HIBUSHIBIRE 'Turn On, Tune In, Freak Out!' Cassette

artist: HIBUSHIBIRE
title: 'Turn On, Tune In, Freak Out!'
catalogue # SMR19
label: Swap Meat / Riot Season
formats: Cassette & Download Code

Pro duped cassette with full colour artwork (double sided inlay) Limited edition of 75 copies only with orange tape shells. This is a mail order exclusive and will NOT be available via any record shops or distros etc.

Tracklisting

A1. Ecstasy Highwaystar (4:38)
A2. Blow! Blow! Blow! (9:47)
A3. Overdose, Pussycat! More! More! (4:04)
B. Rollercoaster Of The Universe (17:11)

The long awaited follow up to Osaka's Hibushibire 'Freak Out Orgasm!' debut album from 2017 is almost upon us ...

Who are Hibushibire ?

821 (Hani) on bass
Ryu Matsumoto on drums
Changchang on guitar and vocals

It would be fair to say Hibushibire’s 2017 debut album ‘Freak Out Orgasm!’ went down well with fans of psych-rock (call it what you will). So far it’s had three vinyl pressings, two cassette pressings and a CD run back in Japan. It garnered quite a few influential underground (if not mainstream) reviews and seemed to sell through on word of mouth alone - which in these times seems to be the way things are going: thriving social media groups sharing their love of recent purchases and fellow vinyl lovers going out and scooping them up without the need to buy a magazine or read an online review to make their mind up. My favourite review of ‘Freak Out Orgasm!’ came from UK based music blog Dayz Of Purple And Orange as I think he nailed it perfectly...

“Fuck me! I think I've died and gone to psychedelic heaven! If anyone had asked me what I would really want from a freak out, heavy-as-fuck psych band I would have to say I would want the sheer guitar pyrotechnics of Acid Mothers Temple, the hard-as-nails scuzziness of The Heads, the lead heaviness of a fucked-up Blue Cheer and the instrumental dexterity of Hendrix on speed. Guess what, that band exists and they are called HIBUSHIBIRE!"

That, to me, said it all. Nail hit hard.

But let's get onto 'Turn On, Tune In, Freak Out!'

Once again the album is produced by Makoto Kawabata (Acid Mothers Temple, Mainliner) and for me it's the next logical step in the bands sonic development. As with its predecessor, side one consists of three tracks, "Ecstasy Highwaystar / Blow! Blow! Blow! / Overdose, Pussycat! More! More!", (they do like an exclamation mark). Some of these titles will be familiar if you've followed the band's live shows in recent times, and it's pretty much a guitar to the front, full gonzo-style hard-rocking psychedelic freak out from the first blast of Changchang's guitar panning from left to right before the main riff kicks it all off.

Again, as with their debut, side two comprises of just one epic length track. 'Rollercoaster Of The Universe' clocks in at seventeen minutes and is, in my humble opinion, the sound of the band moving onto the next level during its journey. It's a shudderingly beautiful piece, with many hypnotic twists and turns. I can't wait to hear how they play this live.

The band did initially attempt to produce this album by themselves, but got 'brain fever' in the studio and called their old friend Makoto to come down and help them finish it off. As he had no preparation in advance, he knew nothing about how the recording was going in the studio, and moreover there was little time left for adjustments to be made. But his technique of mixing was, as always, both mighty and almost destructive.

He said to Changchang during the mixing process, ”Listen carefully! I am teaching how to work magic”. And he has.

The title is ”Turn On, Tune In, Freak Out!”. True to it’s name.

Following the success of Hibushibire's first UK tour in 2017, the band return in May 2019 to blow some minds once again including being invited to play two of the UK's best underground festivals in Raw Power and Focus Wales. They hope to tour elsewhere soon after.

May 2019 'Turn On, Tune In, Freak Out!' UK tour

15th Birmingham @ The Sunflower Lounge
16th Wrexham, Focus Wales 2019 @ The Parish
17th Nottingham @ JT Soar
18th Edinburgh @ Henry's Cellar Bar (w/ Dead Otter)
19th Glasgow @ Nice N Sleazy (w/ Dead Otter)
21st Newcastle @ Trillians Rock Bar (w/ Dead Otter)
22nd Bristol @ The Lanes (w/ Dead Otter)
24th Manchester @ The Star & Garter
25th London, Raw Power Festival @ The Dome (w/ Part Chimp, The Ex etc)