Karkador

KARKADOR
Studio album by P-MODEL
Released	December 25, 1985 (1985-12-25) February 21, 1992 (1992-02-21) (Reissue) December 21, 1994 (1994-12-21) (Reissue) July 25, 2007 (2007-07-25) (Reissue)
Recorded	LDK STUDIO GOK SOUND STUDIO STUDIO SOMEWHERE TOEI TOKYO SATSUEIJO ALFA STUDIO A
Genre	Technopop Synth Rock New Wave Experimental rock
Length	36:38
Label	Alfa Records, EDGE Records Alfa Music, EDGE Records (1994 Reissue) Sony Music Direct, GT Music (2007 Reissue)
Producer	Akiro "Kamio" Arishima
P-MODEL chronology
SCUBA (1984) KARKADOR (1985) ONE PATTERN (1986)

KARKADOR is the sixth album released by the Japanese electronic/rock-band P-Model. It was the first P-MODEL album to feature band-leader Susumu Hirasawa as the only remaining founding member of the group. After Sadatoshi Tainaka, the original drummer, left the band to live on the Galápagos Islands, Hirasawa was the sole remaining and still active founding member. He was succeeded by Yasuhiro Araki, a fan of the group who was the drummer of the punk rock band ALLERGY. This album is based around Hirasawa's dreams, and follows the New Wave precedent set by SCUBA. However, unlike SCUBA, each band member had more creative involvement than on SCUBA and ANOTHER GAME. The album was remastered by Hirasawa and re-released on the Ashu-on [Sound Subspecies] in the solar system box set on 10 May 2002; it was put on CD 5, with various vinyl single-only releases made directly by Hirasawa's MODEL HOUSE company.

Production

KARKADOR was inspired by the dreams of P-MODEL band leader Susumu Hirasawa. Prior to making the album, Hirasawa began recording his dreams in a notebook and later developed a narrative based on these dreams. “Karkador” is the name of a bird that appeared in an archetypal image drawn by Hirasawa himself. Each song from the album is linked together by a single story, and it is up to the audience to construct and interpret that story as they listen.^[1]

The album's lyrics were taken from Hirasawa's journal, though other P-MODEL members were notably involved. Unlike previous P-MODEL albums, the band crafted their songs through demos and rehearsals instead of live shows. Only one song from the album was played before it was released. Hirasawa once again struggled with the mixing engineers, who had trouble understanding his ideas. This album follows the New Wave precedent set by SCUBA. However there is a band dynamic in this album. The rhythm section, though distinctive, matches the intensity of previous albums in the P-MODEL ANOTHER ACT series, expertly handling the genre change. The music mixes acoustic and electronic drums with the electronic pop of various melodies.

The album's cover was designed to convey pure pop. It was conceived by Kayo Muto, a student of Hirasawa's synthesizer lectures, who occasionally performs at P-MODEL live shows dressed as a geisha. The set on the cover was built by Hirasawa's brother, Yuichi, whose cafè/bar GAZIO hosts the set's center sculpture as a decoration piece.

Track listing

Personnel

• Susumu Hirasawa - Vocals, Guitar
• Shunichi Miura - Keyboard, Backing vocals
• Tadahiko Yokogawa - Bass, Violin, Vocals, Other Instruments
• Yasuhiro Araki - Drums, Percussion
• Akiro "Kamio" Arishima - Production
• Toshikazu Awano (Alfa Records) - A&R Coordination
• Mitsuru Hirose (MODEL HOUSE) - Artist Management
• 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
• 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
• Talbo (Tōkai Gakki) (for Hirasawa), TAKE OFF STUDIO (for reharsal), 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 - Special Thanks

References

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6yn91zj_B4 3. http://www.spirit-of-rock.com/album-groupe-P*Model-nom_album-Karkador-l-en.html 4. http://www.last.fm/music/P-Model/Karkador 5. http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/ntw-mla000034-karkador

External links

• KARKADOR at MusicBrainz (list of releases)
• KARKADOR at NO ROOM - The official site of Susumu Hirasawa (P-MODEL)