YOKI HINOHARA 日野原幼紀 - Rasenjikan 螺旋時間 [LP]

Profeller, a label specializing in rock music under the umbrella of Nippon Columbia (the oldest record company in Japan), was founded in 1971 by Tadataka Watanabe, who is also the producer of Flower Travellin’ Band’s Anywhere, Strawberry Path’s When The Raven Has Come To The Earth. Closed in 1973 and only existing for less than three years, Propeller is a minor label with seven albums and four singles. However, their catalog is lined with fantastic albums full of individuality, such as solo albums by Tetsu Yomauchi (bassist of Free, Faces, Samurai), Hiroshi Segawa (vocalist of Dynamites), and Hideki Ishima (guitarist of Flower Travellin’ Band). Among them, Yoki Hinohara’s album Rasenjikan (Spiral Time) is a 'masterpiece'.

Yoki Hinohara was born in Shizuoka in 1947, moved to Tokyo at the age of three, entered Keiokijuku, and graduated from Keio University. In his senior year of high school, he formed the band Marilin Monroe Hus’band with keyboard player Makoto Yano, and was active until his sophomore year in college. In parallel with the band, from around 1969, Hinohara worked as a part-time AD on TBS-TV's popular morning show ‘Young 720’. As he became involved in the production of the show, the ambitious broadcast programming became a hot topic, featuring rock bands and unknown young artists: for example, the garage psychedelic rock band Jacks, the young folk artist Yosui Inoue who was active under the pseudonym “Andre Kandre” at the time, Yukihiro Takahashi who was still in high school (drummer of Yellow Magic Orchestra, Sadistic Mika Band), and only junior high school students. Arai Yumi (vocalist, one of the founders of city pop) and others. Although ‘Young 720’ ended in 1971, Hinohara continued to work as a broadcast writer at TBS, and in the following year, in 1972, he released his solo album Rasenjikan in which he composed and sang all the songs himself. Among the songs included, Nukenin (The Bolter), c/w Tsumujikaze no Asa (Whirlwind Morning) was also released as a single.

Hinohara's album Rasenjikan is an album that has been known only to marrow collectors. The entire album is overflowing with the scent of British pop, such as the Beatles, Kinks, and Robert Wyatt, and is full of colorful sounds like a handmade jewelry box. It is a masterpiece that shows that all energy was poured into the exploration of sound. It is truly surprising that this hidden masterpiece is reprinted as an analog LP in South Korea. I hope everyone will enjoy the legacy of Yoki Hinohara, which captures the richness and delicacy of the Japanese music scene in the early 1970s.