Michigan lo-fi lunatics Half Japanese are to have their entire back catalogue dusted down by the committed folks at Fire Records.

Centred around brothers Jad and David Fair, Half Japanese quickly established themselves at one of the late 1970s’ most contrarion art-rock groups. Everything from their bizarre tunings to their postmodern approach to the canon – check their weirdo covers of Bob Dylan and The Tempations – underlined the band’s fierce sense of individualism; indeed, the fact that their debut album  Half Gentleman/Not Beasts arrived as a 3xLP box set speaks volumes about their impish sensibilities. Over the course of the next twenty years, the band skipped betwen free jazz (1981’s Loud), pert indie rock (1998’s Charmed Life) and power pop (2001’s Hello), and earned the adulation of Kurt Cobain and assorted lo-fi strummers in the process.

As Pitchfork report, Fire Records will release the entirety of the band’s back catalogue over the course of 2013. Fire will kick off proceedings with the band’s enormous 1980 debut LP Half Gentleman/Not Beasts. The album’s an unpredictable olio of pretty ambient interludes, twisted James Brown covers, lo-fi tidbits, post-punk non-songs and institial field recordings – well worth your time, provided you can spare it. The new edition, available on 12″ or CD, will arrive supplemented by an extra disc of bonus material. 1977’s Calling All Girls EP is included, as are a glut of unreleased tracks. The box set also features new packaging, a 32 page book, a poster and fresh liner notes.

Half Gentleman/Not Beasts will drop on April 20. Unheard track ‘Fool’s Paradise’ is available to stream/download below.

Tracklisting:

LP 1:

Side A:
01 No Direct Line From My Brain to My Heart
02 10th Ave. Freezeout
03 Ta Sheri Ta Ta
04 My Girlfriend Lives Like a Beatnik
05 Her Parents Come Home
06 Shhh/ Shhh/ Shhh
07 Girls Like That
08 RRRRRRRR
09 No More Beatle Mania

Side B:
10 Tangled Up in Blue
11 Patti Smith
12 School of Love
13 Jodi Foster
14 Shy Around Girls
15 Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
16 Bogue Millionaires / Cool Millionaires
17 Tn Tn Tn Tn KI

LP 2:

Side A:
01 I Can’t Stand It Any More
02 I Love Oriental Girls
03 Dream Date
04 Du Du Du / Du Du Du
05 Ain’t Too Proud to Beg
06 Ann Arbor. Mi.
07 I’m Going to the Zoo
08 Shi Yi Yi
09 Rave On
10 I Ta Nasi Si Na Mi Eee
11 Till Victory
12 Rip My Shirt to Shreds

Side B:
13 I Don’t Want to Have Mono No More
14 She Cracked
15 BBBBBBBB/ BBBBBBBB
16 Funky Broadway Melody
17 I’m Sorry
18 T / T / T / T / T
19 The Worst I’d Ever Do
20 Live in Baltimore Md.
21 Live in Washington DC
22 Battle of the Bands
23 Worst I’d Ever Do

LP 3:

Side A:
01 Live in Baltimore Md.
Side B:
01 Live in Washington DC

LP 4:

Side A:
01 Fool’s Paradise
02 Don’t You Know That
03 Foggy Notion
04 If You’re So Smart
05 Jad Interview
06 Wildman
07 Lo and Behold
08 UFO
09 Anything I Can Do
10 Hey Romeo
11 10th Avenue Freezeout
12 downdududown
13 Man of Mystery
14 One More Day

Side B:
15 Battle of the Bands
16 Worst I’d Ever Do
17 Ann Arbor, Mi
18 School of Love
19 Her Parents Came Home
20 Shy Around Girls
21 Dream Date
22 Cool Millionaires / Bogue Millionaires
23 Knock on Wood
24 Top Secret
25 Guitar Solo
26 Calling All Girls
27 Nobody
28 Stooges Medley
29 Wild Party
30 Babylon