P-MODEL
Potpouri
1981 cd: WPCL-605Rock/Ska with sound collage. Has some synth and effects but still has a band type sound. Thanks to Suzuki Takaaki.
Member lineup: Susumu Hirasawa, Yasumi Tanaka, Sadatoshi Tainaka
compiled by Nicholas D. Kent
email: ndkent "at" optonline.net
Last updated 04.1.25
(*) means I don't own this album
(@) means I don't own this album but I've listened to it
Official Info and previews of Susumu Hirasawa and P-MODEL (in English)
jump to my page of Susumu Hirasawa's Solo Works
Jump to other P-MODEL member works and related projects
In 1979 P-MODEL was one of the founders of the Technopop style of music.
They changed members several times and went dormant in the late 80s and early 90s.
They disbanded at the beginning of 2000
In 2004 a new act called Kaku P-MODEL was formed with Susumu Hirasawa as the sole member.
P-MODEL availability in 2004: Some of the albums have been reissued individually.
In May 2002 a complete box set of P-MODEL called Ashu-on was released. At the moment much of the band material is only currently available as part of this complete boxed set. The upside is the boxed set is a good value and be ordered and shipped internationally quite easily.
one of technopop's greatest classics
It's not dense and thick like early YMO, maybe a little like Plastics only more rocking. The melodies are very catchy. Co-Produced by P-MODEL and Masahide Sakuma, who was the producer and member of the Plastics. Has that classic pika pika sound.
Member lineup: Susumu Hirasawa, Katsuhiko Akiyama, Yasumi Tanaka, Sadatoshi Tainaka
3 virtual live albums recently released for P-MODEL's 20th anniversary in 1999.
The hard sound is retained. Has some strings. A bit harder and more scarcastic, it still has the little synth blips and the organ/guitar interplay.
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P-MODELPotpouri1981 cd: WPCL-605Rock/Ska with sound collage. Has some synth and effects but still has a band type sound. Thanks to Suzuki Takaaki. Member lineup: Susumu Hirasawa, Yasumi Tanaka, Sadatoshi Tainaka
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Heavy sound with gate echo. They are doing a synth rock type sound.
I think this is some sort of remix with three non album tracks.
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P-MODELAnother Game1984 cd: Tokuma cd: 27WXD-120, Japan Records lp: 28 JAL-2Fifth Album. Has an early Pink Floyd cover track. The credits on the re-issue CD are much too small to read. (different band lineup) |
Sixth Album. This was originally
a book with a cassette. It ushered in a different sound. There was also a CD
version later thats long out of print besides the Ashu-on boxed set which also
has the cassette mix.
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P-MODELScuba Recycle1995 cd: DIW/Syun SYUN-009.This is a remix of the above material with 90s touches. Fine songs, large amounts of sampler and synth. Should keep fans of the newer material happy. A memorable hymn-like version of Fish Song, my favorite of the couple versions of this song. Comes with a thick CD sized photo book. |
I was impressed by their very different electronic sound which is rather hard to describe. Interestingly (for technopop) the drummer sounds very acoustic, which may or may not be a good thing in the context.
The band line up is: Susumu Hirasawa, Tadahiko Yokogawa, Shunichi Miura, Yasuhiro Araki
Hyperactive and contains memorable melodies. Quite interesting, but somewhat fractured. I guess the jolting start/stop nature of this and the kept it from becoming a favorite of mine. Terou Nakano (later to be in Long Vacation, see below for solo work) writes and sings on some tracks.
The band line up is: Susumu Hirasawa, Terou Nakano, Yasuhiro Araki, Yoshikazu Takahashi
This was their last major label release for a few years. P-Model did some concerts and related indy releases for the next year or 2 but went dormant by the time Susumu Hirasawa started releasing his solo albums.
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P-MODELP-Model1992 Polydor cd: POCH-1128After a long break, P-Model came back.("Defrosted") Hirasawa's distinctive voice and melodies are still there, but the band sound is very different - Techno. This easily is one of the very best technopop albums of all time. Wall to wall high speed sequencers and electronic drums now. Fortunately the material by no means has the dull, no repetetive numbing style of most of the techno out there. Clever melodies, hooks and well written technopop tunes. Great engineering. Great fun listening. Cool cd graphics. Restored my faith in good new technopop music. The subject seems to be the world inside computers. Interestingly, Kotobuki was a band member in the late 80s also. Band members are: Susumu Hirasawa, Katsuhiko Akiyama, Hikaru Kotobuki, Yasuchika Fujii |
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P-MODELBig Body1993 Polydor cd: POCH-1195Similar to the prior self-titled album. Slightly harder sound. This album sort of has a journey through the body theme to it. It's also about the transformation of the human body by computer networks. I thought the self titled album had slightly better material, though I like the track Chevron more than any of the cuts on the former. It most certainly falls onto the list of my all-time favorite synth tunes. One of technopop's great albums. Band members remain the same |
Live 1993. This is the early 90s lineup in concert. The title comes from the gear going partially dead in one of the tracks. A good and lengthy CD.
These are older P-Model tunes performed in the Big Body/P-Model style for concert use though recorded in the studio.
This is a very different remix of Fune with mixes alternating by Fukuma and Konishi. Very trancelike and different from the songlike approach of the album. For all intents and purposes this is a different album, not your standard remix retread fare. The album may be a little dissapointing if you are looking for the more familiar P-Model 90s sounds, but taken on its own its a fine piece of work and quite hypnotic. Fune, the final mix, is a masterpiece.
The band line up is: Susumu Hirasawa, Kenji Konishi, Wataru Kamiryo, Hajime Fukuma.
The title translates to Ship.Konishi, a friend and former collaborator with Hirasawa's live shows writes or co-writes many of the songs. (see his web page below for his other projects) While the last 2 studio albums were all high-speed hyperactive pieces this album also contains slower numbers too. Wonderful sounds and engineering. Contains the debut of a new Yamaha instrument called the Miburi. Also has some live sounding drums in a techno context. The style of the track Tide is later heard Hirasawa's solo album Siren. Whereas the other P-Model albums tend to keep to a specific style throughout, this one has many different styles on the different tracks. The title track is very memorable.
The band line up is: Susumu Hirasawa, Kenji Konishi, Wataru Kamiryo, Hajime Fukuma.
3 songs and a multimedia partition with desktop video and good photos of the band. The title song is quite superb. The second song http is fun. (my bad joke is "if their web address were shorter, they wouldn't have enough lyrics for a song")
Last recording with Wataru Kamiryo (drums) as a member.
prefixed >>>Unfix Eight>>>. A 3 song CD5.
includes Ashura Clock and Hidden Protocol later to be remixed and a single-only track Colors
a companion to Ashura Clock, another 3 song EP with CD-ROM data.
Interesting material as usual. First mix of Layer-Green. Then non-album tracks Ba-Da-Dha and Affirmation
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P-MODELDenshi-higeki/~ENOLA97.11.29 Teslakite/Nippon Columbia CD: COCA-14673Full length album. Attempted translation of Denshi-higeki is Electro-tragedy. A new style developed on the prior singles. 3 tracks from the singles are remixed here, plus a very different version (or sequel) Rocket Shoot II. (as good as the original, but in different ways). One track pays hommage to Trans Europe Express. The album concludes with A Strange Fruit, something that sounds like a sendup of late YMO. Very fast tempo and smooth throughout. Definitely a favorite album of '97. Includes a CD-ROM section |
This is the current album which was jointly released using .MP3 and was even recorded using net technology. Slightly more strait forward and forceful and less orchestrated than the prior one. There is no shortage of electronic colors and fine arrangements though. Quite a number of memorable songs. Unique packaging with a piece of actual audio tape with printing serving as artwork. A couple nods to their 20th anniversary year.
This is a 16 CD boxed set issued in 2002. It contains all the work on this page listed up to this point (and the pre-P-Model album below) plus quite a few rarities and releases I didn't know existed. 24 albums and 286 songs. In other words everything by The discs combine more than one original release per CD but nothing is split or reorded between compared to the original releases. In other words each album is intact and then some other release intact fills the disc and singles tend to fill the final minutes if needed. The upshot is you can quite quickly just pop in a given release and hear it start to finish. There is a complete set of lyrics and extensive notes by Susumu Hirasawa on every release (in Japanese). The material is remastered and even variant mixes are preserved (like when more than one mix was made for some reason). The CDs come in a A4 size ring binder with the discs mounted in different kinds of protective sleeves that fit in the binder. There are uncut color covers for each CD with new designs. I question though if anyone would order such an expensive set then cut up and remount the CDs. Also I guess the only thing I can be critical at all about is that the album art is not preserved. The original album covers are reproduced small and in monochrome. I'm still listening!
As I understand it, this set is only available through direct sale from the label.
Official page including the contents per disc (in japanese)
Order info for foreign purchase (in english)
There is a related bonus item for Green Nerve fan club members of a disc #00 available only for members purchasing the set. This disc contains about 38 minutes (11 tracks) of related material like some p-model arranged Christmas songs wich was a very rare promo cassette, some practice backing tapes for a choir to work with, some band related items by members Yokogawa, Nakano and Tainaka as sort of solo. All from the 1986-1988 years when they were off the major labels.
A 1978 recording of synth Bach arrangements. Fast and vintage funny sounding, beats too. Akiro Kamio worked on this one also. A fairly short album with some tape flaws due to age. Great packaging. Hirasawa is a great fan of Wendy Carlos. Some vodocing even. (I suggested to Momus to get ahold of this one). Like a trip to Akihabara to get an Arp. This album is included in the Ashu-on boxed set, so in my mind it sort of confirms its official part of P-MODEL's body of work.
so far a one shot
project with Rodelius, Susumu Hirasawa, Kenji Konishi, Alquimia as the core
members. Also David Bickley, Felix Jay are in on it too.
3 long but propelsive trance-like pieces plus a good remix. The album was recorded by sending tapes back and forth. Including use of MP3 files. I believe Rodelius, KK and Alquimia are the core of the group. HH chants on the openning track. Bickley was involved on the remix and Jay has no composing credit. All 3 pieces have a similar structure. Rodelius is a pioneer of German electronic music and is best known from the duo Cluster. Alquimia is a Mexican woman recording ambiant works in the UK.
1999 Rykodisc Ltd. (UK) RCD 10480
This is the Europe-only issued remix
CD. The Tribal Engine remix is the only track in common.
info thanks - Rev. Fever
this is like a spinoff semi parody band project masterminded by Hikaru Kotobuki. It does hold up quite well on it's own. Now he seems to be a solo act
The band members are Kotobuki Hikaru (ex- P-MODEL), Lion Merry (was with the Yapoos), Shonen Maruta and Thaniya Patpong.
The album are quirky and entertaining new arrangements of P-MODEL songs (includes an acapella one) and original pieces. A good way of hearing Kotobuki's contribution to the P-MODEL sound. I understand he took off to live in Thailand for a couple of years after this album.
uses plenty of sped up drum loops and blips. pretty fun/crazy except the final cut wears out its welcome with a power drill sounding effect. (which I'm told is actually the sound of intentionally corrupted data played back)
thanks to Terry Green for the listen
This is a live album recorded in the above cities in 1998. It combines the high speed drum and bass off the last one on some tracks with some more P-Model like songs on others. Lots of bits of ethnic type sounds too. The audience sound is sometimes quite present, but it mixes interestingly with the music material.
thanks to Maruta and Kotobuki!
A studio album with mostly vocals sung/spoken in unison by several people. Much of it is in english so the content is no problem. This kind of vocal approach I'm not sure works well for a long album. Still wondering what to make of it.
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Kotobuki HikaruMosaic via Post02.06.01 Solid fast beats and all sorts of sonic material from everywhere sown in. Lots of guests like Hajime Fukuma, Teruo Nakano, Wataru Kamiyo, Ken Morioka, Lion Merry, Andrew Sharpley (of Stock, Hausen and Walkman) and ArtSkool among others are on it providing raw sample material. |
DADA was Mutsuhiko Izumi and Kenji Konishi. Substantial sounding synth-rock orchestra (Synergy or Logic System would be 2 acts in this category). This was their only studio album. There is a private release re-issued on Belle Antique/Marquee also. Quite worthwhile.
A 1980s band member's new solo album. Interesting semi-acoustic arrangements. Includes a Hirasawa composition. Good refreshing melodies throughout.
1997 DIW/Syun SYUN-0017
Interesting approaches, I found Dive more memorable though
A 1985 work by Kenji Konishi and Masahiro Kitada . Starts off with a rather opressive sample driven piece with synth blips. Then opens out into several different arrangement styles on a theme making things more refreshing.
They are a humorous trio. Unfortunately for me, one needs Japanese language skills to appreciate them. They musical side doesn't really pay off on its own, its seemingly intentionally rather simple. I saw them play live and met them briefly. The name is a combo of "P-MODEL" and a band who wear red plastic hats :-)
This album opens with 2 great songs then becomes a sort of J Rock/Pop which isn't of much interest to me. The first tracks are in a P-MODEL type style and feature Hirasawa on guitar. (so it makes total sense they would sound like P-Model!) I believe Kamiryo did at least 2 follow up albums. Hajime Fukuma plays on a bunch of tracks
Wataru Kamiryo home page
Facinating combo of slightly Satie like songs played on a combo of analog synths built by Yoshikazu Takahashi (UTS), low res digital sounds and 90s sounds. Odd combos of old and new and always electronic. Besides from being a former member of P-MODEL, Nakano is best known from the band Long Vacation. Highly reccomended if you can find it
He does a very memorable version of John Lennon's Imagine in technopop style on the compilation Trojan Horse (¡Por Supuesto! Records cd: STAP-0312, out of print). Coincidently future P-MODEL member Hajime Fukuma is a member of the band Controlled Voltage which appears on this CD as the prior track.
In 1998 he appeared on Musique Non-Stop the Kraftwerk tribute. Info on my compilations page.
99.11.22 MIDI MDCL-1362
Impressive synth filled album of songs with Hajime Fukuma doing synthwork and contributing arrangements for his sister. Her voice is great and there are plenty of synths so this album is highly reccomended. I think this is her 3rd album. I noticed her 4th album has her playing acoustic guitar on the cover. I've not heard it but I suspect its a sort of message that there are less synths on the new one :-) None the less this 3rd album is definitely a good one.
website
http://www.ff.iij4u.or.jp/~missa/index.shtml
a big thanks to Susumu Hirasawa, Kenji Konishi, Hajime Fukuma, Sato-ken, Hikaru Kotobuki
Authorized P-MODEL MP3 Page (in english)
Hajime Fukuma site
Kenji Konishi home page - if you hunt there are pages on his other projects on the same site IBM, 4-D, TKM
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