HIMAWARI on JapanFiles

July 21, 2008 - Ten Years Techno! JapanFiles.com welcomes HIMAWARI this week.

10 year techno veterans HIMAWARI debut on JapanFiles.com this week with their two CDs "Mineral" (2001) and "Pomposo" (2005).

Formed in 1998 in New York City (and currently now based in Tokyo), HIMAWARI is Takeshi Ichikawa and Lena. They originally met at a Ryuichi Sakamoto event in the city and quickly realized they shared a similar vision for music making.
While based in NYC, HIMAWARI performed regularly at club events in the metro area, and large-scale loft parties in Brooklyn with as many as 3,000 attendees. HIMA also played such events as the CMJ Music Marathon, and were regulars in the Moby VJ Team MOVEMENT events.

Working closely with long time engineer Kidoh Taki, HIMAWARI completed production on their second album "Pomposo" in 2005, with CD jacket design by Virgilio Santos of Dzark. HIMAWARI's live performances feature cutting edge new digital images and Takeshi Ichikawa's motion graphics.


HIMAWARI links!

HIMAWARI MP3s - http://www.japanfiles.com/himawari
HIMAWARI Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djEDcB9BcCA
HIMAWARI Official Website - http://himawaring.com


Yup, I posted something. Fooel is actually out doing the hard work of going to gigs, listening to albums and writing about them, while I sit on my substantial backside cutting and pasting press releases. It is at least a start. My excuse is that I'm back in dear old Britain which is probably not the best location for someone contributing to a blog called Tokyo Music. We'll work that out later....

Anyway, with Fooel in Tokyo and me in my secret lair it's fair to say that Tokyo Music is back. Hell, I may even try and write a review. Don't go away...

What Do I Know Anyway?

A couple of things are leading me to write this blog entry. Three things actually:

1. I had noted in my live review of Limited Express (Has Gone?) that I wasn't particularly sure of what was going on;

2. Earlier today I cycled through Graeme's previous entries and realised there is quite an amount of stuff there and clearly a good bit of knowledge built up over the years;

3. I'm drinking Chu-hi and listening to PM Dawn (no prizes for guessing where I bought that).

But for all my lack of knowledge of Limited Express (Has Gone?) and myriad cohorts, I do know a little bit about Japanese music and thought I would give a brief overview of the stuff I know about.

When I last lived here, my favourite Japanese album was Asian Kung Fu Generation's 君繋ファイブエム with its wall of sound guitars and the nod to Oasis' Live Forever (yep) on one of the tracks. It was pretty vital stuff to me, and then the follow up album which I picked up on a visit including the suberb "My World" and "Siren" - their finest moment in my opinion and a song that contends for my top ten tracks of all time. I was distracted by pop-punkers Charcoal Filter around this time and owned a compilation album of their best songs, which sounds on the whole a wee bit cheesy now, but still good fun. And these were the days of Dragon Ash's "Harvest" album, and a bit of Grapevine was never far away from the CD player.

I've listened to a fair bit of poppier stuff too. I love Spitz - having heard this brilliant music playing outside a mobile phone shop, and eventually finding out who it was by asking a few people. I now have pretty much a full discography of pure songwriting genius. Almost a Japanese La's perhaps, except ridiculously prolific instead of appallingly wasteful. I own of course a Brilliant Green greatest hits collection, favourite tracks being , oohh, "Goodbye and goodluck", "冷たい花”, "Enemy"... it's a superb collection actually.

I don't want to write too much so I shall just drop a few more names in: Bump of Chicken, Sekaiichi, Cool Joke, Every Little Thing, Rie Fu, Orange Range, Puffy (natch), the mighty Ringo Sheena and Tokyo Jihen, the wonderful Sambomaster, the excoriatingly sublime Tate Takako, and a few others are all on the i-pod nestling betwixt New Order, James Brown and JR Writer.

And of course I have been reading this blog! So I have at least heard of the bands within, have a couple of the albums reviewed (Bloodthirsty Butchers spring to mind) and in most cases listened to their tracks on MySpace. Which is a start eh. I did meet the fantastic Anchorsong in London, where he remains to increasing success it seems.

Next on the gig-going list is the Ok City Ok gig this Sunday. I am particularly looking forward to this as I note from the venue map that there is a branch of Mos Burger nearby and I haven't been there for ages. I'm definitely going to have the onion rings and dip them in the Mos Burger sauce. Further, I have been to see the band before, along with Graeme no less, whence I picked up a copy of the album "Made By Elaborate Process". It's a tidy rocker alright and I'm looking forward to seeing the band again.

And ahead of that I have pencilled in soundscapists Euphoria on 3 August, then perhaps a bit of Eddy on 10 August, and why not add a dash of NaLas on the 17th? Why not indeed.

You know this PM Dawn album is pretty good and we haven't even got to... ah, here we go...

Limited Express (Has Gone?) @ Shibuya O-Nest

Graeme has written at length on the merits of Limited Express (Has Gone?), but I didn't know anything about them before tonight. So for me it was a case of watching new bands afresh, without knowing any of the songs.

I entered Shibuya O-Nest with various preconceptions and also great intentions of taking notes. I thought I would just sit there, listening intently and musing on the quaint bands as a quiet audience looked on. I thought maybe, people would nod their heads a bit. I thought the bands might be okay, but not particularly energetic, with a few nice songs.

Clearly I knew nothing. And to be frank, I still don't really know who was who. So I shall have to do some research as I proceed with this review, while watching a bit of golf. Let's face it, I still know nothing, eh. But I'll just try to report straight up what I saw tonight.

Expectations were confounded right from the off, as a hardcore punk band ripped the senses with some aplomb. Several guys danced frantically at the front as the band stormed through a couple of tough-as-nails punk numbers. Black Flag and Bad Brains t-shirts were on display which should give some idea what was going on, and this video shows the crowd action whilst failing completely to record the sound in any audible fashion.



The band are... U. G. Man... and you know, I've always had a soft spot for this kind of thing. This is a bit of a random link but the best I could find on the guys: http://egypt-rec.com/?pid=7564342

I also took my only notes of the evening in the immediate aftermath of this set. I think as a novice reviewer I can get away with the hackneyed trick of repeating my notes verbatim: "Did I actually witness this? Yes. Hardcore." No wonder I didn't take any more - but Henry Rollins can rest assured that his legacy is safe and well, and damaging eardrums in Tokyo.

Everyone then shuffled upstairs to see the next act in the bar area, the interesting ファンタジー仲間/Fuantaji-nakama/"Fantasy mates" {vaguely}. Thus a man in short pink shorts with rather long hair howled into the mic, as next to him a girl did something similar. I couldn't really see them from my vantage point, but they sounded kind of okay in a lo-fi way. I think with this band you had to understand what the guy was singing to really get it... which obviously I couldn't. It seems that the girl, who I couldn't see, was also in one of the later acts... but one cannot be sure about this... (hey, I've had a few beers).

Back down the stairs we paraded for a rather pleasant surprise in the form of PANIC SMILE. What to make of this rumbustuous lot? A funky edge remained throughout, and the lead guitar playing was pretty awesome. I wouldn't have felt short-changed if these guys were headlining, put it that way.

Take a look for yourself:





And heres the website: http://panicsmile.co.jp

And then we were but halfway through. Upstairs everyone stomped again but I couldn't be arsed right away, thus missing about half of a band I think were "Ni Hao!" Once I had struggled up the steps I heard, from behind the same obstacles, some girls singing. One song. And the next song, which was the last one, I heard from the toilet. They sounded pretty good, but I'm afraid I just wasn't really paying attention at this point. A link to the band's website is below - it appears there was more inter-connectedness going on:

http://www.geocities.jp/nihaoblue/english.html

I was downstairs pretty sharpish to take up my favourite gig position in the darkest corner. Thus began the set of a duo who I believe, and I'm fairly sure, were "DODDODO" (Is this Dodd Do-Do, or Do Duh Do Do? I prefer the latter).

Now this was a show. Whilst the be-masked turntablist showered us in a sea of beautious breakbeats, our heroine the singer yelled out her numbers quite manically in the style of a frenzied wildcat. I don't think you can ask for much more than that at any gig.

I took a couple of clips, but I'm afraid they don't really do the spectacle justice:





Suffice to say this was all good stuff and it kept the energy levels right up as we headed towards the headline set.

Now Limited Express (Has Gone?)... were... noisy, shouty, jumpy, edgy. Noisy. Shouty. Jumpy. Edgy. And you stand there thinking yes, this is good. What else can you really do? Save nod your head frantically in a bid to keep up.

And they are basically The Fall ha ha. But I was thinking of John Peel during the set, and you know, I don't know if Sir John played this band before his untimely passing, but I'm sure he would have if he could have.





Then at the end, DODDODO appeared again to join the headline act and something of a chaotic collaboration ensued. I think this was the entire point of the evening, although don't quote me on anything, and we witnessed not one but two manic females jumping about and screaming and then it was all over.



I went home and watched the golf.

Honey Mannie

Thought I'd introduce myself first - I'm Fooel, and I'm new here at Tokyo Music. Graeme is presently back in Blighty but I am happily ensconced in Tokyo. I know that Graeme plans to continue writing about music so hopefully he will also be posting in the near future.

And what better way to while away a Wednesday evening than by reviewing one of the latest releases on Japan Files? Not many I can think of.

Having downloaded Honey Mannie's six-track mini album from the site I made a conscious decision to find out no more about them until I'd listened to the album a few times and jotted down my thoughts.

"Supernatural" and "Lovely Disco Queen" open proceedings and things certainly start as they mean to go on. Electronic patter and playskool keyboards underly a cutesy-voiced delivery. I found myself picturing a Harajuku version of Bill and Ben. It's cute, it's about cute, and "Lovely Disco Queen" receives a bonus point for including the word "Meltdown".

The third track has passed me by at each listen, I'm afraid, although things pick up on "Magazine", a nicely-paced head-nodder which prompted some not inconsiderable sofa dancing including an attempt at the Peter Crouch robot dance.



On "Sister" the singer approaches matters in the nonchalant manner of a French chanteuse, and one can almost imagine the vocal being recorded while she leans out the kitchen window smoking a cigarette. Which would be quite a feat, but that's what it sounds like to me.

Throughout the tracks begin with more than a whiff of New Order before inevitably a blanket of cuteness is heaved over proceedings (imagine your gyuu-don being smothered in whipped cream just as you go to take your first bite). But not on the final track, and for me the highlight of this album, "Bitter". Here Hello Kitty takes a sepia-toned monochrome ride down the Mekong Delta in search of Colonel Kurtz, but finds something much more scary amongst the undergrowth - a seething, unforgiving Japanese woman. She will undoubtedly cut your balls off (you bastard).

And so with that decent surprise at the end I'd say it all works out well enough for what it is over six tracks. So if you fancy a bit of cutesy electronic pop music with a hint of lemon, then you could do worse than Honey Mannie. Good stuff.

Japan Files 2.0

JapanFiles.com 2.0 debuts with new features and new… Noodles!

March 04, 2008 - Celebrating over three years as the largest website devoted to Japanese MP3s, JapanFiles.com premieres a new design and special features today, just in time for its newest band - Noodles!

JapanFiles.com continues to build its catalog of over 200 bands with new artists/labels added every month. J-Music fans from around the world can find the newest rock, pop, punk, techno, and alternative music, plus exclusive digital releases of music you could previously find only in Japan, like the newest tracks from BESPA KUMAMERO and ketchup mania.

This month, JapanFiles.com is happy to announce the addition of veteran Japanese girl-rock trio Noodles just in time for their upcoming USA tour with the Pillows (see band links below for tour dates). Noodles has toured America several times, including two back-to-back appearances at SXSW. Fans can now download their latest albums "Metropolis" and "Cover me Shakespeare" at JapanFiles.com for only 99 cents a track.

JapanFiles.com is dedicated to bringing Japanese artists together with music lovers from around the globe. Sales from music at JapanFiles.com directly support the artists, so the fans really do make a difference. In addition, JapanFiles.com sponsors several band tours a year at anime conventions and live houses. Upcoming events in 2008 include: Swinging Popsicle (Mexico); ketchup mania (Japan Nite tour and Sakura-Con); tokyo pinsalocks (Anime Boston/Knitting Factory New York); and Budo Grape (A-Kon).

"Top 10 Websites for Japanese Music." – SeekJapan

"The top publisher of Japanese music in the U.S. - an amazing resource." – play Magazine



New features now available on JapanFiles.com 2.0:

ALBUM PRICING
Full albums are always $9.90 or less, no matter how many tracks are on the album.

ZIP DOWNLOADS
Customers can choose to download their purchases in one complete zip file (albums and single tracks).

MONTHLY SPECIALS
Staff picks every month are discounted 50% or more to help music fans find undiscovered gems among our large library of great indie bands.

GUEST PICKS
Japanese entertainment industry guests also get in on the action and choose their favorites from our catalog. The Guest Picks feature a special introduction and a discount price. Our March 2008 guest is Dennis A. Amith (KNDY) of the respected, long-running Japanese and Asian entertainment website J!-ENT (www.j-entonline.com).

USER FORUM
Discuss favorite artists, discover new bands, share info on tours and events. This is open to fans of all styles of Japanese music, and not limited to the bands sold on our retail site.

ARTIST VIDEOS AND LINKS
Visitors to the JapanFiles.com website can find artist interviews, links, and videos on the same page as the MP3 samples. Over the coming months, more links and videos will be added to every available artist, but fans can start exploring these features right away with artists like BESPA KUMAMERO, advantage Lucy, ketchup mania, and Electric Eel Shock.

PLUS - MORE FEATURES COMING SOON!



LINKS

JapanFiles.com MP3 store - www.japanfiles.com
JapanFiles.com MySpace - www.myspace.com/japanfiles
JapanFiles.com on Last.fm (full album previews) - www.last.fm/label/japanfiles.com

Noodles - Official website (English/Japanese) - http://noodles.velvet.jp/
Noodles MySpace - http://www.myspace.com/noodlesvelvet

VIDEO

noodles - "Grease" [PV]

Swinging Popsicle go South of the Border

February 13, 2008 - Japanese pop pioneers Swinging Popsicle have been invited as the first-ever musical guest for the 32nd Convencion de Juegos de Mesa y Comics in Monterrey, Mexico. The event will be held March 7-9, 2008, at Monterrey's Cintermex Center, hosting thousands of Mexican fans of Japanese entertainment.

Swinging Popsicle was requested by the event's coordinators based on their 10-year history and their status as one of JapanFiles.com's all-time best-selling artists. The band is currently nominated for Best Japanese Pop Band by Shojo Beat magazine.

Swinging Popsicle has appeared previously at Fanime Con (San Jose, CA) and Anime Mid Atlantic (Richmond, VA). In February 2008 they played a special concert in Seoul, Korea for their Korean partner-label, Pastel Music.

Swinging Popsicle appears at Convencion de Juegos de Mesa y Comics by special arrangement with JapanFiles.com and Entretenimiento Creativo.


Swinging Popsicle links!
MP3s - www.japanfiles.com/popsicle
MySpace - www.myspace.com/swingingpopsicle

Event website (Spanish) - http://www.ecreativo.com/xxxiicjmc/index.html

tokyo pinsalocks in NYC

February 5, 2008 - Japanese electronic rockers tokyo pinsalocks announced their New York City debut this week. Just days after their USA premiere at Anime Boston, fans of the all-girl trio can see them at a special performance at the Knitting Factory in Manhattan with special guests Sakura Madams and DJs Mar Galo and Hayden Honey.

tokyo pinsalocks will perform songs from their hit CD "Plutonium 07" and their upcoming release "Planet Rita." The band is currently nominated for Best All-Girl Band in the Shojo Beat magazine Japanese Music Awards.

tokyo pinsalocks
w/ Sakura Madams
Knitting Factory - New York
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Doors open 7:30
Admission: $10

Presented by JapanFiles.com and Karaterice


tokyo pinsalocks links!
MP3s - www.japanfiles.com/pinsalocks
MySpace - www.myspace.com/tokyopinsalocks

New BESPA KUMAMERO album on JapanFiles

Still haven't done the Leopard thing, so here's another post for your delectation:


January 20, 2008 - Cyber-punk hit-makers BESPA KUMAMERO have released their new CD "Romantic Waves" on JapanFiles.com. The indie-Japanese music website is the only place outside of Japan where fans can purchase the new tracks.

BESPA KUMAMERO is currently nominated as "Best Rising Star" in the 2008 Shojo Beat Music Awards, highlighting the best in contemporary Japanese music. Fans can vote for the band at Shojo Beat's website: http://www.shojobeat.com/music/ma.php

The new 14-track CD "Romantic Waves" contains 8 all new songs.plus remastered versions of the 6 tracks from their previous UK Tour Limited EP.

BESPA KUMAMERO will make their USA debut at Anime Matsuri in Houston, TX, in March of 2008.


BESPA KUMAMERO links!

MP3s - www.japanfiles.com/bespakumamero
MySpace - www.myspace.com/bespakumamero
Official Site - www.kumamero.net

It's been a while

I foolishly updated my website design software not realising that the new version I installed only works on Leopard. I do have a copy of Leopard but I haven't got round to installing it yet. That means that for now I have to go back to using this blog. Given the relative lack of updates on the Tokyo Guide site, that probably isn't a huge problem. Anyway, news of a historic live show in Tokyo (as ever, it's been cut and pasted):

Jimmy Binks and The Shakehorns, Live in Kichijoji

With crucial Shakehorn Sam Berry leaving for Spain in March, this could be the last gig for Jimmy Binks and the Shakehorns. The venue is Kichijoji's Mandala, a beautifully intimate venue which has hosted the likes of Beadroads, Osa and Killing Floor. We will kick off the show at 7pm. Doors are open from 6. Come before 7, innit.

Unfortunately, again there is a 2000yen door charge, but again there are 4 bands playing. Hopefully it will be as an eclectic bunch as last time.

This is our last and hopefully biggest gig to date. We hope a lot of you can make it.

WE'RE MOVING..............

That's right, everything must go, closing down sale etc etc. Not really closing down, moving onto a trial site that's got a few more whistles and bells. I'm in the process of transferring some of the content from here to the new site but all future updates will be at the new site, not here. Please bookmark the new one, come back again and again and tell all your friends about the wonder that is.......


Tokyo Guide

CAR Event, and more of our Nationalist buddies.

As the video that I uploaded to YouTube (the first one, aren't I great?) shows, yesterday the Nationalists were out in force making speeches, waving flags and generally looking thuggish and in-bred. To paraphrase Bill Hicks, why do most people who believe in their racial superiority look so unevolved? The picture below was taken at the Hachiko crossing in Shibuya where the only people paying much attention to the blokes giving speeches (apart from their own rent-a-crowd of discount-Yakuza wannabes) were the foreign tourists stopping to take pictures. It's such a pity that irony is probably lost on the sad, sad individuals.


Almost equally as shite, but in a completely different way is Omotesando Hills. It seems like these kinds of buildings are springing up all over the place at the moment and they are little more than upmarket versions of the soulless malls that mar the landscape in other countries. The usual suspects are there - Dunhill, D&G, Chanel, along with overpriced restaurants and coffee shops staffed by assistants who look down their nose at you despite the fact they're probably only getting paid a thousand yen an hour and they haven't had a break in six weeks. Bottom line, it's air-conned, and in this heat that's all you care about. At any other time there is no reason to go in there unless you want to laugh at the sad poseurs who pout their way around Tokyo putting in far too much effort to be cool.


On a brighter note, there is another CAR event coming up. I implore you to go - not only is the line-up a great one, but Ian's home and final scraps of food are on the line here too. It's your moral duty to go, look:

Call And Response & 20000V Presents:
Tanz Tanz Tanz!
8月17日（金）高円寺20000V
6.00 open / 6.30 start
1800 yen +drink (adv)
2000 yen +drink (door)
バンド：
サラダバー
UMIBACHI
ぴあぴあーず
worst taste
アゴーレーカルキン
cottonioo (opening act)
DJs:
Hiroki (Mir)
Ian (CAR)
Special wine bar: 1 cup, 100 yen (as usual)

The Shittest Tokyo Music?

Ah, the nationalists out to play on August 15th - it's not really what you want to hear or see at the best of times but it's even worse when the temperature is hovering somewhere in the high 30s and you're waiting on a friend who's got on the wrong train.

Guitarist wo Korosanaide, bloodthirsty butchers

“Expectations can be a wicked thing to overcome, especially for a band with a career as illustrious as bloodthirsty butchers.” - James Route, review of Guitarist wo Korosanaide on Keikaku a couple of weeks ago. This is undoubtedly true but I have a confession to make - even though I write regularly about Japanese music, Guitarist wo Korosanaide is the first bloodthirsty butchers album I’ve ever bought (I also killed the class hamster when I was in primary school but that was in self-defence and it’s a story for another day). There, I said it, I feel so much better. Now that my bloodthirsty butchers cherry has been popped, the question is, “How was it for me?” Short answer - probably better than anyone who is coming to this album with previous knowledge of the band.

bloodthirsty butchers have been making music since 1987, and twenty years down the line this album does sound like a blast from an earlier era. Do you remember when shirts were plaid, hair was greasy and the Cult of Kurt still revolved around a living figurehead? Do you pine for raggedy-arsed vocals backed up with guitar parts you can park a bus on? Do you want some retro-sounding rock that wasn’t made by a group of pale Gang of Four fans in skinny ties and shite haircuts? If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions then this album is one you should probably seek out.

For me, “yeah#1” is one of the best opening songs I’ve heard on an album in recent times, and it was an obvious choice for the first single. It’s hardly going to rival dubstep in terms of innovation or originality but it’s an exhilarating way to kick things off - the drums sound like they’re being pummeled to within an inch of their lives, the riffs are huge and the vocals unashamedly shouty. It sounds early Nineties and there isn’t a lot on here that breaks that mould. For some people that may make this album something of a drag but I’ve found myself coming back to this album again and again. The only complaint I’d have about Guitarist wo Korosanaide is that most of the tracks could have done with some more judicious editing. Most of them clock in at between five and six minutes, and more often than not the final minute is little more than instrumental fluff that adds little to the song.

If you’re already a fan of the band then you’re probably going to find this record disappointing, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Guitarist wo Korosanaide earns bloodthirsty butchers a few more fans. There’s more than enough here to draw in casual listeners, a lot of whom will go on and seek out some of the band’s earlier work, me included.

MOTOR MUSTANG new on JapanFiles

MOTOR MUSTANG AND SPUTNIK LAB ARRIVE ON JAPANFILES.COM




August 13, 2007 – JapanFiles.com teams up with new Japanese label Sputnik Lab this month to release the debut album "Make Your Head Down" from hot Japanese rock trio MOTOR MUSTANG.

In 2005 MOTOR MUSTANG appeared on the Rookie-a-Go-Go stage at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan. In 2006, MOTOR MUSTANG was given the last play slot for new bands at the Summer Sonic Festival in Japan. The band has distanced themselves from other Japanese bands with their amazing sound and crazy live shows.

Since they were kids they have longed to be rock stars. With a sound that has been compared to JET, The Datsuns and Wolf Mother, MOTOR MUSTANG's shouting vocals and guitar riffs will give you goosebumps. MOTOR MUSTANG continues to run wild and dangerous on stage in Japan.


Music at: www.japanfiles.com/motormustang

Recommended tracks: Trap Of Life

What do points make? Not as much as they used to...

A couple of months ago, Ken M wrote about the loss of the indie section of Tower Records' Shibuya store (on the excellent Japan Live blog). When I lived in the UK I avoided Tower like the plague, not wanting to pay the exorbitant prices they charged (probably to cover the rent for those prime locations they always favoured). However, once I moved to Japan I found that Tower here was reasonably priced and one of the easiest places to buy English books and magazines from. They weren't the only reasons I went back there again and again - step forward the mighty Tower Points card. Admittedly, you had to spend ¥50,000 to get a discount of ¥3000, but with judicious timing (i.e during the frequent double points campaigns) it wasn't that difficult to fill the cards up. Like the indie section at the Shibuya store, this card is no more. Last week I bought a couple of CDs and found that Tower have introduced a new card, which is more complex than the old one (won't go into the boring details) - worst of all is the fact that you now have to rack up ¥75,000 in purchases to get that ¥3000. Is this a sign that the economic woes faced by Tower in the States have crossed the Pacific, or is the company just hoping that no-one would really notice?

A year older but certainly no wiser

I meant to write this post on the day (August 8th), but to be honest I completely forgot. Tokyo Music is one year old, my liver is probably ten years older and, as I said above, I'm absolutely no wiser than I was at this time last year. Saying that, I have met a lot of great people (and some utter cunts), heard some remarkable bands and some not so good. Most of all though, it's shown me a far more entertaining side of Tokyo and Japanese music that I knew before. So, happy birthday to me - cakes aren't welcome but drinks are.

New Mothercoat Album on JapanFiles

MOTHERCOAT'S NEW FULL-LENGTH ALBUM "+BIRDLESS" - SAME DAY USA/JAPAN RELEASE


August 7, 2007 – JapanFiles.com has teamed with SXSW-favorite mothercoat to launch the same-day release of the band's third full-length CD "+birdless" on August 8, 2007.

"+birdless" features mothercoat's trademark eclectic style on eight all-new tracks, including a totally re-worked version of their early-era demo song "yoghurt bus."

mothercoat made USA appearances at Fanime 2006 and SXSW 2007. They were nominated for Best Japanese Rock Band in Shojo Beat's 2007 Music Issue.


Music at: www.japanfiles.com/mothercoat

Diamanda Galas - The Litanies of Satan (1 of 2)

Perfect Sunday music.

Falsies on Heat back on JapanFiles

Tired and pissed off with heat and humidity so lazy cut and paste:

FALSIES ARE BACK!!!
JAPANESE FEMALE PUNKERS FALSIES ON HEAT RETURN TO JAPANFILES.COM


August 1, 2007 – After a brief absence from the JapanFiles.com roster, Falsies on Heat returns to JapanFiles.com thanks to a new partnership with the band's current label Sputnik Lab.

Falsies on Heat was nominated for Best Japanese All-Girl Band in Shojo Beat's 2007 Music Issue.

Recommended tracks: Groovy, Fat, Aphrodite.

Listen here.

Ten Questions - Kay Grace

1) Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Kay Grace. I record (very infrequently) and perform (a little more often) with ok city ok in Tokyo. I also write advice columns on a freelance basis and will sing the national anthem of the country of your choice at kick boxing matches.


2) How did Ok City Ok come into being?

I came to Japan to get away from music, actually, but once here I discovered that 1) the gear I coveted as a poor person in the US was outdated and hence considered practically junk here, and 2) I didn't have any worthwhile ways of spending free time except for lurking around music stores. I acquired a pile of moldering recording gear and then started writing music to try to justify the expenditure. After I had enough songs for a record, I set about getting a quorum together to play live. This process consumed what was left of my youth.

I should be grateful, though, because Tom and Shiba are lovely people and great players and they practically insisted on joining the band right when I had finally decided, not for the first time, that I really really hated music and was through with it. Now I play in a band and write songs primarily because I like the other two members and want to impress them.

3) You played with bands in the States and managed Cotton Mather - is there much difference between the evil machinations of the music business there and here in Japan?

I was only in one band in the US - completely obscure, but people have long memories. I was Cotton Mather's tour manager - a roadie, basically. Anyway, I don't know if I have much to say about the music business either there or here, considering how peripheral my involvement has been.

4) There are other foreign/partly foreign bands in Tokyo but not many - how do the audiences react?

They avert their eyes and giggle nervously, but they do that no matter who's onstage. "React" strikes me as a strong word for whatever it is that audiences do at Tokyo livehouses. "Do" might be a bit of an overstatement as well. You may discern a sour edge to my tone here. I'm being a jackass. Actually, the issue of foreignness has just never come up with us, as far as I'm aware.

5) You recently toured the States and Canada - how was it and when are you likely to be taking your next spin overseas?

It was a lifesaver. I had forgotten what it was like to play in North America. Tom & Shiba were champs - they were totally unfazed by the chaos of the bar shows over there. We dug the immediacy and degree of engagement exhibited by audiences in Canada and the US. We're looking to go overseas again before the end of the year.


6) Which bands/artists should we be on the look out for?

Keisuke Hinami, who sometimes plays with us on violin and guitar, has a project called the Hinshi Etude. Beautiful singing, eerie songs - lots of them. He has something like ten different CDs which he gives away absolutely free at his shows - one way to beat the 30-minutes-per-set livehouse system. The Brixton Academy is the most entertaining band I've seen in Japan, and they managed to make a record that is just as much fun as their live shows. I envy and hate them for this.

7) What's your favourite venue a) to play; b) to see a band?

In Tokyo, we like Silver Elephant in Kichijoji and Garage in Shimo-Kitazawa. You know, I just don't get out enough. The only time I ever see bands is when we play with them.

8) Kirin, Asahi or Sapporo?

PABST BLUE RIBBON!

9) Vinyl, CD or mp3?

You can't line your apartment with mp3s to impress the ladies. People used to say that about CDs, though, when vinyl was getting frog-marched out of existence by the music biz. Those people were incorrect, however.

10) Have you got any upcoming events/releases you want to promote?

The next show is at Silver Elephant in Kichijoji, August 24 (Fri). We will be performing some new songs (gasp).


Our "record" Made By Elaborate Process is available from iTunes, though every goddamn time I look it up the artist name is different. This link will take you to the Apple Store, where you can download the album with some random person's name there instead of ok city ok. I wonder who gets the money. Searches for ok city ok turn up nothing on iTunes. Why does Apple hate us so? I had a Macintosh PowerBook 5300 - haven't I suffered enough?

CD Baby, on the other hand, will send you a shiny new shrink-wrapped ok city ok CD for just ten bucks, and they know our name.

That's about it. Thanks for asking.