Sawyr's Tape Zone

My Stuff

Unregistered Hypercam 2

I began writing songs as poems after reading a foreword about Anne Sexton written by her daughter. Unregistered Hypercam 2 is a reflection of those feelings and many other feelings I've felt.

Big Club

I released Big Club on September 26th, 2025. It is an album about how hopeless it can feel sometimes to be trapped in exploitative cycles. It is the last of three albums recorded during the summer of 2025.

Fettuccine Alfredo Diorama

Fettuccine Alfredo Diorama released on August 31st. This is my fourth full-length tape, and the second of my space-fi explorations. Some of these songs are survivors from the Hermit Crab Sarcophagus sessions, but most were written after the fact. Three new Compulsions songs break this one up at the beginning, middle, and end!

Hermit Crab Sarcophagus

I released my third tape, Hermit Crab Sarcophagus on June 2nd, 2025. It was the last album recorded fully on my Tascam MF-P01 Portastudio before my recent upgrade to a Porta03 MkII. You'll find out more about that when the next one releases! Until then, please enjoy Hermit Crab Sarcophagus. I'm calling it a Space-Fi record for now, but let me know if you have a better genre for it.

Commercial Break

I released Commercial Break on November 4th 2024! This album was fully recorded and mixed using a Tascam MF-P01 Portastudio (with some mastering in Audacity to reduce the tape hiss). Check out the album below, and let me know your favorite song from it using the Contact Me form at the bottom of the page!

You Are In Wilkinsburg Now?

On May 22nd, 2024, I released You Are In Wilkinsburg Now? I've been working on this album since 2017, technically, but I didn't start recording until late 2021. You Are in Wilkinsburg Now? is available now, both digitally and on cassette tape over on my Bandcamp! You can use the player below to listen to the album!

Ranking every Yakuza movie I've seen.

Sympathy for the Underdog: Koji Tsuruta is amazing alongside Noburo Ando, Hideo Murota, and Asao Koike—star studded cast without even mentioning Tomisaburo Wakayama's stellar performance. The pacing and the cinematography are both incredible, and the ending is in my opinion the best of Kinji Fukasaku's filmography.

Sonatine: Half Yakuza movie half statement on desensitization to killing, every death in this movie is soulless despite how deeply you may love each character. The scene on the beach where Kitano's main group is playing full-size paper sumo is breathtaking. The group's beach scenes are straight out of a 1980s beach party movie, drawing you closer to the Kitano's clique just to take it all away from you.

Blood of Revenge: In my opinion, this is what Big Time Gambling Boss should've been (more on that later in the list). Tsuruta's character is tasked with maintaining the peace while attempting to steer his gang straight after the death of their boss. The character dynamics here are excellent and every character's motivations are clear and interwoven perfectly.

Wolves, Pigs, and Men: This one came highly recommended, and it really lived up to the hype. Almost more of a psychological thriller than a Yakuza action/drama movie, everyone double-crossed everyone and no one came out of it better for wear. The torture scenes were a bit heavy-handed for my taste but I think even despite that this movie was incredible.

Ceremony of Disbanding: A lot of Koji Tsuruta movies play off of the "grizzled ex-yakuza gets out of jail to find that the world has changed around him" trope, but I think this one is among the best at executing on the premise. Tsuruta is excellent as is Sumiko Fuji, and Tetsuro Tamba's Sakai is such a perfect foil to Tsuruta's Sawaki that you'd almost like an entire movie dedicated specifically to their dynamic. Unfortunately for Sawaki, this is a Fukasaku film, so you know there won't be a sequel in his future.

Theater of Life - Hishakaku: This was more of a yakuza-driven character drama rather than a traditional yakuza exploitation film, which I sort of expected going in, but I had no idea how heavy it would hit. The exposition scenes of Koji Tsuruta's Hishakaku in his prison cell juxtaposed with the scenes of the affair between Yoshiko Sakuma's Otoyo and Ken Takekura's Miyagawa teed up the eventual heartbreaking release in the third act. Maybe I'm a sucker for the chivalry genre, but the immediate connection between Hishakaku and Kiratsune (played by Ryunosuke Tsukigata) really spoke to me. "When I was young, my master told me I should do what I want. Now I'm old and I've done nothing."

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics: The Battles series really picks up once the faction wars reach full swing. Hirono vs Yamamori reaches its real fever pitch here, and the remaining of the Yamamori pawns from the earlier entries see their fates stretch out broadly and plainly tin front of them here. While Bunta Sugawara hits his stride in the franchise during these middling entries, Akira Kobayashi steals the show as Akira Takeda here.

Hokuriku Proxy WarThe stakes are high and the action is nonstop. The factions are messy, with associations always shifting. Hiroki Matsukata's Kawata combines the tactical patience and old-school chivalry of Koji Tsuruta's Gunji from Sympathy with the rabid violence of Bunta Sugawara's Okita from Street Mobster. The snow burials in this movie are some of Fukasaku's most brutal scenes in any of the movies on this list, and they really set Hokuriku apart as a setting. A great final yakuza film from Fukasaku.

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War: This is very close to being beat for beat on-par with Police Tactics, although some of the proxy factions suffer from being underdeveloped. Still incredible, and the film grain on the final scenes here is such an excellent touch. This movie has this kind of fogginess to it that almost makes it feel like it's all just a distant memory.

Fate Deals the Cards of Death: A masterclass from Koji Tsuruta and Tomisaburo Wakayama: this movie combined the chivalry of Big Time Gambling Boss with the romance of Theater of Life without missing a step. Michiyo Yasuda is excellent as the reluctant boss of the Iwai family after her husband's murder; she is a perfect foil to Tsuruta, both romantically and tactically. Maybe it's personal preference, but the best yakuza movies seem to end with Tsuruta's character stabbing Asao Uchida's character.

Bloodstained Clan Honor: This is similar to Ceremony of Disbanding but with so many extra elements driving the story. You still get that affected, disconnected Tsuruta performance, but it comes instead as a B-plot to a very successful Bunta Sugawara-driven moral struggle. One of my favorite parts of this movie is the more sedated Sugawara, which aligns more with his performance as Shozo Hirono from the Battles franchise. It's perhaps his best face, although he is undeniably very fun when he is unleashed.

Blackmail is My Life: The storytelling in this one is really interesting. I'm not even sure if this is can be classed as a yakuza film, but it deals with enough organized crime that I'm willing to stake the argument that it counts. THe story is told through the lens of Shun Muraki, and most of the exposition is done using the flashback freeze-frames that would eventually define the Battles Without Honor and Humanity series. The main gang is sweet and close-knit; it's not difficult to imagine a serialzed take on these characters wherein they would blackmail increasingly evil antagonists weekly. Of course, this is a Fukasaku film, so...

Crossing the Rubicon: It's funny! It also constantly keeps the action moving without really sputtering out. Kinya Kitaoji and Takuzo Kawatani were made to betray one another, but the betrayals here are played for laughs rather than being for keeps. Well, sorta anyway. A stunning genre shift from Fukasaku.

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode: A great ending to the series. I was shocked to see which underbosses would eventually end up walking away unscathed, but I wouldn't have wanted any other ending for those who did. A statement piece of an ending to an excellent franchise.

Japan Organized Crime Boss: A rare miss for me as far as Tsuruta films go. There are some excellent parts here but the plot revolves around a man unwilling to take the wheel while knowing full well that he's the only one that can steer the car to safety. Not bad by any means, just not up to my expectations.

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Great jumping-off point for the series. Feels like a standalone yakuza movie but creates an incredible universe.

Street Mobster: Noburo Ando and Bunta Sugawara play off each other remarkably well, and Nagisa Mayumi excels at matching the intensity opposite Sugawara's Ozaki. My largest complaint, and the main detractor for this movie, is the weird assault victim + perpetrator to lovers storyline that drives the romance subplot.

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima: Maybe a surprising opinion to those familiar with the yakuza genre, I found this to be the weakest of the Battles series. This one focuses on a one-off character without advancing the overarching plot much. It sets the stakes for the next three films to a certain extent, but I wasn't as engrossed in this as I was in the other entries in the series.

Fudoh: The New Generation: This was one of the most highly-recommended Miike films, and it didn't really connect with me. The main characters were all incredibly likeable but the plot felt loose and a lot of the appeal was seemingly the shock value.

Big Time Gambling Boss: Tomisaburo Wakayama is usually a standout performer but in this movie he was unbearable for me. It didnt make sense to me why he wouldn't trust Nakai's (played by Koji Tsuruta) judgement seeing as they were sworn brothers, and that defiance was the main plot driver which made it feel like a slog. I want to revisit this again just in case I missed things on my first watch, but not a winner to me.

Yokohama Underworld: Machine Gun Dragon: Bunta Sugawara stars as a vaguely codependent mama's boy with decision paralysis. The silliness of the American gangsters makes up for the 3+ minute wailing scene, but barely. This movie is fun and over the top, but it didn't leave me with a desire to revisit any time soon.

Yakuza Graveyard: An outstanding performance by Tatsuo Umemiya is the most positive thing I can say about this one. I feel like the violence was largely the point of this movie, but it mostly fell flat. Fukusaku does a great job building worlds where there are no good guys, but at the end of the day, nothing really seemed to happen here.

Outlaw Killers: Three Mad Dog Brothers: Bunta Sugawara's Gondo was a monster here with no redeeming qualities of note. The plot was dark, and probably to a certain extent more realistic than most other films on this list, but it was hard to ascertain any motivating force behind the brothers' actions. Similar to Street Mobster, this is yet another example of a love interest who was actually the victim of an assault by the main character. Baffling film, in my opinion.

Yakuza Demon: Bad characters with little to no motivation, loose plot, confusing relationships. The violent scenes in this were exhilarating (e.g. the raid that sparks the main conflict of the movie), but beyond that I did not really connect with any parts of the film. Visually interesting, but not much going on beyond that. If you're looking for a Miike film, maybe choose Fudoh (or outside of the yakuza genre, One Missed Call) instead.

The next movies in my queue are Yakuza's Tale, Tales of the Underworld: The Big Boss, Gang vs. Gang, and the Graveyard of Honor movies (both Fukasaku's 1975 original and Miike's 2001 reimagining). Is there a movie I need to watch and add to this list? Sign my guestbook and drop me a note! I'd love to expand this list to include more selections.

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