The Novembers, 八十八ヶ所巡礼

July 24th, Shimokitazawa Club Que (old post, sorry!)

Club Que were absolutely ridiculous when it came to letting people into the venue. Everyone had to line up in a queue exactly according to ticket numbers, and they made lots of fuzz about it. My number was 159. Fairly late, I thought, but when I was finally allowed to enter the venue there were only two rows of people there AND an available spot at the first row. So much for nothing.

Similar to Basement Bar the vacant spot was at the far right side. Guitarist Kengo is apparently not too popular. It looked like most people were there to see the Novembers and not the other band. This time it was Quip Magazine’s anniversary event. They have an artist column were different people from bands write whatever they like, and Yusuke Kobayashi from the Novembers has this cartoon going on featuring among others an ugly dog and guitarist Kengo. Is it any good? Well there’s a reason why he’s a musician and not a manga artist..

For this show there were only two bands on the bill and even better, both bands got to play for an extra long time i.e. an hour as opposed to the regular 30 minutes bands get at regular events. Unfortunately that meant that I also had to endure an entire hour of the first band…

八十八ヶ所巡礼 (hachijuhakkasho junrei)’s vocalist/bassist is officially the skinniest Japanese guy I have ever seen. The Novembers are fairly skinny guys too, but they looked perfectly normal compared to this guy. Seriously, he looked like a stick man that could break any second. In contrast the other guys were a dude in black who looked like he enjoyed 80’s metal (he had his own fan on stage blowing at his hair maiking him look like he was in the cheezy video) and a buff drummer who played without a shirt. An interesting group of people. Ahem, now that I’ve got that out of the way, I was not too impressed by their music (which could explain why I spent most of the time staring at their looks). After a while the vocalist said: "we're not quite done yet. In fact we're only halfway". Oh no...

http://www.myspace.com/katsuyashimizu

The Novembers, again! Let's keep it short. The very end of “mer” moved me to bits. There are always a couple of girls crying under a Novembers concert, but I have never been moved in that way. Not to the point were I'm shedding tears. In Japan I get the impression that everyone cries though, and apparently it doesn’t take more than the Doraemon-movie. Anyways, tonight was special. “philia”, “mer”, and different from the other recent shows, “picnic” were beyond amazing. Also, the fact that this was my last time seeing the Novembers before I left Japan made feel sad, but at the same time incredibly happy that was able to see them so many times, because they are truly a wonderful live band.[/sentimental rant]

The Novembers, おとぎ話, Qomolangma Tomato

July 12th, Saitama Heaven’s Rock

I always thought that Saitama was far, far away from Tokyo, but turns out it’s pretty close, and that Heaven’s Rock is a really good live venue. Heaven’s Rock lies a couple of minutes away from Saitama Super Arena which is as the name implies a huge arena. Today’s concert was a part of Qomolangma Tomato’s “Camouflage” album release tour, and on the bill they had Otogi Banashi and The Novembers. Otogi Banashi with their charming, sweet songs didn’t fit in anywhere musically, and the band themselves were really surprised to be invited to this event, but apparently Qomolangma were big fans.


I was a bit surprised to see that The Novembers were first up. Compared to Basement Bar with it’s cramped space and awful sound Heaven’s Rock was great. Spacious, no problem seeing the stage from far behind and an excellent sound. Crisp and clear sound quality from beginning to end. We were also able to stand further behind and see almost the entire stage without any problems. It could be because Novembers fans are surprisingly short. I'm so not kidding. There's something off when I feel tall.

I like Kengo’s guitar parts in “dnim”. Like calm waves in the background of an otherwise pretty violent song. They actually played all songs off Paraphilia. Another thing I noticed was that they didn’t play anything from their first self-titled EP at all.

www.myspace.com/thenovembers11

Otogi Banashi were super charming as always. I don’t think that many people had showed up to see them there, like I mentioned earlier they didn’t quite fit in. The crazy moshing from their oneman was nowhere to be seen except for a gang of guys during “Parade”. Regardless, Otogi were smiling as always and as always introduced “Neon Boys” as “a theme song we have made especially for YOU!” They played their cover of “hoshi ni negau wo” (the Japanese version of “When You Wish Upon A Star”. Can be found on the compilation album ”Disney Rocks!”), and afterwards they took two requests from the audience. One was the aforementioned “Parade”, the other “Classic” if I remember correctly. I guess I should mention that at concerts in Norway there’s always someone yelling requests during the show, but in Japan no one ever does that. It’s nice to not have to listen to some idiot who won’t take a hint who yell’s between every single song. And it’s even nicer when the bands ask the audience what they want to hear. Before one of the last songs vocalist Arima started playing a bit from the Pixies – “Where Is My Mind?”! Full cover next time, please!

www.myspace.com/otgbanashi



I listened to Qomolangma Tomato on Myspace some time ago, but I didn’t like them very much. Live however they pretty cool. I realize that this happens to me way too often… What I discovered live that I hadn’t realised before was that they have a killer drummer, a fairly cool guitarist and interesting vocals. I’m not sure I’d go as far as to call it rap, more like talking-ish? Not spoken word though (lord no). Let's just call it rap. Their sound is raw and energetic, and they have some good tunes.

Ironically, although this was the “Camouflage” tour their 3rd album, I’ve come to like the first album 「チョモと僕は柵の中」("chomo to boku ha shigarami no naka") a lot more. Especially the two tracks below are cool. On "Camouflage" the songs are more down-tempo and there's more singing. Quite frankly this guy isn't a great singer at all, and his way more awesome when he's energetic and screaming rather than sensible and dull. Obviously.

Towards the end the drummer says "You know, by coming here tonight you've missed out on Gackt who played at Saitama Super Arena tonight." Oh the loss.

Qomolangma Tomato - Through Your Reality
Qomolangma Tomato - Shoutengai

www.myspace.com/qomolangmatomato
http://www.qomolangmatomato.com/

The Novembers, Sister Jet

I decided that I wanted to see The Novembers a couple of extra times before I left Japan which resulted in seeing them four times in a month. If you ask me it was totally worth it.

part 1.

June 30th, Shimokitazawa Basement Bar
Andymori's event. I found it odd that the Novembers had been invited to play at this event as the other band's playing this show were musically completely different. First up was actually a DJ from the club event Getting Better that played mostly brit-rock. That was unusual too as I believe a lot of people who listen to Japanese music don't listen that much to foreign music and vice versa. It was even stranger because the audience were standing completely still, waiting in front of the stage as they usually do before a concert, while loud club music was blasted out of the speakers. The DJ must have noticed, and towards the end of his set he apologized(!) for keeping people waiting: "The concert will start soon. It's not my fault." Poor guy.

First band Sister Jet looked like your average amateur high school band or something. I got the impression that they were inspired by music from the 60's, but they had problems recreating the good, old magic in their own music. In fact they didn't appeal to me whatsoever. Their songs were just ridiculously one-sided, taking the easy way out musically, "dance dance dance baby"-choruses and overall equally stupid lyrics. The funny thing though, they did some sort of cover of The Monkees - "Daydream Believer". I can't say that it was a great cover.

www.myspace.com/sisterjet

Apparently a lot of people had reserved tickets through the bands, but as I knew from previous experiences Basement Bar let reservations in last and tickets in first. I bought my tickets beforehand and got nr 8 and 9 which resulted in a front row spot. Sweet. I can't press enough how much getting a good view during a concert affects my impression of it. Good sound is of course important, but the combination of sound and visual is what keeps me going to gigs. The sound was in fact quite bad this time during The Novembers. We were almost unable to hear the vocals most of the time, although it became a little bit better towards the end. The guitar noise was perfect though. The sound tends to get noisy and grainy in small venues, but it fits the Novembers’ sound.

To me, the Novembers are a perfect live band. I know I’ll most likely sound like an infatuated fangirl, but their appearance on stage is so different from other bands. The atmosphere and the tension when they deliver those songs on stage is incredible. They say very little and although they come off as introverted there's something compelling about that. This is the first time I've been that close to the stage and I was amazed.

Lately the setlist has opened with “para” and ended with “hakuchi”. They also always include “dnim” and “philia”, so there are a lot of tracks from the latest mini album. I don’t mind considering it’s probably my favourite record of theirs. Whenever I hear the intro to “philia” my body starts tingling with excitement. I LOVE that song.

THE NOVEMBERS - philia

The Novembers - she lab luck

www.myspace.com/thenovembers11

After the Novembers we went outside for a while, and only saw about ten minutes of Andymori afterwards. The venue was packed and it was impossible to see anything from behind. Similar to the first time I saw them I wasn't too impressed with their live performance contrary to their CD which isn't half bad at all (I will write a review later on). We heard them play their 大-hit "Everything Is My Guitar", and then we left.

Ogre You Asshole + nisennenmondai

July 10th, Shibuya O-Nest

The first band out tonight was nisennenmondai. I saw them at Nest Fest in October, but I thought they were pretty bland and boring. Could be because I was tired, and not in the mood for that kind of music or something. This time I actually thought they were really cool.

nisennenmondai can be described as a sort of psychedelic drone rock, maybe? Purely instrumental, hypnotizing waves of sound that builds up and ends in wonderful noise. I had forgotten ear plugs this time though. My ears were ringing afterwards. Especially my left ear seems to be sensitive to noise these days... Anyways, like I said earlier, they made a much bigger impression on me this time. Could be because I was standing in the first row and could see the very energetic drummer during the entire show. She was seriously awesome.

www.myspace.com/nisennenmondai
http://www.nisennenmondai.com/

(pic from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/drwng/3708905026/in/set-72157621253591770/)

setlist:
shiranai aizu shiraseru ko
rail
advantage
katappo
pinhole
coin laundry
J.N
hitorinori
necktie

I've seen Ogre You Asshole a number of times the past year, more precisely about once every month (fangirl alert). I've come to realize that they're not the most amazing live band to watch if you were to compare them to f ex The Novembers' intensity, Otogi Banashi's charm, OWARIKARA's craziness etc. That's not to say that their bad live. Definitely not. They're solid from beginning to end, play really tight and most importantly they make me happy.

Since I reviewed them last time in February I've seen them at the tiny venue in Chiba Look, their "pinhole"-tour oneman final at Quattro and at the Tobu Ongaku Sai. The festival was a really nice experience. Outdoors venue, nice, warm weather and a great atmosphere.

This time it was back to good old O-Nest. One of the first times I saw them was here, and this was the last time in a while. I'm leaving Japan in August, and although I'm certain I'll come back one day, I'm not sure when that will be. So yeah I've been feeling all sentimental at concerts lately.

They played the key tracks from each cd, and then a whole lot from "shiranai aizu" this time. I'd still love to hear a couple of the older songs, but I guess that will only happen at onemans nowadays. I don't think I've heard "Rail" that much live before, so that was nice. "Necktie" with the swirly noisy guitars at the end are really cool.

I think Ogre's strongest point is the fact that they have so damn good songs. Great guitars, catchy melodies, unique vocals and good lyrics. They have a sound unique from all the standard Japanese rock bands, and although they're often compared to American indierock bands I think they sound different from them as well.

Apparently they've been recording new stuff this summer, so that means a new release is on the way. Also, Ogre will be opening for Sunset Rubdown on their Japan tour this fall. Pretty exciting.

www.ogreyouasshole.com
www.myspace.com/ogreyouassholemusic





mp3's:
Ogre You Asshole - Coin Laundry
Ogre You Asshole - Advantage
Ogre You Asshole - shiranai aizu shiraseru ko
Ogre You Asshole - mata ashita
Ogre You Asshole - ni dai

Btw, tonight's gig was part of a series of gigs presented by moools called "moools matsuri" (moools festival). They were headlining, and I like mools, but I ended up only seeing like ten minutes so no review this time.

"嘘が本当になる日" the Day When Lies Come True part 2

june 28th, Shimokitazawa Daisybar

continued from part 1.
(ps. I've added mp3's to part 1)

Far France was the secret opening act at OWARIKARA's event in May. I had never heard them before, but I started to like them as soon as they started playing. Their sound is a bit harder than what I usually listen too, but it's also pretty melodic and they have awesome guitar parts. I don't really see any particular likeness, but in some way they remind me of the Blood Brothers. I think it's the energy and the mix of hardcore and more playful poppy tunes.

Their live performance was just as good this time. They're so full of energy and it's really fun to watch. I've come to notice that there are so many bands here in Japan who really give it all on stage. Obviously when you're a small unknown band you have to try and give the audience something extra to get people's attention, but I also believe that there are a lot of genuinely great bands here. The indie schmindie attitude I see in a lot of western bands aren't here in the same way. I mean, at the very end of Far France's set the vocalist started rolling around on the floor in front of the stage. AND he has moomin characters (hattifnatter!) on his guitar. Kudos.

Far France are a fairly young band ie the same age as me. Makes me wish I too had accomplished more in life than this blog. ahem. They've already released two albums (the first being a pure live album though). The latest one "AHYARANKE", their first studio album, was released earlier this year, and it's pretty cool. I especially like the latter half of the songs with lots of cool guitars, and more experimental stuff going on.

Far France - burebura
Far France - ayamachi
Far France - ame





www.myspace.com/ncnarfraf
home page: www.farfrance.com


Sebastian X were to me this gig's unexpected surprise. Their line-up consisted of keyboard, bass, drums and vocals. The bassist was actually wearing the aforementioned rose patterned jacket, but it actually looked really good on him. Whether that's a good thing or not... The vocalist was this cute girl dressed in a red traditional chinese-inspired top with her hair in two dangos, who was incredibly charming and sweet. Her voice might be a bit annoying in the high parts though. The songs were really sweet, melodious pop songs with bright and playful piano arrangements. It sounded a bit like nursery rhymes at times. I especially loved the last song "shokutaku no sanka" (first video below). I bought their album, but my computer is broken so I can't listen to it...

http://www.myspace.com/sebastianx2008 (their myspace music player refuses to work for me, but they've upped lots of youtube vids on their profile)

"嘘が本当になる日" the Day When Lies Come True part 1

June 28th, Shimokitazawa Daisybar

Yesterday I went to a tiny venue in Shimokitazawa, where I think there were tops 50 people in the audience, or something like that. Apparently it was this guy named Hiroki's special event where he had invited all the bands? I wouldn't mind having my own event like that too. Anyways, I had no idea how Hiroki knew all these bands, but I wanted to see OWARIKARA and Far France again, and they were excellent this time as well.

First up was 神さま (kamisama). Girl on drums, dude on vocals wearing a reflex vest who spent the first couple of songs just yelling in to the mic. Afterwards came their 大hit "SEX". And if I'm not completely wrong, another song had the following lyrics "I AM HITLER/まったく友達できません (I can't make any friends)/I AM HITLER" Sweet. After a while the guy picked up a guitar as well, and during the last song he played on the floor in the middle of the crowd (not that where that many people there). You know you're doing well when you have to ask for applause.

Some of the other songs had a better vibe going on, sort of cute-ish melodies, but honestly, I had no interest in this band whatsoever apart from the bizarre entertainment factor. Before every new song the girl asked the guy "are you sure you know what song we're going to play now??". They were going to play a new song, but had to start over again like 4 times because the guy interrupts and says: "The beat's way too slow! You need to practice more!"
Girl: "No, you need to practice more!"
Guy: "We should practice together."
Yeah, maybe you should. I think that's what most bands too.
If they had been an all girl group and dressed in short school uniforms I'm sure they would have had lots of fans though. But not me.

Before I ask myself who the hell would want to release 神さま's music, I should probably say that ironically they're on Rose Records, sokabe keiichi's label...



http://www.myspace.com/camisama1980

Next up was 太平洋不知火楽団 (taiheiyou shiranui gakudan). Yup that's one long ass name with lots of kanjis. I think they even played a few of Hiroki's (dude mentioned above's) old songs too? The coolest song was the second though "Dancing Hell". Up-beat post-punk song which was pretty catchy and cool. The only problem I had with them was the vocals. The vocalist looked like he was 15 and his voice reminded me of the amateur band event that was arranged at my old junior high school. The bassist though, was something to behold on stage. He had really long hair, which he kept tossing around and headbanging and spinning around. He was wearing a rose patterned jacket, but I didn't think any more about that until later...

www.myspace.com/taiheiyousiranui

OWARIKARA were awesome the last time I saw them. They arranged an event called "one morning I woke up as David Bowie vol.2" in May at Club Goodman in Akihabara. (I was going to write about it in this blog, but...). All the other bands were splendid too; Far France, Mahiruno, YOMOYA etc. During the last song of their set OWARIKARA completely trashed the stage (mostly by throwing themselves everywhere). The vocalist handed his guitar to Far France's vocalist、and then he and the keyboardist was all over the place. Then the bass player decided to stand on his head on the drum set (drummer still playing though). It was hilarious. (more pics at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sato-mi/sets/72157618821026210/)

So one thing's for sure: they're one hell of a live band. So much energy and craziness. This time, vocalist Takahashi entered the stage in this really ugly turquoise top. Apparently OWARIKARA and 太平洋不知火楽団 had exchanged "clothes you're too embarrassed to wear" of which they had to pick one and wear it on stage. Hilarious. Hence the rose jacket that the other bassist was wearing. He didn't look as bad as this guy though (although without a turquoise top he looks pretty damn hot). On top of that Takahashi split his shoe in two during the first song, but the problem was quickly solved: "Does anyone have right shoe they can borrow me?" The guy on the first row took of his shoe faster than you can say "what size?" and handed it over. You know you're awesome when the guitarist from your favourite band has played a show wearing your shoe. At least if you ignore any images of sweaty feet.

OWARIKARA has released three demos so far, of which I have the two last ones. Really good stuff. Psychedelic rock, but with lots of energy and cool guitars, but most important to me I guess, they have some killer tunes. I love "door-tachi", "yukan naru biihiyanau" and "sunaba". The entire 3rd demo is great. Definitely worth 500yen.

The keyboardist Cameda went pretty crazy as well, and at some point he ran off stage and came back wearing a lovely flowery shirt. I think he was trying to outstage Takahashi. He only got it on one arm though, as the whole thing was way to little, and he had to play a little in between to, you know.

This dude behind me was really enthusiastic all the time during their set and he was even singing out aloud. One of the few times I've heard that in Japan, unless of course everybody sings, like at a Sokaban gig. And when everbody sways from side to side... Sheep anyone? Sheep aren't bad animals though. Not neccessarily...

mp3's:
OWARIKARA - doatachi
OWARIKARA - judaikara hajimeru kakumei koza
OWARIKARA - kaijin-san

http://www.myspace.com/owarikara







To be continued... Far France and Sebastian X!

おとぎ話－青春GALAXY ep + tour

tracklist:
1. GALAXY
2. 青春 (seishun)
3. you
4. 火星 (Mars)

New EP from Otogi Banashi called "seishun GALAXY ep". They truly seem like the nicest people in the world, and they're so adorable in their own nerdy way. Add catchy melodies, cool guitars, lovely lyrics and what more can you ask for? I think Otogi Banashi are a band that you either think are incredibly charming or just they're downright lame though. I'm obviously in the first category.

(photo taken from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/otgbanashi/)

Otogi Banashi played a oneman show at Club Quattro, Shibuya on May 31st. Vocalist Kazuki Arima was wearing glitter on his cheeks. Apparently he had been watching Sigur Rós on YouTube and became inspired. It looked more goofy than cool. Did I mention that they're nerdy? It was a really nice concert though. Great vibe throughout the entire set. I especially enjoyed "new song", "NEON BOYS", "FESTIVAL EXPRESS" and "tobira akeru".





mp3:
おとぎ話 - BOYS DON'T CRY
おとぎ話 - ネオンBOYS
おとぎ話 - 火星 (Mars)

www.otgbanashi.com/
www.myspace.com/otgbanashi

Shugo Tokumaru - Rum Hee release tour

May 15th, Kichijoji Star Pine's Cafe

Wen I saw Shugo Tokumaru in 2007 at his "EXIT" tour at Daikanyama Unit I thought the venue was way too big, and I was glad that he chose Star Pine's Café this time around. The venue had room for about 350 people, which was perfect.

Supporting act was OORUTAICHI, the guy who did one of the remixes on "Rum Hee". I'd never heard anything else from him other than that track, so I didn't know what to expect. I found his music to be a bit..strange. Sort of a crazy fusion of folk/psych. Some of it even reminded me of Animal Collective. I think Animal Collective are overrated though. Anyways, OORUTAICHI did some crazy vocal stuff accompanied by dance moves, so it was cool enough.

Shugo Tokumaru played the first track together with a band consisting of drums, keyboard/accordion, percussion etc, and then he did an acoustic set alone followed by another set with the band. When he plays alone you really get to see how skilled he is on the guitar, and also the more quiet songs sounds really beautiful. The new single "Rum Hee", "Green Rain", "Parachute", the songs that have lots of instrumentation serves their right better with the band. And it's more fun to watch.

Before playing "Parachute" Tokumaru asked if anyone had learned the song yet (the tabs are on the "Rum Hee" cd), and if anyone had they could come up on stage and play it. No one had. It might just be because I'm unexperienced with any instrument, but that songs sounds impossible to play. Did I mention yet that Shugo Tokumaru has some serious skills?

As usual Tokumaru was quite talkative. At the bginning the first thing he says is: "Last night I dreamt that I killed somebody and couldn't play tonight. That would have been a bummer."

He played to new songs. One up-tempo and a quiet one. Personally I liked the last one the best. I like the up-tempo songs too, but I also wish he would do more songs like the one's from his first album. Anyways, almost everything he makes is good, so I'm not complaining.

Towards the end they even did a cover. 「世界大好きな曲をやります」I have now heard "Video Killed the Radio Star" played on banjo and can finally die happy. It was hilarious. Tokumaru should definitely do more covers. Before he has done covers of Pete, Bjørn & John's "Young Folks" and M. Ward's "To Go Home" which can be downloaded from his myspace site.

Shugo Tokumaru is actually doing a tour in Europe in July, and he's even going to play in Norway! Wish I was at home so I could go. That would have been fun. Anyways you should go see him. Check out the dates here:
http://www.shugotokumaru.com/eindex.html
www.myspace.com/shugotokumaru

mp3:
Shugo Tokumaru - Rum Hee

Shugo Tokumaru - Such A Color

noble showcase: kashiwa daisuke, kazumasa hashimoto, tenniscoats & secai

April 21st, O-Nest Shibuya

The record label noble is home to artists such as World's End Girlfriend, Tenniscoats, kashiwa daisuke and Midori Hirano. Personally I was most excited to see kashiwa daisuke this time, but I was positively surprised by kazumasa hashimoto as well.


Tenniscoats & Secai
The first time I heard Tenniscoats was live in 2007. They were playing with an american guy (or was he french? He sang in French too, I think), and the songs were sweet indiepop tunes. They also got help from moools and Shugo Tokumaru played guitar, and all was good. The project called Tenniscoats & Secai however, I find a lot harder to grasp. It sounds very experimental, and live I felt that the songs dragged on without giving me much. I simply enjoy their poppier tunes a lot more.

www.myspace.com/tenniscoats
ww.myspace.com/secai


kazumasa hashimoto w/Gutevolk
I've listened to his latest album "euphorism" a couple of times at the record store, but it didn't strike me as anything special. For tonight's set however, I think the sound was more organic and melodious. Hashimoto himself played the piano, and he had help from Gutevolk on vocals and itoken on drums. Gutevolk was a real sweetheart. "Some of the people who left early might be listening to the promo CD right now. If there wasn't enough promo cd's for all of you I'll copy it and give it to you!" (check out the mp3s below)


www.myspace.com/kazumasahashimoto
www.myspace.com/gutevolk

kashiwa daisuke
Kashiwa's second album "program music 1" was in my opinion one of the best albums released in 2007. The album only has two tracks: "Stella" (almost 36 minutes long) and "Write Once, Run Melos" (26 minutes). Both sound amazing, but I especially love the first track. I'm not going to fail at describing it here though. Buy it.

This year he released his third album "5 Dec." which sounds a lot more progressive and violent. I have to admit that the first time I heard the track "Requiem" I was a bit disappointed, but I really like the the album as a whole. Where his previous albums have been leaning more towards post-rock, this time it's more about beats and more noise. I read in an interview that he wanted to make music suited for the dancefloor this time. The tracks definitely have a more upbeat rythm, there's even a hip hop-ish beat in there, but I didn't see too many people dancing at O-Nest. Personally I prefer just to sit down and listen to his music. There are all these interesting details. Lovely arrangements on strings and piano, electronic sounds, samples from real life, progressive beats etc. Kashiwa has really managed to create his own musical universe and it sounds pretty amazing. On stage he had help on guitar from GENTAROW and visuals were displayed on a big screen by Koji Nishida. Kashiwa's actually also going to be touring in Europe now in june. Dates are on his website.

http://kashiwadaisuke.com/
www.myspace.com/kashiwadaisuke

kashiwa daisuke - deepblue (original version)
kashiwa daisuke - April.#07
kashiwa daisuke - Bogus Music


noble showcase promo cd "EN-EI"
tracklist:
1. kashiwa daisuke - Silver Moon (kazumasa hashimoto remix)
2. Tenniscoats & Secai - Tengu (NSDMIX)
3. Tenniscoats & Secai - Flower Little Honey Well (DASMAN REMIX)
4. kazumasa hashimoto - Endless (kashiwa daisuke remix)
http://www.noble-label.net/

Space Shower 列伝

February 26th, Shinjuku LOFT

Space Shower is a music tv channel I sort of wish I had, but unfortunately. They host an event called "Space Shower retsuden". The bands performed on two separate stages at LOFT, the bar stage was so small that it was hard to get a good view of the stage, let alone be able to enter the room because it was packed with people. Fortunately they had set up a big screen and a couple of tv screens where all the performances from the bar stage were shown. Both bands I wanted to see performed at the main stage, so I was happy that I didn't have to run back and forth between stages. The bad part was that the bands only played for 25-30 minutes each.

おとぎ話. Otogi banashi opened. The band name literally means "fairy tale", and they're incredibly charming and sweet. I think their dream would be to play during the 60's with lots of screaming girls in the front rows. Arima is the sweet and funny vocalist, while Ushio is the cool guitarist. They're all super genki and a bit quirky too. I love the song "Neon Boys". Whenever I hear it it's impossible not to become in a good mood. They played a couple of new songs as well, which were also really nice.


andymori. Andymori is a young and energetic band, but it seemed like they still have a little while to go. The vocals are really quick, and sounds interesting on record, but a bit messy when done live. I'm not sure about the lyrical content either. One song had the theme "if I was a white guy...". They had a lot of energy, but in the end it became a bit frenetic and I lost interest.
Ogre You Asshole. Ogre probably did the shortest set of all the bands today:

Coinlaundry
Flag
Pinhole -new single-
Advantage
Lambda Lambda Lambda
hitori nori

They played their new single "Pinhole". It was pretty up-tempo, but melodious, and kind of had the same feel to it as "shiranai aizu shiraseru ko", but more playful. With the release of the new single they're switching to a major label. I'm not sure how much change is involved with that (other than their income), but here's hoping there won't be any big changes.

It disappointed me that they didn't play any other songs from the latest mini album other than "hitorinori". Instead they played it safe by doing "Coinlaundry", "Flag" and "Advantage", songs they almost always do. I have a feeling that "hitori nori" has become part of that group of songs too. When you play at an event where there's many people who's unfamiliar with your music it's of course safer to do that, but personally I'd like to hear all kinds of different songs from their discography.

Manabu didn't say much today, but I could tell that he tried to be a bit more open towards the audience. No hiding behind his hair anymore. I read in an interview that they now wanted to improve their live performances and connect more with the audience. I guess that's a good thing, but personally I've never had any problems with their past live shows. I'd like to see the crowd wake up for once though.

つしまみれ。tsushimamire is a band who frankly I don't get at all. People were going crazy in front of the bar stage, so I watched the show at the screens in the other room instead. What annoyed me the most was the leadsingers whiny, shrill voice who sounded awful, both when singing and talking/screaming. 「準備はよろしいでしょうか？！」And when she first started talking she went on and on forever. When they finally started playing again it didn't sound any better, and I was glad when it was over.

www.myspace.com/otgbanashi
www.myspace.com/andymori
www.myspace.com/ogreyouassholemusic
www.myspace.com/tsushimamirejp

I didn't see the last band, The Bawdies, because I left to catch the last train instead, but they're featured on Myx this month.

Earlimart, moools, toddle

February 22nd, Shibuya O-Nest


toddle. The first time I saw toddle last fall they didn't make a big impression on me (other than having Neutral Milk Hotel as the opening song), and I actually left in the middle of their set. This time I realized that the noisy guitar parts of their music are actually quite good. The flat vocals however sound incredible uninspired. There's almost no variation, and the monotone, anonymous vocals became a complete turn-off for me. The two girls on vocals are also pretty boring to watch on stage. The bassist however was crazy, jumping all over the place, rocking out and not to mention looking like he was having fun on stage. Screw indie estethics, a good stage show makes a lot of difference. This guy was more into it than the entire band and the audience combined, and that made me have fun to.


toddle's drummer tonight was also the drummer for the next band moools. I've also seen moools once before about a year ago. They've been playing a while if I'm not mistaken, and they certainly seem like routined, skilled musicians. As with toddle I actually left halfway through moools' set last time, but this time I enjoyed it all the way through. They play indierock, which kind of reminds me of the Pixies. Also, the vocalist told funny stories between the songs, and the bassist's playing really impressed me.


Earlimart have been around for a while, but I've only recently started listening to them. This was their first tour to Japan, and they seemed super excited to be here. They had decorated their instruments with pretty lights too. I got their latest album "Hymn and Her", and I think it's quite good. Sort of quiet and nice indiepop. Live however, they seemed more interested in trying to make a lot of guitar noise, which, personally, I think didn't suit them much. I prefer their softer songs, and I enjoyed when they played songs like "Face Down In the Right Town". During one of the last songs the vocalist attempted to make the crowd wave their hands over their head from side to side. That was so out of place. It was a fairly good concert, but I guess I expected a bit more from them - or less depending on how you see it (right back to the indie estethics).


www.myspace.com/toddleto
www.myspace.com/moools
www.myspace.com/earlimart

The Novembers vs 6eyes

February 21st, Basement Bar shimokitazawa

Basement Bar was tiny and crowded, but somehow I managed to get a perfect view from standing at the very back leaned against the wall. A rare moment for someone who's 160cm tall. Tonight was a 2-man (ie only two bands playing, ne). I had no idea which band was going to play first, and I did not want to stand in the front during 6eyes (more about that later). Turned out though, that there was an opening act as well.

Five guys in white shirts entered the stage, and it sure as hell were neither Novembers or 6eyes. At first I was convinced that they said "Christmas" when they introduced themselves (which would have been strange - and off season), but it was CLISMS. I recognized two off the members instantly as they were in fact the drummer and the guitarist from Otogi Banashi! I had no idea they played in a different band as well. They played sort of sixties(?)-inspired rock with simple vocals. Not exactly my cup of tea, but enjoyable. Kenta Ushio (from Otogi) is pretty great on guitar.

I was still uncertain about who was up next when the Novembers entered the stage for soundcheck. First thing that caught my attention: Vocalist Yusuke Kobayashi's blonde hair. It's not unusual for people to colour their hair (although now that I think about it I can't come up with a single person in a japanese indierock band who has), but Yusuke certainly does stand out. Before he usually would make his hair huge and fluffy and bird-nesty. I didn't see the link before, but he does love the Cure, so it might be slightly inspired by Robert Smith (minus the make-up). When I saw the Novembers in January it was colored brown, and as my friend predicted now it was blonde. And with the usual do, he looked like some kind of 80's poodle rocker. Lovely.

Anyways, I love watching the Novembers live. Both guitarists and the bassist are rocking out and headbanging like this is the last show they'll ever play, and it's incredible to watch. You can never see their faces, because their hair is always covering it, and frankly I don't think they mind not being able to see the crowd or vice versa. They're certainly introverted, but it suits their music. Shoegaze-inspired rock with emovocals and twisted lyrics. They also have catchy melodies, but live I think it's all about making a lot of noise. Especially the title track off their first album "picnic", last song on the album and last during tonight's set. It starts calm and then builds up towards the amazing final. Love it. Last time I saw them Yusuke hurt his leg and blood started gushing from his hand. This time it ended less dramatic, but the energy level was still pretty high. They played a couple of new tracks as well from their upcoming mini-album "paraphilia" due to be released on March 18th.

I saw 6eyes at a club event before Christmas and quite frankly I thought they were awful. I was going to give them a chance, but when you open with a cover of Michael Jackson's "Thriller".... They play rock/punk your supposed to dance to, but there was little in me that felt like dancing when I heard their dull, dull music.

Ahem, anyways, being the open person that I am I decided to give them another chance. Musically they didn't strike me as interesting this time either, but the vocalist was kind of entertaining. And a bit scary. He jumped into the crowd several times, and started passing the mic around. Thank God I was standing in the back. He also grabbed a water bottle from the stage and said: "I think this originally belonged to the vocalist of the Novembers. I'll take 3000yen for that afterwards". Funny! (the Novembers who said during their set that they loved 6eyes were nowhere to be seen)

They ended the show with their 大hit, which title escapes me, but I actually recognized it.

www.myspace.com/clisms

www.myspace.com/thenovembers11

www.myspace.com/6eyesdots

Marvins Revolt, LITE ++

February 13th, O-Nest Shibuya

At first I was mostly keen on seeing LITE live, but when I saw that they were touring with a Danish band I had to ckeck them out too. Can't say that I've heard much about Marvins Revolt before, but my interest in Scandinavian music is mostly limited to the Swedish music scene (why are they so much better than the rest of us?). Anyways, it turned out to be a good night. They were a couple of other bands on the bill as well:

deepsea drive machine. They had a pretty nice sound. Sort of epic and dynamic with lots of electro sounds. Reminded me a bit of Supercar (can't say I'm too fond of them though).

LITE. Energetic rock music, with awesome dynamics. No vocals, and I don't think they need it either. Some of the songs reminded of Battles' more guitarbased tracks. Pretty cool. The bassist was awesome. I like it when the bands make a bit more of themselves rather than just standing there. On that note...

kamomekamome. Wtf? The vocalist enters the stage covering his head and body in a huge white scarf/blanket, does some metal screams in the mic, takes it off and starts doing dance moves that sort of indicated that he might have a second job as a proffesional dancer in an entirely different genre, and then he does sign language. I'm not qualified to say whether it was real sign language or just made up, but it looked authentic enough to me. In other words this guy was not your average rock band vocalist. But by all means. The music itself wasn't that exciting, but it sure as hell wasn't boring too watch.

the Spook of the Thirteenth Lock. More and more people had gathered in front of the stage during the other bands' performance, but when the first non-japanese band went on stage everyone went hiding in the back of the room. Spook plays a mix between traditional Irish music and rock. Not really like Flogging Molly, but I couldn't help but think of them. I don't like Flogging Molly though. Anyways. Spook's intro dragged on forever. I guess having no interest in the traditional bits didn't help much. The rock parts were a bit more interesting, but in the end I didn't find their sound very appealing. I think it's one of those cases where you either love it or hate it.

However, in the two last songs, the vocalist switched out guitar for banjo, and suddenly it became a lot more fun. Unfortunately it was over by then. Kudos to the drummer for walking up to the mic trying to speak japanese that he had written on a a little note: "konbanwa. yoroshiku onegaishimasu. nihon ni kitara, sugu ni............ganbarimasu!" It was cute.

Marvins Revolt. As people were still hiding in the back the vocalist actually asked people to come closer to the stage, and it worked. They pulled off a really good show. The entire band were full of energy and the post-punk music they play is both enjoyable and danceable. Their first album "Killec" was released in Japan before Christmas. They did all eight tracks off of that one plus a new song as well, but after that it was over. "We're sorry, but we don't have any more songs." Nice one. A short set, but a good one.

www.myspace.com/liteband

www.myspace.com/marvinsrevolt

Death Cab for Cutie japan tour!

February 14th, Tokyo Studio Coast

It's been less than a year since I last saw Death Cab live, but it sure felt like a long time. Last time was in Sweden at the Arvika Festival. They were one of the headliners ie they played at the biggest stage and people were going crazy in the front. It was incredibly uncomfortable, so I moved further back where I could hardly see anything. Bummer.
This time however, I was just able to get the last spot at the front row where I did not only have a perfect view, but the crowd was fairly calm as well. Perfect circumstances, but did the band deliver? Of course.

Opening act was the japanese band Straightener. As DCFC have been labelled emotional rock, they sort of fit in the same category. The guitars weren't half bad, but the vocals and piano were more leaning towards straight-forward pop/rock. Especially the vocals kind of turned me off. Add to the fact that some of the songs were attempted to be sung in English, which basically means that it was nearly impossible to hear what was actually sung (except for simple frases like the chorus line "strike me with lightning"), and ultimately it became uninteresting. They only played for about 30 minutes though, although they seem to have quite a few songs in their back catalogue.

Immediately after they finished twelve people rushed on stage and started carrying out equipment faster than you can say "efficiency", and 20 minutes later the stage was ready for Death Cab. I've never seen anyone work that fast on a stage in Norway, especially not when there's only two bands on the bill. Of course it was better like this rather than waiting for one and a half hour while your being squeesed to pieces by the hungry crowd. Bless you, Japan.

Death Cab opened with "Bixby Canyon Bridge". The build-up towards the end works perfectly in a live setting, and it sort of set the standard for the rest of the concert. Studio Coast is not the best livehouse soundwise. In spite of being such a big place, the sound seems quite small, but luckily it wasn't half bad in the front. And for some reason I could hear Chris Walla's guitar incredibly well. The clear guitar sound made the impact even more raw than what I've seen before, and made songs like "Long Division", "the New Year", "I Will Possess Your Heart" and aforementioned opening track sound even more grandeur. In others words it was awesome. I guess the tracks off the latest album is more suited for a bigger format. It was an energetic show throughout the entire time though. I also have to add that Jason McGerr's drumming is impeccable.

They also played "Cath" and "Grapevine Fires" from Narrow Stairs. Personally I was hoping that they would also play a good number of tracks from their first albums, and sure enough, they played "Title Track" and "Company Calls" from We Have the Facts.. along with "Why'd You Want to Live Here" and "A Movie Script Ending" from the Photo Album. Their debut album Something About Airplanes was re-released last year, and they actually played two tracks off of it too.

They did all three singles from Plans. Fun fact of the day: During "Soul Meets Body" Chris Walla was on piano, and right in the middle of the song he added the piano part from Tegan and Sara's "Back In Your Head" (Walla produced their latest album the Con). He only played it once, but I'm 100% sure it was that one. Amusing.

They closed with "Transatlantisicm". I couldn't help but to be moved under that song (no tears though, mind you). It's truly a beautiful song. Enough said.

Admittedly I would have liked to hear songs like "Photobooth" and "No Sunlight" (which I know that they did in Nagoya and Osaka), but I guess you can't please everyone. I wouldn't have minded if they played for three hours though, and added "405", "What Sarah Said", "We Looked Like Giants", anything from Photo Album, some covers, Postal Service, Chris Walla's solo, Ben Gibbard covering Backstreet Boys...ahem. Anyways, it was a fantastic show.

http://www.deathcabforcutie.com/

Straightener's myspace: http://www.myspace.com/straightenerofficial

Lastly, this is a bit unrelated, but bassist Nick Harmer posted some stuff from Japan in his blog. Among other things he bought a gold suit at Tokyu Hands which has resulted in some funny pics.

I quote: "If you visit Japan and skip Tokyu Hands, I’d argue you missed Japan."

Read it here: http://colonycollapse.wordpress.com/