It's over a week since the event, I arrived midway through the third band's performance, and had to leave before the final band had finished. I probably don't have any right to even write about the show but a blog needs posts like a footballer's wife needs Prada, so here we are.
Mir were the band whose set we rudely gatecrashed. A female guitarist in a bunny hat, blasts of Stereolab-esque pop, and orchestrated dance moves - what could possibly go wrong? Their vocalist. One from the 'screaming loudly shows my pain and commitment to the artistic cause' school of singers, he left me thinking they could have a great future as an instrumental group. Then again, I suppose credit should be given for the fact they had chosen that route instead of taking the easy way out and sticking the bunny girl up front and letting her do the best Laetitia Sadier impersonation she can muster.
For all those who now have a huge Limited Express (has gone?) shaped hole in their lives, help is at hand. Praha Depart have all the right elements: a yelpy vocalist; a sound that careers around the venue, bouncing off the walls and drilling into your brain; and a guitarist who dresses like a mujahideen while playing like he ought to be in Rage Against the Machine. It was difficult to tell whether Praha Depart play groups of separate songs welded together, or epic songs that take in a variety of different styles and time signatures. They're a band that'll grate with some people who may just dismiss them as yet another 'wacky Japanese indie band with a shrieker up front', but it'll be their loss.
After the bare bones guitar and drums used by Praha Depart, Skyfisher seemed to fill the stage with guitars, bass guitars, drums, cowbells, and a machine that went ping. To be honest, at this point the 100 yen wine that was on offer kicked in and the rest of the show is a bit of a haze. I know this is hardly professional, but then again, this is a blog and professionalism doesn't really come into it, does it? I also don't want to just make something up because if I do that it'll more than likely be a tirade (those come to me more easily than anything else) and that just doesn't seem fair on the bands. I recall wondering how the final act, Uhnellys, made the freaky looping sounds that are all I can remember from the ten or fifteen minutes I saw of them, but that's about all I can fairly say about them. The review comes to a juddering halt. If you want something proper to read, try this article about Stereolab.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Is there another way to say "Better late than never?"
Posted by Graeme at 1:06 am
Labels: 20000V, Koenji, Limited Express (has gone?), mir, praha depart, skyfisher, stereolab., uhnellys
Subscribe to:
Comment Feed (RSS)
|