The Mystery Kindaichi Band

Happy Friday. Today I'd like to take a look at an album that I stumbled upon last year at some point. 

The Adventure of Kohsuke Kindaichi was released in 1977 and was inspired by the Kohsuke Kindaichi novels from author, Seishi Yokomizo. The Mystery Kindaichi Band appears to only have released this one album I haven't looked into the group much at all so maybe this can springboard us into some other interesting releases. 

The group's name certainly seems to be by design because it appears to be mostly a mystery. The limited credits I can find include composer and pianist Kentaro Haneda, composer Hiroshi Takada, and bassist Hideaki Takebe. A little digging lists additional members as pianist Hideo Ichikawa, drummer Jun Moriya, percussionist Tadaomi Anai, and trumpeter Koji Hatori. It seems the group came together for the sole purpose of making this album, and for it to come across as a fictional film score, of sorts. Whatever the case, it's a fantastic listen. 

We start right off with a jazz-funk/disco sound on the opening tune, with a nice bassline from Takebe and great guitar play from, unfortunately, an unknown guitarist. Quite a few tracks have some non-lyrical vocals I've tried to pull out with mixed results. They're not overbearing per se, and some play into the "soundtrack" vibe of the album. Nonetheless, I've included the originals and instrumentals for each track with vocals. We continue on with more funky vibes on "Yatsuhakamura" and again on "Kamen Butokai" which features great clavinet and Rhodes play and a touch more of a disco tempo. 

"Akuma No Temariuta" also has a fantastic tempo with some added strings, and excellent alto sax and Rhodes play. "Meirosou No Sangeki" follows with an excellent bassline and trumpet play from Hatori, leading into a nice sax part with the clavinet making another welcomed appearance. "Akuma Ga Kitarite Fue Wo Fuku" features great synthesizer and flute play. "Mitsukubitou" again features a great bassline from Takebe, and we hear an acoustic guitar for the first time, I believe. We close with "Inugamike No Ichizoku" which begins with a somber tone and an acoustic piano. A very fitting close to a mostly energetic album. One that I really dig, and I hope you do too. 

Have a great weekend.