Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Belief is Reality, this is a starting point. Many dream their entire lives, never to realize, it's a dream.
I just listened to Murahachibu, an absolutely amazing Japanese garage-psych band from the 70's that just about nobody ( the Crimewave didn't even know these guys ) knows about and it is just so damned wrong, I'm about to listen some more and finish off the end of a compilation from the Bridge Psychedelic Conference that took place at Stanford in 1991.
The dvd features an amazing array of lectures from psychedelic thinkers, psychologists, physicists chemists seemingly edited by stoned Stanford video engineer's who attempt enhance the viewing experience by adding what I assume seemed to, at the time, have been, state of the art computer graphics over the footage. This being 1991 many of the pioneer's of the psychedlic movement were still present including Timothy Leary, Terrence Mckenna and John C. Lilly. I was especially impressed, and am always with John C. Lilly: "In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true is true or becomes true, within certain limits to be found experientially and experimentally. These limits are further beliefs to be transcended. In the mind, there are no limits " this is coming from a mind that knows this from experience. I've also become a fan of Charles Tart, he eloquently explained that this reality experientially is a dream, just one with more restrictions. I used to think of it as a dream that we were unconsciously manifesting. What I am coming to realize now is that it's not completely unconscious. Through our thoughts, and our will and most precisely our beliefs we can interact with the universe, shape the unfolding of our lives and alter momentary reality. The soul does not exist in the body, the body exists within the soul ( the mind ). Fred Alan Wolf is a theoretical physicist who has been featured in two dvd's which I've recently viewed, What the Bleep Do We Know?! ( which is great, I watched it on mushrooms, amazing... ) and the Secret ( covers some of the same scientific issues but with a focus on the "law of attraction" ( ssshh...) and with a far smaller budget produced by some Australian new age chick, I did really enjoy it) his charismatic explanations have been instrumental to my acceptance that this way of thinking is based not only on my or others coming to the conclusion simply through empirical thought but that it is also an idea inherent to modern quantum physics. The double-slit experiments ( the link is a good video explanation of the experiment, it's 5 minutes ) have exibited, the priciple of nonlocality where matter exists ( literally exists ) in multiple places at once as a wave , and that only when the mind focuses on and observes something is the universe forced to actualize a reality. Our minds are creating the reality we inhabit. By willfully exerting control over our emotions, thoughts and our beliefs we can influence our unconscious mind, and alter reality; consciously. Be happy and believe and anything is possible.
So back to Murahachibu for a second, these guys are awesome. Their guitarist is named Fujio Yamagutchi, and he's incredible. The guy is psychedelic blues god, he plays with awesome emotion. He was in another obscure Japanese group named the Dynamites that played more in a R&B popish vain, but still psychy and good but... not as good as Murahachibu, not many bands are, trust me. Their vocalist is this insane Japanese Mick Jagger type guy whose vocals I find really enjoyable; he like the rest of the group, really feels it. It is always amazing and interesting the Japanese take on "western" rock. Being of such a different ( and in many respects more sensitive ) culture, I don't think their experiences and their interpretations of the noise being imported from the West began from the same emotional context as that of "Western" people. I believe the reality suggested by this music had a significant effect on the Japanese. Whatever emotions the music was intended to elicit in Western cultures seemed to be exaggerated when subjected to the Japanese psyche. Which is, in my opinion, why their music often seems to be exaggerated and psyched out renditions ( re imaginations?) of Western musical forms. Some excellent examples would be the Jacks, Les Rallizes Denudes, the Boredoms, Acid Mothers Temple etc. Many people are aware of those groups. Relatively few know Murahachibu and in my opinion they're just as good as those bands if not far better. Fujio Yamagutchi has very quickly become one of my favorite guitarists and from my reality tunnel the whole band just sounds awesome. Believe me... or just check out the video below or some of their albums ( info is scarce on the web but, Good Lovin' Production seems to be somewhat official although it's in Japanese and their stuff has come up on ebay, I've found a double lp and a 6 cd 1 dvd set, both are amazing )

Muruhachibu: video starts after 18 seconds

wacky Dr.Quantum explain's the Double-Slit Experiment

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Murahachibu is a legendary band, both in Japan and overseas. In fact, there wouldn't be the Sex Pistols without Murahachibu. They are one of Japans most respected and influential rock bands. HMV rated them at number 33 in their list of Japan greatest musicians. The band refused commercial prospects, and any form of recording and stayed true to live performances.