Der Zibet

[JimHarper 28]

I notice there is no dedicated thread for Der Zibet (if there already is one that I've missed, I apologise, and please delete this one). They're contemporaries and frequent associates of Buck-Tick, with Atsushi guesting on DZ tracks and DZ singer Issay providing backing vocals on BT's Six/Nine album. Although they're essentially a fusion of fock and post-punk and goth, they've released some first-rate albums, particularly during the early years of their career. I haven't been quite so impressed with their later period albums, but they remain one of my favourte Japanese bands. I'd love to hear from other fans and swap details of favourite songs and finest moments. Thanks for your time!

[Jigsaw9 6783]

I used to listen to them at one point, pretty good band! Issay has a killer voice but is unfortunately kind of forgotten or underrated compared to other vocalists of his time (I'm guessing DER ZIBET in general just kinda flies under the radar most of the time). I need some serious catching up to do with their music tho, I see they've released heaps of stuff, haha.  

 

It's been a long time so I can't really think of any favorite songs or albums tho... Just wanted to comment here to let you know you're not alone. XD

 

Also, only tangentially related but do you know KA.F.KA? They're a more recent project with Issay on vocals, Masami Tsuchiya (ex-Ippu Do) on guitars, Koji Ueno (ex-TMGE, etc) on bass, Motokatsu (ex-THE MAD CAPSULE MARKETS) on drums and Ken Morioka on synth (whose not a member anymore for obvious reasons...). They have a really cool new-wave-ish sound going on.

 

Spoiler

 

 

Issay also did some guest vocals for some of Masami Tsuchiya's recordings (whom I adore).  

Edited January 21, 2018 by Jigsaw9

[JimHarper 28]

I did actually check out some KA.F.KA, mainly because of the Issay/Morioka connections. I've always been as sucker for a new wave/post-punk sound (away from the Japanese scene, I'm a huge fan of Killing Joke, Bauhaus, Public Image, Magazine, Japan, Indochine etc etc). Bizarrely enough it was actually the recommendation of KJ's Paul Raven that got me listening to Zilch, then hide, then X-Japan etc. He had some really nice stories about hide and obviously had a lot of love for him.

 

If I was recommended places to start re-discovering DZ, I'd go for the albums Garden and Carnival. My favourite tracks would definitely be 'Blue Blue', 'Only "You", Only "Love''', 'Lonely Dance' (which features some great Killing joke-style tribal drumming), 'Gypsy', 'Perfect Kiss', 'Victoria' and 'Swing in Heaven', which could almost be an outtake from a Bauhaus album (which is just fine by me!).

 

I've spoken to many older Japanese VK devotees who always speak of Der Zibet as a legendary band in the genre, but I think they were simply not visually flamboyant enough to attract the attention of a media that was heavily focussed on bands like X-Japan that were completely over-the-top. DZ favoured black clothing and makeup in a punk/rock/goth style that just wasn't outrageous enough for the media, despite the fact they were writing bloody good songs.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Thanks for the recommendations, I will def check out / revisit those albums!

 

I've also noticed they have quite a few of their newer releases up on Google Play (the only digital music platform besides Bandcamp that I sometimes check for 'legal downloads' lol), so that's pretty cool.

[bryyodt 15]

I remember discovering this band back in 2013 by searching japanese post-punk bands from the 80's and early 90's. Really got me interested when I listened to their debut album from 1985 for the first time, I loved the very catchy new wavy feel to it. As the discography progresses, they started to get a more matured sound and definitely some more ambitious song-writing and production. Unfortunately, like every band in this style, it's hard to keep up and be consistent with every release, and they were no exception in my opinion. Their 90's stuff were a drop in quality in terms of sound and composition, at least that's what I remember so far about their albums like Pop Mania.

 

My favorite albums by them are Garden and Der Zibet. And one of my top favorite songs is "Blue Film", I get quite emotional every time I listen to it. Issay vocals really were something else back then.