Ethan asked me to post something about music.

I first heard Morita Doji on the radio about ten years ago and was floored by her heavy syrup. There was a sparse acoustic guitar, synths, and her high-pitched, reverbed-out vocals. I guess the best point of reference for salto readers is Mazzy Star though there’s elements of Drake and Hardy. This shit was the same epic sad ecstatic.

Although I carefully transcribed the DJ’s back announcement, I could not track down a single record, much less this song. All of her records were apparently out of print. I pieced together some information about her life. In 1972, she started making music at 20 after a friend’s death. Her first record, Goodbye, was released in 1975. Several more followed into the 1980s. On December 25th 1983, she played her last live at Shinjuku Loft and the left music altogether in order to be a homemaker. WTF. In the process, I also uncovered photos. She was a cool mess of black curls and sunglasses. Much sexier than Haino but with the same punk attitude. There was a bunch more information all in Japanese. Whatever.

The best I could come up with was an album of covers by the Japanese noise supergroup, Slap Happy Humphrey. Although I’d have preferred originals to covers, I figured I could satisfy myself with Slap Happy Humphrey until I tracked down the real deal. Unfortunately, the cover band forgot to get the rights to Doji’s songs and recalls ensued/pressing stopped.

My fruitless shuffling through international sections and memorizing Kanji strings ended in 2001 when technology hit critical mass, allowing me to get my hands not only on the Slap Happy Humphrey disc but also 5/7 of Doji’s albums. Not a single cut misses the target. Each nails your heart.

Here’s a live video which is not synched up to the song at all but you get lots of great Doji footage and hip 1970s era fans lining up for a gig. Shit for all I know it's not even her image. The song is still killer. Enjoy, readers.