After performing with such bands as Toho Sara, Ohkami No Jikan, Musica Transonic, and Mainliner, Japanese guitarist Mokoto Kawabata decided to continue his musical explorations by bringing together like-minded individuals to create trippy psychedelic freak-outs inspired by Karlheinz Stockhausen, Krautrock, and '70s progressive hard rock. Acid Mothers Temple and the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. (Underground Freak Out) was founded in 1996 as a Soul Collective. It's not a commune in the full sense since the members don't all live together, but it is based on communal values and has even been mistaken by some people for a religious cult. Kawabata started the collective because he wanted to give unknown musicians a chance to record and release albums that would reach a wider audience; his original intent was not to create an ongoing touring and recording band. Indeed, the group's self-titled debut album, which was released on Japan's PSF Records in November 1997, was essentially a Kawabata solo project; he performed jam sessions with several other musicians, then edited and overdubbed the tapes to create something akin to musique concrete. Kawabata must have been pleased with the results because he assembled a group of musicians to tour overseas as Acid Mothers Temple in 1998. Atsushi Tsuyama played guitar during a November 1998 Japanese tour and became the group's regular bassist in 1999; eventually the band's steady touring lineup became Kawabata, Tsuyama, guitarist and synthesizer player Hiroshi Higashi, drummer Ichiraku Yoshimitsu, and vocalist and synthesizer player Cotton Casino. Buoyed by a well-deserved reputation as a superb live band, the group continued to tour and record. They released Wild Gals a Go-Go, the soundtrack to an uncompleted Russian underground film, in 1999, and Live in Occident, a double album of performances from their 1999 overseas tour, in 2000. The group continued to expand its range of influences; for example, they drew on Tsuyama's experience performing ancient folk music for La Novia, an album of Occitan traditional songs that they released in 2000. Then, in 2001, the group released their fourth "official" album, New Geocentric World of Acid Mothers Temple, as well as a couple limited-edition releases. Meanwhile, the collective has spun out numerous offshoots, including Floating Flower, Nishinihon, and Tsurbami.
