Indie Rock!

A review I wrote about the album I dedicate D chord by Japan's Toddle has been posted here at Keikaku. Toddle is the first Japanese band I've heard that fits the image of indie rock burned into my brain by bands like Sebadoh, Superchunk, Dinosaur Jr. and the like.

Another band that has recently blown me away is Calling All Monsters, fronted by Matthew Troy, formerly of Track Star. His former band was a raw and passionate indie rock band that slowly faded in popularity as image and hipness replaced honesty and substance in the indie world. Luckily enough, Calling All Monsters is a lot like Track Star, and a lot like Toddle, and a lot like most of the bands that I like in this world. CAM's sound is defined by a heavy fuzz bass supporting the sometimes frantic, sometimes sweet guitaristry. The vocals alternate, similarly, between a sort of gentle drone and strained screams.

Though technically their album hasn't been released, it's available to the public from their label, Turn Records, or at their shows. Pick it up before the new year so you can add it onto your best of 2005 lists!

Dang... again!

MIA's Arular reminds me of the Strokes' debut album. There aren't any musical similarities, but both of the albums were hyped so much that I hated them before even hearing them. I ended up loving the Strokes when I finally listened to them (though their new song is awful beyond belief). When I saw a commercial for Arular on TV a few days ago the annoying girl repeating "blah blah purple haze" made me want to stab someone.

I was prepared for vitriol to flow when I listened to Arular but I was a little let down (as in, it wasn't that bad). The album is definitely way over hyped, but I didn't wanna stab myself after listening to it, I just wanted to stab myself during a few specific songs, mainly "Hombre" and "Galang", two of the most obnoxious songs I've ever heard.

The beats were ok, but there weren't too many memorable hooks, though I could see Arular's bass heavy beats being decent enough background music for socializing (ie: a party). Couldn't the producers find a better frontwoman to go along with their beats?

I'll have to find another completely worthless album like Vheissu to trash now, since Arular doesn't deserve it. But, at least now I can say "MIA's hella overrated" and be able to defend my position, as well as irk some people in tight pants with ugly faux-hawks.

My New Mission

I've really wanted to trash a record on this blog, but I've gotten such a finely tuned radar about music I'll like (or have become so close-minded) that I very rarely listen to anything that I dislike. So I've made it a purpose to listen to music that I assume will suck.

Victim number one:
Thrice, Vheissu = SUCKY ALBUM

It's been 4 years since I took a liking to Thrice's The Illusion of Safety, before emo-metal had become the comically melodramatic goth sub-genre that it is now. Honestly, I probably wouldn't like that album if I heard it now, but I'll maintain that it has some good songwriting, some genuine qualities, and isn't polished to death, so I can still find it likable enough nowadays.

Vheissu has no remnants of the hardcore, skate-punk, or even Metallica-like elements that made them decent enough back in the day. Instead, the album is awash in harmlessly overdriven guitars, heavily compressed/restrained drumming, uninspired singing, and an overall performance that sounds like Nickelback or Chevelle. One of my friends who saw them on Warped Tour said, "Thrice's new stuff is tight because they've incorporated these awesome negro spiritual parts into their songs, with chanting and stomping!" Indeed, one song, "The Earth Will Shake" has a spiritual break it down which isn't so bad, but the laughable, recorded in an echoey bathroom, production cancels out any compliments I could've given it.

Next on my list: MIA's "Arular". Check back tomorrow.

Dang

When I was 16 or 17, my older brother told me that he was just like me at that age. He wanted to go to tons of concerts, but, by the time he was 21, he was either too busy, uninterested, or tired to go to concerts any more. I didn't think he'd be right!

Since June I've only seen 3 shows, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, Ugly Duckling, and Your Song Is Good with Breakfast. These don't count the countless shows at which I've performed. While performing is extremely exhilarating, I'm really yearning for that awesome feeling of admiration and happiness that hits when you're seeing an awesome band.

So, here's some shows I should go to, but probably won't...
Nov. 25 - Aesop Rock @ Bottom of the Hill
Nov. 26 - Push to Talk and others @ Bottom of the Hill
Dec. 2 - Har Mar Superstar @ the Independent
Dec. 8 - Harold Ray Live In Concert @ Bottom of the Hill
Dec. 9 - Calling All Monsters and others @ Bottom of the Hill
Dec. 13 - Aquabats @ Slim's
Dec. 24 - Ging Nang Boyz and Onanie Machine @ La Mama (I wish!!!)

Dang... I wish there were more to list. And I just missed Molotov last night...

Onanie Night!

I've been listening to lots of Onanie Machine lately. Their name translates to Masturbation Machine in English. I'd say about 50% of their song titles have the word "Onanie" in the titles, and the ones that don't still say it about a dozen times over the course of the song. My friend Yumi introduced them to me about a year ago, but I never really paid attention to them because their music was fairly generic. What caught my attention more recently was how ludicrously perverted their lyrics are, and, to be honest, I get a huge kick out of it. However, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't listen to an English song with lyrics like "Suck my wiener, stinky wiener" (a rough translation of the lyrics from "Tama Shabure"). So, for now, I'll permit myself this one bit of gross hypocrisy.

Note: The band themselves romanizes the word onani- as Onanie, so even though it looks weird, don't blame me!

Tambourine wo Narasu no da!!!

I wasn't sure how I felt about Sambomaster's new single "Subete no Yoru to Subete no Asa ni Tambourine wo Narasu no da" when I first heard it a few days ago. For one, it's probably the furthest they've ventured into straight-up pop music, and I've always enjoyed their more rockin' songs instead of the light-funk they've occasionally ventured into. Today, while driving home from a nice day with a nice girl, the song's melody popped into my head, and it was then that I realized that I indeed did like it. My brain kept telling me "no", but my bobbing head and tapping foot told me "yes!"

The first b-side, "Ano Kane wo Narasu no ha Anata", is a cover of some singer named Akiko Wada. I have no clue what her original sounds like, but this one is an unabashed soul tune with some rather excessive horns backing singer Yamaguchi's crooning.

The second b-side "Hanarenai Futari" is a typically rockin' song, along the lines of "Utagoe Yo Okore" or any other number of reliably nice Sambomaster songs.

These three songs clustered together onto one CD are an almost tailor-made display of Sambomaster's increasingly contradictory and schizophrenic style. So far, their motown-punk hasn't failed them though, so I'm interested in seeing where they take it from here.

Kick Him When He's Down

Lots of bands change/sellout/start to suck after being awesome. Occasionally a band will do the opposite and start being awesome after being horrible (for example: The Rx Bandits). In the case of the Offspring, they were pretty tight, but then stuff like "Pretty Fly for A White Guy" and "Hit That" pretty much ruined them. When I was 12 one of the first CDs I ever bought was The Offpsring's Smash and it ruled. Luckily I never followed up on any of their newer CDs after that or I would have to regret having put my ears through that pain. I actually still really like Smash, and lately I've been playing their 2nd album Ignition like it's going out of style. Chances are it's been long out of style, that's beside the point!

With bands like the Offspring, Weezer, or Green Day, who were once awesome, but are now downright awful, it's kind of annoying having to add a disclaimer every time that you say that you like them. Still, I hate it when people automatically write off a band because they've started to suck, even though their old stuff is really good. So, that said, the Offspring are horrible now, but I can say without apprehension that I really like Ignition and Smash.

A Mix!

I've been trying to make an awesome ska/soul/hip-hop mix for months but the final products always end up a bit different than what I was aiming for. However, I love all of these mixes!

Here's the first one of the 3 or 4 I've made, feel free to admire my wonderful taste in music.
1. Wylde Bunch - Last Day of School
2. Digital Underground - The Humpty Dance
3. Fruity - Special TV Program
4. Sugarhill Downtown Orchestra - Last Chance, Last Song
5. Earth Wind & Fire - September
6. Aceyalone - The Faces
7. The Slickers - Johnny Too Bad
8. Jimmy Cliff - The Harder They Come
9. Rx Bandits - Taking Chase as the Serpent Slithers
10. Death Cab for Cutie - I Was a Kaleidoscope
11. The Jam - In The City
12. The Wunder Years - Superbowl Sunday
13. Pavement - Range Life
14. The Geto Boys - Mind's Playing Tricks on Me
15. Hyotan - Toori Ame
16. Fishbone - Ma & Pa
17. James Brown - Sex Machine
18. The Miracles - Love Machine
19. Ging Nang Boyz - Ano Ko ha Ayanami Rei ga Suki
20. Slow Gherkin - Shed Some Skin

I am an illusion in your dreams

Yuki is a popular singer in Japan. I've yet to hear a single good song from her entire solo repertoire (maybe a little of hyperbole there), but she's really quite a great singer and personality if placed in the right situation. As the singer of Judy and Mary for the better part of the 1990's, she sang the catchiest tunes for one of Japan's most popular bands, arguably the best of the decade.

My friend went to Hong Kong and China around the turn of the millenium and saw a gaudy headline hyping Judy and Mary: "JAPANESE PUNK POP BAND, JUDY AND MARY". She was downright excited when she found out that I was into Judy and Mary so I lent her the CDs I had, but she wasn't too fond of Yuki's voice after listening to them. I'll admit that Yuki's voice borders on whiny, even shrill sometimes. Regardless, I'm a fan!!!

In summation, don't listen to her boring solo work! Instead, here are some songs I recommend with Yuki that rule my world:
Mean Machine: Oui D'Accord
Judy and Mary: Over Drive
Judy and Mary: Doki Doki
Judy and Mary: Jesus! Jesus!
Judy and Mary: Hitotsudake
Ging Nang Boyz: Kakenukete Seishun (perhaps the most graceful her voice has ever sounded)

These posts get worse and worse. Hooray for me!

Going Steady

I first heard Going Steady around the summer of 2000. I used to download Japanese punk rock bands from Napster based on how interesting or weird their names sounded, and I guess Going Steady was an interesting enough name. Considering the other oddly named bands out there (Duck Missile, Pez Stomp, School Jackets) Going Steady was a rather normal name. I downloaded their first album Boys & Girls and thoroughly enjoyed it. At the young age of 17 I had yet to acquire my driver's license, so I took the train and bus to work, and I clearly remember a CD I had made for myself with the song "Universal" on it. That was pretty much my official song for the winter of 2000-2001 to accompany my lonely commutes.

I really liked Going Steady, much more so than their first album warranted. I liked them enough to keep track of their newer material which would trickle out over the next couple years. Their second album Sakura no Uta was more slick, yet more crazy at times, and I just ate it all up. However, it wasn't until I heard "Kakenukete Seishun" from their split CD with the HOLiDAYS that I started to think of Going Steady as my favorite band. What continues to boggle my mind to this day is that Going Steady only continued to get better from there.

Going Steady never managed to release a third album before breaking up, but their final three singles cemented them as my favorite band. The songs on Doutei So Young, Wakamonotachi, and Seishun Jidai were almost all 5+ minutes in length, yet they were able to match and sustain the energy and catharsis of the fastest, most wild, minute long song.

If anyone asked me about Going Steady, I would always recommend that they listen to these last few singles. Nobody alive can listen to "Wakamonotachi" and deny that it's amazing. The funny thing was that I never felt like either of their albums was good enough to be recommended as a whole, but these singles were so good that they could carry the weight of a horrible discography on their shoulders. Of course, Going Steady's discography wasn't horrible in the least, but rather very good.

So here I am today listening to Boys & Girls and Sakura no Uta again after a year or so of neglect, and I feel so happy, just like I did when I was 17. Cheers to "Universal" and "Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru".

There's a band now called the Ging Nang Boyz who are the remnants and successors of Going Steady's legacy. Both of the Ging Nang Boyz albums completely outshine Going Steady's. I'm still in awe of this band that only gets better. It feels pretty great when your favorite band is likely never to disappoint you.

SDO Interview

An interview I conducted with the most awesome Japanese pop band, Sugarhill Downtown Orchestra, has been published at keikaku.net.Their new album Fruits of the Music was released about a month ago, though I've yet to hear it. NOT N! That's in reference to me not having heard it yet. What is VERY N is their existence and awesomeness.

Ugly Duckling

I attended the Ugly Duckling show this last thursday at Brittania Arms in Cupertino. At the last minute, my friend Raph saw of flyer of theirs and called me up about the show. However, there was no info about it on the UD website, and the place they were supposed to perform at was a yuppy bar in the suburbs. Little did I know, that yuppy bar is apparently the new hotspot for hip-hop in the south bay (criminy, GZA's gonna perform there in a month!!).

UD's set consisted of songs mostly from their new album Bang for the Buck, and their last album before that Taste the Secret. Up until the show, I wasn't familiar with those at all, my familiarity having ended with their great album Journey to Anywhere. DJ Young Einstein bounced around behind the turntables as he orchestrated a set of slammin' beats. Non-stop, the party beats just kept coming. Andy Cooper, 6'7" MC, had to hunch a bit so his head wouldn't hit the ceiling, but he was flawless on the mic. Something about Dizzy Dustin's flow didn't come off as well live as recorded, but his charisma and interplay with the crowd was great.

Dizzy Dustin dressed up like a typical G-Unit-esque thug for their song about violent boneheads, "Mr. Tough Guy". Ironically, it was during this song that two boneheads in the crowd started fighting. Unfortunately, I missed out on the action and could only listen as it happened because I was in the bathroom for the third time throwing up the bad burrito that I had eaten before the show.

Also of note, the opening acts were both rather enjoyable. Having gone to many local hip-hop shows when I was an annoying opening act, I have a history of hating how pretentious and untalented most local underground hip-hop is. However, the first opener, Trademark, was an incredibly tight instrumental funk band. Their drummer was able to drum and play bass at the same time!!!!!!! For the life of me I can't remember the 2nd act's name, but he was an enjoyable enough MC, modest and energetic, with a really meek looking DJ.

More on Sambomaster

I just read an article that almost made me cry, and here it is. It's way long-winded and a bit frustrating, but it's heart is in the right place.

In regards to what the article says, there are plenty of great American bands on par with Japan's Sambomaster, but none (save Nirvana, perhaps) have achieved the stratospheric fame they have while being as honest as they have. Honesty seems like such a strange word to use to describe music, but it's the main thing I find myself saying about music that I like. The best music will broadcast honesty on all frequencies, and it's easy to feel it seeping into your brain. Sambomaster is broadcasting that crap like SETI. Nirvana definitely didn't pull any punches, and while I'm not the biggest Nirvana fan, I have to acknowledge that they were who they were and that's all that they were. Among other things, without warning, Nirvana performed "Rape Me" on national TV, and (I feel stupid even saying it) their singer killed himself, thus making the ultimate statement to complement his music (an albeit stupid move, I say).

Sambomaster's a lot less dreary and more to my liking than Nirvana, but in Japan they're relatively almost as popular as Nirvana was. Sambomaster videos are shown on bigscreens on the side of high-rises in intersections filled with thousands of pedestrians; Sambomaster has done the theme song to one of Japan's most popular anime, as well as one of the most popular prime-time dramas; Sambomaster's songs are in soft-drink commercials. The day I see The Weakerthans, Ted Leo, or November Trials on the side of a building in Times Square, being interviewed by Larry King and blowing his puny brain, is the day that the wonderfully unthinkable has happened in America. I won't explain it too much, since you should read this horribly long article, but the wonderfully unthinkable is happening in Japan.

PiNoisePop 2005

Last Saturday, August 27, I went to the last of three PiNoisePop shows up in San Francisco. There were a dozen or so bands performing over 6 hours, and combined with my jetlag, it proved to be a LONG night.

Among the bands I stayed awake for, I enjoyed Sanawon and Ninja Academy. Unfortunately I missed out on From Monument to Masses (as I napped in the car), and was disappointed by the Skyflakes who I usually have enjoyed in the past.

Ninja Academy is a bass and drum duo, not unlike the guitar and drum duo Hella. While I don't think I'd ever listen to a CD of theirs, seeing them live is freakin' mind-blowing!!! The bassist is probably the best I've ever seen, and the drummer is also amazing. In between songs they would rattle off faux-ninja banter, and the drummer had a little gong he would bang. It was all quite entertaining.

Sanawon wasn't super amazing, but fairly energetic, and the petite singer Jenny has a mouth like a sailor which she was unafraid to use in between songs. Sanawon is like the poor-man's Mates of State, but that's not a bad thing to be called if you ask me. I actually probably would've enjoyed Sanawon more had the acoustics at the warehouse not been so horribly echoey. Their keyboard progressions and melodies were pretty good, but were mostly lost in the massive blob of reverberating cymbals.

Sambomaster

In a way Sambomaster is like the Modest Mouse of Japan. They're a strange rock band that has somehow risen to immense fame without changing their approach to music. Walking around the streets of Shibuya in Tokyo their videos would appear on big video screens on the sides of high-rises, their songs were in soft-drink commercials, and their new single was on display at every record store across the city (more on the new single some other day).

I've been listening to their album "Sambomaster Wa Kimi ni Katari Kakeru" non-stop since I got home from Japan 3 days ago. It's incredibly inspirational and sentimental, while at the same time being rowdy and gross (in a good way! I often call music I like gross). It's an awesome mix of anthemic indie rock with funky horns, like a weird new incarnation of James Brown in a nerdy Japanese dude's body.

Their website can be found HERE.

Twinkle is... Looking for the 3rd Man

Melodic, mod-rock band featuring former bassist Okura and guitarist Tsukamoto of Japanese ska-punk legends Fruity. The band released only two 2-song demo tapes and one 3-song CD, all of which are recorded rather poorly, but all the songs contained therein are rather catchy, driving rock. It's the same type of rock and roll that Ted Leo would play.

Check out http://yourchoice.mods.jp/japanese/melodic/twinkle.html for more info (sorry, the page is in Japanese).

I've Sold Out!

So I finally started a blog! I'm curious how long it will be before someone I know discovers this!

The main reason I started this is to have somewhere to ramble about music that I like. Furthermore, I suppose it will a place for me to spew insults at music I hate.

Niiiice!