I was surprised to see SEBASTIAN X's name on the elbo.ws Hot Tracks list today. Apparently there's this thing called Music Alliance Pact which is this project of blogs which share tracks from bands from all over the world. For the November edition SEBASTIAN X's "Tour Star People" from their new album "Wonderful World" was elected as the Japanese contribution.
To be perfectly honest though, I think "Tour Star People" is probably my least favorite song on the album. It's just way too frantic and all over the place for my liking. Still, I like this band a lot. I don't have the record though, so I shouldn't be writing about it, but what the hell. I've heard the tracks on their myspace site. For some reason, "Wonderful World" is entitled as "their first mini album", but I'd say that the brilliant "Life vs Life" which was released last year is their debut? Anyways, I love their quirky indiepop which also has some rough, punk-ish moments. The lack of guitar which is substituted by playful piano works great. Manatsu Nagahara's vocal's might be a bit much to handle at times though, especially in the high-pitched parts. A more mellow tone would better suit the down-beat songs. Her intense voice works great on the more punky songs though. SEBASTIAN X seems like a band with a really playful imagination and this creativeness which has no restrictions. Sometimes it would've been nice if they had toned down a notch, but at the same time it's that intensity which makes them the band they are.
The new album includes studio versions of long time live favorites "Aliens" and "shokutaku no sanka" which I've been impatiently waiting to hear the studio version of. Especially the last one is truly an amazing song (I posted the video in my previous post about SEBASTIAN X). The new album also features a new recording of "wakaki hibi yo", although I think the original version is perfectly fine. It is my favorite from their first album, so I can see why they would want to put it on this album too.
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.
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...
1. ツアー・スターピープル
