Saturday, March 24, 2007

Normal Brain - Ready Made LP (Vanity 0009) 1981

Mutant Sounds has this posted as well, but it looks like it is missing side B. Here is the full LP, a vinyl rip @ 256K, which also includes extra pictures.

Looking at the insert creates more questions than answers. To start, the title is referenced as 'Ready Made', Lady Maid' and 'Lady Made', although not 'Ready Maid'.

The track titles also differ between the insert and the label for a few tracks. One title, 'Tomorrow Never Knows' (Beatles cover) is only listed on the insert. Perhaps a joke, or possibly a legal issue arose after the insert was printed and before the vinyl was pressed. In addition to this inconsistency, 'Thrift' is titled 'KE-300' on the label and 'Mist' is titled 'Fragment' on the label. The track 'Frottage SW', listed on the label does not appear on the insert, unless this is actually the Beatles cover.

At the bottom of the insert is the phrase: Let us sing songs together with Speak & Spell

From the magazine, Music:

'Normal Brain was a project of Yukio Fujimoto, using electronic gadgets like analog-synth, rhythm machine, and Speak & Spell. His music was intelligent and witty, traversing the fine line between modern art and pop. Fujimoto's minimalist approach also had a child-like playfulness and elegance, conceptually paralleling the music of early-Kraftwerk or Eno. Currently, Fujimoto is active as sound artist, producing sound objects and installations.'

Here is a description of a recent sound installation by Yukio Fujimoto (from the Venice Biennale 2001):

'If Belgium's pavilion feels like a picture gallery, Japan's suggests a miniature alternative space, crammed with a thematic show that scores only some of the time but is winningly earnest. "Fast and Slow" looks at the signs and costs of material progress. With the support of the McDonald's Corporation, Masato Nakamura has erected a ring of trademark golden arches, a warmly glowing circle that feels like a light-therapy chamber. Nearby are Naoya Hatakeyama's photographic murals on the changing physiognomies of Osaka and Tokyo. Ambient electronic sound is furnished by Yukio Fujimoto's electronic keyboards strapped to the walls. A smaller downstairs space treats the "slow" principle: Hatakeyama's shots of Tokyo's vaulted sewers, whose eerie grandeur recall Nadar's early photographs beneath Paris, and Fujimoto's Sugar, a little glass drum whose ceaseless rotations gradually reduce a sugar cube to powder.'

Fujimoto also contributes synths/electronics to the Morio Agata LP on Vanity.

Enjoy.

4 comments:

Salaried Man Club said...

Niice. Thanks for taking the time to correct the MS post.

Oh Vanity!

Atlantis Audio Archive said...

Here is the full tracklist for all those who have inquired.

Below is how the tracks are ordered and titled on the label:

A1 - M-U-S-I-C
A2 - Frottage 'One Way'
A3 - You are Busy I am Easy
A4 - KE 300
A5 - Frottage 'SW'
B1 - Fragment

and how they are ordered and titled on the insert:

A1 - M-U-S-I-C
A2 - Frottage 'One Way'
A3 - Thrift
A4 - You are Busy I am Easy
A5 - Tomorrow Never Knows
B1 - Fragment

Note that the track sequence differs between the two as well as some of the titles themselves. I believe the order of the tracks are reflected accurately on the label based on instrumentation listed for the same tracks, albeit in a different order.

Also there is a typo in the file titled: Frontage 'SW'
it should be: Frottage 'SW'

samon takahashi said...

Fujimoto also appears on another Agata Morio LP, 'norjimono zuka', on Chop Records, 1980. I never had the chance to listen to it. Any idea ?
Thanks a lot for this upload by the way.

Chris Sessions said...

I stumbled on your blog recently. I am really enjoying this recording and the others that you have shared with us. Thank you so much for putting so much time and effort into sharing unique recordings for us. What have you been up to lately?