The Japanese Doom Psych Band Who Hijacked an Airplane

Most people are introduced to Les Rallizes Dénudés as the band whose former bassist hijacked an airplane during Japan’s late 60s/early 70s counterculture movement. But while this did indeed happen, it’s hardly the most interesting thing about them. The Rallizes’ blistering, feedback-laden “Wall of Sound” music is awe-inspiring and incredibly innovative. They played doomy shoegaze punk rock years before shoegaze, or punk rock were even a thing.

UPDATE: RIP MIZUTANI 1948-2019

UPDATE 2: Full translation of Moriaki’s interview is uploaded to my sister channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SmjKpHFtpU

0:00 – Les Rallizes Dénudés – Strung Out Deeper Than The Night
0:50 – Les Rallizes Dénudés – Night of The Assassins
3:24 – The Mops – The Letter
3:37 – The Jacks – Marianne
4:28 – Les Rallizes Dénudés – Les Bulles De Savon
4:59 – Blue Cheer – Summertime Blues
5:08 – Velvet Underground – Sister Ray
5:20 – Ornette Coleman – Chappaqua Suite
5:30 – Les Rallizes Dénudés – The Last One
7:22 – Les Rallizes Dénudés – The Night Collectors
9:52 – Flower Travellin’ Band – Satori 2
10:18 – Les Rallizes Dénudés – Deeper Than The Night (Part 3) from “Oz Days Live”
10:41 – Les Rallizes Dénudés – Deeper Than The Night from “Yodo-Go-A-Go-Go”
10:56 – Les Rallizes Dénudés – Deeper Than The Night from “77 Live” and “Heavier Than a Death In The Family”
11:14 – Les Rallizes Dénudés – Romance Of The Black Grief
13:03 – Les Rallizes Dénudés – Artificial Flower Wilderness
14:13 – Les Rallizes Dénudés – Enter The Mirror

SOURCES:
Interview with Mizutani (1991): https://chimidoro.exblog.jp/10827476/
Interview with Wakabayashi (2017): https://www.buzzfeed.com/jp/ryosukekamba/rallizes1
Video interview with Wakabayashi (english): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SmjKpHFtpU
Video interview with Wakabayashi (original): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvfMxl8Ww6k
Interview with Makoto Kubota: https://mikiki.tokyo.jp/articles/-/25410
Translated Yodogo Hijacking video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjkxbuaadyQ

Written by 92.9 The Torch