Kato Hideki(bass, violin) formed a new group last year with his friend, Otomo Yoshihide(guitar) and Uemura Mashiro(drums). They were the member of early "Ground-Zero", Otomo's rock group. Green Zone is completely Kato's composition and arrangement and its sound is so heavy.
Back in the fall of 2001, I couldn't keep my eyes off of a pair of pictures from the New York Times: one was the World Trade Center site after the 9/11 attacks, and the other was a satellite picture of Kabul, a few days before the US raid. Both looked like surfaces of petrified planets and were disturbingly similar.
Several months later, I found myself on a near-empty flight from NYC to Tokyo, my first return to Japan since I emigrated in 1992. Soon after my feet touched the ground, I heard that the US had started bombing Iraq. (And the day I returned to NYC, the US administration proclaimed the end of the war.)
Rather than making a statement based on what I already knew and being "gung ho" about it , I started to research and collect stories about what was really going on in Iraq and beyond; then I came up with music for each title. I see this as a documentary film without pictures.
I returned to Japan in 2004 and was joined by my old colleagues Otomo and Uemura. Together we have a strong, unique voice, like a pack. We can howl together like "El Lobos."
I hope the music will unfold the stories as you listen. I hope too that you will keep your eyes and ears open to new stories. What you find may be gut-wrenching or depressing but sometimes darkness can help you find a way--a personal revolution or even a social progression--like Caravaggio's paintings or Johnny Cash's hymns can.
Kato Hideki August 20, 2005 Brooklyn, NYC
16th October,
2005 on sale in Japan
2,200 yen(tax ex)
2,310 yen(tax in)
P & C doubtmusic
distribution:
meta company(Japan)
Erstwhile(US)
Metmkine(France)
ReR Megacorp Ltd.(UK)
2. Bremer Walls (7:43)
3. Agent Orange (2:05)
4. Oil & Water (1:53)
5. Crave (6:01)
6. Enemy Within (6:03)
7. Copper Green (3:19)
8. Curtains of Grief (10:12)
9. Agent Orange 2 (8:59)
10. Hope Against Hope (1:18)
11. Okinawa (4:00)
All compositions and arrangements by Kato Hideki
Kato Hideki(bass, violin)
Otomo Yoshihide(guitar)
Uemura Mashiro(drums)