Half Gentlemen / Not Beasts

Half Japanese

19th April 2013 - Album - FIRE295

£12.00£24.99

In 1974 Jad Fair, along with his brother David, co-founded the lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese. Over the ensuing three decades, Half Japanese released fourteen albums (which are all due to be reissued on Fire Records throughout 2013), and in the process, attracted a solid base of fans passionate about the band’s pure, unbridled enthusiasm for rock and roll.

Fire’s reissue series begins with Half Japanese’s first album Half Gentlemen/Not Beasts, a collection of the Fair brothers earliest home recordings, originally released as a homemade three LP box set. These stretch their DIY, lo-fi ethos to the limits featuring sound experiments cobbled together from guitar noise, electronics and odd effects, whilst throwing in some barely recognizable covers (such as tracks by The Temptations, Buddy Holly and Bob Dylan).

Over the years Half Gentlemen/Not Beasts became something of a cult legend, partly helped by it’s scarcity and foreshadowed much of the lo-fi movement of early 90s indie rock.
In 1995, Rolling Stone magazine chose the Half Japanese album “Half Gentlemen / Not Beasts” as one of the top 100 most influential Alternative albums and Spin Magazine’s Alternative Record Guide states; “Half Japanese assumed it was the greatest Rock and Roll band on the planet. It was often right.”

Tracklist

1. No Direct Line From My Brain To My Heart
2. 10th Ave. Freezeout
3. Ta Sheri Ta Ta
4. My Girlfriend Lives Like A Beatnik
5. Her Parents Came Home
6. Shhh/ Shhh/ Shhh
7. Girls Like That
8. Rrrrrrrr
9. No More Beatle Mania
10. Tangled Up In Blue
11. Patti Smith
12. School Of Love
13. Jodi Foster
14. Shy Around Girls
15, Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
16. Bogue Millionaires/ Cool Millionaires
17. Tn Tn Tn Tn Ki
18. I Can't Stand It Any More
19. I Love Oriental Girls
20. Dream Date
21. Du Du Du / Du Du Du
22. Ain't Too Proud To Beg
23. Ann Arbor. Mi.
24. I'm Going To The Zoo
25. Shi Yi Yi
26. Rave On
27. I Ta Nasi Si Na Mi Eee
28. Till Victory
29. Rip My Shirt To Shreds
30. I Don't Want To Have Mono No More
31. She Cracked
32. Bbbbbbbb/ Bbbbbbbb / Bbbbbbbb
33. Funky Broadway Medley
34. I'm Sorry
35. T/ T/ T/ T/ T/ T
36. The Worst I'd Ever Do
37. Live In Baltimore Md
38. Live In Washington Dc
39. Fools Paradise
40. Don't You Know That
41. Foggy Notion
42. If You're So Smart
43. Interview
44. Be A Wildman
45. Lo And Behold
46. Ufo
47. Anything I Can Do
48. Hey Romeo
49. 10th Ave Freezeout
50. Downdududdown
51. Man Of Mystery
52. One More Day
53. Battle Of The Bands
54. Worst I'd Ever Do
55. Ann Arbour, Mi
56. School Of Love
57. Her Parents Came Home
58. Shy Around Girls
59. Dream Date
60. Bogue Millionaires / Cool Millionaires
61. Knock On Wood
62. Top Secret
63. Guitar Solo
64. Calling All Girls
65. Nobody
66. Stooges Medley
67. Wild Party
68. Babylon

Description

In 1974 Jad Fair, along with his brother David, co-founded the lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese. Over the ensuing three decades, Half Japanese released fourteen albums (which are all due to be reissued on Fire Records throughout 2013), and in the process, attracted a solid base of fans passionate about the band’s pure, unbridled enthusiasm for rock and roll.

Fire’s reissue series begins with Half Japanese’s first album Half Gentlemen/Not Beasts, a collection of the Fair brothers earliest home recordings, originally released as a homemade three LP box set. These stretch their DIY, lo-fi ethos to the limits featuring sound experiments cobbled together from guitar noise, electronics and odd effects, whilst throwing in some barely recognizable covers (such as tracks by The Temptations, Buddy Holly and Bob Dylan).

Over the years Half Gentlemen/Not Beasts became something of a cult legend, partly helped by it’s scarcity and foreshadowed much of the lo-fi movement of early 90s indie rock.
In 1995, Rolling Stone magazine chose the Half Japanese album “Half Gentlemen / Not Beasts” as one of the top 100 most influential Alternative albums and Spin Magazine’s Alternative Record Guide states; “Half Japanese assumed it was the greatest Rock and Roll band on the planet. It was often right.”

Description

In 1974 Jad Fair, along with his brother David, co-founded the lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese. Over the ensuing three decades, Half Japanese released fourteen albums (which are all due to be reissued on Fire Records throughout 2013), and in the process, attracted a solid base of fans passionate about the band’s pure, unbridled enthusiasm for rock and roll.

Fire’s reissue series begins with Half Japanese’s first album Half Gentlemen/Not Beasts, a collection of the Fair brothers earliest home recordings, originally released as a homemade three LP box set. These stretch their DIY, lo-fi ethos to the limits featuring sound experiments cobbled together from guitar noise, electronics and odd effects, whilst throwing in some barely recognizable covers (such as tracks by The Temptations, Buddy Holly and Bob Dylan).

Over the years Half Gentlemen/Not Beasts became something of a cult legend, partly helped by it’s scarcity and foreshadowed much of the lo-fi movement of early 90s indie rock.
In 1995, Rolling Stone magazine chose the Half Japanese album “Half Gentlemen / Not Beasts” as one of the top 100 most influential Alternative albums and Spin Magazine’s Alternative Record Guide states; “Half Japanese assumed it was the greatest Rock and Roll band on the planet. It was often right.”

Tracklist

1. No Direct Line From My Brain To My Heart
2. 10th Ave. Freezeout
3. Ta Sheri Ta Ta
4. My Girlfriend Lives Like A Beatnik
5. Her Parents Came Home
6. Shhh/ Shhh/ Shhh
7. Girls Like That
8. Rrrrrrrr
9. No More Beatle Mania
10. Tangled Up In Blue
11. Patti Smith
12. School Of Love
13. Jodi Foster
14. Shy Around Girls
15, Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
16. Bogue Millionaires/ Cool Millionaires
17. Tn Tn Tn Tn Ki
18. I Can't Stand It Any More
19. I Love Oriental Girls
20. Dream Date
21. Du Du Du / Du Du Du
22. Ain't Too Proud To Beg
23. Ann Arbor. Mi.
24. I'm Going To The Zoo
25. Shi Yi Yi
26. Rave On
27. I Ta Nasi Si Na Mi Eee
28. Till Victory
29. Rip My Shirt To Shreds
30. I Don't Want To Have Mono No More
31. She Cracked
32. Bbbbbbbb/ Bbbbbbbb / Bbbbbbbb
33. Funky Broadway Medley
34. I'm Sorry
35. T/ T/ T/ T/ T/ T
36. The Worst I'd Ever Do
37. Live In Baltimore Md
38. Live In Washington Dc
39. Fools Paradise
40. Don't You Know That
41. Foggy Notion
42. If You're So Smart
43. Interview
44. Be A Wildman
45. Lo And Behold
46. Ufo
47. Anything I Can Do
48. Hey Romeo
49. 10th Ave Freezeout
50. Downdududdown
51. Man Of Mystery
52. One More Day
53. Battle Of The Bands
54. Worst I'd Ever Do
55. Ann Arbour, Mi
56. School Of Love
57. Her Parents Came Home
58. Shy Around Girls
59. Dream Date
60. Bogue Millionaires / Cool Millionaires
61. Knock On Wood
62. Top Secret
63. Guitar Solo
64. Calling All Girls
65. Nobody
66. Stooges Medley
67. Wild Party
68. Babylon

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