Morio Agata - Norimono Zukan (乗物図鑑) (2022 Reissue) (Digipak CD)

Arguably the biggest left-turn of Agata's early career, however, came in 1979, when legendary experimental label Vanity Records' Yuzuru Agi paired Agata with major players from his label's roster and the Osaka punk scene for an impromptu recording session. An impressive list of musicians took part (SAB, Yukio Fujimoto (NORMAL BRAIN), Masahiro Kitada (INU), Taiqui (ULTRA BIDE), Jun Shinoda (SS), Chie Mukai (CHE-SHIZU), and others) and even though they all came from different wings of the underground music scene, together they built an arresting, minimalistic bedrock of synthesized and acoustic sounds for Agata to work his magic over. The recording sesssions were tense and it took a while for the collective to find their footing. But the hard work paid off - Norimono Zukan is a masterpiece of ramshackle new wave and droning dirges, topped off with Agata's unmistakeable croon, at times delicate, other times twisted.