Since being formed by band leader Makoto Kawabata in the mid 1990s, Osaka's premier purveyors of heavy psychedelic rock and modern kosmische musik have existed in an ever-mutating series of iterations, incorporating dozens of members, collaborators and former members. The intimidatingly- titled "Battle of Acid Mothers Temple" show at Akihabara Club Goodman will feature no fewer than four different lineups of the group, thus ensuring that the event offers something for all members of the family (albeit a family of tripped out, genre-melting, free-form musical experimentalists).
As Kawabata's original version of the band, Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. are perhaps the best-known of the groups playing, although they will be joined onstage by occasional member Yoshimitsu Ichiraku, a.k.a. Doravideo, whose drum-triggered visual collages have reached cult status in their own right. Acid Mothers Temple & the Cosmic Inferno present a more turbo-charged lineup, featuring drum-botherer Pika from Afrirampo and bassist Mitsuru Tabata, from Zeni Geva and formerly of noise legends the Boredoms. Acid Mothers Temple SWR features Tatsuya Yoshida from operatic progressive rockers Ruins on drums, and finally the lineups are shuffled once more, with vocalist Junzo Suzuki joining many of the usual suspects.
Put simply, a bomb in the room could take out three generations of Japan's most celebrated experimental and improvisational musicians. If this all sounds frightfully incestuous and self-congratulatory, it almost certainly will be, but for fans of freaky music, there is really only one party in town on May 14th. (Ian Martin)
The Battle of Acid Mothers Temple will be held at Goodman in Tokyo on May 14. Tickets cost ¥3,300 (¥3,800 at the door). For more information, see clubgoodman.com or www.acidmothers.com
