- Source: Karkador
Karkador is the sixth album by the Japanese electronic rock band P-Model, and the first where frontman Susumu Hirasawa was the sole remaining founding member.
Background and composition
Karkador was mainly inspired by the dreams of P-Model's vocalist Susumu Hirasawa. He had been seeing a Jungian counselor, as he was in a troubled mental state at the time. The counselor suggested that he record his dreams in a notebook to aid his recovery. He developed a narrative and lyrics for the album based on those notes.
Sadatoshi Tainaka, the band's original drummer, decided to leave after the previous tour's conclusion. He was replaced by Yasuhiro Araki, a huge fan of P-Model who had formerly played in a punk rock band. The band got signed to Alfa Records's sub-label for underground acts Edge, which allowed them to use Alfa's studios and mixing equipment, which was far better than what they had access to during their independent period.
Recording and production
In addition to Hirasawa's journal, P-Model used songwriting contributions from their keyboardist Shunichi Miura and bassist Tadahiko Yokogawa. Hirasawa and Yokogawa had equal creative control over the band, though Yokogawa has said that his influence on the album was somewhat nuanced. Although the album has a new wave style much like 1984's Scuba, it also includes a wider array of sounds; mixing live drumming with programmed drumming, march-styled rhythms, and classical instruments. The band tried to keep the album raw, with Yokogawa hoping add some raw explosive power to the material, resulting in a brighter, more upbeat sound than recent efforts.
Hirasawa had many ideas in regards to the sound of the album, but faced issues with engineering. He wanted Karkador to sound "underground", feeling that in-house engineer at Gok Studio Yoshiaki Kondo was best for the job. Kondo worked on some recordings, making the drums purposefully messy, but his work was altered by an Alfa in house mixing engineer—who only worked on the album due to company policy—without Hirasawa's consent. Miura had doubts as to the direction that P-Model was taking and left the band alongside Yokogawa, who felt that touring in support of the album was too rigorous. Due to their departure, half of the album was never performed live after from 1986 onwards.
Track listing
Personnel
P-Model – Arrangements
Susumu Hirasawa – Vocals, Guitar
Shunichi Miura – Keyboards, Backing vocals
Tadahiko Yokogawa – Bass, Lead vocals on "Oar", Backing vocals, Electric violin, Ocarinas (bass, tenor and soprano), MSX, Keyboards, Sampler
Yasuhiro Araki – Drums, Electronic drums, Percussion
Staff
Akiro "Kamio" Arishima (AC Unit) – Production
Toshikazu Awano (Alfa Records) – A&R Coordination
Mitsuru Hirose (Model House) – Artist Management
Mitsuo Koike (Alfa Records) – Mixing, Engineering
Yoshiaki Kondo (Gok Sound) and Akitsugu Doi (Alfa Records) – Additional Engineering
Hideaki Nojima (Alfa Records) and Kazuaki Nagai (Somewhere) – Assistant Engineering
Hiroaki Sugawara (Gok Sound) – Digital Equipment Operation
Teppei Kasai (CBS-Sony) – Mastering engineer
Yuichi Hirasawa – Art Direction & Obje
Kayo Muto – Art Drawing
Hideki Namai – Photography
Hideki Higashi (Touch-Up) – Hair & Makeup
Akemi Tsujitani (AC Unit) – Costuming
Ginza Matsuzakaya, Ginza Miyuki-Dori Jun, Hiromichi Nakano, Viva You – Clothes
Toshinao Tsukui (Alfa Records) – Cover Coordination
Special Thanks to: Talbo (Tōkai Gakki) (for Hirasawa), Take Off Studio (for rehearsal), Akemi Arai (Toei), Yoshito Imai (Media Bum), Teruo Nakano, Taro Yamamoto, Yuji Matsuda, Hisaaki Kato, Takashi Kokubo, Osamu Ishii, Miyuki & Miwa Kumagaya, Kuni, Shuji Furu, Akira, Ryuta Staff Room HB, Ted Osawa, Akira Sakurai
Release history
"Leak" is included on the TWINS SOUND SAMPLER Vol.4～TECHNO POP COLLECTION various artists compilation.
References
External links
Karkador at Susumu Hirasawa's website
Karkador at MusicBrainz (list of releases)
Karkador at Sony Music's official site
Promotional Video for Karkador on YouTube, directed by Peter Callas