Destination Tokyo

In the early stages of my Japanese music phase in 2006, I solicited music recommendations via a Q&A website I frequent. Among the bands and artists suggested were Nisennenmondai. At that time very little of their music seemed to be available to buy, but, searching anew on YouTube a few years later I found a powerfully impressive clip of the band performing their track 'Ikkkyokume': the slow clang of the opening chords piqued my curiosity, then, when Sayaka Himeno's metronomic drums kicked in, I was hooked.

Destination Tokyo was then their latest and most readily-obtainable CD. It comprises four long instrumental numbers, plus a brief interlude. The opening two tracks are fast & jittery, with discordant guitar and pulsing bass over astonishingly quickfire drums: impressive, albeit akin to a caffeine overdose expressed in sound. Marginally less intense is the absorbingly repetetive 'Mirrorball' - my favourite track on the disc, while the title-track brings things to a close with a considerably more relaxed groove reminiscent of NEU!

I later acquired a vinyl copy of N - their 2014 EP, but that didn't hold quite the same appeal for me as this album, and I parted company with it after a few years.

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