Journeys Guided by Sound

#foreigncountry #Hanoi #Hawaii #JAKAM #JUZUakaMOOCHY #recording #travel #Music 2021.08.20

Vietnam, A country that has not won, but has not lost 2

Hanoi, a city with a different atmosphere than the ones we’ve seen so far.

This is the Vietnam that I felt in the movies made about the Vietnam War that I was forced to watch from a young age.

The chaos, the heat, the humidity, the obscenity, the gore, the wildness, the animalism, the toughness, the nobility, the primordial vitality
I had already felt some of it, but it was obvious that it was different from
Saigon as known as Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An, and Hue, it was obvious at a glance that ”something” was different.

I can feel the presence of a huge China towering ahead of us, both in reality and geographically.
Even though the dialects are different, it is the same language, but the ambition is clearly different.

Was it because they were the victors in the Vietnam Civil War?
Is that the reason why they won…

The above photo was taken early in the morning.
As I found out later, the intensity of its animal nature increases dramatically at night.

I felt the difference in tension from the moment I arrived in Hanoi, to the point where I almost forgot that I was also an Asian.
(In a way, I felt the power of Africa that I visited later.)

Anyway, as usual, I chose an accommodation at random, made a base, and immediately started looking for a musician.

Our goal is to find musicians who can play the unique instruments of Vietnam.
And to record them.

During the trip, I was organizing and editing my recordings and working on new tracks based on the inspiration I got from new places on my bed in the hotel, while wandering around the city at night as usual lol

The liberated atmosphere at night is nice in any city.

Impressive! Almost played in one take…

And based on the information obtained from our endless interviews, we found out that a concert playing folk music? A play?

The sound of the flute was what stuck out to me personally the most in this performance.
And I was able to negotiate with the performer directly!

We immediately started recording at our home base, a hotel.

His personal appearance was that of a very ordinary young man. Was it my imagination that I felt some gay elegance and sexiness?

He adds a very emotional tone to the rough track I made there…
Touching! This performance was almost all in one take… I’m not sure if I’m listening to it now, but I think he’s actually a genius…

Fortunately, the sound of the folk music did not need to be amplified
and was recorded only live, so there was no blame from the hotel residents or staff.
In fact, they even showed their respect to these Japanese people who were interested in their folk music.

The sound of his flute can be heard in these pieces, although it is duplicated since it was introduced in the last issue.

<a href="https://crosspointproception.bandcamp.com/album/re-momentos-memories">Re:Momentos Memories by Juzu a.k.a. Moochy</a>

For some reason, in the following song
It is interesting once again to see the harmony between the koto played by the South Vietnamese women and the flute played by the North Vietnamese young man.

<a href="https://crosspointproception.bandcamp.com/album/toki-no-kawa-feat-breath-mark">Toki No Kawa feat Breath Mark by JUZU</a>

The results of the recording session in Hanoi climaxed with Nguyen Anh Tuan’s performance,
but I also heard from somewhere that there was a tremendous musician in Hanoi.

From Asia to Polynesia

The man is already an old man, well over 80 years old.
And he is blind.
But he has more than ten wives…

And, they say he has mastered various instruments.
Among them, the one he is the best at is the steel guitar.

It’s such fascinating information.
My expectations only grew higher…
The musician lives in a messy market.
And it’s behind a butcher shop…

I took a cab to the place with the person who introduced us.
But we gave up because he was sick…

But it synchronized with the interest in Hawaii that was already growing inside me.
I imagine the sound of the steel guitar.
(The steel guitar, along with the method of playing the strings by placing the guitar horizontally, spread in Hawaii in the late 19th century and developed as a major instrument in Hawaiian and country music and, since there was a Hawaiian boom in Japan at the time, many people associate the steel guitar with Hawaii.)
It’s a big Pacific soundscape that is also connected to the instrument I recorded this time, the bow.

Yes, the end result of this recording led to Hawaii.

From Asia to Polynesia.
To the oceans… such fantasies exploded at the mere information of this mysterious musician!

This may have been a foreshadowing of the fact that the museum I visited in Hanoi had a somewhat Polynesian feel to it.

Our last night in Hanoi was disappointing but gave us a new goal.

As the three of us were having our regular pho and beer everyday at a semi-outdoor restaurant, more like a set meal restaurant?,
the kind of semi-stall style found all over Vietnam,
a fight suddenly broke out nearby.

In the blink of an eye, there were a dozen or so people involved in the brawl.
The agility of their movements was unbelievable.
I grew up in the violent grind of Tokyo, Koenji and Shinjuku,
and I’ve seen a few glimpses of such brawls lol, but the speed was completely different.

Here, at last, is the subtitle of this article.

A country that has not won, but has not lost

is the title that emerges.

Yes, I sensed a hint of dog-eating, which is said to be rather popular, in the fight scene between these men.
I felt and marveled at their tremendous hunger, savagery, speed, sharpness, and toughness.

So strong!
The U.S. soldiers must have been astonished at the fighting prowess of these people.

When I was about 15 years old, there was a brand called “Cross Colors” in Los Angeles that involved Vietnamese gang members who had defected from the Vietnam War,
and rumor had it that the Vietnamese gang members in LA were also very good fighters.

Our country, Japan, as it is known, was scorched all over the country
and finally surrendered after the first atomic bomb was dropped on a city for the first time in human history. (Some say the emperor made a deal with them.)

I won’t go into too much detail about the Japanese war right now, but This country, Vietnam, was fought by the same ethnic group along the ambiguous line between North and South. Although the civilians were bombarded with defoliants and napalm bombs, they did not surrender, and their tenacity won over public opinion. Under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh, the North and South were united, and Vietnam gained independence as a socialist nation.

There were some ethnic minorities there who were unique enough to be labeled as a single ethnic group, and I’m sure many of them were dissatisfied with the unified state.

However, I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I think it’s a good thing that they were involved in the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, a time when they were at the mercy of the two poles, and they got out of the situation where they were constantly killing each other, and at least they were not panting for colonies from the West, countries that were too far away.

The islands of the Caribbean, North America, South America, Africa, and Polynesia, including Cuba, which I wrote about in the first and second articles of this column,
are still reeling from the negative effects of the colonial system.
Even though there are many differences with Cuba, which is also a socialist country, it was very interesting to be able to experience the current state of socialist countries as a vibration of people and land,
and to catch a glimpse of the gap between ideal and reality here in Asia.

In Vietnam, the situation will be very different in 2021 than it was in 2005.
It is my prediction that capitalism will increase and the indigenous culture will disappear.

It is impermanent, just as it has always been.

However, the “toughness” I gained from Vietnam has not changed and has become flesh and blood in me.

Like eating a duck’s almost-hatched egg as a punishment game with my two companions,
the texture was snarly and raw, and I could feel the bones and feathers. And that feeling of swallowing life.

Transit point “Taiwan”

Yes, speaking of food,
Taiwan, which I visited on my way back home, was also very interesting.

It is called “vegetarian cuisine” or “plain food,” and it uses advanced cooking methods without meat to create a satisfying feeling as if it were a meat dish.

I wandered around Taipei City for a bit and accidentally? visited an organic supermarket and snack store that was very inspiring.

Personally, I’ve had big doubts about meat-eating since I was a child (it’s obvious that non-human animals have the same feelings that parents have for their children, and isn’t it bad for human beings to destroy their family forms, sacrifice them for food, and do it excessively, isn’t it?) I have been searching for a solution to this problem since I was already in elementary school, and there are many big hints here in the supermarket.

I was particularly impressed by the taste of the winter melon soup.

Fukuoka, where I lived during this period in 2005, was also a place with a more Asian feel than Tokyo.
This experience also influenced my eating habits afterwards.

Food makes up the body, the body makes up the spirit, and the spirit makes up the culture.

Culture is the key to a fulfilling life.

The future is guided by the process of returning.

Vietnam and Taiwan made me think of such things,
and made me feel the strength, nobility, and profound wisdom of Asia.
I now have a newfound respect and appreciation for them.

The world is deep and wide.

＜To be continued.＞

J.A.K.A.M. (JUZU a.k.a. MOOCHY / NXS /CROSSPOINT)
http://www.nxs.jp/
soundcloud / Bandcamp / Twitter / Facebook

東京出身。15歳からバンドとＤＪの活動を並行して始め、スケートボードを通して知り合ったメンバーで結成されたバンドEvilPowersMeの音源は、結成後すぐにアメリカのイラストレイターPusheadのレーベル等からリリースされる。DJとしてもその革新的でオリジナルなスタイルが一世を風靡し、瞬く間に国内外の巨大なフェスからアンダーグランドなパーティまで活動が展開される。ソロの楽曲制作としても米Grand RoyalからのBuffalo Daughterのリミックスを皮切りに、Boredoms等のリミックス等メジャー、インディー問わず様々なレーベルからリリースされる。2003年にキューバで現地ミュージシャンとレコーディングツアーを敢行したのを皮切りに、その後世界各地で録音を重ね、新たなWorld Musicの指針として、立ち上げたレーベルCrosspointを始動。
音楽制作のみならず、映像作品、絵本や画集のプロデュース、2012年には野外フェスOoneness Camp”縄文と再生”を企画するなど活動は多岐に渡るが、 2015年から始まった怒濤の９ヶ月連続ヴァイナルリリースは大きな話題になり、その影響でベルリン／イスラエルのレーベルMalka Tutiから新作がワールドワイドにリリースされる。2017年にはDJ TasakaとのHIGHTIME Inc.、2018年にはNitroMicrophoneUndergroundのMACKA-CHINとPART2STYLEのMaLとのユニットZEN RYDAZの活動もスタート。
同年、J.A.K.A.M.名義の楽曲がフランスのレーベルHardFistからアナログリリースされた流れで３万人の巨大フェスNuits Sonores Festivalでのライブを皮切りにヨーロッパ、イスラエル等のDJツアーが敢行される。そして2019年、世界的な支持を受けるMinilogue/Son KiteのMarcus HenrikssonとKuniyukiとのユニットMYSTICSの制作が始まり、今年2021年、待望のアルバムがリリースされるなど、そのオリジナルなヴィジョンがあらゆるジャンルをまたぎ、世界に広がっている。

Born in Tokyo, he started playing in bands and DJing at the same time when he was 15. As a DJ, his innovative and original style has taken the world by storm, and his activities have quickly expanded from huge festivals to underground parties both in Japan and abroad. In 2003, he went on a recording tour with local musicians in Cuba. In 2003, he went on a recording tour with local musicians in Cuba, and since then he has been recording all over the world, and started his own label, Crosspoint, as a new guideline for world music.
In addition to music production, he also produces video works, picture books and art books, and organized the outdoor festival “Jomon and Rebirth” in 2012. In 2017, he released HIGHTIME Inc. with DJ Tasaka, and in 2018, he released ZERO with MACKA-CHIN of NitroMicrophoneUnderground and MaL of PART2 STYLE. In 2018, he also started the unit ZEN RYDAZ with MACKA-CHIN of NitroMicrophoneUnderground and MaL of PART2STYLE.
In the same year, his music under the name of J.A.K.A.M. was released in analog form on the French label HardFist, which led to a live performance at the huge 30,000-person Nuits Sonores Festival, followed by a DJ tour of Europe and Israel. In 2019, the production of MYSTICS, a unit with Marcus Henriksson and Kuniyuki of the internationally popular Minilogue/Son Kite, began, and this year, 2021, the long-awaited album will be released. His original vision is spreading all over the world, crossing all genres.
He has been behind the decks at home and abroad with:
Acid Arab (FR) / Adam Ffreeland (UK) / Alex Patterson (The Orb, UK) Andy Baz (Background Records, Germany) / Asaf Sammuel (islael) / Dego (4Hero, UK) / Fabio (UK) / Francois K (NY) / Fred P(NY) / Foolish Felix (UK) / Grooverider (UK) / I.G.Culture (People, UK) / Jeff Mills (Chicago) / Joe Claussell (NY) Nick the Record (UK) / Moodyman (Detroit) / Panasea (Germany) PHOTEK (UK) / Storm(MetalHeadz, UK) / Suv (Fullcycle, UK) / Q-Bert & Inbisibl Skratch Piklz, Mix Master Mike with D-Styles, Yogafrog and Shortcut (US) / Theo Parrish(Detroit) / Terre Thaemlitz (US/JPN) / Tom Wieland (Vienna) /DJ KRUSH (JP) / Flying Lotus(US)/ / Boredoms (JP) / FAUST (Germany) / Dennis Bovell(UK) / Dillinger Escape Plan (NY) / Juno Reacter (UK) /Lee Perry (Jamaica) / LKJ (UK) / Lake Trout (US) / Mad Proffesor (UK) / Mala (UK) / Marcus Henriksson(SW) / Meat Beat Manifesto (UK) / Merzbow , MMW (US)/ Yakaza Ensemble(Turkey) etc. His style keeps evolving and defies categorization.