Embedded Files
Rare archive of 1990's alt-rock-punk music from Japan, digitally restored.
Enjoyed by dozens.*
* not dozens
Archival Project 30 Years in the Making
Cactus Blanket was a 90s guitar band active in Sapporo's boozy music scene during the tail end of Japan's Bubble Economy.
What began as an acoustic street-duo soon devolved into an alt-rock bar-trio, trading the easy-listening stylings of Carole King for the even easier-listening sounds of Iggy Pop.
In five fun and productive years, we cut four albums’ worth of material before going our separate ways to pursue actual careers. Captured on the formats of the era, the masters were boxed up and forgotten in a basement in rural Nova Scotia for decades.Now they’re being preserved and archived using the digital formats of today, to be enjoyed again by dozens of people. Well, not quite dozens.
This archive is just getting started. with plenty of old tapes still to comb through.Stay tuned as I gradually roll the material out online. And I mean gradually.At this stage, what’s another year or two.GP, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Fall/Winter 2025
Discography + CD Release Schedule
A look back at our musical catalogue: four albums of rescued recordings are being gradually restored & released online. As the material rolls out, many tracks will be paired with surviving video footage, including live performances, rehearsals & recording sessions. To be made available on YouTube.
The Cassette Singles
1994-1995
Eighteen original singles, hand-dubbed the old-fashioned way - by hand. On cheap BigOff tapes, never to be seen or heard again. Until now. (2027 to be exact).
Releasing later
Hatred
90 Miles an Hour
Try Me Out
Rock & not the Roll
Some Guy Named Tom
Buy Me An Airplane
Life Ain't A Race
Marine Parade
Memory Lane
Long Week
While You Can
Alien
Let's Jam
Another Rection
B-Grade Love Song
Cat Song
Everywhere
Cactus Blanket Live
1997
Ten tracks captured straight off the board at VeeJay's Live House in downtown Sapporo.
Raw sound, unedited.
Streaming + YouTube
Kicks
Midnight
At Home He's A Tourist
(Not Your) Stepping Stone
Releasing in 2026
Alien
Another Rejection
Everywhere
Foxy Lady
Hatred
Damaged Goods
One Two!
1998
Thirteen tracks cut in a musty tatami room, with vintage gear and a spare bedroom turned-egg-carton-isolation booth.
Testing... one... two...
Streaming or YouTube +
BandCamp
Mary Jane
Wanna Be
Another Rejection
Stuck to Your TV
Everywhere
Releasing in 2026
Cat Song
Gold Mini Skirt
90 Miles an Hour
Buy Me An Airplane
Sunday Morning
Like Wow Wipeout
Sure Fire Party Hits!
1999
Six originals. Two studios. Zero urgency. Painstakingly recorded. Promptly shelved. The masters remained untouched until 2020. Re-digitized during COVID in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. 25 years later - it's almost time to mix down.
Releasing later
Yes Susan Loves me
SEIKOMART Girl
Born in '79
Snax n Beer
Straight to Your Brain
Give Me Something
Videos
Rare footage captured on a Sony Handycam, set to unreleased music. A grainy look into 1990's DIY Sapporo...
Rare footage captured on a Sony Handycam, set to unreleased music. A grainy look into 1990's DIY Sapporo...
Another Rejection
The original DIY studio-recorded audio with footage from Makoto's drum session. This is what he saw on a small TV monitor from behind his kit, in the spare bedroom. We tracked him over 8 channels while playing a scratch version of Another Rejection as his guide. Just a typical Wednesday afternoon in 1990's Sapporo.
The original DIY studio-recorded audio with footage from Makoto's drum session. This is what he saw on a small TV monitor from behind his kit, in the spare bedroom. We tracked him over 8 channels while playing a scratch version of Another Rejection as his guide. Just a typical Wednesday afternoon in 1990's Sapporo.
Stuck to Your Television
Years before smart phones - we were already writing about screen addiction. No one listened. The studio audio is matched with a subsequent, very old, very drunk performance of Stuck to Your Television on our favorite stage at Taro Ueno's Bazoku.
Years before smart phones - we were already writing about screen addiction. No one listened. The studio audio is matched with a subsequent, very old, very drunk performance of Stuck to Your Television on our favorite stage at Taro Ueno's Bazoku.
Everywhere
A cheeky little love song. The original, studio-recorded audio paired with grainy footage of us troubleshooting our way to capturing a decent sound. Lot's of DIY, trial and error went into the making of the album One Two!
A cheeky little love song. The original, studio-recorded audio paired with grainy footage of us troubleshooting our way to capturing a decent sound. Lot's of DIY, trial and error went into the making of the album One Two!
Mary Jane
Written & recorded in our home studio. This original song was inspired by an incident during our yearly Halloween gig at Taro Ueno's popular gaijin haunt, Bazoku - when a fan in costume decided to smoke a joint beneath the cover of his giant pig mask - a bold but dumb move in a country where cannabis is strictly verboten.
Written & recorded in our home studio. This original song was inspired by an incident during our yearly Halloween gig at Taro Ueno's popular gaijin haunt, Bazoku - when a fan in costume decided to smoke a joint beneath the cover of his giant pig mask - a bold but dumb move in a country where cannabis is strictly verboten.
Wanna BeA gritty little song about wanting to reinvent one's self. Remastered audio combined with late-era handi-cam footage (possibly 2000) of a live performance at Bazoku, and recording the vocals in our egg-pack booth at home.
Kicks
By Paul Revere & the Raiders. A punk-pop/grunge take on a garage classic. Pretty decent board audio paired with surviving camcorder footage. Preserved against all odds (and better judgment), it’s part of the ongoing archival release project. Performed live at VeeJay’s in Sapporo on Friday the 13th in June 1997.
By Paul Revere & the Raiders. A punk-pop/grunge take on a garage classic. Pretty decent board audio paired with surviving camcorder footage. Preserved against all odds (and better judgment), it’s part of the ongoing archival release project. Performed live at VeeJay’s in Sapporo on Friday the 13th in June 1997.
(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone
Written by Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart, first recorded by Paul Revere & the Raiders, and later hijacked by The Monkees. Performed live at VeeJay’s in Sapporo on Friday, June 13, 1997.
Written by Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart, first recorded by Paul Revere & the Raiders, and later hijacked by The Monkees. Performed live at VeeJay’s in Sapporo on Friday, June 13, 1997.
Midnight
First released on the album Let's Go by East Bay crooners - Rancid. This live cover of the 1994 punk-revivalist track was captured straight from the mixing board on Friday the 13th, 1998 at Veejay's Live House in Sapporo.
First released on the album Let's Go by East Bay crooners - Rancid. This live cover of the 1994 punk-revivalist track was captured straight from the mixing board on Friday the 13th, 1998 at Veejay's Live House in Sapporo.
At Home He Feels Like A Tourist
Unedited live performance of this 1979 post-punk classic, with a dash of grunge. Recorded straight off the board on Friday the 13th, 1997 at Veejay's Live House in Sapporo. This is a cover of the track first released on the iconic album Entertainment! by English pioneers, Gang of Four.
Unedited live performance of this 1979 post-punk classic, with a dash of grunge. Recorded straight off the board on Friday the 13th, 1997 at Veejay's Live House in Sapporo. This is a cover of the track first released on the iconic album Entertainment! by English pioneers, Gang of Four.
Alien
One of our favourite original songs recorded live in 1998 at the venerable, small concert hall - Penny Lane 24, for Maruoto Deluxe, a local TV show hosted by DJ Takahashi. Watanabe San, who ran VeeJay's and the Half Moon Studio, somehow got us this slot which aired on TV Hokkaido, and led to immediate and total obscurity.
Another Rejection
Original performance at Penny Lane 24. Once graced by Foo Fighters, PUSA, Rollins Band, Bob Mould, G.Love & Special Sauce and the Ramones, playing on this stage felt like crashing a party we weren't invited to, but we still brought snacks. None of the greatness rubbed off, but we did get this decent video and a story to tell.
All Videos Release Schedule, 2025
- Oct 24: Kicks
- Oct 24: (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone
- Oct 25: Midnight
- Oct 25: At Home He's A Tourist
- Nov 1: Mary Jane
- Nov 14: Wanna Be
- Nov 21: Everywhere
- Nov 28: Stuck to Your TV
- Dec 5: Another Rejection
- Dec 12: Louise (by The Flies, 1987)
- Dec 19: Terminal Adolescent (by The Flies, 1987)
Contact
gerry.petrash@gmail.com
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