977).

In each record, Tomokawa shouts, cries, wails, and croons, his folk stylings tinged with psychedelia and swelling into ground-shaking rock. Many tracks are performed in his native Akita dialect, a highly regional vernacular of north Japan rarely heard beyond the prefecture, and even less often used in music. Matching his guttural, all-out vocals are profoundly existential meditations on everyday life and the world around him; this is, as record executive Kiichi Takara dubs it, “I-music.” It looks toward the interior, the quotidian, and the domestic with piercing and ever-honest eyes. The accompanying liner notes (here translated for the first time) include introductions by Takara, a round table discussion with Brain Police, and lyrics for all three albums—tracking the rise of Tomokawa as the “screaming philosopher” of Japan. The boxed set will be in conjunction with the release of each record in LP format in 2022, and the musician’s 2015 memoir, Try Saying You’re Alive! (Blank Forms Editions, 2021), the first-ever English translation of his prose; together they provide the definitive introduction to the singular world of Kazuki Tomokawa.

Kazuki Tomokawa 1975-1977

Music US