This week I start with the new schedule of posts. Hopefully this gives me a little more time…
Comet Gain: 8 songs make up the new EP from one of London’s top bands. “We Lived Our Lives Like This” seems to be a collection of recordings from many different times with many different people. It is a fine release, only digital as far as I know, that includes tracks like “Fists in the Pocket” or “I Know Where Dan Treacy Lives”.
The Happy Somethings: Derbybshire/Notts band The Happy Something is back with four songs. These are special songs, a special release, as this is put together as a fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support. The EP is titled “More Coffee” and the suggested donation is of 2.5 pounds sterling.
Prism Shores: very cool to discover this superb sounding band from Montreal. Their latest release just came out and is a 9 song cassette album titled “Inside My Diving Bell”. The band is formed by Jack, Ben, Luke and Nathan and they know how to make some wonderful jangle! A very good surprise and a band to keep an eye for sure!
The Laughing Chimes: the song “Laurel Heights Courts (Single Mix)” flew under my radar last year. I had recommended the Ohio band’s “In This Town” album early on 2021, but late in 2021 they put out this song. And it is wonderful, pure bliss, fantastic jangle, very much like Choo Choo Train!
Delivery: and lastly I have to recommend this Melbourne band and their upcoming album “Forever Giving Handshakes”. The album which is coming out on November 11 will have 12 songs. Available on vinyl on Spoil Sports Records and on cassette on Antifa Records, you can preview the band’s first single “Baader Meinhof” on Bandcamp.
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The snow sheep (Ovis nivicola), or Siberian bighorn sheep, is a species of sheep from the mountainous areas in the northeast of Siberia. One subspecies, the Putorana snow sheep (Ovis nivicola borealis), lives isolated from the other forms in the Putoran Mountains.
So there used to exist a Japanese band named after this particular type of sheep from the north.
I don’t know much about them. My first encounter with them was thanks to the song “A Way to the North Land” that appeared on the “Pop Comes Up! Bluebadge Compilation Vol.2” that was released by the Bluebadge Label in 2002 (BBCD-002). On this CD the band appeared next to great bands like Bad at Bowling, Camera Works or Unknown Readymade, that I have featured in the blog before.
Previously, in 2001, the band had contributed another song, “The Other October”, to “Mo-Rough”. “Mo-Rough” was a CD compilation released by Coa Records (COAR-0008) that featured bands like Cyclon 86 or Harmony Hatch.
Then we hear again about the band on a 2016 CD titled “Looking for a Key”. This was a double CDr released by Philia Records (PHA-13) that included the second CD as a promo. The original CD didn’t come with this promo CD. It seems the promo CD was only available at the great store Disques Blue-Very. This CD was an album by Shino Kobayashi.
From what I understand Shino was part of the band Harmony Hatch and I believe also part of Snow Sheep. Other than the aforementioned releases, Shino had a split EP with the wonderful Ivory Pat in 2020.
Going back to the “Looking for a Key” CD, we find that the promo CD, the second CD, had 18 songs, 14 by Harmony Hatch and 4 by Snow Sheep. The CD is subtitled as a cassette collection. I am guessing it collected tracks from demo tapes. The songs by Snow Sheep were “Good Night, Good Night”, “The Other October”, “A Way to the North Land” and “Frozen Heaven”.
On Rateyourmusic there’s a tape that had the songs “Good Night, Good Night” and “The Other October”. This tape is titled “Harmony Hatch Meets the Sweet Onions” and was released as the first tape in Coa Records Tape Seeries (COAT-0001). It was released in the year 2000. I want to think that Shino was the Harmony Hatch, and someone from The Sweet Onions, who made up the Snow Sheep. Does that make sense?
Has to be. On The Sweet Onions Soundcloud, we find the song “Good Night, Good Night” by Snow Sheep. There we find the band member’s names! Great find! So indeed Shino Kobayashi was part of Snow Sheep, and also were Kentaro Kondo and Daisuke Kouguchi. And that’s not all, aside from “The Other October” and a “Way to thee North Land” we find “Frozen Heaven”, so all four songs that appeared on the “Looking for a Key” CD.
And indeed, Kentaro and Daisuke were part of Th Sweet Onions. So yes, I have figured this out!
Also I know that “Frozen Heaven” was released on a compilation album that doesn’t appear on Discogs sadly. It was the “Fantastic Fantasy” comp CD that was released in 2005 by My Charm.
So great to have find so much info about them! But why just 4 songs? I’d love to find out if there are more recordings and how this collaboration between the band members happen. Anyone can shed some light about this little known Japanese band?
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Listen
Snow Sheep – Frozen
