In the early ‘80s, Hideo Ikeezumi (1949-2017), at this point a bulk buyer for a large record store chain, became increasingly frustrated with the limited and unadventurous selection found in most Japanese shops, and decided to open his own.
At Modern Music in Tokyo, Ikeezumi specialized in carrying free jazz, psychedelic rock, avant garde and other uncompromising music. Pre-internet it served as a crucial hub for learning about upcoming shows, new bands, and releases. It also served as a hang out spot more generally for adventurous musicians and enthusiasts alike. Regulars would occasionally hand Ikeezumi demo recordings of their own bands to gauge his interest in selling them. And so, in 1984, Ikeezumi founded a small record label more or less to publish his friend’s demo recordings. From this starting point, P.S.F. would grow to become one of Japan’s most treasured and acclaimed indie labels.
The label’s inaugural release (and namesake), High Rise’s Psychedelic Speed Freaks, set the tone for everything else that would follow. Ikeezumi insisted that the album, an extremely rough and loud, lo-fi “unmixed” live performance, not be cleaned up at all–and instead released as it was. The album exceeded expectations, and was even something of a surprise hit, selling out completely within a year. Naturally, the next release was High Rise’s second album, ‘High Rise II’, which garnered even further interest and acclaim. To date this remains an absolutely quintessential album in the the label’s canon, and one of my personal favorites. So far, P.S.F. had strictly released loud, fast, stripped down and noisy rock music. But from here on out the label’s output would start to diversify substantially.
P.S.F. would go on to regularly put out bluesy avant-folk, free improvisation, massive experimental rock double albums, psycho acid rock with drum machines, archival punk retrospectives, and anything else with an uncompromising edge. Ikeezumi never played music himself, but earned a reputation for having a keen ear. He explained his philosophy as, “I only release what I like, and I hope that some of these sounds will appeal to the more discerning listener”. P.S.F. would go on to release more than 240 albums over 30+ years, and play a pivotal role in introducing underground Japanese music abroad. Some of the artists closely associated with P.S.F. are Keiji Haino, Fushitsusha, Acid Mothers Temple, Ghost [JP], High Rise, Kaoru Abe, Shizuka, Kousokuya, Kazuki Tomokawa, and Kan Mikami. Modern Music closed its doors in 2014, but continued to sell records online up until Ikeezumi’s passing. More recently, the US label Black Editions purchased most of P.S.F. ‘s back catalog, and has started to re-release some of their classic albums for the first time. Hopefully, this allows these great records to find a whole new generation of listeners and fans.
I am greatly indebted to the work of Ikeezumi and P.S.F Records. When I first stumbled upon them as a teenager, I listened almost exclusively to popular indie and math rock bands. P.S.F.’s catalogue introduced me to new sounds and forms; new genres and styles. Forced me to grow and adapt. Not only are some of my favorite albums of all time on P.S.F., but I was introduced to so many great artists and scenes that I would have otherwise never known existed.
Playlist:
Below, I’ve compiled a playlist of some choice cuts for you all to check out for yourselves.
JPALT 
Leave a comment