Japan has been known to be host to a great deal of notable experimental musicians, especially dealing in the realm of harsh, abrasive styles of music. One figure of this scene, and arguably a genre-defining figure for decades to come, was Les Rallizes Dénudés – who were in fact Japanese despite their faux-French name.
Their roots can be traced back to Kyoto in 1967, at Doshisha University. It was here that Takeshi Mizutani, the leading force of the band, connected with a theatre group and brought about the creation of the band.
Early on, the band was known to perform at various political movements and protests, such as at a Kyoto University concert being held in protest of the proposed Sanrizuka airport – the construction of which would have erased a great deal of agriculture.
In 1970, just three years after the band’s formation, bassist and member of the Japanese Red Army, Moriaki Wakabayashi, aided in the hijacking of Japan Airlines Flight 351. They successfully managed to bring the flight to North Korea, where they defected to. Though, this ultimately proved inconsequential to the band’s ability to continue, as they did for years after.
The group only ever officially released three albums during their near three decade long run, with two of them being live albums – one of which was “’77 Live,” an album that would gather massive underground acclaim going into the 21st century. Even then, their three official albums were only released in 1991, nestled right in the middle of a five-year hiatus for the band.
The band had attempted to record studio albums on numerous occasions, but Mizutani was allegedly unsatisfied with how the recordings turned out, which lead to the decision to only perform live and not in studio.
The band had gone on break starting in 1988, and after a brief resurgence from 1993-1996, the band parted ways for good. They ended things with a performance at Club Citta in Kawasaki in 1996, after which Mizutani was seldom heard from again.
While “MIZUTANI / Les Rallizes Dénudés” – their only ever album recorded in studio – has plenty of soft and lush tracks, this would serve as a massive outlier for their music. “’77 Live” would prove to be much more indicative of their sound, with haunting, echoey vocals being paired with roaring guitars that were so blown out and distorted that they almost sound like jet engines at times. Outside of Velvet Underground’s “White Light/White Heat,” their sound predated a great deal of noise rock, leading many to cite them as one of the main influences on the genre as a whole. They were simply unlike anything anyone had heard.
Yet, despite their massive and overbearing sound, there’s beauty to be found in the chaos. Groovy baselines and guitar melodies can be found all throughout their catalogue, swimming in seas of maximalist chaos. There also exists some recordings that tone the noise down to a minimum and instead create a lush and often sorrowful slow burn. But, much of their range and repertoire of compositions would not be seen through their official releases.
Rather, a massive catalogue of unauthorized bootlegs of their live shows helped give listeners a better insight into their sound. One of the most well-known bootlegs is “Heavier Than a Death in the Family,” which is oddly almost entirely comprised of tracks from “’77 Live,” with the only exception being “Field of Artificial Flowers,” which is mislabeled on the bootleg as “People Can Choose.”
Other highly notable bootlegs include “Double Heads” – a four-and-a-half-hour long bootleg comprised of three different live shows – “Cable Hogue Soundtrack,” “Mars Studio 1980,” “Volcanic Performance” and “December’s Black Children,” the latter of which is the oldest known bootleg of the band, having been released in 1989.
Though the creation of bootlegs still persists today as more and more recordings of the band are unearthed, a three-decades-long silence finally be broken, and new, official material would finally see the light of day.
The Last One Musique – named after the track “The Last One” which the band would always close their shows with – was formed in 2021 in collaboration with former members of and musicians related to the band. The company would reveal that they were in legal ownership with the band’s recordings, with their stated purpose being to “provide the music of Takashi Mizutani produced with precision and accuracy, with far more alive and striking sound than the bootlegs that have been circulating over twenty years.”
The Last One Musique would then collaborate with record label Temporal Drift to publish many of these recordings, such as “YaneUra Oct. ‘80”– which was included in Double Heads – as well as remasters of the band’s original three records. Their most recent release was “Jittoku ‘76” on Aug. 22, 2025; a notable release considering that, while previously unheard songs by the band are rarely discovered, three new songs appear for the first time, being “Dream Again Today,” “Carnival,” and “Saw the Night in Your Eyes.”
This revival of the band’s material also came with a saddening announcement: Mizutani was revealed to have passed away two years prior in 2019. The front page of the band’s website remains dedicated to his memory.
As it stands today, The Last One Musique and Temporal Drift are still working to release recordings and merchandise for the band, finally satiating their following’s desire for official material and merchandise that didn’t cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
They are working to preserve the history and importance of Les Rallizes Dénudés and expose their artistry to a wider audience, something that a band of their caliber undoubtedly needed.
While it’s unfortunate that Mizutani isn’t able to be around for his band’s revival, it’s still relieving to know that these decades of historic music and artistic experimentation won’t be entirely lost. Despite having began almost 60 years ago and having ended around 30 years ago, these companies’ work allows a whole new generation of people to discover the band’s brilliance and continue to share their legacy, reaching audiences far beyond what Mizutani likely could have imagined.