| Karkador | |
| Type: | Studio |
| Artist: | P-Model |
| Cover: | P-MODEL - KARKADOR.png |
| Recorded: | Tokyo, 1985 |
| Label: | Alfa, Edge |
| Producer: | Akiro "Kamio" Arishima |
| Prev Title: | Scuba |
| Prev Year: | 1984 |
| Next Title: | One Pattern |
| Next Year: | 1986 |
Karkador is the sixth album by the Japanese electronic rock band P-Model, and the first where frontman Susumu Hirasawa was the sole remaining founding member.
Karkador was mainly inspired by the dreams of P-Model's vocalist Susumu Hirasawa. He had been seeing a Jungian counselor, as he was in a troubled mental state at the time. The counselor suggested that he record his dreams in a notebook to aid his recovery. He developed a narrative and lyrics for the album based on those notes.
Sadatoshi Tainaka, the band's original drummer, decided to leave after the previous tour's conclusion. He was replaced by Yasuhiro Araki, a huge fan of P-Model who had formerly played in a punk rock band. The band got signed to Alfa Records's sub-label for underground acts Edge, which allowed them to use Alfa's studios and mixing equipment, which was far better than what they had access to during their independent period.
In addition to Hirasawa's journal, P-Model used songwriting contributions from their keyboardist Shunichi Miura and bassist Tadahiko Yokogawa. Hirasawa and Yokogawa had equal creative control over the band, though Yokogawa has said that his influence on the album was somewhat nuanced.[1] Although the album has a new wave style much like 1984's Scuba, it also includes a wider array of sounds; mixing live drumming with programmed drumming, march-styled rhythms, and classical instruments. The band tried to keep the album raw, with Yokogawa hoping add some raw explosive power to the material, resulting in a brighter, more upbeat sound than recent efforts.[1]
Hirasawa had many ideas in regards to the sound of the album, but faced issues with engineering. He wanted Karkador to sound "underground", feeling that in-house engineer at Gok Studio Yoshiaki Kondo was best for the job. Kondo worked on some recordings, making the drums purposefully messy,[2] but his work was altered by an Alfa in house mixing engineer—who only worked on the album due to company policy—without Hirasawa's consent.[1] Miura had doubts as to the direction that P-Model was taking and left the band[3] alongside Yokogawa, who felt that touring in support of the album was too rigorous.[1] Due to their departure, half of the album was never performed live after from 1986 onwards.
| Date | Label(s) | Format | Catalog | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfa Records, Edge Records | LP | ELR-28002 | ||
| CD | ALCA-258 | Released (alongside One Pattern) five days before the release of P-Model.[4] | ||
| Alfa Music, Edge Records | ALCA-9134 | Released 20 days after the debut show of the "Revised" P-Model. | ||
| Chaos Union, Teslakite | CHTE-0009 | Remastered by Hirasawa. Part of Disc 5 of the Ashu-on [Sound Subspecies] in the solar system box set, alongside phonosheet-only releases from 1983 & 1985, some of them by the members that played on this album. "Birds" is on the fan club exclusive Disc 0 (CHTE-0021). Re-released with new packaging by Kiyoshi Inagaki. | ||
| Sony Music Direct, GT Music | MHCL-1136 | Remastered, limited release. Packaged in a paper sleeve to replicate the original LP packaging. Re-pressing (without sticker to indicate packaging) sold only through Tower Records. |