In the cloistered world of record collectors and vinyl junkies, deadly rare foreign albums often become classed as classics merely because no one outside an elite few has even heard what goes on within the grooves let alone owns their own copy. For this reason, certain Japanese records of the late '60s and '70s have become collectable purely on account of the artist's past or future associations, or because of the desirable sleeve in which the record is housed. Here's an at-a-glance list of purported classics that are, in truth, anything but.
SHINKI CHEN & HIS FRIENDS (Polydor): Bloated boring sub-Clapton yawnothon touted as psychedelia by people who shelled out too much money on an original and need to feel better about having been ripped off.
Foodbrain's A SOCIAL GATHERING: Antsocial gathering, more like; this crock trawls the same depths as Ten Years After, with sub-Chick Churchill early-'60s keyboards and never a peep from Shinki Chen. Disastrous.
Kimio Mizutani's A PATH THROUGH HAZE: Sub-HOT RATS perfunctory solo LP from otherwise genius muso guitar God.
Jun Kamikubo's NOTHINGNESS: If this mid-tempo boozy blues is psychedelic, as some collectors claim, then gimme any late-period Robin Trower yawnothon with which to secure nirvana. Nothingness indeed.
BRUSH: This self-titled LP is so eclectic and wide-ranging in its styles that it manages to provide absolutely nothing for absolutely everyone. Worthless.