Karkador

Karkador is the sixth album by the Japanese electronic rock band P-Model, and the first where frontman Susumu Hirasawa was the sole remaining founding member.

Karkador
Studio album by
P-Model
ReleasedOctober 25, 1985 (1985-10-25)
RecordedTokyo, 1985
Studio
Various
Genre
Length36:38
LabelAlfa, Edge
ProducerAkiro "Kamio" Arishima
P-Model chronology
Scuba
(1984)		 Karkador
(1985)		 One Pattern
(1986)

Background and composition

Karkador was mainly inspired by the dreams of P-Model's vocalist Susumu Hirasawa. He had been seeing a Jungian counselor, as he was in a troubled mental state at the time. The counselor suggested that he record his dreams in a notebook to aid his recovery. He developed a narrative and lyrics for the album based on those notes.

Sadatoshi Tainaka, the band's original drummer, decided to leave after the previous tour's conclusion. He was replaced by Yasuhiro Araki, a huge fan of P-Model who had formerly played in a punk rock band. The band got signed to Alfa Records's sub-label for underground acts Edge, which allowed them to use Alfa's studios and mixing equipment, which was far better than what they had access to during their independent period.

Recording and production

In addition to Hirasawa's journal, P-Model used songwriting contributions from their keyboardist Shunichi Miura and bassist Tadahiko Yokogawa. Hirasawa and Yokogawa had equal creative control over the band, though Yokogawa has said that his influence on the album was somewhat nuanced.[1] Although the album has a new wave style much like 1984's Scuba, it also includes a wider array of sounds; mixing live drumming with programmed drumming, march-styled rhythms, and classical instruments. The band tried to keep the album raw, with Yokogawa hoping add some raw explosive power to the material, resulting in a brighter, more upbeat sound than recent efforts.[1]

Hirasawa had many ideas in regards to the sound of the album, but faced issues with engineering. He wanted Karkador to sound "underground", feeling that in-house engineer at Gok Studio Yoshiaki Kondo was best for the job. Kondo worked on some recordings, making the drums purposefully messy,[2] but his work was altered by an Alfa in house mixing engineer—who only worked on the album due to company policy—without Hirasawa's consent.[1] Miura had doubts as to the direction that P-Model was taking and left the band[3] alongside Yokogawa, who felt that touring in support of the album was too rigorous.[1] Due to their departure, half of the album was never performed live after from 1986 onwards.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Susumu Hirasawa, except where noted

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Karkador"  2:58
2."On the Organ-Yama" (オルガン山にて Orugan-Yama ni Te)  3:13
3."Dance Subomp" (ダンス素凡夫（スボンプ） Dansu Subonpu)Hirasawa, Shunichi MiuraMiura, Tadahiko Yokogawa4:19
4."Cyborg" (サイボーグ Saibōgu)  3:33
5."1778-1985"  4:14
6."Leak"  4:19
7."Oar" (オール Ōru)YokogawaYokogawa4:05
8."Hourglass" Hirasawa, Yokogawa3:17
9."Piper" Yokogawa5:53
10."Karçador"  0:48

Personnel
P-Model - Arrangements
Staff
  • Akiro "Kamio" Arishima (AC Unit) - Production
  • Toshikazu Awano (Alfa Records) - A&R Coordination
  • Mitsuru Hirose (Model House) - Artist Management
  • Mitsuo Koike (Alfa Records) - Mixing, Engineering
  • Yoshiaki Kondo (Gok Sound) and Akitsugu Doi (Alfa Records) - Additional Engineering
  • Hideaki Nojima (Alfa Records) and Kazuaki Nagai (Somewhere) - Assistant Engineering
  • Hiroaki Sugawara (Gok Sound) - Digital Equipment Operation
  • Teppei Kasai (CBS-Sony) - Mastering engineer
  • Yuichi Hirasawa - Art Direction & Obje
  • Kayo Muto - Art Drawing
  • Hideki Namai - Photography
  • Hideki Higashi (Touch-Up) - Hair & Makeup
  • Akemi Tsujitani (AC Unit) - Costuming
  • Ginza Matsuzakaya, Ginza Miyuki-Dori Jun, Hiromichi Nakano, Viva You - Clothes
  • Toshinao Tsukui (Alfa Records) - Cover Coordination
  • Special Thanks to: Talbo (Tōkai Gakki) (for Hirasawa), Take Off Studio (for rehearsal), Akemi Arai (Toei), Yoshito Imai (Media Bum), Teruo Nakano, Taro Yamamoto, Yuji Matsuda, Hisaaki Kato, Takashi Kokubo, Osamu Ishii, Miyuki & Miwa Kumagaya, Kuni, Shuji Furu, Akira, Ryuta Staff Room HB, Ted Osawa, Akira Sakurai

Release history
Date Label(s) Format Catalog Notes
October 25, 1985 (1985-10-25) Alfa Records, Edge Records LP ELR-28002
February 21, 1992 (1992-02-21) CD ALCA-258 Released (alongside One Pattern) five days before the release of P-Model.[4]
December 21, 1994 (1994-12-21) Alfa Music, Edge Records ALCA-9134 Released 20 days after the debut show of the "Revised" P-Model.
May 10, 2002 (2002-05-10)
July 4, 2014 (2014-07-04)		 Chaos Union, Teslakite CHTE-0009 Remastered by Hirasawa. Part of Disc 5 of the Ashu-on [Sound Subspecies] in the solar system box set, alongside phonosheet-only releases from 1983 & 1985, some of them by the members that played on this album. "Birds" is on the fan club exclusive Disc 0 (CHTE-0021). Re-released with new packaging by Kiyoshi Inagaki.
July 25, 2007 (2007-07-25)
April 12, 2012 (2012-04-12)		 Sony Music Direct, GT Music MHCL-1136 Remastered, limited release. Packaged in a paper sleeve to replicate the original LP packaging. Re-pressing (without sticker to indicate packaging) sold only through Tower Records.
  • "Leak" is included on the TWINS SOUND SAMPLER Vol.4～TECHNO POP COLLECTION various artists compilation.

References
  1. キミは年末だからパーッといったか?. The Aggregated Past KANGENSHUGI 8760 HOURS (in Japanese). Chaos Union. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  2. "レコレコ - recommend record - 音と生活 vol.4". 音めがね (in Japanese). otomegane.
  3. アーティスト列伝 P-MODEL [Artist Chronicle － P-Model]. Keyboard Magazine (in Japanese). Vol. Autumn, no. 370. Rittor Music. October 2010. ISSN 1344-6371.
  4. カルカドルコレクション. 電子降る日記 I am only my MODEL (in Japanese).
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