Ai Aso

Finally, I've stumbled across something really great, something I'd only scratched the surface of up until now, something that's all come together for once and all!

Ai Aso just released an album called Chamomile Pool on Pedal Records and it's really something else. A wonderful blend of folk, psychedelic pop, that charming sort of Japanese twee, and a little bit of heavy rock.
So the LP's absolutely great. So allured by it all I was, in fact, that I started looking into who exactly Ai Aso is, where she comes from, what she's been up to, and all that good stuff ...

It should first be mentioned that Ai Aso also recently released a 7" single called She's So Heavy. The b-side is a song by Wata ... who is otherwise known as the woman in legendary sludge/doom rock group, Boris. So there's one bizarre connection.
Secondly, both Ai Aso and Boris have worked with Michio Kurihara ('member Rainbow?), although Ai Aso in a more covert way: she's married to him! Not only that, but Kurihara plays guitar on the bulk of Chamomile Pool! And, and, and ... both Kurihara and Aso played in White Heaven. The list goes on. I don't know if this is such a shocker to all of you, but it's really damn cool to me! Such a small world ... Boris to Michio Kurihara to Wata to Ai Aso ... and they somehow all end up on the same record, on the same label, on the same something! Amazing.

Anyway, check out a few tracks of Aso and Wata's below ...

Ai Aso - A Lo N

Ai Aso - Colchicum

Ai Aso - Land

Wata - Angel