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Once you touch it, you can’t move from the spot, and at the same time, the melody resonates, stirs, seeps in, and fills you to the deepest depths of your emotions. A song that locks in only the moments that absolutely must be etched into your memory, as if taking a deep breath with your whole being. Two guitars add delicate yet vivid colors, scents, and scenery to it. A rhythm that moves without tarnishing the tranquil soundscape, guiding the song to where it is meant to go. An unforgettable voice, like an innocent boy and a fully mature woman becoming one with the trembling of their vocal cords.
Kinoko Teikoku was formed in 2007. It consists of four people who attended the same university: Sato (Gt, Vo), A-chan (Gt), Taniguchi Shigeaki (Ba), and Nishimura “Kon” Goto (Dr). They started performing live the year after their formation and have continued to have a special presence in the live house scene ever since. Having previously released two self-produced albums, this album, “Uzu ni Naru” (Becoming a Vortex), marks their first nationwide distribution. The four members, each with different backgrounds and musical roots, have fused together, centered around the vocals of Sato, who handles the lyrics and composition of all the songs, establishing a soundscape that sublimates post-rock, shoegaze, and alternative rock. However, Kinoko Teikoku’s music possesses a captivating power that cannot be fully described by genre alone. If you listen to the seven tracks on this album, “Uzu ni Naru”—composed of songs they have carefully nurtured up to now and their latest songs—in other words, a package of the band’s “past and future”—you will fully understand what I mean.
Silence and roar. Desolation and passion. Clarity and distortion. Hatred and sadness. Kindness that seeps out from pain. Liberation opened by passions that should have had nowhere to go. Room, sea, sky. And, to live or to die here. The music that awaits listeners here is quite different from what you might imagine from the band name, Kinoko Teikoku (Mushroom Empire). Text by Shoichi Miyake (ONBU)

About the artist

Gt, Vo Sato | Gt A-chan | Ba Taniguchi Shigeaki | Dr Nishimura “Kon” Goto
Formed in 2007, they began performing live in earnest in 2008.
Influenced by post-rock and shoegaze, they are currently performing live mainly in Shimokitazawa and Shibuya. In March 2011, they opened for Killing Boy at Liquidroom, appeared at “Killyour TV 2011,” an event planned by Kenji Tsurugi (Shinsei Kamattechan, Gekitetsu Mg/Arakajime Kimera reta Koibitotachi e), and participated in the JAPAN TOUR of Touming Magazine, a four-piece band from Taiwan that has been described as the Taiwanese version of Number Girl and is attracting attention. Their popularity is rapidly increasing through their live performances. Their
second self-produced album, “Yo ga Aketara,” reached 3rd place on the Disk Union weekly indie chart.