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!