The Fire Records Half Japanese reissue series continues with the second volume, covering the three releases of ‘Music to Strip By’, ‘Charmed Life’ and ‘The Band That Would Be King’ released one a year from 1987 to 1989. Following the Record Store Day 2014 release, ‘Volume 1: 1981-1985’, the next three Half Japanese records come in their original release form, with the additional tracks that were later added to the CD releases over the years available via download code (see below for track lists). The LPs are wrapped together in a heavy wide spine outer sleeve with a specially designed paper cut image by Jad Fair, who also provides more illustrations throughout the booklet, with words by David Fair. Be careful. You can’t unlearn information. I think that the best that you can hope for is a bad memory, but our brains are very remarkable and it is very difficult to actually unlearn something. I came upon this realization too late to help me with visual arts. I had already been taught about proportions and perspective. It’s very hard to draw someone in the background larger than their friend in the foreground. Anyone farther away would look smaller. That is how our eyes see them and my brain knows this. I cannot turn off this knowledge and draw it the other way around. I can choose to ignore it, but that is not the same. That is a strategy for dealing with the situation, but not as freeing as simple ignorance would be. It is a nagging strategy that whispers the rules and acknowledges your participation in their breaking. Luckily, with music, I do not carry the burden of knowledge. I was not educated in its terms and rules. I am not bound by its limits. I know that I have guitar skills. I have played around with one enough to know what feels right to me. If I were to turn it upside down and attempt to play it in a left handed manner, my ability would feel awkward and diminished. I am not unskilled, I am merely untrained. For me, this is the ideal situation. Others may prefer acquiring rules and limits. I prefer that my art be directed by my heart rather than my brain. I have played in bands for nearly 40 years. In all of that time I have only learned three chords. I have resisted acquiring more. If I continue at this rate I am at risk of knowing six chords forty years from now. Instead, I am consciously slowing down. Hopefully in four decades I will remember even less about music convention than I know today. Forty years is a long time to wait. In the meantime, here’s Half Japanese Vol 2. It might get better in the future, but Vol 2 is here already. David Fair.