About Me
SAM & VALLEY: THE STORY SO FAR
Alex de K, who was active in The Kazuyuchy, a japanese punk band met Special and Max in Tokyo in 1995. At the time Sam was a computer programming artist and used to compose songs in a very cheap way.
It looked like nobody in the world needed Sam as an artist, but ADK had a strong interest in her work, so he asked her to set up a band together. Nothing much simpler...
They recorded many songs mixing their own extremely different tastes, using acoustic instruments and various electronic devices adding simple but very effective lyrics to their music.
They defined their style as Unsuitable Rock and choose the Sam & Valley moniker to present their work to the world. It didn't take very long before their incredible mixture of electronics, ultra-pop and japanese glamour got noted.
"My Favorite Clinic", also known to someone as "2nd; 3rd; 4th: selection" was released in 1997 on Aphex Twin's Rephlex label and aptly spreaded their fame of "Computer Rock sensation" outside of their native country.
Following the success of their debut album, another full-lenght CD, "Unsuitable Japanese", was released in Europe on Angelika Koehlermann, the nice Vienna label devoted to japanese electropop music.
Their third CD album entitled "Torso" was released in 1999 on the canadian label Awhisp, soon followed in 2000 by "A Miracle is Simple", once again on Angelika Koehlermann.
Later on, Sam & Valley were invited to join the Teddy Bear Remix Project on Afe providing two of the best remixes of the original Wolkspurz & Ramirez title track.
According to their own words, having fun and laughing are the most important things in life. Their music obviously showcases their positive and happy attitude, as well as their live shows, where both of them used to wear strange costumes on stage acting like penguins, housekeepers, etc.
As they usually wished to point out, they didn't have any common tastes, interests and hobbies at all, except the fact of being together in Sam & Valley. Maybe this was the secret of their success...
Sadly ADK went out to crop grass, also Sam went to do the washing in the river, the project is stopped temporarily in 2003 leaving a lot of unreleased tracks behind them...
Having been a Sam & Valley addict since their early days, The Afeman was granted access to part of their archive: he picked up some favourites and compiled an album with them. "Stupid Love or Smart Laugh" is released on Afe in April 2007.
DISCOGRAPHY
"My Favorite Clinic" CD/Vinyl [Rephlex,UK, 1997] [SONY, Japan, 1997]
"Unsuitable Japanese" CD [Angelika Koehlermann,Austria,1998]
"Torso" CD [Awhisp,Canada,1999]
"A Miracle Is Simple" CD [Angelika Koehlermann,Austria,2000]
"Stupid Love or Smart Laugh" CD-R [Afe,Italy,2007]
::::Compilation::::
“PLAYMATES MUSEUM†CD [Miston,Japan,2000]
“Re:Kusaki†CD [Angelika Koehlermann,Austria,2001]
“Gooom Tracks Vol.1†CD/LP [Gooom Disques,France,2001]
“HEN†CD [CARVA RECORD,Japan,2001]
“TEDDY BEAR REMIX PROJECT†CD-R [Afe,Italy,2002]
“Lovers' Walk†DVD [Olliwood Productions,Austria,2003]
“STOCKTOWN TV†DVD [STOCKTOWN TV,Sweeden,2003] [nowondvd.net,Japan,2005]
