Makoto Kubota’s Mixtape

Jennifer Lucy Allan shares a mixtape crafted exclusively for Late Junction by the cult musician, film-maker and producer Makoto Kubota, who shares the songs and sounds that he has treasured most over the years.

Born in Kyoto, Japan in 1949, Makoto Kubota is one of Japan’s true musical innovators. Over his long career, he initially began leading a musician’s life in the ‘60s as a central part of the mystery-riddled cult underground Japanese psychedelic rock band Les Rallizes Dénudés. As students responding to the post-war occupation of their country, from the beginning Les Rallizes were pioneering in their commitment to the Japanese language in their work. Under the leadership of the enigmatic Takashi Mizutani, they spent decades making deep, hypnotic psychedelia and playing high volume concerts, a sonic assault - according to Kubota - loud enough to “send your consciousness flying”. While still in LRD, Makoto formed The Sunset Gang, gathering fellow musicians in the studio, including Haruomi Hosono. They were a group whose sound met somewhere between Japanese folk, Okinawan rock and New Orleans jazz, with a healthy dose of cool Hawaiian surfer vibes. Kuboata's mixtape offers a snapshot of his vivid musical universe.

Produced by Cat Gough
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3

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