(PRE-ORDER 10/10/25) Paradise (INDIE EXCLUSIVE)(VINYL) | Mint (M) Mint (M)

World Of Echo announces the reissue of two remastered albums by Japanese guitarist and songwriter Naoki Zushi, 1988s Paradise, and 2005s III. Two classics of Japanese psychedelia, both Paradise and III were originally released on Org Records, the imprint of Shinji Shibayama of acid-folk group Nagisa Ni Te, with whom Zushi has guested on second guitar for decades. Both intimate and expansive, rich with revelatory songwriting and blasted, sky-scouring guitar, these reissues return these albums to print for the first time since the 2000s. Its the first time III has been officially released on vinyl, with an extra, previously unreleased track, Under The June Moonlight.

Recorded in Kyotos Townhouse Studios in mid 1987, Paradise emerged from a scene in Kansai, Japan that was embracing the idiosyncracies of 1970s singer-songwriters, the soaring solos of early seventies psychedelia, and the DIY impulse of 1980s post-punk. While Zushis musical history stretched back to the early eighties he was a founding member of Jojo Hiroshiges noise outfit Hijokaidan he found his feet with groups like Hallelujahs, whose dream-pop collection Niku O Kuraite Chikai Wo Tateyo was recently reissued by Black Editions, and Idiot OClock.

Paradise appeared two years after that Hallelujahs album and share much the same membership Zushis backing band on several of the songs includes Shibayama on drums and Ken-Ichi Takayama (aka Idiot) on electric guitar, though just as often, Zushi plays all the instruments himself. The coordinates here are wide-reaching you can hear the volume and intensity of Neil Young & Crazy Horse (on Hallelujah: Left Side and Paradise: Midday), the slow-motion magic of Galaxie 500, the idiosyncratic spirit of The Only Ones, all mixed up with tender guitar miniatures and stumbling garage-psych-pop moves.

• Media Condition: Mint (M)
• Sleeve Condition: Mint (M)
• Genre: ALT/INDIE
• Format Type: LP