HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Christopher John Mosdell (born 9 November 1949) is a British lyricist, poet, author, composer, vocalist and illustrator based in Tokyo, Japan, and New York City, United States. He has collaborated with an extensive array of musicians and artists, though he is especially known for his work with
Yellow Magic Orchestra Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO for short) is a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals). The group is conside ...
and the poet
Shuntarō Tanikawa (born December 15, 1931 in Tokyo City, Japan) is a Japanese poet and translator. He is one of the most widely read and highly regarded of living Japanese poets, both in Japan and abroad, and a frequent subject of speculations regarding the Nob ...
. His interactive audio-visual album ''Equasian'', featuring an experimentation with "VISIC" (visual music), melded his scientific background into a musical framework, and his ''Oracles of Distraction'', a set of poetic cards set to musical coordinates, further expanded his lyrical idiom. He has written lyrics for Sarah Brightman and
Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...
; co-written lyrics with
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
, had his work covered by
Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
, worked with the West African kora player
Toumani Diabaté Toumani Diabaté ( ; born 10 August 1965) is a Malian kora player. In addition to performing the traditional music of Mali, he has also been involved in cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styles. ...
and the calligraphy artist Juichi Yoshikawa; and wrote the verse dance drama ''Amaterasu, the Resurrection of Radiance'', that was performed with the City Ballet of London at the
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...
(2001). As "Mozz", Mosdell has also released a series of award-winning children's books, which he also illustrates. A film about his life entitled "Ink Music: In the Land of the Hundred-Tongued Lyricist", featuring interviews with many of his collaborators and shot in Japan and the United States, was released in 2009. The documentary bills him as the "
Lafcadio Hearn , born Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (; el, Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος Χέρν, Patríkios Lefkádios Chérn, Irish language, Irish: Pádraig Lafcadio O'hEarain), was an Irish people, Irish-Greeks, Greek-Japanese people, Japanese writer, t ...
of Lyrics", Long term collaborator
Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...
describes his interpretation of how Mosdell creates his varied works; "When I read his lyrics, I see him in a high school chemistry laboratory, making Molotov cocktails – his eyes lucid, blue and very clear."


Biography


Early lyrical life

Mosdell was born in
Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, New South Wales, ...
, England and grew up in North Wales but left London for Tokyo in 1976 after completing a BSc (specialising in microbiology) from the
University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...
and withdrawing from a master's degree in pathology at the
University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...
after realising his scientific leanings were at odds with his poetic interests. Arriving in Japan he became a script-writer for
NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...
, numerous radio programs, a reporter for
Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...
, and a reader of the
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...
radio news. His plays ''The Sound Seller'' (1977) and ''The Star Polisher'' (1978) were both produced for NHK and his collected television scripts, ''Laugh Out Loud'' (Asahi Publishing), were published in 1979—an edition that is still a popular text in Japanese universities today. In 1977, a series of Mosdell's poems, published in the ''
Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...
'', came to the attention of the then drummer for the
Sadistic Mika Band was a Japanese rock band formed in 1972. Its name is a parody of the late 60s band Plastic Ono Band. Produced by Masatoshi Hashiba on Toshiba-EMI Records (now EMI Music Japan), the band was led by guitarist Kazuhiko Katō and singer , who were a ...
,
Yukihiro Takahashi Yukihiro Takahashi (高橋 幸宏 ''Takahashi Yukihiro'', born June 6, 1952) is a Japanese musician, singer, record producer and actor, who is best known internationally as the drummer and lead vocalist of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, and as the fo ...
. Takahashi asked to use the poems as the lyrical base for pop singer Rajie, whose album he was producing. Shortly afterward, Sadistic Mika Band disbanded, and some of the remaining members, including Takahashi, formed Sadistics as a follow-up act. Mosdell wrote the lyrics to the "Crazy Kimono Kids" and "Tokyo Taste" for their ''Sadistics'' album (1977).


Mainstream success

Takahashi continued to be a prime collaborator for Mosdell, inviting him to participate as the lyricist in his next musical endeavour,
Yellow Magic Orchestra Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO for short) is a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals). The group is conside ...
(YMO), who would go on to major success not only in Japan, but be one of the few Japanese acts to become known overseas as influential innovators in the field of popular electronic music. They helped pioneer
synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...
and
ambient house Ambient house is a downtempo subgenre of house music that first emerged in the late 1980s, combining elements of acid house and ambient music. The genre developed in chill-out rooms and specialist clubs as part of the UK's dance music scene. It w ...
, helped usher in
electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...
, anticipated the beats and sounds of
electro music Electro (or electro- funk)Rap meets ...
, laid the foundations for contemporary
J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...
, ) and contributed to the development of
house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
,
techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...
, and hip hop. Mosdell's best-known YMO songs include " Behind the Mask", "Solid State Survivor", "Nice Age", "Insomnia", "La Femme Chinoise", and "Citizens of Science", from the albums ''
Yellow Magic Orchestra Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO for short) is a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals). The group is conside ...
'' (1978), ''
Solid State Survivor ''Solid State Survivor'' is the second album by Japanese electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra, released in 1979. Later, ''Solid State Survivor'' was released in 1982 in the UK on LP and cassette, also in 1992 in the United States on CD, bu ...
'' (1979), and '' ×∞ Multiplies'' (1980)—lyrics envisaging a socially inert world, digitised and impersonal, and controlled by a forceful hidden authority within a landscape, essentially Japanese, but tinged with Chinese motifs. The popularity and international influence of YMO made Mosdell a sought-after lyricist for other Japanese recording artists, as well as continuing as the central lyricist for the Yellow Magic Orchestra live album '' Public Pressure'' (1982). During this time Mosdell wrote chart-topping lyrics for other artists, including, among many others, Sandii and the Sunsetz,
Sheena & The Rokkets is a Japanese rock band, formed in 1978. They are one of the most popular acts in the Mentai Rock scene. In September 2007, ''Rolling Stone Japan'' rated their album ''Vacuum Pack'' number 44 on its list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Alb ...
, and Imitation. Continuing his friendship and collaboration with the songwriters behind YMO, Mosdell also worked with these artists on their solo work, writing the bulk of the lyrics for
Yukihiro Takahashi Yukihiro Takahashi (高橋 幸宏 ''Takahashi Yukihiro'', born June 6, 1952) is a Japanese musician, singer, record producer and actor, who is best known internationally as the drummer and lead vocalist of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, and as the fo ...
's ''Murdered by the Music'' solo LP, and the
synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...
club single, "War Head" with
Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...
. "War Head", originally titled "Night Boys Pick Up Some Heat", was written for the opening of the
Roppongi is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popular with locals and foreigners alike. It is ...
nightclub Lexington Queen, but was so favoured by Sakamoto that he remixed it, with Mosdell performing vocals for the first time since YMO's "Citizens of Science", in a
rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
-styled lyrical rant. The breadth of Mosdell's lyrical experimentation during this period led to his first solo recording. This resulted in the 1982 album ''Equasian'', with its use of global ethnic sounds pre-dating the popularity of world music. It was also the first of Mosdell's efforts employing his visual lyrical and compositional technique, VISIC, which he used as the compositional basis for numerous other musical works. ''Equasian'' was showcased as an audio-visual/multimedia experience through live performances and a VISIC Exhibition at the Gallery Harajuku in Tokyo. For all its experimentation and relative obscurity, the record's relevance and popularity has continued up through recent times, being reissued as a gate-fold, full-color CD package by
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
in 2003.


International collaborations

During a period of increasing international collaborations, Mosdell travelled to Los Angeles to work with pop singer
Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...
. They worked together on two single cuts ("Fireboy Meets His Match" and "All Prayers are Answered") for a Japanese shōchū television commercial that, although released for a few weeks, was suddenly withdrawn after the singer's brush with heroin. In the same city, pop singer
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
recorded a cover of YMO's "Behind the Mask" for inclusion on his 1982 '' Thriller'' album. Producer
Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...
had heard the Yellow Magic Orchestra version on a trip to Japan and played it to Jackson, who decided to turn it from an electro-pop song into a dance-funk version, with additional lyrics by Jackson. Mosdell has said of the collaboration, "when Michael Jackson took it, it made it into a love song about a woman. It was a completely different premise to me, I was talking about a very impersonal, socially controlled society, a future technological era, and the mask represented that immobile, unemotional state. But hey, I let him have that one." An agreement to share the royalties equally between Sakamoto, Mosdell and Jackson broke down when the management of Yellow Magic Orchestra disagreed and it prevented the song to be released on Jackson's sixth studio album, ''Thriller'', and remained unreleased for over 25 years. The
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
version of the song " Behind The Mask" got its official release on 10 December 2010, as the ninth track on the posthumous album, ''
Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...
''. It was described by ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine as "Michael's finest moment" and by
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
as "something remarkable... an absolute revelation... actually brilliant." The Mosdell-Sakamoto-Jackson version was later picked up by Jackson's keyboardist
Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, singer-songwriter, and musical director based in Los Angeles, California. A prolific session musician, Phillinganes has contributed the role of keyboards to numerous alb ...
for his 1984 album ''Pulse'', and by
Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
, for his ''
August August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...
'' album, released in 1986. "Sticky Music", was another international chart success for Mosdell, performed by Sandii and the Sunsetz, as it rose to Number 3 on the Australian Top 40 pop chart in 1983. His lyrics to date were published in ''Ink Music: The Collected Lyrics of Chris Mosdell''. His popularity as a Tokyo-based English writer also led him to write for numerous Japanese television commercials, often collaborating with former
Sadistic Mika Band was a Japanese rock band formed in 1972. Its name is a parody of the late 60s band Plastic Ono Band. Produced by Masatoshi Hashiba on Toshiba-EMI Records (now EMI Music Japan), the band was led by guitarist Kazuhiko Katō and singer , who were a ...
lead vocalist and guitarist
Kazuhiko Katō , nicknamed , was a Japanese record producer, songwriter and singer. He sometimes used the spelling of "Kazuhiko Katoh". History As a member of the Folk Crusaders, Katō launched his recording career in the mid-1960s. "Kaettekita Yopparai (I O ...
. During this time he again teamed up with
Yukihiro Takahashi Yukihiro Takahashi (高橋 幸宏 ''Takahashi Yukihiro'', born June 6, 1952) is a Japanese musician, singer, record producer and actor, who is best known internationally as the drummer and lead vocalist of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, and as the fo ...
to write songs for the albums ''Ego'' (1988) and ''Broadcast from Heaven'' (1990). In 2003 Sarah Brightman recorded the song When Firebirds Sing, an operatic opus set in ancient Japan and included on her album
Harem Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A hare ...
. The song was commissioned for the popular
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
software Tengai Makyo III (2004). The lyrics themselves depict the tale of lovers from the Land of Curved Fire and the Sea of Desires, who are symbolised by firebirds, their wings intertwined, that circle immortally in a celestial orbit. In 2008 Chris teamed up with long-time collaborator
Kazuhiko Katō , nicknamed , was a Japanese record producer, songwriter and singer. He sometimes used the spelling of "Kazuhiko Katoh". History As a member of the Folk Crusaders, Katō launched his recording career in the mid-1960s. "Kaettekita Yopparai (I O ...
for a new glam-rock band, Vitamin Q, releasing one album 'Vitamin Q featuring ANZA'. Chris Mosdell opened the show for their debut live performance at
Shibuya AX Shibuya (wikt:渋谷, 渋谷wikt:区, 区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern ...
. In 2009 Mosdell travelled to
Machu Picchu Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a mountain range.UNESCO World Heritage Centre. It is located in the Machupicchu District within Urubamba Province above the Sacred Valley, which ...
and
Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; es, Lago Titicaca ; qu, Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By volume of water and by surface area, ...
,
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...
, to visit locations adjoined to his Fingerprints of the Gods installation soundtrack, and onward to
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
,
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
to meet the German composer
Uwe Schmidt Uwe H. Schmidt (born 27 August 1968), also known as Atom™, Atom Heart, or Señor Coconut, is a German composer, musician and producer of electronic music. He is often regarded as the father of electrolatino, electrogospel, and aciton musi ...
(Atom™), who had covered several of Mosdell's songs on his
Senor Coconut Uwe H. Schmidt (born 27 August 1968), also known as Atom™, Atom Heart, or Señor Coconut, is a German composer, musician and producer of electronic music. He is often regarded as the father of electrolatino, electrogospel, and aciton musi ...
Yellow Fever! album. The meeting led to a collaboration on Schmidt and Masaki Sakamoto's album Alien Symphony (2010) with the lyricist penning the song 5.17 Minutes with Miss Eternity. In 2010 Mosdell began working with the photographe
Yuriko Takagi
on an adaption of the 10th-century Japanese poetry anthology
Hyakunin Isshu is a classical Japanese anthology of one hundred Japanese ''waka'' by one hundred poets. ''Hyakunin isshu'' can be translated to "one hundred people, one poem ach; it can also refer to the card game of ''uta-garuta'', which uses a deck compos ...
(One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets), producing a new "Shibuya version". Based on the original anthology's conversion in the 15th century into a card game, traditionally played in Japan on New Year Day's, this new bilingual photographic/verse edition selected one hundred citizens from the streets of Shibuya with Mosdell transcribing the voices of these "contemporary poets" into a modern idiom. The song was released as a single on 21 February 2011, with the music video released on 14 June. The PV features a collection of hundreds of fan messages singing the track Chris originally wrote with the
Yellow Magic Orchestra Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO for short) is a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals). The group is conside ...
. In 2012 he wrote ''Swan Song'' for Coppe's Rays USB and CD box set release, ''Cinderella City'' for female rock guitaris
Risu's
''Bright-Eyed and Bushy-Tailed'' album, and ''Our Children's Rainsong'' for the singer/composer
Akino Arai is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and lyricist for various anime theme songs and shows, including ''Record of Lodoss War'', ''Please Save My Earth'', ''Macross Plus'', ''Outlaw Star'', ''Kaze no Stigma'', ''Maoyu'', and '' Aria The Origination'' ...
– a song especially commissioned to document the atmospheric radiation contamination after the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster The was a nuclear accident in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan. The proximate cause of the disaster was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which occurred on the afternoon of 11 March 2011 and ...
. In 2014, continuing his long song writing partnership with guitarist Makoto Ayukawa of
Sheena & The Rokkets is a Japanese rock band, formed in 1978. They are one of the most popular acts in the Mentai Rock scene. In September 2007, ''Rolling Stone Japan'' rated their album ''Vacuum Pack'' number 44 on its list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Alb ...
, Mosdell wrote the title track to the group's latest album ''Rokket Ride'', together with the song ''Rock Fox''. He also worked once again with
Uwe Schmidt Uwe H. Schmidt (born 27 August 1968), also known as Atom™, Atom Heart, or Señor Coconut, is a German composer, musician and producer of electronic music. He is often regarded as the father of electrolatino, electrogospel, and aciton musi ...
(Atom™) to write ''Beethoven in Antennae'', a song for Coppe's upcoming album. To celebrate the hundredth anniversary of
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
's
The Rite of Spring ''The Rite of Spring''. Full name: ''The Rite of Spring: Pictures from Pagan Russia in Two Parts'' (french: Le Sacre du printemps: tableaux de la Russie païenne en deux parties) (french: Le Sacre du printemps, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral ...
, Mosdell was commissioned to write the poetic treatment and scenario for the Kyoto International Performing Arts Festival 2014. Performed by the ensemble Enso Watt, and composed and conducted by the Yannick Paget of the Kansai City Philharmonic Orchestra, a "Rite of Summer" and "Rite of Autumn" were held in Kyoto's Urban Guild. To complete the cycle of rites, two additional performances are scheduled for 2015. November 18, 2022 ushered in the release of both
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
's anticipated
Thriller_40 ''Thriller 40'' is the 40th-anniversary edition reissue of '' Thriller'' (1982), the sixth album by the American singer Michael Jackson. The original album has sold 70 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling album of all time. '' ...
, featuring the Mosdell co-authored demo recording of "
Behind_the_Mask_(song) "Behind the Mask" is a 1979 song by Japanese synth-pop group Yellow Magic Orchestra. Initially an instrumental written by band member Ryuichi Sakamoto for a 1978 Seiko commercial, the song was elaborated upon with bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yu ...
", as well as an independently-produced
spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...
recording in collaboration with E23, entitled Consumed By Ecstatic Cargoes.


Alternative lyrical landscapes

Mosdell words were used in alternative forms when he wrote the lyrics to ''Shake the Whole World to Its Foundations'', a work that has evolved from a mixed Japanese-Western orchestral setting to an electronic
techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...
version. It was eventually published in its entirety in book form in 2001 (Shichosha), together with the work of the experimental
calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...
artist Joichi Yoshikawa. Its first version, however, was written to reflect the rhythmical influence of the African continent and recorded by the West African kora player Toumani Diabate in 1992 for the album "Shake the Whole World to Its Foundations". Mosdell wrote a series of chants (eventually numbering one thousand) based on the oral poetry of the Ainu whereby, instead of having a fixed lyrical base to a song, he could dip into a pool of "chants" and select those favoured for the composition—this eventually leading to infinite lyrical variations within a fixed musical format. Continuing this method of lyrical composition, Mosdell started the solo project, ''Squawk: The Song of the Violinnet'', though following the financial decline of the Smokey Studios in
Ginza Ginza ( ; ja, 銀座 ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo, with numerous intern ...
, none of the recorded songs was ever distributed. However the effort did result in Mosdell's collaboration with the American artists Jore Park and Wylci Fables, who produced enormous "birdhead boys" depicting the characters. Using a painting technique similar to
batik Batik is an Indonesian technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to the whole cloth. This technique originated from the island of Java, Indonesia. Batik is made either by drawing dots and lines of the resist with a spouted tool called a ''ca ...
but on waxed Japanese ''washi'' paper, vast stained-glass-like art pieces were created—a method that would be used in Mosdell's next project. In 1988 Mosdell collaborated with the poet
Shuntarō Tanikawa (born December 15, 1931 in Tokyo City, Japan) is a Japanese poet and translator. He is one of the most widely read and highly regarded of living Japanese poets, both in Japan and abroad, and a frequent subject of speculations regarding the Nob ...
on a deck of 77 cards in the ''
omikuji are random fortunes written on strips of paper at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan. Literally "sacred lot", these are usually received by making a small offering and randomly choosing one from a box, hoping for the resulting fort ...
'' fortune-telling tradition of
Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...
shrines. ''The Oracles of Distraction,'' are similar in style to
Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...
's ''
Oblique Strategies Oblique Strategies (subtitled ''Over One Hundred Worthwhile Dilemmas'') is a card-based method for promoting creativity jointly created by musician/artist Brian Eno and multimedia artist Peter Schmidt, first published in 1975. Physically, it takes ...
''; however, rather than being instructional they are intended to distract the reader with juxtaposed images and sound. Mosdell wrote a "distractive" poem for each "oracle" in English, while Tanikawa wrote the reverse side in Japanese. Jore Park and Wylci Fables created accompanying 77 ''washi''-painted panels. Musician Yu Imai then worked alongside other studio performers with Mosdell to create 77 audio sketches using Mosdell's VISIC compositional method. The efforts were combined into a CD box set of text, audio and visual imagery intended to be used in conjunction. Users were instructed to randomly select a numbered card to read and view, and to simultaneously play the CD track of the same number. While Mosdell was moving to Paris and commuting to Japan, ''The Oracles of Distraction'' was presented at
Laforet Museum is a department store, residence, and museum complex located in the Harajuku commercial and entertainment district of the Shibuya neighborhood, in Tokyo, Japan. Constructed over part of the old Tokyo Central Church, a newer church located behin ...
in
Harajuku is a district in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Harajuku is the common name given to a geographic area spreading from Harajuku Station to Omotesando, corresponding on official maps of Shibuya ward as Jingūmae 1 chōme to 4 chōme. In popular refer ...
, Tokyo.
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
developed a sound system enabling visitors to wear wireless headphones and walk under motion-triggered canopies that would beam random selections of audio to the headphones to accompany the text selections highlighted on towering, illuminated paintings by Park and Fables. The museum was designed like a
Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...
shrine, with attendants dressed in traditional regalia, and visitors selected their own personal oracle from among 77 different entrance tickets.


The Ink of Tokyo

In 1988 Mosdell's ''LAA . . . The Dangerous Opera Begins'' was published (Soseisha)—a narrative poem in seven acts with a theatrical structure. Influenced by the Japanese poet Yoshimasu Gozo and his technique of writing whilst walking, Mosdell envisaged a spectacular ''
prima donna In opera or commedia dell'arte, a prima donna (; Italian for "first lady"; plural: ''prime donne'') is the leading female singer in the company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. ''Prime donne'' often had grand off-stage pers ...
'', wearing huge eccentric headdresses, whose voice changed with each new outfit in which she appeared. Gozo wrote that Mosdell's work was "The Ink of Tokyo––beautiful, beautiful, this spirit, this sea." In 1989 ''Writing the Riot Act in the Illiterate Hour: New and Selected Lyrics'' (Shichosha) was published––an edition including additional poems from five Japanese poets (
Shuntarō Tanikawa (born December 15, 1931 in Tokyo City, Japan) is a Japanese poet and translator. He is one of the most widely read and highly regarded of living Japanese poets, both in Japan and abroad, and a frequent subject of speculations regarding the Nob ...
, Yoshimasu Gozo,
Kazuko Shiraishi is a Japanese poet and translator who was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She is a modernist, outsider poet who got her start in Katsue Kitazono's "VOU" poetry group, which led Shiraishi to publish her first book of poems in 1951. S ...
, Hiromi Ito and Makoto Oka) who gave their own personal poetic interpretations of Mosdell's lyrics. He was also commissioned to write the theme song for the
Social Democratic Party of Japan The is a political party in Japan that was established in 1996. Since its reformation and name change in 1996, it has advocated pacifism and defined itself as a social-democratic party. It was previously known as the . The party was refounded ...
for the 1990 political election, resulting in the single "One World", an ensemble piece featuring an assortment of vocalists and session musicians.


Anime and visual interpretations

In the early 1990s Mosdell began
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
soundtrack collaborations with the composer
Yoko Kanno is a Japanese composer, arranger and music producer best known for her work on the soundtracks of anime series, television series, live-action films, video games, and advertisements. She was born in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. She has wri ...
. Their partnership resulted in songs for the soundtracks to ''
Ghost in the Shell ''Ghost in the Shell'' is a Japanese cyberpunk media franchise based on the seinen manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The manga, first serialized in 1989 under the subtitle of ''The Ghost in the Shell'' ...
'', ''
Gundam is a Japanese military fiction media franchise. Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise (now Bandai Namco Filmworks), the franchise features giant robots, or mecha, with the name "Gundam". The franchise began on April 7, 1979, with ''Mobile ...
'', '' Cowboy Bebop'', ''
RahXephon is a Japanese anime television series created and directed by Yutaka Izubuchi. The series follows 17-year-old Ayato Kamina, his ability to control a mecha known as the RahXephon, and his inner journey to find a place in the world. His l ...
'', and ''
Wolf's Rain ''Wolf's Rain'' (stylized in uppercase as ''WOLF'S RAIN'') is a Japanese anime television series created by writer Keiko Nobumoto and produced by Bones. It was directed by Tensai Okamura and featured character designs by Toshihiro Kawamoto wi ...
''. Together they also wrote "Dreams in a Pie" for the software game ''
Napple Tale , more commonly called simply ''Napple Tale'', is a 2.5D platform game for the Sega Dreamcast, released on October 19, 2000 in Japan. It is notable for cultivating a "feminine sensibility" in its design by employing primarily women for its creat ...
'' and worked on songs ("Another Grey Day in the Big Blue World" and "Kingfisher Girl") for
Maaya Sakamoto Maaya may refer to: * Maaya (given name), a feminine Japanese given name * ''Maaya'' (1972 film), an Indian Malayalam film * ''Maaya'' (2014 film), an Indian Telugu film See also * Maya (disambiguation) Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya ...
, a voice actress and singer for anime. Mosdell again collaborated with the
calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...
artist Juichi Yoshikawa, producing a bilingual publication, ''The Erotic Odes: A Pillow Book''. Erotic ''
shunga is a type of Japanese erotic art typically executed as a kind of ukiyo-e, often in woodblock print format. While rare, there are also extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate ukiyo-e. Translated literally, the Japanese word ''shunga' ...
'' woodcut prints were used to illuminate the 48 (the number of sexual positions in traditional Japanese society) ''
haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or se ...
''-like poems, as were new creations by Yoshikawa.
Shuntarō Tanikawa (born December 15, 1931 in Tokyo City, Japan) is a Japanese poet and translator. He is one of the most widely read and highly regarded of living Japanese poets, both in Japan and abroad, and a frequent subject of speculations regarding the Nob ...
, together with Rie Terada, translated the poems and the ''
shunga is a type of Japanese erotic art typically executed as a kind of ukiyo-e, often in woodblock print format. While rare, there are also extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate ukiyo-e. Translated literally, the Japanese word ''shunga' ...
'' themselves were selected from a collection of Tanikawa's father
Tetsuzō Tanikawa was a Japanese philosopher who promoted the concept of World Government for purposes of peace. Career Tanikawa studied in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Kyoto, where he was one of the students of Kitaro Nishida, the leader of ...
. The full-color edition, originally published by Libroport in 1997, was reissued in 2008 by Seigensha. Yoshikawa and Mosdell further collaborated on the full text printing of ''Shake the Whole World to Its Foundations''. Continuing to write lyrics for film soundtracks, Mosdell next wrote "From the Ruins of Your Beautiful Body" for the theme song to Marc Rigaudis' adaptation of his short story, "
She Was So Pretty She most commonly refers to: *She (pronoun), the third person singular, feminine, nominative case pronoun in modern English. She or S.H.E. may also refer to: Literature and films *'' She: A History of Adventure'', an 1887 novel by H. Rider Hagga ...
". The film featured Nana Okumura, former
Miss Universe Japan Miss Universe Japan ( ja, ミス・ユニバース・ジャパン) is a national Beauty pageant in Japan to select an official candidate for the Miss Universe pageant. Since 2018, the national director of Miss Universe Japan is Hiroko Mima. ...
1998, and dealt with bullying in Japanese schools. In 2009 Japanese holographic artist
Hatsune Miku , also called Miku Hatsune, and officially code-named CV01, is a Vocaloid software voicebank developed by Crypton Future Media and its official moe anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mascot character, a 16-year-old girl with long, turquoise bu ...
released 'Hatsune Miku Orchestra,' featuring covering versions of Mosdell's songs 'La Femme Chinoise,' 'Behind The Mask' and 'Nice Age.'


Installation and live performance

In 1999 Mosdell was asked by producer Shozo Tsurumoto to convey through sound the prehistorical view set forth by
Graham Hancock Graham Bruce Hancock (born 2 August 1950) is a British writer who promotes pseudoscientific theories involving ancient civilizations and lost lands. Hancock speculates that an advanced ice age civilization was destroyed in a cataclysm, but t ...
in his book ''
Fingerprints of the Gods ''Fingerprints of the Gods: The Evidence of Earth's Lost Civilization'' is a 1995 pseudoarcheology book by British writer Graham Hancock, which contends that an advanced civilization existed in prehistory, one which served as the common progen ...
''. Using the gallery setting once more, the project saw the scaled recreation of
Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...
,
Machu Picchu Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a mountain range.UNESCO World Heritage Centre. It is located in the Machupicchu District within Urubamba Province above the Sacred Valley, which ...
, and the
Great Pyramid of Giza The Great Pyramid of Giza is the biggest Egyptian pyramid and the tomb of Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Khufu. Built in the early 26th century BC during a period of around 27 years, the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, ...
, among many other monuments, within an installation environment. It was underscored by what Art Director Kevin Hamilton coined "audio poems", sonically recreating peak events within the timeline such as an Apache Indian reading a bible and amounting to an unusual audio-only project for a lyricist. It was shown in Tokyo and
Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
, and again paired Mosdell with long-time musical collaborator Yu Imai. In 2000 Mosdell was invited by the Institute of Tagore Studies and Research at
Visva-Bharati University Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the w ...
(
Santiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...
, West Bengal) for a six-month sojourn at India's "Abode of Peace", established by
Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
as an experimental school for literature and dance. Mosdell performed and under the spell of the lush and colourful environment wrote a new series of poems based on the 108 names of
Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...
and the tripartite mystical utterance of the ''
Upanisads The Upanishads (; sa, उपनिषद् ) are late Vedic Sanskrit texts that supplied the basis of later Hindu philosophy.Wendy Doniger (1990), ''Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism'', 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press, , ...
''. Titled ''Thirty-Three Billion Songs on the Road of Reincarnations: The Santiniketan Sutra'' (after the number of gods in the
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
pantheon), the work is in stark contrast to his Tokyo output, subdued and calm. The book was published by
Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...
, India's National Academy of Letters in 2008. By the next year Mosdell relocated his secondary home from Paris to
Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...
, and began a series of
spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...
performances that resulted in his being awarded the Grand Prize for Poetry at the Colorado Festival of Literature, and a distribution deal to compile his lyrical works into a new publication, ''Splatterhead'' (Emerson's Eye, 2000). Extending the format of the poetry reading to include live audio/video mixing with visual artis
David Fodel
and techno DJ E23, Mosdell toured various cities through 2001 with his "tongue-drum delirium" ensemble, Splatterhead & The Oblivion Brotherhood. The trio later released a
techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...
version of "Shake The World" as a single for the politically inspired electronic music compilation ''Polyphonic Voices of Digital Dissent''. Returning to Tokyo, Mosdell was one of a hundred local artists invited to contribute artefacts to the Millennium Time Capsule, an event held at the
Laforet Museum is a department store, residence, and museum complex located in the Harajuku commercial and entertainment district of the Shibuya neighborhood, in Tokyo, Japan. Constructed over part of the old Tokyo Central Church, a newer church located behin ...
,
Harajuku is a district in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Harajuku is the common name given to a geographic area spreading from Harajuku Station to Omotesando, corresponding on official maps of Shibuya ward as Jingūmae 1 chōme to 4 chōme. In popular refer ...
. Each artist was given a time capsule and asked to place in it representations of their work that best depicted the city of Tokyo at the turn of the 20th century. Mosdell chose his notebooks, with page after page of densely written descriptions of his Eastern odyssey, and a selection of the pens that he had used for numerous lyrical projects including a pen embossed with an alien with which he wrote his ''Thrills in Voidville'' series with, and his "nude nib"", a pen carved in the figure of a woman that he used whilst composing ''The Erotic Odes''. Mosdell was commissioned to script the theatrical scenario for an updated Anglo-Japanese variation of the ancient Japanese epic, ''
Amaterasu Amaterasu, also known as Amaterasu Ōmikami () or Ōhirume no Muchi no Kami (), is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. One of the major deities (''kami'') of Shinto, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the ''Kojik ...
''. Titled ''The Sun Goddess: The Resurrection of Radiance'', the masked dance drama was performed as part of the "Japan Year in Britain" celebration, at the
Theatre Royal Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drur ...
from 26–28 May 2001. In collaboration with designer/director Tomio Mohri, choreographer Cathy Marston and th
City Ballet of London
''
taiko are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming m ...
'' drummer Miyuki Ikeda, model/actress Sayako Yamaguchi, and composer
Kazuhiko Katō , nicknamed , was a Japanese record producer, songwriter and singer. He sometimes used the spelling of "Kazuhiko Katoh". History As a member of the Folk Crusaders, Katō launched his recording career in the mid-1960s. "Kaettekita Yopparai (I O ...
(of
Sadistic Mika Band was a Japanese rock band formed in 1972. Its name is a parody of the late 60s band Plastic Ono Band. Produced by Masatoshi Hashiba on Toshiba-EMI Records (now EMI Music Japan), the band was led by guitarist Kazuhiko Katō and singer , who were a ...
), the play depicts the origins of music and dance. Written in
blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and P ...
with a British cast of
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
an actors, it employed techniques from the traditional stage of
kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...
to innovative choreography, and melded into the stage setting other aspects of contemporary media. By 2006, to coincide with the publication of ''City of Song'', his epic depiction of characters from the twenty-three ''ku'', or wards, of Tokyo, Mosdell had updated his
spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...
performances to include a full mixed-culture ensemble, The Incendiary Orchestra. Featuring ''
koto Koto may refer to: * Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group * Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument * Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana * Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women * K ...
'' composer/performer,
Michiyo Yagi , a Japanese musician who studied koto under Tadao Sawai, Kazue Sawai and Satomi Kurauchi, and graduated from the NHK Professional Training School for Traditional Musicians. Between 1989 and 1990, during her tenure as visiting professor of musi ...
, violinist Edgar Kautzner, tabla player Andy Matzukami, and translator Rie Terada, the live performances were held in various places around Tokyo, and were recorded on video as part of a documentary about Mosdell's artistic history, titled ''Ink Music: In the Land of the Hundred-Tongued Lyricist'', slated for release in 2009. 2015 was the 70th year since the dropping of the atomic bombs on
Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...
and
Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...
, and to commemorate the tragedy Mosdell wrote and performed his poem "The Flame of the Golden Flower" at events at the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima,
Chion-in in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Japan is the headquarters of the Jōdo-shū (Pure Land Sect) founded by Hōnen (1133–1212), who proclaimed that sentient beings are reborn in Amida Buddha's Western Paradise (Pure Land) by reciting the '' nembutsu'', ...
Temple in Kyoto and Zojo-ji Temple in Tokyo. The event, organized by "Earth Caravan 2015", a global peace initiative, was to carry a flame, originally kindled from the atomic bomb fires, to cities touched by the horrors of war. The poem has been translated into seven languages, and was read throughout Europe on the flame's journey to its final destination of
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
.


Ink Music: The Movie

A film about Chris Mosdell's life, titled "Ink Music: In the Land of the Hundred-Tongued Lyricist" was released in 2009. It was produced by Denver's Brian Comerford, a volunteer producer at KGNU radio who has been running the Electronic Air show since 1995. Comerford said of the production, "He's worked with the who's who of all these major names in Japanese pop culture, from the music scene to calligraphy artists to fashion designers to stage directors to the largest broadcasting company... everyone in Japan knows his work, and yet no one there knows who he is." The full-length film features interviews with Mosdell,
Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...
,
Shuntarō Tanikawa (born December 15, 1931 in Tokyo City, Japan) is a Japanese poet and translator. He is one of the most widely read and highly regarded of living Japanese poets, both in Japan and abroad, and a frequent subject of speculations regarding the Nob ...
,
Yukihiro Takahashi Yukihiro Takahashi (高橋 幸宏 ''Takahashi Yukihiro'', born June 6, 1952) is a Japanese musician, singer, record producer and actor, who is best known internationally as the drummer and lead vocalist of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, and as the fo ...
,
Yoko Kanno is a Japanese composer, arranger and music producer best known for her work on the soundtracks of anime series, television series, live-action films, video games, and advertisements. She was born in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. She has wri ...
, anime singer
Maaya Sakamoto Maaya may refer to: * Maaya (given name), a feminine Japanese given name * ''Maaya'' (1972 film), an Indian Malayalam film * ''Maaya'' (2014 film), an Indian Telugu film See also * Maya (disambiguation) Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya ...
, calligraphy artist Junichi Yoshikawa and others, and debuted at the
South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...
movie festival in
Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
, in March 2009.


Children's poetry books: Mozz

Under the nickname "Mozz", Mosdell has produced a series of three books under Goofy Guru Publishing, based in Boulder, Colorado. Mosdell has described the books as his "alter ego, to balance out his heavy, abstract, psychedelic and often obscure poetry." The books have been described by ''
The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...
'' as
Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...
-esque. Three books have been released so far, entirely illustrated and written by Mosdell, ''The Pearls of Wisdumb'' (2003), ''In Search of the Holey Whale'' (2008) and ''A Fork in the Road'' (2010). The three were compiled into a box set called Utter Mozzsense (2010). All three have won awards. ''The Pearls of Wisdumb'' won an EVVY Awards for Best Humor, while ''A Fork in the Road'' was the winner of the
USA Book News A vanity award is an award in which the recipient purchases the award and/or marketing services to give the false appearance of a legitimate honor. Pitches for '' Who's Who''-type publications (see vanity press), biographies or nominations for awar ...
"Best Books 2010" Award for Humor. ''In Search of the Holey Whale'' won Gold Prize Winner of the Moonbeam Children's Book Award for Poetry.


Selected discography


Lyricist, Yellow Magic Orchestra

* " Behind the Mask" (''
Solid State Survivor ''Solid State Survivor'' is the second album by Japanese electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra, released in 1979. Later, ''Solid State Survivor'' was released in 1982 in the UK on LP and cassette, also in 1992 in the United States on CD, bu ...
'', 1979) * "Citizens of Science" ('' ×∞ Multiplies'', 1980) * "Insomnia" (''
Solid State Survivor ''Solid State Survivor'' is the second album by Japanese electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra, released in 1979. Later, ''Solid State Survivor'' was released in 1982 in the UK on LP and cassette, also in 1992 in the United States on CD, bu ...
'', 1979) * "La Femme Chinoise" (''
Yellow Magic Orchestra Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO for short) is a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals). The group is conside ...
'', 1978; '' Public Pressure'', 1980; ''
After Service After may refer to: Literature * ''After'' (Elgar), an 1895 poem by Philip Bourke Marston set to music by Edward Elgar * ''After'' (Prose novel), a 2003 novel by Francine Prose * ''After'' (book), a 2005 book by Canadian writer Francis Chalifour ...
'', 1981) * "Nice Age" ('' ×∞ Multiplies'', 1980) * "Radio Junk" ('' Public Pressure'', 1980) * "Solid State Survivor" (''
Solid State Survivor ''Solid State Survivor'' is the second album by Japanese electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra, released in 1979. Later, ''Solid State Survivor'' was released in 1982 in the UK on LP and cassette, also in 1992 in the United States on CD, bu ...
'', 1979)


Lyricist, Yukihiro Takahashi

* "Blue Colour Worker" (''Murdered by the Music'', 1980) * "The Core of Eden" (''Murdered by the Music'', 1980) * "Murdered by the Music" (''Murdered by the Music'', 1980) * "Radioactivist" (''Murdered by the Music'', 1980) * "School of Thought" (''Murdered by the Music'', 1980) * "Drip Dry Eyes" ('' Neuromantic'', 1981) * "Erotic" ('' Ego'', 1988) * "Yes" ('' Ego'', 1988) * "Forever Bursting into Flame" (''Broadcast From Heaven'', 1990) * "The Sensual Object Dance" (''Broadcast From Heaven'', 1990) * "360 Degrees" (''Broadcast From Heaven'', 1990)


Lyricist, Ryuichi Sakamoto

* "Behind the Mask" (''Behind the Mask'', 1980) * "War Head" (''WAR HEAD'', 1980), (''Field Work – Ryuichi Sakamoto Collection: 1981–1987'', 1987) * "Lexington Queen" .k.a. "Night Boys Pick Up Some Heat"(''WAR HEAD'', 1980), (''The Arrangement'', 1981)


Lyricist,

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

* " Behind the Mask" (''
August August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...
'', 1986)


Lyricist, Sarah Brightman

* "When Firebirds Cry" (''Harem'', 2003)


Lyricist, Sandii and the Sunsetz

* "Idol Era" (''Eating Pleasure'', 1980) * "Zoot Kook" (''Eating Pleasure'', 1980) * "Bongazuna" (''Heat Scale'', 1981) * "The Eve of Adam" (''Heat Scale'', 1981) * "Heat Scale" (''Heat Scale'', 1981) * "Dreams of Immigrants" (''Immigrants'', 1982) * "Sticky Music" (''Sticky Music 7"'', 1983) * "Drip Dry Eyes" (''Viva Lava Liva'', 1984)


Lyricist, Sheena & The Rokkets

* "Stiff Lips" (''
Sheena & The Rokkets is a Japanese rock band, formed in 1978. They are one of the most popular acts in the Mentai Rock scene. In September 2007, ''Rolling Stone Japan'' rated their album ''Vacuum Pack'' number 44 on its list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Alb ...
'', 1979) * "Radio Junk" (''Synkuu Pack'', 1979) * "Dead Guitar" (''Channel Good'', 1980) * "Japanic" (Japanik, 2008) * "Planet Guitar" (Japanik, 2008)


Lyricist, Maaya Sakamoto

* "The Garden of Everything" ('' Single Collection+ Nikopachi'', 2003) * "Another Grey Day in the Big Blue World" (''
Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...
'', 2001) * "Kingfisher Girl" ('' Shōnen Alice'', 2003) * "Tell Me What The Rain Knows" ('' Wolf's Rain OST'', 2004)


Solo

* ''Equasian'' (1982 Alfa / 2003 Sony) * ''The Oracles of Distraction'' (1988 Midi Records) * ''Fingerprints of the Gods'' (2002 Consipio)


Vocalist

* "Citizens of Science" (YMO, ''Multiplies'') * "War Head" (Ryuichi Sakamoto, ''Solo Works'') * "Shake the World" (Splatterhead & The Oblivion Brotherhood, ''Polyphonic Voices of Digital Dissent'')


Film score lyrics

* "Butterfly" ('' Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door (Future Blues)'', 2001) * "Beauty Is Within Us" ('' Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T.'', 2003) * "Run, Wolf Warrior, Run" (''
Wolf's Rain ''Wolf's Rain'' (stylized in uppercase as ''WOLF'S RAIN'') is a Japanese anime television series created by writer Keiko Nobumoto and produced by Bones. It was directed by Tensai Okamura and featured character designs by Toshihiro Kawamoto wi ...
'', 2004) * "Walking Through the Empty Age" (''
Texhnolyze ''Texhnolyze'' (stylized as ''TEXHNOLYZE'') is a Japanese experimental anime television series animated by Madhouse and directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki, with screenplay by Chiaki J. Konaka, with original character design by Yoshitoshi ABe and pr ...
: Man of Men'', 2004) * "The End of All You'll Know" ('' Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 3'', 2005) * "Ringo Biyori: The Wolf Whistling Song" (''
Spice and Wolf is a Japanese light novel series written by Isuna Hasekura, with illustrations by Jū Ayakura. ASCII Media Works has published 23 novels since February 2006 under their Dengeki Bunko imprint. ASCII Media Works reported that as of Octo ...
'', 2008)


Selected publications

* ''Laugh Out Loud'' (Asahi Publishing, 1979) * ''Ink Music: The Collected Lyrics of Chris Mosdell'' (Ink Music Inc., 1985) * ''LAA . . . The Dangerous Opera Begins'' (Soseisha, 1988) * ''Writing the Riot Act in the Illiterate Hour: New and Selected Lyrics'' with
Shuntarō Tanikawa (born December 15, 1931 in Tokyo City, Japan) is a Japanese poet and translator. He is one of the most widely read and highly regarded of living Japanese poets, both in Japan and abroad, and a frequent subject of speculations regarding the Nob ...
, Yoshimasu Gozo,
Kazuko Shiraishi is a Japanese poet and translator who was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She is a modernist, outsider poet who got her start in Katsue Kitazono's "VOU" poetry group, which led Shiraishi to publish her first book of poems in 1951. S ...
, Hiromi Ito and Makoto Oka (Shichosha, 1989) * ''The Oracles of Distraction'' with
Shuntarō Tanikawa (born December 15, 1931 in Tokyo City, Japan) is a Japanese poet and translator. He is one of the most widely read and highly regarded of living Japanese poets, both in Japan and abroad, and a frequent subject of speculations regarding the Nob ...
(Seidosha, 1991) * ''Shake the Whole World To Its Foundations'' with Juichi Yoshikawa (calligraphy), and Rie Terada (translator) (Shichosha Publishing, 2001) * ''Splatterhead: The Songlines of Chris Mosdell'' (Emerson's Eye, 2001) * ''City of Song: The Incendiary Arias'' (Edokko Editions, 2006) * ''Thirty-Three Billion Songs on the Road of Reincarnations: The Santiniketan Sutra'' (Sahitya Akademi, 2008) * ''The Erotic Odes: A Pillow Book'' with Juichi Yoshikawa (calligraphy), and
Shuntarō Tanikawa (born December 15, 1931 in Tokyo City, Japan) is a Japanese poet and translator. He is one of the most widely read and highly regarded of living Japanese poets, both in Japan and abroad, and a frequent subject of speculations regarding the Nob ...
and Rie Terada (translators) (Seigensha, 2008) * ''The Kantocles: Songs from the Atomic Aisles'' (Edokko Editions 2013) * ''The City That Silk Built: The Courier Collection'' (Shinhyoron 2014) * ''The Radicals: A Nation's Ideogrammic Anthems'' (Edokko Editions 2019)


Awards

* Gold Prize for Lyrics,
Tokyo Music Festival The Tokyo Music Festival was an international music contest that ran from 1972 to 1992. It was organized by the Tokyo Music Festival Association. The first edition of the Tokyo Music Festival took place on 13 May 1972 with 12 participating countri ...
, for "Wild Dreams" by
Pia Zadora Pia Zadora (born Pia Alfreda Schipani, May 4, 1954) is an American actress and singer. After working as a child actress on Broadway, in regional theater, and in the film ''Santa Claus Conquers the Martians'' (1964), she came to national attention ...
, 1984 * The Yuki Hayashi-Newkirk Poetry Prize, 1987 * Grand Prize for Poetry, Colorado Festival of Literature, 2000
EVVY
Children's Book Award for Humor, 2004 * Gold Prize Winner of th
Moonbeam Children's Book Award
for Poetry, 2008 * Winner of the USA Book News "Best Books 2010" Award for Humor


References


External links


Chris Mosdell's websiteGoofyGuru – The Website of MozzSony Music Japan YMO Family websiteInk Music movie page on IMDB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosdell, Chris British lyricists British composers British male singers British expatriates in Japan Alumni of the University of Nottingham Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists Living people 1949 births