Is this really a Hototogisu album? Sure could have fooled me as it sounds NOTHING like the jet propelled noise monger it would eventually become. In fact, this album is more akin to early-Sunroof! material. It's a gentle, shimmering psychedelic mushroom trip put to sound, bordering even on ambient music at times. I must admit that I prefer THIS Hototogisu to the later incarnation, not that I don't enjoy the noise, it's just that I could easily see myself listening to hours on end of this type of acid-tinged, fairytale-like music instead of trying to get through one hours worth of the later, pure ear-piercing sound atrocities. Floating Japanese Oof! [...] is proof to me that Bower's many projects have no real distinct qualities and change along at the artist's whim. All of his projects seem interchangeable which makes me wonder about the point of having so many different projects. Regardless, this is definitely a keeper and is well worth the price whether you're trying to hunt down the beautiful 3LP version or this 2CD-R edition.