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.