Search - Ghost :: Second Time Around

This ain't your parents' world music.

08/13/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"GHOST is Japan's greatest psych-prog-noise-whatever band of commune dwelling hippies (I have heard rumors that there is some sort of GHOST house in Tokyo). The lyrics tend to the worst kind of Donovan-esque hippie dippy mystical drivel (all delivered in English with what seems to be a less than proficient knowledge of the English language - "spirit and spiral took a time trip eternally into the sun" - huh?) but since to my ears the vocals are mostly incomprehensible I don't hold it against them since singer Masaki Batoh has a pretty voice and English isn't his first language. I remember hearing a lot about GHOST before I actually heard them. They had a lot of hype around them before DRAG CITY started releasing their albums I think it was five or six years ago and I was into all things Japanese (yes, it involved a certain Japanese girl I was seeing at the time but let's not get into the sordid details) and listening to lots of that crazy Japanese music (HIGH RISE, GUITAR WOLF, BOREDOMS, HAINO etc). I remember being slightly disappointed when I first actually heard GHOST but they definitely grow on you. Of all of the Japanese noise bands I used to like, GHOST remains my favorite, if only because in the intervening years my tolerance for FEEDBACK/NOISE/SCREAMING has gone down in my old age (take my MERZBOW CDs please) and SECOND TIME AROUND remains my favorite GHOST CD. (note: unlike most amazon reviewers, I give five stars sparingly)"