A little political humor...

Ever since he was ousted in the recent election, these posters of ex-Prime Minister Aso can be seen hanging around the city.

Fun Night

Some photos from this past Friday night/Saturday morning.

First up, I went to Heaven&Earth in Shimokitazawa to see my friend, DJ Nozaki, who I met at Ian Condry's Hip hop party earlier in summer. Nozaki is a walking musical goldmine.

Next, I headed over to the event Spoon Market held by the Tokyo Pinsalocks. They cleared out a bowling alley, built a stage, and threw an awesome bash.

Here is Hisayo, bassist for the Tokyo Pinsalocks. You've seen photos of her from before with Natccu.

箪笥ボーイ： Tance Boy

Tance Boy, an excellent band in the local Tokyo scene. Tonight's show was at Yoyogi's Zher the Zoo.

This band undeniably kicks ass. I've seen countless indy shows in this town and I've written tons of superlatives in this blog, but here is a band that I can honestly say has straight up snake-charmed me. What have they got going on, you may ask? Energy, charisma, a real stage act, a killer sound, this band is the perfect storm.

Check out their page at: tance-boy.com

Yun on vocals and Yoshimi on bass:

Takechan on guitar:

Saki holding it down the beat on drums:

On Being an Expatriate...

You know what's the trouble with you? You're an expatriate. One of the worst type. Haven't you heard that? Nobobdy that ever left their own country ever wrote anything worth printing. Not even in the newspapers...

...You're an expatriate. You've lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European standards have ruined you. You drink yourself to death. You become obsessed by sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You are an expatriate, see? You hang around cafes.

-Ernest Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises

Pirami and Ua

I ran into composer Mayumi Yamada (also known as Pirami) the other night in Takadanobaba. We decided to catch up over a drink at Diglight.

Mayumi is a very interesting and accomplished young composer. Currently, under a government grant, she has been developing her own digital interactive instrument, the Otobane. In addition to her projects and compositions, she's written for major advertising campaigns and even written for J-Pop sensation Ua. Check out the video to this song:

More Published Photos

Check it out. This past month, I got a photo published in Cookie Scene, one of the biggest music magazines in Japan! And the layout is a whole half page!

The photo is from my coverage of the New Cassettes concert this past June. They were brought to Japan by concert promotion and record label On the One/Pony Up Records.

Unfortunately, they spelled my name wrong in the credit. So goes Japan...

The Werewolf Wall of Sound

Not that you are interested in my day to day personal triumphs, but in keeping with the original spirit of this blog, I'll give you one quick update.

I finally picked up a stereo system and turntable this week. Used record shops in Tokyo are vinyl pits oozing with music beyond your wildest dreams. Now they will become my playground. Sorry Mr. Wallet.

Behold, the Werewolf Wall of Sound!

GO!GO!7188

I think this video does them way more justice.

GO!GO!7188 Live at JCB Hall

I was invited again to see GO!GO!7188 at JCB Hall in the Tokyo Dome complex tonight. This band is huge! 5,000 people were there ready to have their pants rocked off. Amidst such a crowd, I was one of only 2 or 3 gaijin! It's a weird feeling stumbling on such a concert. Part of me feels like I'm sitting on top of a musical gold mine virtually untouched in the West. A band like GO!GO! could practically fill an arena in Japan, yet they've barely made a dent back home. With monster guitarist Yuu and the unstoppable energy of bassist Akko, maybe this will change soon.

I managed to sneak a few photos.

The zoomin reveals more.

Akko actually remembered meeting me in early spring the last time I saw the group! The Werewolf lives on!