The textured sound of Rabbitoo makes a lasting first impression on their debut album National Anthem of Unknown Country from 2014, a fusion of jazz, rock, and electronica influences.

The five-piece group led by guitarist and primary songwriter Motohiko Ichino produces otherworldly atmospheres with loops of sound and cascading sheets of melody set against precise rock and dance-inspired beats. The instruments riff and interlace, fitting together like puzzle pieces at times, an intense chorus at others, while swirling over underlying rhythmic grids for a dusky, spacey, trance-like aura.

Definitely not following the typical jazz formula, this beat-centered music with some live jazz improvisation incorporates electronic loops and samples in real-time along with their primary instruments – guitar, sax, keyboards, bass, and drums – modified with echoes, distortion, and other effects. Another clever addition, the Minimoog synthesizer’s characteristic sounds enrich the music greatly with a haunting, retro-futuristic feel, evoking popular songs and suspense movies from the past and strengthening the sensation of this dramatic, mood-pushing music.

National Anthem of Unknown Country by Rabbitoo

• Motohiko Ichino - guitars, keyboards
• Daisuke Fujiwara - tenor saxophone, electronics
• Koichi Sato - Rhodes, Minimoog, Nord, piano
• Hiroki Chiba - contrabass, electric bass, electronics
• Noritaka Tanaka - drums

Released in 2014 on SONG X JAZZ as SONG X 019.

Japanese names: 市野元彦 Ichino Motohiko 藤原大輔 Fujiwara Daisuke 佐藤浩一 Sato Koichi 千葉広樹 Chiba Hiroki 田中徳崇 Tanaka Noritaka

Audio and Video

• Video for “Monkey’s Dream”, track #1 on this album:

• Video for “Eat Your Orange”, track #7 on this album:

• Video for “The Third Sun”, track #11 on this album:

• Excerpt from track #6: “subliminal sublimation”

Jazz of Japan #93 • Jan 26, 2020 • Brian McCrory