A deep dive into the career of Hiromi Moritani, best known by her stage name "Phew". She is a Japanese avant-garde vocalist whose recording career spans over 40 years. Her work has encompassed many styles, including minimalist electronics, noise, punk, and avant-rock. The veritable who's who of experimental rock musicians that Phew has worked with over the past 40 years has produced a singular body of work, one that has been increasingly active and boundary pushing in the 2010s.
Happy 61st birthday! Phew was born September 12, 1959 in Osaka, Japan.
(pictured: album cover for "View" from 1987)
| Opening set of music preceding Phew's first solo debut album. Aunt Sally released just one arty punk album before disbanding. Morio Agata was known for his folk rock recordings in the 1970s, but check out the bass line from "Submarine", recorded shortly after Joy Division's "She's Lost Control". Phew's solo debut 7" featured production and music by Ryuichi Sakamoto (Yellow Magic Orchestra). |
| すべて売り物 (Subete urimono / All For Sale) Aunt Sally - Aunt Sally - Vanity - 1979 |
| フランクに (Furanku ni / To frank) Aunt Sally - Aunt Sally - Vanity - 1979 |
| サブマリン (Submarine) Morio Agata - 乗物図鑑 (Norimonozukan / Vehicle picture book) - Vanity - 1980 |
| エアプレイン (Airplane) Morio Agata - 乗物図鑑 (Norimonozukan / Vehicle picture book) - Vanity - 1980 |
| Rhetorics & Logics Hikashu - Hikashu - Eastworld - 1980 |
| 終曲（フィナーレ）(Ending Song / Finale) Phew - 7" - Pass - 1980 |
| うらはら (Urahara) Phew - 7" - Pass - 1980 |
| Phew's debut full length was recorded in Conny Plank's legendary studio near Köln, Germany with Can alumni Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit. View was recorded in Tokyo with Japanese musicians. Our Likeness saw a return to Conny's studio to work with Jaki Liebezeit, Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten), Chrislo Haas (Liaisons Dangereuses, DAF, Der Plan, Crime & The City Solution). Blind Light is a project re-interpreting the music of The Golden Palominos featuring Bill Laswell, Anton Fier Lori Carson, Nicky Skopelitis, and Aiyb Dieng. Novo Tono and Ground Zero feature noise and improv master Otomo Yoshihide (guitar, sampler, turntables). |
| Fragment Phew - Phew - Pass - 1981 |
| Kodomo Phew - Phew - Pass/P-Vine - 1981/2005 |
| Past Phew - View - Continental - 1987 |
| Spot Phew - View - Continental - 1987 |
| Our Element Phew - Our Likeness - Mute - 1992 |
| Being Phew - Our Likeness - Mute - 1992 |
| Bait and Switch Blind Light - The Absence Of Time - Alida/Tdazik - 1994/2016 |
| きれいな日 (Kireina Hi) Phew - 秘密のナイフ (Himitsu No Knife) - Creativeman Disc - 1995 |
| Angel Novo Tono - Panorama Paradise - Creativeman Disc/Alida - 1996 |
| Yume No Hansyu Ground Zero - Plays Standards - Nani - 1997 |
| After the indie rock collaboration with Sei-ichi Yamamoto, there was a 10 year hiatus of releases with Phew's name on the front cover. She's returned more prolific than ever. Five Finger Discount features Jim O'Rourke on bass and synth. Radium Girls refers to "fairy's light" (Marie Curie) with music by Dieter Moebius (Cluster). Jamming is a true "solo" release of two long, experimental electronic pieces. |
| そのうち (Sonōchi / Of Which) Phew & Sei-ichi Yamamoto - Shi-a-wa-se No Su-mi-ka - Tokuma Japan Communications - 1998 |
| 世界の涯まで連れてって (Sekai no hate made tsuretette / Take me to the rest of the world) Phew - Five Finger Discount - Bereket - 2010 |
| ラジウム・ガールズ (Radium Girls) Project Undark - Radium Girls 2011 - Bereket - 2012 |
| ニューワールド (A New World) Phew - A New World - Felicity - 2015 |
| Cheers [excerpt] Phew - Jamming - Bereket - 2016 |
| Light Sleep and Voice Hardcore further explore abstract and experimental ideas with synths and processed vocals. The piece with Jim O'Rourke and Oren Ambarchi was recorded live at an arts centre in Kitakyushu, Japan in 2015. This set includes two collaborations with Ana da Dilva, singer / guitarist for the Raincoats, and a cover version that is included in Phew's new album "Vertigo KO", released just this week.
Happy birthday Phew and thank you for the sounds... |
| New World Phew - Light Sleep - Mesh-Key - 2017 |
| Just A Familiar Face Phew - Voice Hardcore - Bereket/Mesh-Key - 2017 |
| Konnichiwa! Ana Da Silva & Phew - Island - Newhere/Shouting Out Loud! - 2018 |
| The Void Phew [orig. The Raincoats] - Your Song, My Foot! Vol. 3: The 1979 Edition / Vertigo KO - WFMU/(Phew self-released) - 2019/2020 
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| Patience Soup [excerpt] Phew, Oren Ambarchi, Jim O'Rourke - Patience Soup - Black Truffle - 2019 |
| ahhh Ana da Silva & Phew - - - (self-released) - 2020
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Phewwww finally listened! Great show Ben thanks for doing this!!
6:35 PM, September 13th, 2020