Better late than never

I covered Paranoid by Black Sabbath for a Japanese compilation for Valentine's Day.  Everyone featured had to cover the same song.  There are a lot of weird and wonderful takes on the original, mine being the first track.  I sort of went for splattered-bedroom-raggae-dancehall paint job for my track.  I also like my own unique take on the intro riff. 

You can download the whole compilation and read about everyone featured in this link.

http://clearandrefreshing.wordpress.com/2014/02/14/a-valentines-gift-from-call-and-response-records/

Hide your own music from women.

Jesus Weekend / Group A @ Ebisu Batica, 28th February
& Miu Mau / Hysteric Picnic /Jebiotto @ Shibuya Home, March 1st 2014

Jesus Weekend played at Batica the other day.  The only thing I knew about them were that they were young and that they from Osaka, with a few cool and famous musical friends to name check in their interviews.  To me then, it sort of fitted that I should see them at Batica; a place that always scares me as the crowd are so young and hip.  Who are these people, and what do they want?  Why are they so different to me?  Why are their faces so wipe-clean and unmarked?  I didn't find any of these answers watching Jesus Weekend.  However, they did take me away from the demons in my mind and hold my attention throughout.  The demons might have been put there by Group A.  Their sound was pretty brutal tonight.  Batica is a very narrow live space and the noise seemed to bounce of the walls and channel right through the punters.  I felt like a seismograph for a little while after.  Most of the guys in the show dared not move despite the noise, incase they missed seeing a mili-second less of boobs less than they possibly could.  Mila and the Geeks also played this show.  Aiha from Seagull Screaming Kiss her kiss her showed up to watch them and I gave her a Nevernevereverland CD.  She never replied (more of which later).

The next day I was at work in Jiyugaoka with a much larger hangover than I expected, and after that I was at Shibuya Home.  This show was a joint release party with Hysteric Picnic and Miu Mau.  Hysteric Picnic sound a lot different now they have a full band.  Miu Mau were exceptional.  Ian always seems to DJ a song of theirs at Fashion Crisis and I always dance and then ask him "Fuck, who were they?"  I hear all of these songs tonight and thoroughly enjoy the show. Listen to their album below.    


As it happened, Jesus Weekend were playing at the event next door at Lush.  Ian got them in so that they could see Hysteric Picnic, whom he is releasing. 

One of the Jesus Weekend saw me and then gave me the most happy and jubilant hi-five I've ever accepted... and I worked for 2 years as an ALT with Elementary school kids.
"Who was that?" asked Rob.
"Oh, um...  I think it was one of Jesus Weekend?!" I replied, knowing half more than the half I didn't like to take the credit for. 

Later on, I gave her this song on a CD. 

  
It was a toss up whether to give her this, or nothing.  Perhaps I should have given her nothing, as I have indeed heard nothing from them since. 



Here's the aforementioned Ian Martin interviewing Jesus Weekend.

http://clearandrefreshing.wordpress.com/2014/03/11/interview-jesus-weekend/



   

9^th March 2014

NRQ / TADZIO/ 空間現代

I am late, but unwittingly so having wrongly assumed that Tadzio would headline this event.  My reasons were sound.  1. It was their album launch.  Who wouldn’t play last at their own fucking release party?  2. Their name was written largest and at the top of the flyer.  Still, see half of the gig.  I am encouraged never to assume anything in Japan.  One bald guy in glasses wearing a washed- out t-shirt saying “Edo is the answer” is going absolutely mental to the music.  I have no idea what the question could have been to make him mosh like that.  Everyone else just claps politely.

Sakauradi Pool is a very odd venue.  It seems to hold gigs in an active garage workshop beneath a block of apartments.  Upstairs the owner has built 5 crazy motorcycles, 4 guitars with gun horns attached, a go-kart, a rocket launcher and some sort of ape walking robot.  The whole place looks and feels like the industrial zone from The Crystal Maze, except the sound-proofing looks like it has been made out of mattresses.  This would be a great place to hide prisoners and torture them.  After all, the tools are in the workshop in the next room.

NRQ were quite nice and good, although twee.  They have a song called “they invaded from Korea”.  I hope they are right wing nutters, although they didn’t look like it.  Again, I try not to assume anything.  During their set the guy in front of me fainted.  I don’t know if it was because I was the only foreigner in the venue, or whether it was because I tried to pick him up - but everyone looked at me like it was my fault for the next 15 minutes.

The other bands weren’t as good as that.  空間現代  caught my attention.  They were a bit like a hardcore Tacobonds, except their music was way more bitty, jabby and impossible.  Ju-ju-ju-ju… ju, ju…  ju-ju-ju-ju… jju-ju-ju – cha – chang.  A bit like a car refusing to start and punching you at the same time while dancing to a funk CD from 1981 that keeps skipping.  For 20 minutes.

Later I buy Tadzio’s album and the singer of 空間現代 comes up.  “Ah, you are like a hardcore Tacobonds”, I say. “Yes, Tacobonds… my friend” was his reply.  I felt a bit disappointed by that knowledge.  I’m not sure why.

Artrocker Blog 5

14th September - Art Bar Ten, Koenji 

Animone are a two piece band of whom I know sadly too little. Ten is an already small space, but I sit literally 20 centimetres away from what might have been the best show I have seen all year. The pair (one boy, one girl) manage to emit something way bigger than the notes they are playing and singing. Its called feeling - and their performance made the room drip in it. The harmonies they sing are spine-tingling. The pair are seem so shy, it’s as if something amazing has taken over this time and space and they can’t begin to comprehend it or how to explain it. Of course they don’t have to. At its best, that’s what music can be. 

This isn’t their best song, but it’s the best recording I could find of them (playing at Akihabara Goodman, I believe).

   

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/aminome/ 

Slow-Marico are another boy/girl two piece, whom I know very well. Their sound is very electro pop, so long as you are imagining it being played by the Jesus and Mary Chain, and faster. The combination of squealing guitars, drum machine beats, iPhone app noise and distorted vocal makes most people nod, yelp praise and dance – usually in that order. I’ve yet to ascertain quite why, but recently the guy in the band has a habit of pulling my trousers down and taking pictures of my partial bum.

   

http://slow-marico.bandcamp.com/ 

Between these two acts was a guy who made a noise performance using what looked like a science school project and 55 vibrating sex toys. In the uchiage he said he was sad that he couldn’t use the 100 that he had planned to. Well, as the old proverb goes; students can’t be choosers. 



New Vibrations at Shibuya Home, 25th September 

De!nial (I guessed pronounced denial) are a three piece electronic group who wear crazy animal heads and throw glo-sticks into the audience who dance wildly to their shows. Their music is very up-tempo, up-beat and up-front. They remind me a lot of Gay Against You and going to Kashpoint on the boat in the Thames in the 2000 and somethings. This is in no way a bad thing.

   

Opening the night were sl-cisco. Tomo told me despite going for many years, they don’t have any fans. They could count me as one now; I enjoyed them rather very much. I like this random video too.

   

The second band (NATURE DANGER GANG) sort of got a bit naked to techno and jumped on the tables in a highly excitable fashion. It reminded me of a band called Gobsausage I saw a few times in London, except Gobsausage got a lot more naked (when they weren’t wearing bondage gear). Getting naked though is no easy thing, especially on stage. I only managed it once playing a gig in a kitchen in Brighton. It was terrible. The next morning a homeless man recognized us in McDonalds and screamed “Hey! It’s those weirdo’s from last night”.

   

If you want to read Artrocker blog number 4, please head to my blog devil-hand-drink`blogspot.jp. Amongst other things I wrote about Puffyshoes. If you want to read about Puffyshoes as written by a professional, head here where Ian Martin writes about them for the Guardian online. http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/sep/26/puffyshoes-goodbye-to-you-new-music-japan

Fuck my Wife (on cassette)

Melt Banana listened to Applicants' album in their car!!!

Melt Banana posted a video on Facebook of what they listened to on the way back from a gig. Something I made was one of them, crikey!

Umez Interview

I first came across Sachiko in a band called No Cars in London.  They were a sort of Japanese novelty comedy rock band who would invite people on stage, give them a teddy bear, and then they would kick them.  No wait.  Actually, I think they only kicked me...

Things got more serious when she formed Umez with Niyan.  Things were looking really good for them, but the idiocy of the UK visa laws meant that the two of them had to head back to thier native Japan.  

This is where I met up with Sachiko again, with the thankful news that the awesome Umez are still going strong - and sounding even better than they did in London.  Umez have made a compilation CD that is really good as well.  This interview with Sachiko was originally going to be on the Artrocker blog that I wrote, but it didn't get used. 

Q: Artrocker readers might remember both of playing with your former bands in London (No Cars and Screaming Tea Party). What made you two decide to team up? You formed in London, before both heading back to Japan, right? 

A: Yes. We were just hanging out and at that time he was playing with one of my friends. Later, she asked me to help playing bass for them. We thought it sounded interesting so we’ve continued playing together up to now.

Q: Umez sounds a lot more electronic than what I heard you do before.  Any reason for the change? 

A: We don't want a drummer in the band. Also Niyan wanted to create new sounds that nobody has heard before.

Q: I am not always good at describing music. How would you describe Umez’s sound?

A: Electronic guitar noise pop? We don't know how to describe it.  I would say it’s emo-noise-pop??

Q: I’m sorry… what exactly is an Umez?

A: It stands for Ultimate, Modern Electric Z Z-fighters. This is what my friend named us after our gig. Umez is also the name of our favourite horror manga artist in Japan. His stuff is amazing. We deeply respect him.

Q: I’m not going to any music festivals in Japan this summer. Am I missing out? Are you playing at any? Are you going to any? Are there any festivals in Japan that are any good (or even best simply avoided)?

A: There is a festival called "Natsu no Mamono" in Aomori in Northern Japan. This is the only festival I am going to this summer. Actually, it's in the mid of September. There is a lot of underground music and noise stuff going on there. Also some idols are performing too so this is a very unique line up. Aomori is where people eat a lot of apples.

Q: Is there anything you miss about London? Is there anything in London that you are glad to see the back of? Is there anything you are happy to have back now you are both back in Tokyo?

A: I miss London too much. Not many people go to gigs and are into live music (in Japan).  I miss going to gigs whenever I want to and drinking with friends, meeting nice people and discovering new bands and stuff. I miss just normal stuff, but I don't do that much in Tokyo. Life in Tokyo is always too busy so it’s difficult to catch up with friends. Niyan lives in Kobe and I live in Tokyo. So we talk and practice online!

Q: What's next for Umez?

A: We are releasing a compilation album on 09/09 this autumn from 14 Years Records in Tokyo. This is a great compilation album which you can discover great indie music from London, Tokyo, Italy and Berlin. 12 of the artists are involved such as Taigen Kawabe from Bo Ningen, Dog Chocolate and Joey fourr!! Also ex-screaming tea party's members new project "Teta Mona "and "Grimm Grimm " are on it as well. This is very exciting!! You can check it out here:  

http://14yearsrecords.com/

Please buy it!! 

http://umez.bandcamp.com/

PS:

If you don't like what I have written about Umez - here's a professional at work:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/08/21/music/umez-label-is-good-news-for-noise-pop/#.UjhRaT_jd4M

PPS: 

Nice photo!

Artrocker Blog 4

NOTE:
I started writing a blog about being in Tokyo and the music I see here for Artrocker. I'm not sure what happened; but after I wrote this and sent it in, it was never uploaded. I'm not sure if it was too long or badly formatted; or maybe he thought it was too shit! Well, I thought it was alright - certainly good enough to publish on my own blog... so here it is. 

If I am honest, I can’t say that I am a fan of my job. I have to wake up at 6am, the pay is a struggle, the children can be rotten, plans about what you are supposed to teach are jibberish or non-existent, and the teachers themselves often make you feel that they would rather not have you in the school, or if it’s really bad, in the country. There are however two important perks about working in a Junior High School. One, is that I always finish early enough to see a gig. For some reason, gigs in Japan do start quite early (midweek we are sometimes talking about a first band starting at 6:30). The second is that I get the whole of August off. Despite Fukushima and the difficulty of the language, Japan is still an amazing place to go for an adventure – and I have to have one every August. This time I went to Okinawa for a motorbike trip. Because of that, I haven’t been to many gigs this month, so apologies if this column is a bit shorter than others. Anyway, back to music…

SHE TALKS SILENCE / LO-SHI, 18th August 2013
Art Bar Ten, Koenji
 
First gig of the month was at Ten, Koenji where She Talks Silence and Lo-Shi played. The evening was themed on Twin Peaks, which was being projected in the background. Having not seen it before, I noticed there were quite a lot of boobs in this film; but I don’t think that’s why the film is called Twin Peaks. The Lo-Shi quickly out-did Twin Peaks by bringing their own visuals of various animals having it off. The horse’s willy in particular will stay with me for a long time. When I focussed enough to close my eyes though, the music was great. Lo-Shi are two French guys living in Japan who make very interesting sweeping instrumental pieces using guitar, electronics and a theremin. There’s a video of them here, but be warned, the sample they use is quite rude if you understand French. If you don’t understand French, you haven’t got anything to be fucking worried about, have you?


獏 (Baku) from Lo-shi on Vimeo.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lo-shi/346915165328094
 
She talks Silence are a Japanese girl duo who play rather dreamy alt/indie/art/rock songs. One of the girls is very tall and plays stand up electronic drums. The other plays a very swirly guitar while singing very softly. She sings so softly I remember wondering at a previous show if her breath was somehow toxic and she was doing her best to sing, but also save everybody from being gassed at the same time. However, I was a fool for thinking this. I sat no more than a metre away from her at this concert and can confirm not only that the toxic gas thing is untrue, but that She Talks Silence are also very good indeed. Check out a song from their Soundcloud account below…
https://soundcloud.com/she-talks-silence/walk-away-demo

Ian Martin had half a hand in making this event, and I think She Talks Silence will be releasing something new on his Call and Response label at some point in the future. He has a Facebook page for the label you can follow here:
http://www.facebook.com/callandresponsetokyo



LUNCH WITH LEADER
 
Later in the week I met the singer from Tadzio. Tadzio are another girl two-piece originally from Sendai. On their day they are quite possibly the most punk and powerful thing I have ever seen, and I must have seen them more than 10 times by now. We ate udon, went to a baseball hitting practice centre, talked a bit, ate ice slivers and then played computerised darts. This was a major achievement when you consider the language difficulties we have (mostly my fault) and how neither of us live in in the same city. For about a day afterwards I wondered why she wanted to meet, albeit with a stupid grin on my face when I was thinking back on it. It’s a weird comparison, but I felt a bit like how Alastair Campbell felt when Lady Diana and the Blairs were going to have a secret lunch in a house in Hackney, and was suddenly asked to come along at Diana’s request. He went and in his diary he writes about how magnetic Diana was, but was still not sure why he’d been invited along. After the meal, he asked his wife, “Why me? What do you think she’s after?” “You” she said.

I think it’s the only ten minutes in my life I’ve ever wanted to be more like Alastair Campbell.

In our conversation it transpired that Tadzio may split up. I hope they don’t, their new songs were sounding really good. They were also the first proper gig I went to see in Tokyo, so without them, perhaps I would have given up being interested in music myself. I wrote a little about them before, but here’s a video of them supporting Someone still loves you Boris Yeltsin in their hometown.


http://tadzio-leader-bucho.blogspot.jp/



PUFFYSHOES, 22nd August 2013
Bar Edge End, Shibuya

Another band who may split up by the end of the year are Puffyshoes. Puffyshoes are another girl two-piece who play short simple poppy songs. Most of the songs are tales of teenage romance flamed in guitar reverb heaven; a mix difficult not to bring a smile to your face. Shibuya Edge End, the venue for Puffyshoes’ performance, is quite an interesting place. The walls are covered in hundreds of signatures from mostly British indie bands that made it to Japan. In 10 seconds I noted The Bluetones, Suede, Foals, Longpig, oh, and um… Bolton Wanderers written on the wall. My first gig in Japan was here too actually, but do you know what? After my performance, I wasn’t asked to sign the wall. Fuck! How could I have been worse than Bolton Wanderers?!

Puffyshoes performance today was not the best that I have seen them play either, but it was easily the most endearing. They didn’t so much play, they sort of giggled their way through the set. They must have played 20 songs in 25 minutes. I really liked it. I even bought their double album cassette. It’s a truly beautiful thing and I’d recommend anyone else to do the same.
Typing in Puffyshoes into youtube search engine is also a lovely thing to do as they seem to have made a lot of DIY videos to their songs. Here they are covering “Heatwave” (much more beautiful than the original). If you visit their website, then you can find all their videos there too.



http://www.puffyshoes.com/ 

Weirdly, if you type Puffyshoes into google image search instead, copies of Tadzio’s album pop up every so often. Small world this Japanese indie like.

After Puffyshoes’ set I had a very strange conversation with Masato, one of the DJ’s at the event. He asked me how my holiday had been. “It was great”, I began “I went to Okinawa on a motorbike trip… it was very hot, and I nearly had an accident on the bike, but other than that it was great”. “An accident?” Masato asked. “Yeah, the car only missed me by about 2 feet. I don’t know, I’m lucky… I could have lost my legs!” “Yes. You must lose your legs” Masato continued. “What?!!! I must lose my legs?!!” “Yes. If you lose legs, it’s better for you.” “What?!! How is it better for me if I have no legs? ” “Maybe somebody will like you if you have no legs. Maybe somebody can marry you if you have no legs. Take care of you. But now, with legs, nobody can like you.” I mean, what do you say to that?!

I thought this song was disgusting, so I edited it.

C is for

Photos since last time