Jutok Kaneko is dead.

Jutok Kaneko died on January 24th, 2007. He was only 48 years old.

Kaneko is known, if at all, as leader of Kousokuya, one of the most idiosyncratic and least appreciated rock groups in Tokyo. Amidst the hype surrounding Japanese psych bands like Fushitsusha, High Rise, and Acid Mothers Temple, the name Kousokuya has consistently been left off the list. Of course those bands are undeniably fantastic, and deserving of the good words they've received. But maybe take your time and explore Kaneko`s approach.

Kousokuya have been in existence since the late seventies, pounding out a unique take on the space-rock idiom that sucked crushing chords and spiralling solos into the heart of blank, bleak emptiness. Not as career-minded as certain other scenesters, the group only released three albums over those 22 years.

Here is the bands first recording - simply named "1st". It was originally released only on LP in 1991.
Kousokuya - "1st".

In addition to Kousokuya, in recent years Kaneko had also been involved in more solo and collaborative work. Yume no Kage, a duo from 1983 with drummer Atsushi Ishiguro, was one of the earliest examples. In 1997 to 1998 he played in a trio known as Ikon no Kage with drummer Ikuro Takahashi and bassist Takuya Nishimura (from Che-SHIZU). From the late 90s, Kaneko played in a number of duo units with musicians like Masayoshi Urabe, Rinji Fukuoka, Takahisa Kikukawa, Fumio Kosakai (Incapacitants), Wataru Kawai, Koji Shimura, and dancers such as Abe "M" Aria.

I chose a recording from 2001 together with Takahisa Kikukawa called "Wedged Night". Volcanic Tongue said "Beautifully ragged set of death-blues and downer ballads. This is the kind of parched desert metal first posited by Neil Young sides like Zuma, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and Arc/Weld taken to whole new levels of gravity-defying psychedelic doom." - Well, so it is... Get it here: Jutok Kaneko & Takahisa Kikukawa - "Wedged Night" (192 kbps)