Concerts of 2008

Including festivals, clubs, a couple of instores etc.
A total of 140 different bands.
My favourites are outlined.

6955
6 eyes
9 Goats Black Out
Advantage Lucy
aikuru
Ametsub
Ando
Aquarium
Assembler
B Club
Beach House
Beck
Black Kids
Black Lips
Black:List
Blonde Redhead
Blood Red Shoes
Boris
Brian Jonestown Massacre
the Brunettes
chariots x3
Crystal Castles
Custom Noise
Cut Copy
Dead by April
Death Cab for Cutie
Devastations
Dio
the Dodos
Doktor Kosmos
Dosh
Duffy
Duné
d.v.d
E’m
Efterklang
Emperor Tomato Ketchup
envy
Familjen
Foals
furukawa miki
the Go! Team
Goldfrapp
Grand Island
Adam Green
group_inou x4
Growing
Hariss
hasunuma shuta
the Hellacopters
Hercules & Love Affair
Hot Chip
Håkan Hellstrøm
I am Robot and Proud x2
In Flames
Interpol
Jaguar Love
Jay-Z
Jordan
kaji hideki
kashiwa daisuke x2
Kaya
Kent
Kicell
the Kiddie
the Kissaway Trail
kojima mayumi
the Kooks x2
Les Savy Fav
Like Absolute Myself
Lukestar
Luminous Orange
Lupe Fiasco
Mahiruno
Maps
Masquerade
matenro Opera x3
matsu & take
Matt & Kim
Midnight Juggernauts
MGMT
miyauchi yuri
My Brightest Diamond
Kate Nash
the National
the National Bank
Nega
Silje Nes
nhhmbase x2
nisennenmondai
the Novembers x2
Now We’ve Got Members
O’Death
Ogre You Asshole x4
Okkervil River
Overground Acoustic Underground
ôya yuusuke session
-OZ-
Pacific!
Panic at the Disco
Pop-a-long Cassidy
PPP x2
Psysalia Psysalis Psyche
the Raconteurs
Rentrer en Soi
Riddim Saunter
Robyn
Rumble In Rhodos
Sel’m
shibusa shirazu seven
Shing02
Sigur Rós
Slagsmålsklubben
sokif
sokabe keiichi band x3
sokabe keiichi rendevouz band
Sonic Youth
sôtai seiriron
Sparta Locals
St Vincent
Stars
Sufjan Stevens
Sugar
Takuma
the Ting Tings
Tingsek
toe
toddle
tokumaru shugo x4
Tommy Tokyo & Starving for My Gravy
Truls & the Trees x2
Vampire Weekend
John Vanderslice
Versailles x3
the Wombats
Woodhands
World’s End Girlfriend & Poltergeist Ensemble
Yeasayer
YO-MA
the Young Knives

Best of 2008

And so it's that time of the year again. For some reason I found it a lot easier to choose my japanese favourites than the non-japanese ones. There's been many good non-japanese records, but recently I've found myself almost only listening to japanese artists. I think one of the reasons is that I get to see a lot of the japanese bands live all the time here. Also, I think it's more difficult to stay updated on new western music here. Another interesting thing is that I had to listen to most of the non-japanese albums so many times before I started liking them whereas for the japanese ones I almost instantly liked them. Anyways, here goes..

Best japanese albums

• sokabe keiichi BAND - キラキラ！
• group_inou - FAN
• YO-MA - Sparks In Winter
• the Novembers - picnic
• Ogre You Asshole - しらないあいずしらせる子 (mini-album)
• kaji hideki - Lollipop
• PERFUME - GAME
• キセル - Magic Hour

Best non-jap. albums

• Wolf Parade - At Mt. Zoomer
• Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin - Pershing
• Okkervil River - the Stand-Ins
• Of Montreal - Skeletal Lampin
• Destroyer - Trouble In Dreams
• Foals - Antidotes
• Conor Oberst - s/t
• Late of the Pier - Fantasy Black Channel
• Beach House - Devotion
• Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell

"PR vol. 3" group_inou oneman!

Dec. 7th, Daikanyama UNIT

This day started out with nothing less than the Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 2. I think it went okay, but I was pretty tired afterwards. It was more tempting to go home and get some sleep than going to a concert. A Quarter Ponder and a coffe cup later though, I was good to go.

I had been worried about the number system for this gig, because mine was G-71. Usually when they have letters before the ticket number it means that A 1~100 goes first then B 1~100 etc. Luckily that wasn't the case this time. Actually G-tickets were the first to be let in! I'm guessing they just put the G there for group_inou. At the door I got a nice sticker too. They had new t-shirts with the egg from the flyer. Limited to a 100 shirts, each one numbered bla bla bla. To me it was just an egg. I can however imagine how comic it would be if two people with the other group_inou tees were standing on each side of an egg shirt. Breakfast, yum.

Special guest was Matsu & Take. In spite of the name it was only one guy. He played this cool electronica that, if played at a club, I would be dancing. In this setting however, it became a bit onesided and for some reason (JLPT) I became incredibly tired and sleepy during his set.

group_inou are like the nerdy guys at school who didn't have any friends, but who stayed at home making music in their bedroom. And now even though their first album has sold lots of copies and their fan base has grown, they're still the nerdy guys. Imai commented at the beginning of the show that they had gone to a kombini as people were being let in, but even though they walked past the entire queue no one noticed them. Also, this event wasn't supposed to be a oneman, but they didn't have any friends that would play with them. Imai told this story about how he went all alone to Kyoto because he didn't have any friends, and there he met Matsu & Take, which became his only friend, and thus the only guest tonight. Hilarious. I didn't mind it being a oneman though as it meant that I could watch the entire show and still take the last train home.

The bands usually play longer sets as well at onemans. That wasn't the case with group_inou though. After 6-7 tracks, imai announces that they only have three songs left! I guess the main reason is that CP becomes incredibly tired when he's performing. The guy's literally ghasping for air between the songs. No wonder when he's as active as he is on stage, but I'd rather see him pace it down a bit and do a longer set. Or maybe not. It's too fun to watch him dance and walk in circles on stage.

They did play many of their best songs though, including "Coming Out", "Ship", "PR", "Maybe". People are always going crazy on the last one. When I think about it they were going crazy from the very beginning this time. I think it's uncomfortable when you can't move freely because people are pushing so much. Before I used to bear up with it, but I think I'e been to so many concerts now that I don't think it's worth it. Another thing I've noticed at japanese gigs is that people in the first 5 rows or something, sway simultanously from side to side. Like you would when the sing-a-long pop-ballad comes on and everyone grabs their lighter and throw their arms up in the air. It's strange to see that at a hiphop/electro gig.

Before a new track Imai announced that this song had the worst lyrics in the world. I think CP writes all of them though. "Nude" was also introduced as a song with crap lyrics. Hmm..「NUDEに持っていくMOOD」

They had a really impressive stage show. A screen in the background showing these crazy videoes (provided by VJ Heart Bomb) and laser lights (by Yama-Chang). Yep, you read right, lasers. If I didn't know these guys beforehand I'd say it was some kind of trance/rave party going on. Just to top it off they also had a neon sign at the side of stage (the one in the pic above). More eggs.

The only bad part about the show was the sound. It was actually kind of terrible. Good sound is usually kind of crucial, but I guess the lasers made up for it...

For the encore they did the 'System Kitchen' (remixes of 'Foods' their 1st EP) version of "Status" together with Matsu & Take. Best part of the the entire show.

曽我部恵一BAND「カントー的!」

nov 21st, Chiba Look
nov 30th, Shibuya Quattro

Because the last sokabe keiichi band gig was so fun I decided to see them twice on their Kanto tour. First at the local club (well 30min away by train, but at least a lot closer than Tokyo) in Chiba, and later the tour final in Shibuya.

[pic from http://d.hatena.ne.jp/live-sokabe/20081121)

「ヤバイヤバイヤバイ！」

sokabe was really impressed by the crowd in Chiba. Basically because everyone was crazy and so much into it. It was sokabe keiichi band's first time in Chiba, so that explains a lot. Although I don't really see that people in Chiba would have much trouble going to Tokyo. Nonetheless it was fun to be at a gig where everyone were so excited. Sokabe also said that he wanted to live in Chiba. Ahahaha. haha....ha..(why would anyone live here rather than Tokyo?)

I've never been to Look before, and it turned out to be a tiny club with a capacity of maybe no more than 200 people. The "bar" was really just the other end of the merch table, and instead of lockers they had a shelf where everyone would put their stuff. I love small venues, so this place was pretty sweet. The only bad thing was the washiki ie a Japanese toilet ie a toilet in the floor. I really hate those things.

Anyways, the gig was so much fun. The entire band really give it all, and they're always in a good mood. Happy and so energetic. They're btw also one of the few Japanese bands I've seen who drink alcohol (beer) on stage. I guess most japanese people would get drunk in an instant and be unable to play, hehe.

They played a long set, 24 songs. The entire setlist and more pics can be seen at their live blog: http://d.hatena.ne.jp/live-sokabe/20081121
They played four new songs, all which where pretty good. Tomo, the guitarist, has written and sings on one of the new songs as he does on 「海の向こうで」 (umi no mukou de). If I'm not mistaken they're currently recording new songs. At least a new single will be released in February.

They played a few Sunny Day Service songs to, and I was really glad that they played「恋におちたら」(koi ni ochitara). Before "Telephone Love" sokabe told this long story about falling in love and eating peanuts. Apparently Chiba is famous for peanuts. I've never seen any Chiba-peanuts though... After "mellow mind" everyone thought that the gig was over, but suddenly the band came back out and did another song! I like to believe that it was because they thought the crowd in Chiba were awesome.

They had new t-shirts this time with artwork from the tour flyer. It's cute. I got a purple one. And after deliberating over it a long time I bought a sokabe keiichi rendevouz band vinyl. The reason I was hesitating a bit is because my record player is in Norway, so I won't be able to listen to it here in Japan. That, and the fact that I'm always incredibly slow at making up my mind. By the time I'd finally bought the thing though, the entire band had come out and were packing their gear on the stage. I got sokabe to sign my vinyl.

(pic from http://d.hatena.ne.jp/live-sokabe/20081130)

The gig in Shibuya was more or less the same, but I mean it in the sense that it was great too. In the beginning I was standing in the front, but people were pushing so much that it became so uncomfortable that I moved further to the back. The stage was bigger this time though so I had a perfect view. They played a couple of other new songs. Sokabe failed a bit at the story before "Telephone Love" this time. I think he was running out of ideas, but it was still funny. Setlist and pics in sokabe keiichi's live blog here:
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/live-sokabe/20081130


Sokabe keiichi is currently doing a solo acoustic tour around the country. The show in Chiba was unfortunately sold out under less than two hours(!). I'd love to see him solo sometime. Apparently he's playing 「あじさい」(ajisai, another Sunny Day Service song). Would've been great to hear live.

OGRE YOU ASSHOLE oneman!

nov. 20th, Club Quattro, Shibuya

Ogre You Asshole did like three onemans for the release of their latest EP "shiranai aizu shiraseru ko", and of course I had to go to one of them. I was still bummed out that I missed their oneman in January. It was their first oneman ever, and I could've gone but it was at a little club in shimokitazawa and it sold out way too fast. According to an interview I read the other day though, the audience in Tokyo were pretty lame. The audience this time was no different, but more about that later. They played at Shibuya Quattro which is quite small, but still pretty big for a band of their size I suppose. I've seen the likes of Sufjan Stevens and the Shins there before, and they definitely would've played at a bigger venue in Norway. The show was sold out this time as well, but not until like one day before or something. Nonetheless it got pretty packed in there.


The new record is great. I guess I like them too much to be objective though, but even so. The new songs are more pop-inspired and they sound a lot more lush and melodious. At the same time they still have their trademark guitars (or more precisely Built to Spill/Modest Mouse trademark guitars - which is exactly why I like this band so much). The lyrics are also, as far as my japanese knowledge goes, pretty good. My favorite tracks are "katappo", "nadaraka nanda" and the title track.

This is probably really insignificant, but I'll go ahead and write it anyhow: Before the gig they always play music over the speakers right? The day before I had the pleasure of hearing the same four Bowerbirds songs played on repeat for the entire evening, and at Crystal Castles it was the latest Cut Copy album on repeat. I don't mind those bands at all, but hearing the same songs over and over again makes waiting even more boring. This time someone had made a playlist and it was really good. Modest Mouse, Death Cab, Wolf Parade, Built to Spill, Band of Horses etc. More or less, it sounded like something Ogre would've picked it out, but do bands usually do that?

Anyhow..

Deto said that they were planning to play the longest set they'd ever done and they played around 20 songs. Which isn't bad for a band who has a total of maybe 30 tracks. The setlist went a little bit like this (after my memory so it's not entirely correct):

ひとり乗り
しらない合図しらせる子
なだらかなんだ
どっちかの角
カポ
J.N
ロボトミー
フラッグ
バックシート
コインランドリー
おまじない
サカサマ
かたっぽ
アドバンテージ
ラムダ・ラムダ・ラムダ

En.1
マスク
ドーナツ

En.2
辺りはここ
また明日

I love how "nadarakananda" builds from the bridge and out. The same with "sakasama". I guess it was during the first that I realized that the five rows in front of us weren't moving an inch. Not even nodding their heads, nothing. The people behind us were a little bit better, but all in all not much enthusiasm to spot. I'm not the one to say that everyone in the crowd should jump around like crazy, and I honestly think that people have different ways of enjoying music. Just because your not moshing doesn't mean that you're not having fun. But I did find the crowd here a bit strange. And ultimately, boring.

Also, in Norway you clap when the song is done, even if you don't know the band/liked the song you can always muster up a halfhearted applause. In Japan, the land where they give applause all the time in any other situation they don't clap after the songs - unless the band says "thanks" in the mic right after the song is finished. Maybe it's just me who is unacustomed to this, but it becomes these unbearable silences between the songs. Are people being too polite, or what's the deal here?Shouldn't the crowd give the band some kind of response? No wonder they always have anquete's at gigs, when it's impossible to get a hint of what's going on inside people's heads. It's usually better when it comes to more popular bands, or at onemans because everyone's there to see the same band, and they all like the music - one would assume. But no, not at Ogre apparently. There were some clapping at the beginning, but it gradually stopped. If I were the one playing I'd think "great, they're already tired of us. Let's get off this stage". In fact, upon commenting on their first oneman Ogre thought the audience was so quiet that they were almost wondering if people had really come to see them or not...

Not that Ogre You Asshole make a lot of themselves either. They're pretty much just doing their own thing up on the stage. Not everyone can be B-Club, I guess (and thank God for that). Deto was actually a bit more talkative than usual, although he claimed to be the opposite. The entire show was broadcasted live on tv, so apparently there were "lots of things he wanted to say, but couldn't". He did however manage to talk about meeting an old friend at the super market, changing wheels on the van etc, and don't think he has said that much before ever.

They did two encores. "mask" is probably my favorite song on their second album, but they haven't played it live recently so I was happy to hear it. "doughnuts" is the b-side from the tanishi-single. 7 minutes long, perhaps a bit more experimental, and very awesome. For the second encore they played two fairly mellow songs "atari wa koko" and "mata ashita". I was disapapointed that they didn't play more songs from the first EP. "pullring" is one of their best songs, but apparently they've only done it live once. I'm really curious to know why they don't play it. "mata ashita", the first track off the first album, a great opening track and also a great ending to this show.

Ogre You Asshole definitely deserves all the attention they can get, but I have to admit that I like to be able to see them play small venues like this, or even smaller (O-nest ftw). I already have a ticket for a show in January where they will play together with The Novembers. That should be awesome.

I found a live clip from the concert on youtube:

OGRE YOU ASSHOLE - カポ (live)


Ogre You Asshole - しらない合図しらせる子 (PV)

"Melting Pot Special" - kaji hideki, group_inou ++

november 19th Club Quattro

I originally wanted to go to this concert just to see group_inou, but after checking out Kaji Hideki I discovered that his sweet shibuya kei influenced popsongs are great and I became excited to see him as well. The first band to perform tonight however were unexpected and, uh, interesting.

My first thought when B Club entered the stage: "The reason why men in hotpants and pink tights does NOT look good." The three members all wore matching outfits which included denim shorts (vocalist in hotpants), colorful tights and sunglasses. I'd wear sunglasses too if I ever wanted to show myself in public again. Basically their show was a bit like this: Simple electropop tunes, stupid lyrics (「東も、西も、北も、南も」with appropriate handmovements of course) and ridiculous dance moves. I find it hard not to just write them off as a comedy band, but at least they were entertaining. At the end they did a coordinated dance and encouraged the audience to join in. The interesting thing is that the vocalist has a solo project where he also plays electric cello, but in a lot more serious setting.

B Club - "beauty butterfly" the guy on the bike (the only one watching, is kind of hilarious)


group_inou are always incredible live. CP seemed a bit tired maybe, but he was still jumping around on stage dancing like insane as he always does. Highlights were "Coming Out", "PR" and everyone went crazy on "MAYBE". During the MC they started talking about their forthcoming oneman live at Unit. Apparently thay had invited lots of bands but no one said yes. Imai was all like "We know it's because they don't want to play with us!!".

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/groupinou
Website: http://g-a-l.jp/group_inou/

group_inou - PR (u.u.o. mix)


Next up was Riddim Saunter. I wasn't familiar with their music before to the gig, and they seemed fair enough at first. Super feel goody pop songs, and they were really popular among the crowd. The girls around me all started acting like 14-year old screaming teeny boppers. Yayness. After a while I got tired of them, but they just went on and on... Kudos for cowbell though.

Kaji Hideki came on stage wearing shorts, knee socks, a shirt and tie. He looked like a little school boy despite the fact that the man is 41 years old, and on top of that the teeny boppers were screaming "kawaiii!!!!!111". He had a band, and they opened with "amai koibito" from his latest album, Lollipop. Before the gig I actually only had that album, but I bought his first(?) album Miniskirt afterwards. That one's also great. Kaji certainly has a talent for making incredibly sweet and lovely popmelodies. When the song was finished Kaji turned to the amp where he had a comb to fix his hair. Kawaii indeed. I think he only did two other songs from the new album, "Holy Night" and "Too Much Too Young". I always skip the last one when I listen to the album.. It's a sort of very straight-forward post-punk(?) song, and Kaji Hideki sounds ten times more interesting when he has lots of samples and fun instrumentation in his songs. He lacked that in his live performance as well and I though it was a bit disappointing. Nonetheless he has good songs and lots of charm. Og sjarm er alt vettu.

myspace: http://www.myspace.com/hidekikajiofficial
website: http://www.hidekikaji.net/

kaji hideki - "amai koibito"


カジヒデキ - ラ・ブーム～だってMY BOOM IS ME

~future butterfly~ Elliott Smith tribute show

I love Elliott Smith and I had been looking forward to this concert a long time, because I also love both Shugo Tokumaru and Kicell, who were the ones playing tonight. It all went down in a small cinema in Hiroshima called Yokogawa Cinema on November 1st. There were about a hundred seats, but it quickly became packed so people were sitting in the stairs on the sides as well. Before the show started they showed pictures of Elliott on the screen and played his music which was nice, but I was more than anything looking forward to hearing the other artists play his songs. Unfortunately I realized that that wasn't going to be the case. A woman came up on stage and introduced the event, she seemed shit-nervous, and she said something about difficulty with doing covers, and sure enough they didn't play a single one. I've never been to an Elliott tribute show before, but as for those I've heard of, they only do covers. Even if it were crappy covers, I would have preferred that.

Elliott Smith official website: http://www.sweetadeline.net/
myspace: http://www.myspace.com/elliottsmithnewmoon

For the first half og Shugo Tokumaru's performance I was too disappointed too really pay attention to him. He didn't mention a single word about the tribute show either. As I started to accept the facts however I tried to enjoy it as a regular concert. Tokumaru had a girl with him tonight who played the harmonica and toys. Yes, she had a box with lots and lots of little toys that made funny sounds. That was pretty funny to watch. There was a chicken, that you can wind up and then it jumps forward while making this clicking sound. I have that one in the penguin version. Tokumaru said that he just came home from his US tour and that it felt like playing a live show at 7am in the morning. He played good as always though. This was his first ever gig in Hiroshima, but it was my 5th time seeing him. Again he played a variety from all albums, but in this small setting when there was only two people om stage it was a lot more intimate and nice.

website: http://www.shugotokumaru.com/

myspace: http://www.myspace.com/shugotokumaru

Kicell are two brothers (Takefumi and Tomoharu Tsujimura) from Kyoto who play sort of folkpop-ish music, which has a really nice vibe and lovely atmosphere to it. They released a new album early this year "magic hour", and at this show they sold a new EP only called "kicell EP". The highlight of their set tonight was definitely「君の犬昆」(kimi no inu). I love that song. Acoustic and simple, and so beautiful. In the middle of the show Takefumi said that he had thought about doing an Elliott cover, but he thought that it was probably impossible, and sort of gave up. Ironically they ended their set with a cover by another artist, whose name I couldn't quite grasp. Tomoharu played on a saw though. That was cool. They were called out again by the audience for two encore's. When they came out afterwards I said that it would have been great if they did an Elliott cover, and Takefumi answered surprised "oh, you like Elliott Smith?". Yeah, that's sort of why I came in the first place...

website: http://www.nidan-bed.com/index.html

キセル / 君の犬（LIVE）

Nest Fest' part 2

It disappointed me a little bit that Ogre You Asshole didn’t play the title track from their upcoming EP 「しらないあいずしらせる子」(shiranai aizu shiraseru ko). However they opened with another new song 「ひとり乗り」(hitori nori). It’s rather slow-paced, but I like it a lot. I think the new tracks lean a lot more towards pop than before, and it sounds more polished maybe? I like catchy songs, but I also like some good guitar noise. Here’s hoping the new EP has both. It has actually been released in the iTunes Music store, but I’m waiting patiently for the cd. I’ve realized that if you hear albums in advance it takes away some the excitement when you finally have the physical cd in your hands. Anyways, their performance was good. I think they played a rather short set, and I’m looking forward to their oneman in November.

Ogre You Asshole - ひとり乗り live


Although the audience didn’t seem that into Ogre You Asshole it felt as if everyone left the stage area after they had finished. They sold merch, cd’s and tickets in the hallway and food on the second floor. I got my ticket for group_inou’s oneman in December. My ticket number was 71, but after a closer inspection I realized it was G-71. Usually it means that they call the A 1-100 tickets first then B 1-100 etc. In other words I’m like nr 700? Oh man.

Nisennenmondai was next in the lineup, but after half a song I came to the conclusion that I have very little interest in them. They’ve played in Norway at least twice this year, and I’ve read that they’re a noise band which is supposed to be influenced by Sonic Youth and similar bands. They were totally different than my expectations though. They didn’t really have any structure in their songs, no apparent melodies and it sort of dragged on forever and yeah, we went to eat some curry instead. I don’t like Japanese curry.

The stage area was packed during Shing02 set. Again, hip hop is not my thing, and in contrast to group_inou this was more mainstream hip hop which I found it really hard to get anything out of.

Next followed I AM ROBOT AND PROUD, an electronic act from Canada. I’ve seen him before at O-Nest. His music is likeable, but a little one-sided in the long run. I think his sound is a lot more organic compared regular electro music and I like that a lot.

We saw toe and dosh from the second floor. About that time I was extremely tired, and seeing many other people sitting against the wall sleeping, I say I wasn’t the only one. Toe mostly have instrumental songs, but I believe they had vocals on a song they played towards the end of their set? I’m afraid I was half asleep at that point. Sorry. Dosh was kind of cool though. They were the second foreign act of the day, and they had some interesting tunes. Not that I remember them very well. Sorry again.

Finally it was Shugo Tokumaru’s turn to perform. Tonight he performed together with the Magic Band and they were 8 people on stage on percussion, synth, contrabass, toy instruments etc. They played a variety of songs from all three albums and a couple of new ones as well. The songs from his first two albums, f ex “the Mop” and “Mist” sounded a lot bigger when performed with the band. Tokumaru’s voice is kind of light and timid and in the beginning it drowned a little bit in the music, but it soon became better. They new songs sounded pretty similar in sound with the songs from EXIT – playful and beautiful at the same time. I was really hoping that they would play “La La Radio” from Exit because it sounds amazing when performed with the Magic Band, but unfortunately.

All Japanese bands usually say thanks for coming, next live is then and then, thank you again etc during their live set. Last time I saw Tokumaru with the Magic Band he started talking after the first song and the man went on forever talking about everything and nothing. It was interesting the first five minutes. Tonight however, probably aware of his tendency to talk way too much, he did a little speed talk. Funny. The set ended with a great version of “Green Rain”. I wished they had played longer though, but it appeared that they weren’t the last act of the day after all.

Shugo Tokumaru – Green Rain


Secret act!
マヒルノ(mahiruno) played one song at the little side stage. Hardrock with pretty cool guitar sounds. The vocals and lyrics were a bit crap though. But it was a good ending to a long day.

Nest Festival part 1

Last Sunday (10/19) was an event presented by O-Nest which didn’t take place at O-Nest, but O-East which is a bigger venue. The line-up however was entirely made up of typical O-Nest bands.

First up was d.v.d which apparently means “drums visual drums”. One drum set on each side of the stage and a big screen in the middle. There was also a third guy who made electronic sounds, but mostly it was just drums AND one hell of a cool visual animation on the screen which responded to the drum sounds. Very cool.

Website: http://www.dvd-3.com/

Newt up was 相対性理論 (soutaiseiriron) which means “relativity”. I’ve never heard them before, and I became suspicious when the female vocalist walked on stage seemingly against her will with the sulkiest face ever. She sat down on a chair and didn’t move an inch or say much through almost the entire set. No wait, she did stand up towards the end. It was probably an image thing, but at the same time as it was more interesting than other plain bands, it was kind of distracting. The music itself wasn’t too bad at all. Pretty catchy indiehooks, and charming quirkyness. I however spent most of my time wondering what was up with the singer. Did her boyfriend ditch her? Was she recently told that she only had one month to live, and as much as she wanted to go travelling around the world, the band forced her to finish the tour? Did the band originally kidnap some random woman off the streets and forced her to be their vocalist? Was she only allowed to come out from the basement when they were doing liveshows? Ahem. Anyways. They have an EP out. I think I need to get that one.

相対性理論 - LOVEずっきゅん


The two first acts played on the main stage, and I had no idea there was another, but suddenly the curtains went up on the right side of the stage and nhhmbase appeared. 「こんにちわ。サイドステージです」Funny. I was only able to see nhhmbase for a short while last time, but this time I really got to see how great they can be. After a couple of songs they became so energetic and crazy. Loved the vocalist. He was awesome. Performing after miss non-karisma didn’t hurt them either I suppose… Although they released their first full album this year it was the old songs like “ANA”, “PL” and “9/8” that made the audience and the band really go off.

9/8 live


Next performers were 渋さ知らズセブン (shibusa shirazu seven). I had no idea who they were either, so I was really surprised when they turned out to be an impro-band. I’m not into that kind of music at all, so after a few moments I quickly lost interest. By all means, they were talented musicians and every one of them had a solo. Except for the white guy who played the tuba. I wanted to see a tuba solo. The funny thing with impro though is that it seems that you can take a break whenever you want to, because there’s no fixed structure in the songs. The band also had some scary-looking dancers on stage. One was wearing a gigantic skull mask, which was creepy as hell.

After that group_inou performed at the side stage. Hip hop is another thing that doesn’t interest me much at all, but group_inou’s mix of hip hop and electro works perfectly. Their live shows in particular are amazingly energetic and so much fun. I think they were the act that made the audience dance the most this day. “Coming Out” and “Ship” are my favourites from their album, but all songs work well when they play live.

group_inou – COMING OUT


To be continued...

nhhmbase + sokabe keiichi band

The day after YO-MA, and a long night out in Tokyo, I came back to O-Nest Sept 21. to see nhhmbase and sokabe keiichi (曽我部恵一)band.


I had seen sokabe keiichi once before, but that was sokabe keiichi rendevouz band, which is a different band, and that performance was more mellow and soul-ish. Sokabe keiichi band however was all about rock'n'roll. From the second they came on stage to the very end it was a riot. In a very happy, super optimistic kind of way. I've never talked to the man, but I'm convinced that sokabe keiichi is one of the nicest people in the world. He's always smiling and his songs gives the term feel-good a whole new meaning. At times the songs are almost too cheezy, but you have to have a heart of stone not to be charmed by those pop-hooks and sweet lyrics. You know you're good when you can get away with song titles like "telephone love", "let's get married" and "let's ride the magic bus". I think it had a lot to do with their energy and presence on stage though, 'cause damn, they were awesome. Besides that one other gig I was completely unfamiliar with his songs, but I was immediately taken in by their performance. They were jumping all over the stage, and at one point the bassist and guitarist went out in the audience, while the drummer was hanging fom the ceiling. Fun! I also loved the new version of "seishunkyousoukyoku" (青春狂走曲), and old Sunny Day Service song, which is sokabe keiichi's old band.

I wanted to buy some cd's after the gig, but I had no idea what would be the best record to start with. I looked clueless at the merch stand, and so the guy standing there recomended me their new live record "tokimeki LIVE!". It really captures the essence in their live shows. "Okay," I said, "can you recommend one more?"."You want one more?!" The guy was shocked. Funny. Needless to say that I'm going to see them again, twice in fact, when their doing their Kanto tour in November.

myspace: http://www.myspace.com/sokabe
website: http://www.sokabekeiichi.com/

I had heard that nhhmbase was an awesome live band, and I wanted to see them live for some time. Especially after watching the youtube video they have on their myspace site were one of the band members ends up in an ambulance. Unfortunately though I had to leave early to catch the last train home, so I only got to see the first 15-20 minutes. It was 15-20 good minutes though. nhhmbase released their first album "hamon cross" (波紋クロス) this year, which I bought before I left the venue, but similarly to the self-titled ep I think they're interesting to listen to, but I rarely listen to the cd for some reason. They have a really interesting and slightly strange sound. At the gig they played a lot of songs from the first record, and I enjoyed it a lot. I'm seeing them again on Sunday. They'e playing at Nest Fest where lots of bands I like are playing. Hopefully I get to see their whole set this time around.

myspace: http://www.myspace.com/nhhmbase

website: http://www.nhhmbase.com/ja/

YO-MA ~Sparks In Winter~ release tour of 1st album

YO-MA is a new band from Nagoya that are signed to Ogre You Asshole's label OYA. I could try to describe their sound - or I could just call them the Arcade Fire of Japan. 'Nuff said?

I discovered this band through Ogre You Asshole's myspace site, and because mp3's were slightly impossible to get hold of, I've been listening to the three tracks they had on their myspace site all summer. I wasn't kidding when I said that they sound like Arcade Fire. At least I get the same good feeling when I listen to them as when I hear Arcade Fire's most up-beat songs. Basically it's beautiful, melodic indiepop with enthusiastic vocals, glockenspiel, piano and handclaps. It's impossible not to be happy when I hear their songs. My favorite tracks are "Rumin", "Flower King" and "宇宙環状線", but honestly, all tracks on the album are great.

YO-MA's debut album "Sparks In Winter" was released in September, and I went to see their show at Shibuya O-Nest September 20th. O-Nest is a small venue, and I love going to liveshows there. The smaller shows the better, I think, because you get to connect more with the bands.

Opening acts were Ogre You Asshole and Emperor Tomato Ketchup. Emperor Tomato Ketchup are a pretty straight-forward indie post-punk band. They were pretty good, but somehow they failed to leave a great impression on me. Maybe it was simply because the other two bands were so incredibly good in comparison?

I've seen Ogre You Asshole a couple of times before and they never disappoint me. They have a new record coming up in November "shiranai aizu shiraseru ko", and I was excited that they played a couple of their new songs. More about them later on though.

YO-MA turned out to be an amazing live band. They were five people on stage, and all of them were in good spirits. They were so energetic and enthusiastic on stage that they totally blew me away. The vocalist was jumping all over the stage. I think they played about all of the songs on the album, and maybe a couple more? "Rumin" was one of my favorites. I definitely have to see them live again.

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/yomajp
Website: http://music-space.ddo.jp/~yoma/top.shtml