en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 60 http://www.audioscrobbler.net/data/webservices http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal The Last.fm journal for djgizmoe. Last.fm journals are a place to talk about all things music. http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2011/12/31/59n3wg_top_10_of_2011 Sat, 31 Dec 2011 03:37:06 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2011/12/31/59n3wg_top_10_of_2011 As I look at other respectable individuals' Top 10 lists this year, I realize I have mostly been in another dimension musically this year. More specifically, I have been exploring the depths of The Vault, a Japanese music otaku paradise (SEVEN IDIOTS has been my find of the year). But for what it is, here is my completely subjective list for 2011.

10. Afrirampo - Never Ending Afrirampo - A 'posthumous' live album; a final farewell to Osaka's hottest avant-gals.
9. 0.8秒と衝撃。 - 1暴2暴3暴4暴5暴6暴、東洋のテクノ - Yes, their quirkiness seems rather too...intentional, but they're more listenable than a lot more 'authentic' avant-J-pop.
8. Lama - New! - NUMBER GIRL + Supercar? Nuff said.
7. 女王蜂 - 孔雀 - Poppier than their earlier stuff, but still pretty interesting.
6. Supercar - Re: Supercar 1 - Great remixes of the early material I have usually passed up in favor of their later electronica releases.
5. Bjork - Biophilia - Bjork just being Bjork is never a bad thing. I could never get into that iPhone app, though...
4. 女王蜂 - 魔女狩り - Their first mini-album is noisier and rawer than their sophomore release, and I like it better.
3. odaxelagnia/Akamushi/Reizoko Cj/goreshit - split - More lolicore than you'll ever need. Addictive.
2. Peter Gabriel - New Blood - Affecting new orchestral versions of classic PG tunes. Would be #1 if not for a few wonky performances from female collaborators.
1. Memory Tapes - Player Piano - Half as good as Seek Magic, but maybe more fun. And the video for Yes I Know is the best of the year.

Just missed and totally forgot about them until it was too late-comers:
Perfume - JPN - Some solid singles drug down by a bit too much filler.
Coaltar of the Deepers - Dear Future - Best maxi-single of the year. Great remixes.
Fat Frumos & KOJAN - Master of dubSTEB - Excellent anti-Christmas dance-core mini-album.
Tenniscoats - Toki no Uta - Mellow, heartfelt freak-folk.
Cut Copy - Zonoscope - If Tears for Fears and Thompson Twins got together for a one-off. Pretty sweet, actually.
M83 - Midnight City - Very decent progressive shoegazey chillwave.
Ladytron - Gravity the Seducer - Getting a bit squishy, but still charming.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2011/11/04/4yzcfv_femdom%2C_1111 Fri, 4 Nov 2011 02:47:29 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2011/11/04/4yzcfv_femdom%2C_1111 With the morning spent cruising Kansai Gaidai's student festival (decent Wipers cover band, but nasty cabbage and hot dog 'tacos'), I cruised down to Socrates to rehearse for our Femdom event. Leila and Minako were there, and we did a run through of the performance before heading to Second House for some decent spaghetti (the cake looked good, but I was too stuffed to even consider it).

DJ Tama provided us with about 45 minutes of generic trance before the show. Maria was on first. Dressed in white (for a change), her set was basically vocoder and laptop noise. Leila and Minako changed into their clothes (Minako notable for her painted whiskers, black suit and cat tail).

Taking over from DJ Tama, I started Panther and the Virgin Meet and Leila and Minako started prowling around the crowd dancing; many of them did not initially notice that the performance had started. After Minako (the Panther) began to put her moves on Leila (the Virgin Mary), I rumbled into the mic, "Mary, I am an angel sent by God. It is God's will that we create the baby Jesus together." The date scene then began (Panther and Virgin Date), with the Panther coming on to the Virgin, culminating in a sort of date-rape. Then the Panther falls asleep, and the Virgin exults in her pregnancy for awhile (Baby Shower), before giving violent birth to a Pokemon (The Chucking of Baby Jesus), screaming a bit (I helped) and then drop-kicking the little monster. I couldn't see much of it in my DJ corner, but the crowd was into it, so I think it went off well.

This was relatively normal compared to what happened with the next act. Atashi Yoshiko, who had been dressed like a drag queen grandma, came on to give us yet another birth, this time mixed with a ditzy orgasm. She then cackled and giggled and harassed the crowd while exhorting the awesomeness of being a woman before taking a 50 something year old man on stage and ordering him to strip. When he finally takes off his suit, we realize that he is actually a transsexual. He then slips into a dress, and I realized this is more of a critique of "earth-mother" feminism and a call for reevaluation of simplistic attitudes regarding sex and gender. Not particularly revolutionary, I admit, but I think the crowd took the message to heart.

IOIOI was on next, atypically decent guitar and effects improv, and finally we had Reiko Imanashi on echoey koto and Butoh dancer Misuzu rounded things out on a quieter, contemplative note, and then I was off back to Arashiyama, a bottle of free festival coffee and an iPhone full of Chromeo and Capsule helping to keep me awake till I got home. Fun night, for sure.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2011/09/05/4lx0dh_of_t-shirts_and_okinawans... Mon, 5 Sep 2011 09:20:18 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2011/09/05/4lx0dh_of_t-shirts_and_okinawans... So six months of living apart from the wife and son on weekdays begins; nice new job but a lonely pad and only sporadic Internet access till Softbank "White BB" kicks in this Thursday. Must. Get. Out.

First stop is Bears for this ridiculous t-shirt night event. Cool t-shirts for sale by the designers, including Yoshikawa Shogo who does live painting and album art for some of Osaka's finest nutters. Grabbed a shirt from him before the retarded proceedings got underway. An amusing MC traded dialogue with Bugって花井 chick before she went and did this ridiculous song and dance concerning the megamouth shark (I kid you not). She was also selling megamouth t-shirts, of course. Then Motoko from オシリペンペンズ did this awesome one man "concept" t-shirt show where he had like 10 layers of shirts all on at the same time and he would gradually take one shirt off at a time, modelling each one. Quite amusing, and I like Motoko's demeanor a lot better since he's cut his hair and cut back on the booze a bit (at least apparently). Then Ms. Megamouth chick, the always irresistible DODDODO and outsider 'musician' Chicopido modeled the shirts very amusingly (Doddodo's fake boob-thrusting while she modelled No.305's over-the-top anime-inspired designs was especially hilarious). There was also a live printing event where all the artists would get together and print some shirts to musical accompaniment, but I got restless and left a bit early.

Last night was even more ridiculous. I had to brave the tail end of a typhoon to see my pals play in Carrion Comfort down at Kyoto's Socrates. Got there only to find the owner hammered out of his mind and playing both DJ and lead singer of his band Family. Amazingly he was playing albums by EP-4 and Zelda that I actually had on my iPhone; I think I blew his mind when I showed him. Anyway, Family started out all Nick Cave, then got all black metal at the end, and they were a good opener.

The second band was from Okinawa, 極東ピーコック (Kyokuto-Peacock). The leader came out in a fox mask and shook my hand before heading to the stage. From the first saccharine minutes, I thought they were going to be just another heartfelt-but-shitty J-rock warbler unit, but they thoroughly surprised me by switching gears into noisy NUMBER GIRL/Zazen Boys territory. Very sweet guys and very intense musicians; I've gotten permission to upload their latest effort to LMD, and will do so soon.

Anyway, Carrion Comfort were solid as usual, and I would have stuck around longer, save for my long scooter-ride to Hirakata (my new digs). Good to find I can still enjoy the undergroundness on occasion...]]> http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2011/02/27/48s1w4_headbangers_death_night_vol.8 Sun, 27 Feb 2011 02:20:12 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2011/02/27/48s1w4_headbangers_death_night_vol.8 Battling lethargy and depression, I dragged myself out of the house at 9:00, determined to be social if it killed me. My acquaintance Akemy was promoting a metal event at Socrates, so I headed down to Kawaramachi-Imadegawa. Still got there early so I 'enjoyed' a shrimp gratin pastry and drank some coffee at Mister Donut. I saw some gangsta types loitering around; uh-oh, was this going to be some nu/rap metal shit? Luckily no, there was just a hip-hop event going on at the same time at the club next door.

Anyway, the first band, Till Dawn, had already started, and they were surprisingly solid thrash (too bad that the decent drummer is quitting and the band is now apparently in limbo). After that came, Aufheben, which a had an amiable female vocalist, sort of in the Head Phones President meets In Flames department, with just a little too much X JAPAN for my liking. The singer just needs to start singing from the diaphragm, to be honest. Brownie points for her between-song banter,though: ("Last year
AKB48 was big in Japan; let's make this year the year of METAL!"). RAHR!

Caustic Hollow were on next, and they were a 'gaijin unit' for the most part. Middle-aged women recording video suddenly appeared; uh-oh, must be 'private lesson' student groupies, cause they didn't seem the metal type otherwise. Akemy herself sat in for a few of the last songs、and she did just fine.

While Meganedeth (Megadeth covers) played, I sat out in the hall and chatted with the Australian sister of one of the Caustic Hollow crew. Suddenly I noticed a rather shy, unassuming and slightly androgynous kid standing around. I heard a rumor that he was actually in the next band, and he played with his dad. Ah, so cute. It reminded me of the Isolation 3 show a few weeks back.

So this band came on, SickHead from Yokkaichi, chubby 40 something dad on vocals, 13 year old son on drums, 17 year old dark-idol guitarist, late 20 something scary zombie bassist. Un-fucking-believable band, and the 13 year old absolutely stole the show. Everyone from other bands in the audience was just jaw-dropped and giggling, cause this little kid absolutely demolished every song he played. Massive fills, double-bass madness, stick tossing and twirling - I haven't seen that kind of virtuoso performance in a long time. By the time this kid's 15, he'll be ready to audition for Dream Theater, I mean seriously (just checked their site - he learned drums from the drummer of
Slipknot -> wow). Apparently, the guitarist is off to Korea to help support some X Japan-related event (gasps from the crowd), and they're going to have a track out on some new Playstation 3 game later this year (more gasps). Although dad's vocals were a bit shaky and dated, his songwriting skill is top notch, and the bassist threw in some funky slapping just to add awesome to injury.

Well, it fell to Akemy's band Dracox to follow those maniacs, an unenviable task, especially at like 2 AM when people are already getting tired. Luckily Akemy's charisma saw her through, and they finished their short set without looking bad. The final band was 極楽浄土 (Gokurakujodo), and they provided a crazy, kimono Buddhist metal extravaganza for the finale; their new album is coming out soon, and I'll be sure to track it down. A good time had by most.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2011/02/18/4850dd_lameness_of_the_fogies. Fri, 18 Feb 2011 02:21:26 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2011/02/18/4850dd_lameness_of_the_fogies. My friend Hide (of amazon saliva, oh my cow!) fame was helping promote this Isolation 3, a Canadian punk band made up of members of SNFU and Schulz. It was my solemn duty to show, even though I wasn't a big fan of anyone but Hide and Mr. Schulz's old band, KMFDM. Apologies to my online class for 'ditching'.

Anyway, I park my scooter near Kyoto City Hall, and then screw about for a few hours before showtime. Dinner at McDonald's (solely because they have a plug to recharge my iPhone). Then a trip to Book Off to scour the 500 yen racks -> score! Great 70's/early 80's Icelandic rock compilation featuring Bjork's Tappi Tíkarrass and many others, as well the Foetus Symphony Orchestra CD I've been hoping to run across for some time. Then a few Hipstamatic pics of the creepiest stuffed monkey in Kyoto, and off to Metro.

Hide was running the t-shirt and CD table in the lobby and looking nervous and tired.; there were several SNFU t-shirts displayed, as well as new Isolation 3 ones. His main unit, Ultra Bide was performing the first time with a new, fresh-faced young drummer. On top of that, the crowd was smaller than he would've liked, and he was worried about letting the Canadians down. Little did he know the amazingly pissy drama that was about to unfold...

The first band was したっぱ親分, and they sounded like a much noisier Captain Beefheart; brutal, skronky stuff, but they did good that night. While they were playing ,Guenter Schulz walks up and (apparently - things from this point didn't make much sense), gets enraged by the fact that their were SNFU t-shirts for sale - t-shirts that were put up by the SNFU guy from the band. So a major snit occurs in front of the CD table between Guenter and the SNFU guy, words occur, and a break-up threatened. This BEFORE the first concert on their Japan tour. Hide looked like he was going to cry.

ふつうのしあわせ were on next, and they were decent, but a bit boring for my taste. Then the droney POWEREMPIRE were on, and I took several can coffee breaks outside. It had started raining. Jeff (the lead singer) and the rest of the Canadian contingency were outside; Jeff had apparently calmed everyone down and had convinced them to perform. Guenter's son, the bassist was looking shellshocked, and I felt really bad for him. EGOS. :(

I noticed that the droning had turned to breakcore, and went back inside. Ydestroyde was playing with two laptops and some virtual DJ equipment, making a royal racket that was actually quite fun. He didn't take himself to seriously, and that helped. Then Ultra Bide came on. Good show, new drummer made a huge difference, but he did fine, and despite severe distractions, Hide pulled out a decent performance.

The tattooed guy from SNFU was off on the side watching Ultra Bide, and I was imagining he was enjoying the show and pulling himself together after all the bitchiness. Wrongo. Suddenly, he started tossing SNFU t-shirts into the audience, as if to say, "Fine, if I can't sell them, I might as well just give them away." Nobody really understood what was going on, and nobody was picking then up; who knows SNFU here anyway? I picked up two shirts for my wife and son (hey they were just going to waste - and they were good shirts). Then SNFU guy takes his guitar and storms off, I assume threatening to quit again. Sigh...

Ultra Bide finish, only vaguely aware of this drama. After another mini-set from ydestroyde, Isolation 3 actually end up taking the stage, though SNFU guy sulked his way through the songs I stayed for. Their brand of punk was okay, but I couldn't really separate my annoyance at their childish ego-fueled antics, and I left after three songs. Great way to depress one of the nicest, most idealistic performers/promoters in Japan, jerk-offs.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2010/12/02/42umfh_%28tentative%29_favorites_of_2010 Thu, 2 Dec 2010 03:39:29 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2010/12/02/42umfh_%28tentative%29_favorites_of_2010 1) Janelle Monae - The Archandroid
I really have nothing but praise for this genre-blender. Afro-futurist-soul-funk-new-wave-orchestral pop I can really sink my teeth into.
2) Crystal Castles - II - Great progression of the CC sound into ever-so slightly more melodic zones.
3) Chemical Brothers - Further - Throwing a heaping tablespoon of krautrock and old Orbital into the mix time really did the trick. Awesome DVD companion as well.
4) Chromeo - Business Casual - 80's like I pretend it was.
5) MOLICE - Catalystrock - Best J-rock album this year, hands down.
6) Buffalo Daughter - Weapons of Math Destruction - BD hasn't disappointed yet (despite dip-shitty Pitchfork reviews)
7) Laurie Anderson - Homeland - Bleak and beautiful.
8) amazon saliva - Ultra Bide vs. Bogulta vs. Acid Mothers Temple = Awesome.
9) Fol Chen - Part II: The New December - Thanks to Future Perfect Radio for this indietronica find.
10) Front Line Assembly - Improvised.Electronic.Device. - A guilty pleasure for sure, but FLA really does know how to keep its loyal fan base drooling.


Honorable mention to my favorite single of the year, People Can Do the Most Amazing of Things, as well as the last Memory Tapes album, which definitely would've made the 2009 list...if I'd gone to the trouble of making one. Oh and big boo to me for not trying harder to hear more than one track off the new Ratatat, M.I.A., LCD Soundsystem and Flying Lotus albums, but life sorta got in the way...
Oh and KMFDM's Krieg just missed the list as well, as did Motor City Ghosts, the breakout artist at Gaijin Sounds this year.

A really great year, I think. I discovered the whole chillwave thing about a year too late (Coyote Clean Up, Com Truise, etc.) as well as its lo-fi droning demon-spawn, witch-house. Although Japanese music, even the underground, is pretty stagnant, lots of awesomeness worldwide this year.

Whoops, totally forgot about the new Nitzer Ebb; ah well, let's pretend it's 6.5 on the list...]]> http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2010/10/11/3z1lhx_kisses_and_a_seed_night_910 Mon, 11 Oct 2010 15:17:43 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2010/10/11/3z1lhx_kisses_and_a_seed_night_910 Well, feeling sorry for myself I decided to splurge on a concert last Friday. Kisses was in town, touring with one of the women from Au Revoir Simone, and I went and saw them down at Kyoto's Urbanguild. The opener was Miyauchi Yuri, and he used live samples to layer loop after loop in some fairly effective indie easy listening. Kisses were good, about what I expected, and I was glad to hear People Can Do The Most Amazing Things live, one of my favorite tracks in recent days. After buying a CD of tour remixes from the Au Revoir Simoner, I scootered home in the drizzle.

Then Sunday, I was hoping to see my old pal Nick (aka Fucked 76) who was supposed to be DJing at the A Seed Night down at Socrates. Turns out he was AWOL, but ended up having a good time anyway. The first band was Zion, two gaijin on bass and horn/percussion, one hard pounding drummer and one petite and weird 30-40 something woman picking guitar and squealing/crooning ala Haco, Togawa Jun or that woman from Demi Semi Quaver. In fact there was a vaguely DSQ vibe to the proceedings, though the lead singer had never heard of them.

Then Peachfuzz came on, a quite decent little hybrid of NUMBER GIRL and Red Hot Chili Peppers. I uploaded their little EP, so you can hear it here -> peachFuzz. Then crazy ass ぼんくら峠 were up next, two REAL freaks outta Fukuoka, one pounding a death metal drum solo the whole time, one shouting. The screamer asked the crowd what was a good souvenir from Kyoto, and I answered "tsukemono!" (pickles), so he started this tsukemono rant-song. :) The gaijin friends of friends there were a bit bugged, but I thought they were fun. I uploaded their latest CD to LMD, so check em out.

Finally, Ultra Bide was on. The crowd was drunk and crazy, it was one of the last nights with awesome Chiaki on drums, and there were two encores (nuff said). Good times had by all, and I finally downloaded The Original Ultra Bide to Last.FM. Best nearly free night in Kyoto in awhile...

Fri 8 Oct – KISSES & Au Revoir Simone(DJ SET)]]> http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2010/03/08/3gzc0p_chilling_with_hide%2C_310 Mon, 8 Mar 2010 03:08:04 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2010/03/08/3gzc0p_chilling_with_hide%2C_310 So after a relaxing 300 yen Bass Ale or three with my classmates down at Volta II, I decided to head down to Captain Kangaroo for one last drink before heading home. Lucky I did, because the drum set in the corner reminded me - Ultra Bide was playing a free show there that night! Them and Frying Dutchman. Well, Hide shows and he seems glad to have someone to talk with while he waits for his 11 PM start time. He invites me to come DJ at some oh my cow! event next month, and tells me some crazy news: れお (drummer for ULTRA Jr., NASCA CAR and Ni-Hao! - and almost-friend to yours truly) - is apparently the new touring drummer for Shonen Knife (少年ナイフ)! Talk about a spit take. I don't really know why Etsuko, their current drummer, is taking time out (check here if you like), but Reo-chan is certainly up to the task. We also talked about how the Ultra Bide show they did with a burgeoning blink-182 (for big wig execs in Albany) was the show that broke up that U.S. incarnation of the band (the drummer was just disgusted that they were there performing in front of a bunch of yuppie suits and their dates - who were there to see Blink-182, of course). He also told me I could crash at his pad that night (I would be missing my last train home), and somehow the fact that he had also allowed 80's anti-idol Togawa Jun (see Yapoos) crash there before her show (on the condition that she would actually get up and perform that evening) came out. Much random historical notes about Cop Shoot Cop, The Lizards and other nonsense ensued later. Oh yeah, and the guy from psychedelic desert who had seen the tail end of my (being ]J.P. DuQuette's) DS-10 extravaganza last month came with his girlfriend I had also met but couldn't recall her name (no surprise there, I guess).

Anyway, Frying Dutchman were a great bar band, but they didn't really catch my imagination in anyway. Hide came on with the overly long soundcheck as usual, and then rocked away, also as usual. An acquaintance there was like, "You said they opened for Blink-182, but they're BETTER than Blink-182!" I couldn't agree more.

The next day at Hide's apartment, I woke up with a hangover, and he played a brand spanking new amazon saliva (that's Hide plus Tabata ((ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE & THE MELTING PARAISO U.F.O.)/Zeni Geva) and Nani NANYCAL Z, ZuinosinBOGULTA) track (apparently the next album's going to be on an actual label) and I bought the Original Ultra Bide CD from him (which I will upload to Last.FM asap)...

Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2010/02/16/3f6ua0_first_half_of_february%2C_2010 Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:45:42 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2010/02/16/3f6ua0_first_half_of_february%2C_2010 If you harken back to the Ultra Bide, Schulz and VD event, you might remember that I was talking with some women outside at the CD table (one of them being a member of Sekiri (赤痢). Well, the other woman, Kyoko, ended up hooking up with me via Facebook, and we started talking about this rock bar in Kyoto that she said was sort of historically interesting (punk history, that is). Long story short, we agreed to meet and have a drink and chat, and she told me directions to her house, way on the other side of town. The way my schedule was, and the fact that I was going to be drinking, I had to bike across town, only about an hour I guess, which wouldn't have been that much of problem.

Except for the fact that this was the ONE day this winter it fucking snowed. But I made it across town, parked at the train station, went to grad school, returned, and headed for her house. I got to her neighborhood a bit early, and with little money and snow falling, I decided to kill a bit of time in McDonald's. As I sat there, I couldn't help but be amused by a 'special needs' fellow ordering at the top of his lungs. The guy spoke verrrry slowly and loudly, but you could understand what he was saying; unfortunately, like myself, he doesn't like a lot of tartar sauce on his Filet O' Fish, and asking for that took like 5 minutes. :) Also like me, he doesn't trust McDonald's employees to follow "special" directions, so he was intensely observing the operations from almost behind the counter...

Anyway, I ended up at Kyoko's house, a slightly run-down with a front door so small and low, I almost had to enter on my knees. She lived in the house with several other people, apparently, and some college kids were busy in the old style kitchen, preparing food for a Sunday cafe they ran out of the house (sounds like a club circle activity). The place was actually colder inside than out, but one of the college kids brought a gas heater, and we warmed up her little tatami room while I learned about 80's J-punk bands like THE CONTINENTAL KIDS and アナ－キー and burned a few CDs on my laptop over a Asahi Super Dry.

After about 2 hours, we decided to head over to the Sekiri chick's place to see if she was up for a drink with us. So we hopped on our bikes in the light snow and headed across the river before parking in front of a rather nice, modern apartment. But instead of heading in the door, we quickly went through a side, maintenance corridor and ended up at this old hovel adjacent to the apartment. The place was like a crack den, the smell of hash wafting out as soon as the door was open. A pile of snack foods and a mini-bong in the middle of the tatami floor, and about 6 large beer cans on the low table nearby. Ms. Sekiri had sort of spiky, ratty hair and was bopping about the place doing air drums to Motorhead, which was playing on the ghetto blaster in the corner. An amiable looking male companion was half-sprawled on the floor.

I accepted some chu-hai and chocolate and some meaningless conversation. Kyoko wanted to discuss something cafe-related, but at the stage of intoxication, there really wasn't much getting through, so she sorta gave up on that. I played some of the new MOLICE CD for them (which I uploaded to Last.FM, finally), and they liked it, although Ms. Sekiri only spent about 10 seconds listening to each song before deciding, "Sounds like Shonen Knife...". Anyway, we left those two, and headed for the bar.

I forgot the name of the bar (great blog, eh?), but I'll get the specific name and place later. The original owner was one of the Continental Kids, but he died, I think, and the new owner is the leader of edgy but uncatchy long-seller drillman (I remember seeing them open for Buffalo Daughter in Nagoya in the late 90's). The place was a cozy second floor affair, with a nice view of falling snow near a small train station. The owner had placed first in NHK's Oyaji (old guy) Band Contest recently during the Osaka trials, but didn't win the Tokyo finals. We did get to see his band perform on video, though. A little dog nervously scooted around the bar, appearing when food did. I had a Hoppy/Sho-Chu cocktail for the first time since Shizuoka, and learned (among other things), that Akiko Yano still has a crappy old house here in Kyoto (that she still uses for inspiration), her marriage fell apart with Ryuichi Sakamoto not because he was gay, but because he actually liked parties with college girls (heh heh) and there was a local fish store that David Bowie visited nearby (they still have his picture up there showing him there). Riding home in the snow was cold, but I had Manners on my CD walkman to sustain me, so I survived.

Fast-forward to Valentine's Day. Miwa and Alex headed to the in-laws for a brief visit, so I was basically left to my own devices. Checking the Cafe La Siesta website, I found that -holy shit!- there was an all DS-10 artist event there that night; as that's my current thing, I hopped on my scooter and headed straight up there. Amazing group of nerdy folks, really, and I mean that in a good way. A lot of them were from Tokyo and one had come from as far as Sendai. Frankly, the level of proficiency that these guys had with the DS-10 software was un-fucking-believable. Even better, because they were actually ahead of schedule, they asked if anyone in the audience would like to play something. I had my DS on me, so I whipped it out and ended up playing two songs to much applause. Still, except for my vocals, I was a child among men at that event. The final guy could've seriously programmed Nitzer Ebb's new album on his fucking DS, for chrissakes, and as if to prove it he did a cover of Burn to close. The organizer had 10 CDs for sale, and they were all gone at the end of the night; I got one, as well as a rare CDR CD that DJ MasterKOHTA had on sale behind the counter.

The next night was my performance with Nick (Fucked 76) and Ben (Heian). There were actually fewer people than the previous thing at Siesta, but we had a VJ (kinda cool to see J.P. DuQuette scrolling across the back wall during my performance). Anyway, I took off my pants and shoes, put on my bathrobe and Shonen Knife cap and headed for the stage as the first act. Long story short: I played and sang a cover of 10 Dollar Bill, attacked the audience with Alex's stuffed shark and got some laughs, which was my intention for this otherwise gloomy event. Jimmy, the VJ, said he was impressed and says he wants to produce a PV with me (lol); I hope that comes to fruition.

After that we had Denki Unagi, which was basically simple electro-programming with improv noise guitar. Yuka, Nick's friend, was on next, and she looked a lot like a Japanese Morticia Addams dressed in tight fitting S&M dress and cooing over a vocoder over her dark, repetitive beats. After some drunken DJ dancing Heian cleaned up with some good old fashioned German electro that wouldn't be out of place on the Alfa Matrix label...

There was actually a gaggle of gaijin girls there, and I had fun utilizing social skills that I don't usually need. Most of us piled headed to Ing afterwards for an uchiage party, but I just had a ginger ale (scootering home) and talked to Holly, one of the gaggle, about life in Kyoto and the usual, while Nick's friend (and Kyoto Journal editor / Louis Vuitton food critic) rambunctiously kept the drinking going with his stirring vocal accompaniment to Rock N' Roll Nigger, much to Nick's embarrassment. I and Holly left early, and with Disintegration blaring in my walkman, I headed home in the 2 AM cold.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2010/02/02/3dwb4w_misc.__music_happenings%2C_1209-110 Tue, 2 Feb 2010 01:22:48 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/djgizmoe/journal/2010/02/02/3dwb4w_misc.__music_happenings%2C_1209-110 Nothing like business from keeping you from blogging. Unfortunately most of the events I'll be relating are now mostly a blur, but just for my own personal satisfaction (and so I don't forget), I'm going to scrawl down a few lines...

In late December, Guenter Schulz (ex-KMFDM, ex-Slick Idiot) came to town with his Schulz unit, and I was lucky enough to be "on the list", so to speak. Vlad from VD had scrimped and saved to get enough cash to get him and his Canadian-based band over, but the crowd at Osaka Clapper was a bit on the small side. Maybe it could've been promoted a little more actively...I was one of the first to arrive and chatted up some of VDs acquaintances for a bit before Nick (Fucked 76 and Ben (Heian) arrived to provide me some company. Ben had been playing tour guide for Guenter and his son, who was playing bass with the band that night. I wasn't looking forward to spending the whole night awake, but there was enough going on to keep me interested:

LOVEBEACH was first, and for an OFFMASK 00 / Psychouts alumni, it was a bit disappointing. Weird electronic rock (which is good), but a bit too sloppy and abstract to hold my interest. DJ Tuttle (just written up in Japanzine as one of Japan's Top DJs) however, surprised us all with an aweseome and very appropriate set of rare-groove 80's electro and a bit of industrial. Really obscure stuff in the Art of Noise vein. Ka4u also played an ultra hyper breakcore set that might have been fine at another venue on another night, but he basically ended driving us all outside.

Schulz came on REALLY late, and they were pretty good. I wish the drum programming would have been a little more dynamic, but eveything else (including the somewhat creepy ex-Marine-ish raspy lead singer) was fun. Then circa 4 fucking AM Ultra Bide came on and kicked the usual ass in front of the 10 or so people there. Guenter even guest guitared on Look You Up There!, which was pretty awesome. Later on I sat outside and talked with two of the women running the ticket counter and chatted about the underground scene a bit. Turns out, one of them was actually a member of 赤痢, which totally blew my mind...

FFW to the beginning of January at Club Metro, and yet another Ultra Bide show. The whole thing was basically free (1000 yen entrance, but you get two drink tickets), and fun, though I came stag and was a bit lonely. ヤーヤーボールヤー (if I'm not mistaken) was quite good, funky Buffalo Daughter influence, and DeeJayおしゃれ was really pushing the envelope playing
Geinoh Yamashirogumi, which really panders to all my prejudices at once. Ultra Bide was practically on fire that night, the huge crowd of college kids reacting to his fiery speeches about the true spirit of Japanese punk between his energetic sets.

Fucked 76 and Heian had a free show at Cafe Independants in Kyoto a few days later, which finally gave me a chance to check out this cool basement space. Just a block of Teramachi, it's smack dab in one of the trendier neighborhoods downtown, and the decor and atmosphere hinted at it's former glory as one of the premier live houses in Kyoto. Ben's Kyodai girlfriend was there and good conversation as always, and Nick's set was well received. Ben started to get nervous, realizing his dark set was a bit too evil for the coffeehouse atmosphere, but he went up there and rocked the house regardless. Good times, and I (J.P. DuQuette) will be playing with those two on the 15th at Urbanguild it seems, so that's going to be fun.

Picked up the new Passion Pit CD with the Japan-only bonus tracks, and absolutely fell in love with it; in utter bliss when the DJ at the 5th Anniversary WhyNot!?!? Japan party played both remixes of The Reeling. (Now even Miwa and Alex are addicted..) The WhyNot sisters asked me to DJ at one of their parties in the near future, and I gladly accepted; it may be a meat market, but the dance floor is always full during the last hour of the party, and that's very gratifying for a DJ...

Ah, yes and a representative from The Molice (one of my favorite new J-rock bands) contacted me on Facebook and agreed to let me upload their album to Last.FM. That's for later today, though.

Finally, amazon saliva played at Yaso last Saturday, and it was predictably fantastic. Nick DJed, that night as well. NASCA CAR also performed, and it was the first time I'd seen them play with れお (ULTRA Jr., ex-Ni Hao!) on drums. She was electric, as usual.

This was the first time I'd seen AS play as a trio (last time I'd seen them, Tabata had just been hospitalized for liver trouble). Anyway, it was the psych-punk super group I had expected, with Hide on bass, Tabata (ex-Boredoms) on guitar and Nani (BOGULTA, NANYCAL Z) on drums. Krautrock meets punk with lots of marijuana references = my kinda show. Not to mention you had Kawabata Makoto (Acid Mothers Temple and The Melting Paraiso UFO) in the crowd playfully heckling, as well as the usual Kyoto Underground royalty. Hope I get a chance to see Tabata when he plays with Zeni Geva at Bears later this month...

Afterwards Hide talked to me about getting some sort of English "talk show" events started where he'd lecture on Japanese punk. I have no clue in hell where to even start getting something like that going (and have my doubts about it flying at all), but I'll do my best...

Oh yeah, and I finally got the new
Nitzer Ebb in the mail; glad I got the Belgian version with the four bonus remixes, as they are all pretty good. The album itself is predictably cheesy, feeding heavily on the detris-genres of Futurepop and late 90's industrial electro that were actually spawned from the wake of the Ebb's groundbreaking late 80's/early 90's EBM stuff. What's really lacking is the stark and sleazy rivethead poetry they are known best for, but I was just happy to hear the voice and stomp around a bit to some of the more aggressive tracks on the disc.]]>