Name: Dispersion
Brand: High Rise

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

BE01626

Colour

Black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Deluxe gatefold double LP edition with printed inner sleeves, housed in a die-cut slipcase printed entirely with spot colors and featuring spot UV gloss and soft touch finishes. 

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2023-10-20

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Shellshock

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

881626801260

Total Cap

Black LP

Artist

High Rise

Genre GB

Psychedelic

Label GB

Black Editions

Black Editions is an American independent record label founded in 2015 by experimental musician and guitarist Peter Kolovos. Based in Los Angeles, California, the label was established with the aim of producing high-quality vinyl reissues from the catalog of the legendary Japanese label. Over time, Black Editions expanded its scope to release works by prominent underground artists from Japan. Today, it is part of Black Editions Group, which includes two other record labels: Thin Wrist Recordings (launched by Peter in 1999) and VDSQ (started by Steve Lowenthal in 2009).

In 2019, Black Editions signed a licensing agreement with Jinya Disc to present new LP editions from the back catalog and unreleased archives of a Japanese avant-jazz/free improvisation/noise pioneer. This collaboration allows for the introduction of previously unavailable recordings to a wider audience.

In early 2022, Peter Kolovos launched a new series called Black Editions Archive. Dedicated to previously unreleased recordings featuring Milford Graves, this series debuted with a remarkable 2xLP album capturing a March 2002 concert recorded at The Stone in New York City. It marked the first-ever collaboration between Milford Graves and Bill Laswell alongside John Zorn.

Newest Listed Items

From the moment they emerged in the early days of the 80's Tokyo underground, High Rise set themselves apart as radical outliers, shattering the limits of rock and psychedelic music with a ferocity unmatched even in that heady era. The group's core duo of Asahito Nanjo on bass/vocals and Munehiro Narita on guitar had an explosive chemistry; they mutated, distorted, amplified the raw velocity, heaviness, and electricity of late 60's / early 70's rock into an entirely new, monstrous form.

 Running in similar circles, their approach paralleled that of Les Rallizes Denudes, but with a more garage / proto-punk attack and the blistering intensity of a full-on amphetamine rush. While Mizutani's guitar is what took Rallizes's to another level, the same can be said for Narita's guitar work in High Rise- rightfully placing him in the pantheon of psychedelic guitarists and for some to call him "the undisputed king of the motorcycle fuzz guitar. The band inspired the launch of the legendary P.S.F. label, giving it its first two releases which along with its third release, the debut of Keiji Haino's Fushitsusha, signaled a new era in the world of Japanese underground music. 

High Rise's second album, 1986's II, was a triumph and fully lived up to the group's original "Psychedelic Speed Freaks" moniker, instantly raising the stakes for any band to follow. It carved out a new stream of rock music, rooted in an encyclopedic knowledge of the music's history and an almost metaphysical understanding of its raw elements and spirit. High Rise's third album, 1992's Dispersion, kept the group's in-the-red intensity while pushing into new directions. Less grounded in speed, Nanjo along with drummer Dr. Euro build powerful, dynamic riffs that swing with crushing levels of heaviness. Slower pieces rife with blues infused tension appear alongside dissonant no wave inflected passages and rumbling biker rave-ups. All of which provide Narita with the room to create one of rock guitars most compelling high wire spectacles. Throughout the album he creates dizzying torrents of notes with a precision, control and endless inventiveness that crackles with chaotic energy.

As P.S.F.'s own description proclaimed at the time "Munehiro Narita's guitar explodes!" this is "Killer-Fuzz-Wah-Wah psychedelic heaven!" Dispersion is "a masterpiece that should be a classic for all psychedelic speed freaks".

Dispersion

Music GB

Discover Dispersion by High Rise on vinyl. A masterpiece that pushes the limits of rock and psychedelic music. Released by Black Editions.