Welcome to the first post for this blog in a long time. I haven't posted here in a long while because I haven't had any Love Psychedelico news for y'all.
At least, I thought I didn't.
Seems as though, when I was looking to the West Coast last summer for the latest Love Psychedelico news, I should have been looking to the Far East. On June 18th, 2008, Love Psychedelico was delighting it's fans at home with a double DVD box set. I only came across this set's existence last month and, today... after lots of searching, I finally have it in my grubby little hands!
I bought the box sight unseen. I didn't know what to expect, except it was official and I had to possess it. I expected it to be a deluxe version of the
Golden Grapefruit CD+DVD set. I figured there'd maybe be a book or something. The box is actually a 2 DVD set of Live performances, PVs and some quirky extras. Each DVD comes in it's own Amaray case and the second DVD case contains a gold LP logo sticker and 3 photos of the 'Delico: one of Kumi, one of Naoki and one of the two of them jamming onstage.
When I went searching for this set, I was dismayed to find it was either sold out or priced at around $60.00US. I then went to eBay and found the set from a Chinese seller for $30.00+free shipping. I clicked the "Buy It Now" button so quick and hard that I almost busted my mouse!
I bought it on the 20th of January and received it today, February 7th. I can't be more satisfied.
The first disc is a 2007 concert at Budokan. It's not as elaborate as the last concert DVD, but it's actually better in it's intimacy. The 13 songs performed draws heavily on the Golden Grapefruit album with only 5 songs from earlier albums. It's a great show, and one made better by Naoki's first solo vocal on a short runthrough of Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild"! Also on the first disc is a small Documentary montage of the making of the concert.
The second disc is more dynamic. First, is a 6 song live performance at the Liquidroom. It's a smaller venue and it shows Love Psychedelico much more at ease with a smaller audience. They really get off on the audience's vibe and the overall result is much more electric than the Budokan.
Next are a selection of Video Clips. Most of these have surfaced on the
Golden Grapefruit DVD, but it's worth it for the inclusion of the "7 Days" video and the live videos.
The Recording Reports are a great addition to this disc with the 'Delico shown in the studio recording and putting final touches on some of the
Golden Grapefruit songs. The coolest one is the Everyone, Everyone clip, which is a pseudo music video with some fun camera trickery.
The Poetry Readings section is a bit puzzling. It's not really poetry in the strictest sense, but it is very Yoko Ono. If you like Avant Garde, you'll possibly like this quite a bit.
Finally, the second disc is rounded out with Commercials for the
Golden Grapefruit songs and album.
I love this set and am exhilarated to have it in my collection. I believe there's one or two still on eBay for a comparable price. Go get 'em! They're NTSC and region coded ALL. That is, the discs will play on ANY DVD player.
