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Thread: Bi Kyo Ran - anybody?

  1. #1
    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    Bi Kyo Ran - anybody?

    I searched PE for traces of this great japanese band, but didnt find any. Wrong spelling?

    They are VERY much inspired by King Crimson, but have their own flavor.



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bi_Kyo_Ran
    Last edited by Zeuhlmate; 08-27-2014 at 07:13 PM.

  2. #2
    I have Parallex, which is a pretty good album. I've never been able to find anything else by them, though.

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    Member Reach's Avatar
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    They are VERY King Crimson, indeed. Able, entertaining, cool, but they hew a little too closely to the masters. Might be why we don't talk about them a lot here. Enjoyable stuff though. A certain Japanese madness added to the sound, which is refreshing.

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    Member Sputnik's Avatar
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    I dig this band. I have all their studio albums and like them all. Parallax is probably my favorite, but A Violent Music is also up there.

    It is true their apple falls very close, sometimes too close, to the KC tree. But I'd stop short of calling them a "clone" band. They definitely do their own thing. And their sound morphs from album to album. Go-Un is perhaps more "Lizard-like," while Parallax and A Violent Music mine the Larks - Red period a bit more. But Bi Kyo Ran do things on these albums Crimson would never do.

    So for folks who don't mind a band that has obvious influences from one of the touchstone British Prog bands, I'd say Bi Kyo Ran do as good a job as any working in this "style." And despite some obvious references, they made some fantastic and enjoyable music.

    For those looking for their albums who can't find them, look no further than Greg Walker, who has basically all of them. http://synphonic.8m.com/country/japan.htm

    Bill

  5. #5
    I'm here for the moosic NogbadTheBad's Avatar
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    I have there first one and like it but haven't got round to exploring further yet.
    Ian

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    I've got 4 or 5, and my favorite is "Anthology, vol 1" though I'm not sure if it's actually an anthology of previously released material, since I don't think the tracks on any of the other albums I've heard.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Sputnik View Post

    For those looking for their albums who can't find them, look no further than Greg Walker, who has basically all of them. http://synphonic.8m.com/country/japan.htm

    Bill
    Are those actual legit copies of the albums, or is he selling pirated copies?

  8. #8
    Subterranean Tapir Hobo Chang Ba's Avatar
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    Listened to an album on youtube...it was good but nothing more. Esp for the prices they are/were selling at I probably won't be buying them anytime soon.
    Please don't ask questions, just use google.

    Never let good music get in the way of making a profit.

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  9. #9
    Member Sputnik's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    Are those actual legit copies of the albums, or is he selling pirated copies?
    Those are legit. If they don't say Tachika, they're legit, or as legit as possible given that some "legit" labels don't pay royalties or reimburse artists. But that isn't the norm. I know for a fact Greg buys a ton of legit product and pays for it. I frown on the Tachika stuff he carries, but like drugs, it's the demand for this stuff that drives it as much as the supply. If people stopped buying them, he'd probably stop carrying them.

    Quote Originally Posted by Hobo Chang Ba View Post
    Listened to an album on youtube...it was good but nothing more. Esp for the prices they are/were selling at I probably won't be buying them anytime soon.
    Yeah, some of those prices are high. I didn't pay nearly that for the discs I have. But that's Japanese imports for you. I just sent 20 of my CDs to Japan. They paid the freight, but they will have to charge a fair amount to turn a profit on those even with a pretty reasonable vendor discount.

    I see he still has A Violent Music for $16. That's not a bad deal.

    Bill

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Sputnik View Post
    Those are legit. If they don't say Tachika, they're legit, or as legit as possible given that some "legit" labels don't pay royalties or reimburse artists. But that isn't the norm. I know for a fact Greg buys a ton of legit product and pays for it. I frown on the Tachika stuff he carries, but like drugs, it's the demand for this stuff that drives it as much as the supply. If people stopped buying them, he'd probably stop carrying them.
    Fair enough, I just remember him at one point selling versions of the Steve Hillage DVD's, the Rockpalast and Rock Goes To College programs, that appeared to not be the official releases. Maybe he had them in stock before the official releases came out, and simply continued to carry them on the site afterwards. I just always get a bad vibe whenever I'm on his site for that reason, like I'm not sure if I'm buying the right version of a given album.

    On the other hand, given the apparent inability of some people who are in charge of such things to get the mastering on some of the reissues right, sometimes, even the legit release isn't "the right one to buy". Oy!

  11. #11
    Member FrippWire's Avatar
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    I like them a lot. I have two of their CD's and dig them enough to want to buy more when finances allow. So many discs, so little money...but yeah, I like Bi Kyo Ran a lot. And it doesn't bother me at all that they wear their love of Crimson on their collective sleeves.

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    Member Phlakaton's Avatar
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    I have all of their releases. Love them. Deep Live is the weak of the lot but Parallax and ST are awesome. King Crimson lovers should give them a go for sure. The live volumes are varied on sound quality but quite listenable and the performances are great. A Violent Music (much later than the 80s albums) is quite strong too.

  13. #13
    Member TheH's Avatar
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    I've three or four of their Albums and like them rather well.

    My fave is BI KYO RAN LIVE I: FAIRY TALES which sounds very much like the 70s. The sound is somewhat bootlegish,
    but it has the same Magic that the Wetton KC line up had.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Phlakaton View Post
    A Violent Music (much later than the 80s albums) is quite strong too.
    Their finest release by far, I'd say - doing away with the KC/Rush-copycatting once and for all and rather living up to the noisier aspect of experimental and "alternative" nippon 90s progressive (as in Happy Family, Bondage Fruit, Altered States, SOH Band, Dying Ground, Optical 8 etc.).

    Of the earlier stuff, I quite like Parallax. The mid-90s album Go-Un is completely different from their other work, donning more of a jazzy, quasi-worldmusic, pseudo-zeuhl'ish and vocal-based formula. Very strange record, even the digital volume is down to minimum here.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  15. #15
    Member ashratom's Avatar
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    Count me as a fan of Bi Kyo Ran as well - I first started buying their albums in the 1980s. Parallax (great name - wonder if they named it after the also great movie?) is like a mix of Crimson and Art Zoyd. Go-Un definitely strays the furthest from Crimson I think.

    I was able to keep up through Kyobo na Ongaku (The Violent title). The title of Anthology threw me, but I believe as mentioned above by Dan, it's all original material. I haven't ever found that one.

    Has anyone heard those Sakigake! Cromartie High School OST (Vol 1 & 2) albums? The title scares me, but it could be just another lost in translation scenario.

  16. #16
    (not his real name) no.nine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    I just always get a bad vibe whenever I'm on [Greg Walker's] site for that reason, like I'm not sure if I'm buying the right version of a given album.
    You could ask him, he'll be honest with you. I've always found him to be a class act, even though I know some will disagree because he sells Tachikas.

    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    On the other hand, given the apparent inability of some people who are in charge of such things to get the mastering on some of the reissues right, sometimes, even the legit release isn't "the right one to buy". Oy!
    I won't name names, but once or twice, I held out on a Tachika until a legit release materialized, but then found it unlistenable and replaced it with the Tachika after all. Sometimes a needledrop really is better than the "modernized, EQ'd to hell" remastering!

    Back on topic, I love Parallax. Undeniably influenced by Crimson, but they definitely add their own slant. The 20-minute "Suite 'Ran'" is a real winner, with some beautifully stormy mellotron churning around.
    "I tah dah nur!" - Ike

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    Member TheH's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ashratom View Post
    Has anyone heard those Sakigake! Cromartie High School OST (Vol 1 & 2) albums? The title scares me, but it could be just another lost in translation scenario.
    Don't be scared by the Scenario the Music is really very typical Bi Kyo Ran (so yery KC)






  18. #18
    Member TheH's Avatar
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    Early live (cool)


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    Count me in as a fan.

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  21. #21
    Member Joe F.'s Avatar
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    I bought the first two on vinyl in the early '80s. The only other one I have (and have seen) is A Violent Music.

    I like all of the ones I have.

  22. #22
    Member Sputnik's Avatar
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    I listened to A Violent Music last night. It's a good album It is on the heavy side for Bi Kyo Ran, and to my ears still pretty grounded in the Wetton period KC sound. But I definitely enjoyed and I'm glad I have their studio albums.

    Checking out the Cromartie High School samples now. Actually pretty good. if the discs were priced a little more reasonably, I might jump on them. As it is, I'll keep them in mind.

    Bill

  23. #23
    i like them..i remember that i was listening to by kyo ran and i was inspiring by them when i writed Gondwana, the only song i writed in Kinesis, first album of AdC.

    ah, i'm Daniele, bassplayer.


  24. #24
    The one I've held on to is Go-Un, which nobody seems to think is their best, but the horns give it a more distinct sound.

  25. #25
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    I like Parallax a fair bit, but A Violent Music, not so much. When I was first finding out, a little over a decade ago, that prog music was indeed alive and well, they were a great discovery.

    neil

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