Japanese Gum is an Italian duo of rock and electronics that really got my head spinning. Their brief EP titled Without You, I’m Napping is just under the 15 minutes duration limit I arbitrarily use for this blog but there are enough musical ideas crowded into these three tracks for a couple of albums. The Japanese Gum sound is a traffic jam of psychedelica, progressive rock, space electronics, and vocals that sounds like The Mary and Jesus Chain in a time warp. “Chlorine Blue” starts pastoral and then builds up to the vocals until it is a throbbing wall of sound. I can not make out the lyrics on “Cannibalism Next Door” but it barely matters as organ and percussion set the stage for what can only be described as an industrial ritual chant. The final track is “Part-Time Assholes” and, despite the weird title, is a memorable post-rock symphonic poem. While this album is too brief to be more than a first course, I have to admit I went away with very satisfied ears.

The album is available as a free download from their web site in 192kbps MP3. If you enjoy the music, support the artists by buying their CDs.

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