Diastereomer was a new wave two-piece formed in Tokyo by high school friends Katsuya Shoman and Yoshio Tanaka in 1986. An exemplar of 1980s Japanese darkwave, the band's lone release was the 1989 private press Mothersun 7\", a Xymox-tinged single which saw the duo trade lead vocal duties between its songs “Mothersun” and “Place”. It was released on co-producer Sect Commune's Puppet Records and limited to a mere two hundred, hand-numbered copies. As one can imagine, neither the record nor Diastereomer themselves managed to reach much of an audience beyond the dozens of folks lucky enough to see them perform around Central Japan.
Now, remastered from the original reels, we here at Bitter Lake Recordings present to you the songs from the Mothersun 7\", along with a selection of unreleased studio tracks from 1987-1991 that paint a more coherent picture of what made Diastereomer. Not only do they showcase a love for classic UK new wave and synth pop, but these unreleased tracks exhibit disparate sounds ranging from the gentle guitar ballad of \"Within Me Calling\" to the eponymous instrumental, which sounds as if it is scoring an intense cinematic moment set in an imagined, futuristic Neo-Tokyo.
The band eventually decided to cease playing as Diastereomer in 1991 and, while the duo continued on as The Twilight States until 1993, Shoman and Tanaka never managed to record new material. What we're left with is this essential collection of Japanese synth pop, perfectly encapsulating everything that makes the music of Diastereomer shine on thirty years later.
Producer – Diastereomer, Sect Commune (tracks: 2, 3)
Notes:
All songs written and performed by Diastereomer.
Tracks 2 and 3 from Mothersun 7\" on Puppet Records, released in 1989.
Tracks 1, 4-8 are all previously unreleased.
Recorded in a private studio in Tokyo from 1987 to 1991, except \"Evil Touch,\" which was recorded live at Gakkan Hall, Hosoi University on December 4th, 1987.
