[WeAre]Off! was an Osaka based zine active in the early 2000's. I only have one issue, but this one is jam packed with some of my favorite bands. Local Kansai acts like I Eat Me, S41, and R3-N7 join Tokyo acts Gauge Means Nothing, After Forever and Neoteny. Pretty great. I'm not able to translate anything into English, but this is still a pretty cool snapshot of the Japanese underground scene circa 2002. Enjoy!
Debase and Degrade were a short-lived band from Tokyo, most notably known for Hirotatsu (from 3cmtour, Killie) playing drums. Besides their band connections, Debase and Degrade play emotional hardcore with some subtle hints of those Japanese screamo melodies. 5 songs here, and they're all pretty good. And... that's about it. Enjoy!
Glow and the Forest are three non-Japanese guys who've been living in Japan for a long time and met together to make music. This album was released awhile back, but I just found it on Bandcamp. They seem to be super busy on Soundcloud, though, and lots of people are into them. I don't know if I have the right background to explain what they sound like. It's pretty laid back music, with whimsical singing and lyrics, and very atmospheric sounds on the instruments. I guess you could say its similar to a more organic Pinback, where Pinback sounds like it was recorded in a bedroom and this sounds like it was recorded in a church. Throughout the album their sound changes from delightful, storybook like songs (like Fat Monk), to darker, spookier tracks (like Dust Bunny), almost like the listener is walking down the path illustrated on the cover of this album, descending into the depths of the forest.
Here's a pretty good video from this year. The guy's voice is just as perfect live, which is pretty amazing. Check this out!
After Toe's amazing debut, Songs, Ideas We Forgot, they followed it up with a remix album which, in my opinion, is the best thing they ever did. Something about the clinical precision of their music lends itself so much to electronic remixes. Of course, the EP isn't all remixes. You also get 3 fresh new tracks which continue to amaze as only Toe can.
I can't write anything else about Toe, sorry... So tired. Get this now.
Not the best picture, but it was all I could find.
Just like I discovered Cofun, I discovered Cocoon a few days ago. Ironically, I discovered them through Cofun, via youtube videos of a show they played together. Through the distorted sound of the video camera, I could hear the melancholy melodies coming through over the roar of guitar and bass. The video description had a link to their soundcloud with over 6 songs on there. From those songs, I could really hear how good this band is. All the tracks are just live recordings, but it's not that bad and you can definitely get the spirit of the songs. Cocoon is going to be a band to watch out for. Their sound is reminiscent of older Japanese screamo bands, but has really smart arrangements and amazing melodies. There's not much out there yet, but here are some internet fragments of an awesome up and coming band:
They have a full live set on their soundcloud as well.
Forms of Talk is a new band out of Tokyo, 2/3 non-Japanese (or gaijin). They run in the same circles in Tokyo as From Ten To Nine, Asthenia, and Document Not Found. Two weeks ago they released their first cassette, but also had the foresight to put it up on bandcamp as well, which is great for us that don't live over there. You can even name your own price!
I don't have a lot of background in this sort of dissonant, post-punk stuff, so I had John from The Song of Delight help me out. I'm just going to paste our conversation:
John:
its a very 90s emotive hardcore vibe for me, Shotmaker or something like that
honestly getting a huge Ambassador 990 vibe
So there you have it, folks. 90s emotive hardcore. It pretty much hits the nail on the head, I think. It reminded me a lot of Union of Snakes, just as my most recent reference. It's good and has a fat recording. It's seems like the band's only been together for a few months now, so I'm excited to see what they do next. If this sounds like something you're interested in, you should definitely check it out.
[I wrote this at the bus stop, so sorry if I ramble]
Four bucks, four songs. An easy transaction, like an Internet drug deal. Itunes, amazon, pick your poison. Toe's newest ep is as accessible as their first ep was inaccessible, the difference of a decade changing more than just their sound. Maybe it's some sort of consolation prize that they released their first ep on all those new-fangled stores at the same time. What can be said for sure is that ten years later Toe is calmer, but they still have that spark that makes them one of a kind.
Let's talk history. I think I loved Toe before I'd even heard them. They were just a mention on the catune website when I emailed them about a show they had scheduled in kyoto that fall. Had I heard a sample off their debut ep? Maybe. Still, I was curious and subsequently disappointed when they told me the show was canceled. I was only in Japan for four months and the only show that would come close to me had slipped through my fingers. Still, I hunted down their ep and found it, probably in a Tower Records or HMV. The sharply designed yet nostalgic art set the stage for the best instrumental CD I would hear for the next ten years. Everything about it was a calling, a major raising of the bar that would stand the test of time. Was I hooked? Holy shit yes.
I kept listening through a compilation, album, and another ep, but they lost me on For Long Tomorrow. Something about it just seemed lost in between two worlds. There was Toe-the-former, purveyor of mad instrumental skills and drumming that dropped my jaw (literally. When I saw those videos from their RGBDVD and watched that drummer's hands move, my mouth hung open for about 2.3 minutes). Then there was Toe-the-middle (which only exists because there is a different Toe-the-present now), who seemed unsure about how to proceed now that they'd hit indie darling status. They seemed more focused on doing vocal cameos than crafting sharp, other-worldly instrumental tunes. So I tuned out and forgot about Toe, thinking they were done.
Well, four bucks is a damn fine selling point, like I said. When I see something I'm curious about and the price is right, my impulsive side always gets the better of me. So, seconds later, my bank account four dollars lighter, I started listening to the new Toe ep.
There's this perception in my mind of what Toe should be. I demand certain things from my Toe and get pissed when those aren't fulfilled. I want absolutely perfect production. It may seem shallow, but I want my shit sparklingly clear. Second, I need some guitar riffs that are so sharp I can cut my teeth on them. And they need to be something that I could never realistically expect to play myself. Yes, I want guitar work that is so good it's unrealistic. Third, the drumming doesn't have to be insane, but it also has to be perfect. I don't need to describe perfect anymore. In some ways, if you really notice the drums, then they aren't perfect. I'm not saying that they should disappear in the background, but with perfect drums, everything should become one big gooey glob of perfection. Finally, and this is true with every instrumental band, the songs should speak to me, without words. That means the song needs direction and purpose. I don't just listen to your music because I've got nothing better to do. I could always just go and listen to that new Big Freedia collection. Instead, Toe puts direction in these songs and paints these moods with each song. 4 songs, 4 distinct moods in each. And, as I'm sure you gathered, they also deliver on all my other pre-requisites with this new EP.
So, the future is now, apparently. Is this what we can expect from Toe moving forward? Certainly, although I wonder if this will feel as good when it's a full album. Four songs is the perfect space to explore themes and paint a picture of exactly what your band is capable of. 10 years later, Toe is proving they are still the masters of the instrumental rock medium, and all others should cower at the example they've set.
Pick the new Toe EP up at iTunes or Amazon. If you want a physical copy you can easily get them overseas from CDJapan or YesAsia, although it will cost you quite a bit more than 4 bucks then, and that makes my review irrelevant (:-().
I picked this demo up recently, and totally enjoyed the epic, metal-influenced screamo hardcore mashup. It's really hard to describe wombscape in words other than that. At each part of their songs, they're playing a different style than the previous part. It all comes together over the length of their two songs on this demo. It kind of reminds me of this old band Womb, which is, y'know, part of this band's name. Kinda weird.
I think the model setup here is totally ingenious. I've often struggled with a way to get Japanese demos available outside of Japan. Usually bands are selling them for 200-300 yen (around 3 bucks), which is hardly even worth the shipping over here. If I were to try and get them wholesale, the band would essentially have to give them to me for free for me to sell them at a reasonable cost. Web-based distribution, like Bandcamp, for demos makes more sense in order to get your music out to people who aren't able to come to your shows.
With that being said, you can grab this demo for 2 bucks American, which is a steal. One of the songs is listenable on bandcamp, but the other only comes with a purchase. The second song is a lot longer than the first, at around 9 minutes, so you're getting a chunk of music. And actually, the second song is a lot more epic and post rock-ish, with a little later-Deftones-like vocals, which I am 100% behind. Pick this up, it's a nice view of a Japanese band doing something a little different.
Kulara is the best. As I've already written, I botched my chance to see them live. Luckily, there are some amazing videos of them online. This CD collects two of their EPs together. Essentially, it's the last recordings they ever made. There are some earlier things that are collected on their discography, but this is the Kulara stuff that I know the most. Enjoy!
The end to a weird week, me off my schedule, the releases not the usual screamo/emo that you've come to expect. Well, let's end it weirdly then. Here's Bo!Rock→1 (pronounced Borokichi) with their self-titled CD, one I got blind from a trade with Satire Records. No date on the CD, but I think I got it around 2006.
I'm not sure the best way to describe this, because it's not really in my sphere of musical knowledge. I guess I would call it garage rock? Descriptions on other sites say its like Iggy Pop or The Stooges. I never listened to either, so I'll just have to agree with those references. It's messy, noisy, loud, and fun. Vocals are screamed, everything played with a purposeful sloppiness.
Surprisingly, they're still together and rocking pretty hard. Here's a video of them from two months ago playing the first track on this album, Masturbation:
I am just not doing great with my schedule this week. Hopefully none of you guys are checking this blog at 12:01pm and getting disappointed by my laziness. If you are, then I'm sorry (ps. get a life).
Today we're going to listen to Gauge Means Noth... oh... um.... Atari. We're going to listen to Atari. Sorry, got a little confused there. Well, when a band lists Gauge Means Nothing (GMN) as their biggest influence, you know you're getting something interesting. To their credit, Atari really nails it. And they nail it in the right sense.
What makes GMN so special and amazing is the refusal to cater to trends, only playing what they want. Other bands will fade with time as their sound is dated and rehashed, but GMN will always stand out as unique as when they were still playing. There won't ever be another GMN, no matter if a band tries or not.
So, we have Atari here, and they definitely sound like GMN. Essentially, if GMN had created a genre then Atari would be in the same genre for sure. There is some similar parts between the two, but I think Atari reflects the spirit of GMN even more than the sound. This is reflected in some of the parts that are almost more grind or d-beat, definitely not what GMN ever did but still feeling similar. It's that mad mixing of genres and moods that made GMN so special and unique, and I think it makes Atari pretty special and unique themselves.
They've put up two songs on their bandcamp that have nice studio recordings, and the songs are pretty badass. There's another song on their myspace, but the new songs on the bandcamp are the best, in my opinion.
Check them out and hopefully the band will be releasing this stuff physically somewhere! Here's a video of them playing recently:
In 2007, Aki from Impulse Records floated the idea of my band, Cease Upon the Capitol, doing a release on his label. A split seemed the best idea, and he offered Tokyo's Trikorona as a split partner. I'd only heard a song or two from their myspace, but I really dug it. That early stuff was reminiscent of Tiala, a blend of grind and emo-violence that I liked to call Tokyo-violence (stupid name, I know). The split went good, and their songs were amazing on the split, but not much communication happened after that.
Fortunately, they're still around and tearing it up. I got their split 7" with No-Yard from CCJ Records, and it totally rips, as expected. And now in 2012, they have some new nuggets for us to absorb, in the form of two songs on their Bandcamp.
Not much to say about these songs, they totally rule and are right there for you to gorge on. Thick, burly guitars riff metal while the drummer channels Spazz and Infest through sticks of dynamite. Just listen.
Here's a full set of Trikorona that will shred your face:
First, sorry this is late. It's been a bit of a lazy week for me. Ugh....
Now then, I got this CD one night after a show at EMSeven. I was walking home with the 3cm Tour guys, and one of their friends, who was in this band, handed me the CD telling me it was his band. That is about the entirety of my knowledge of this thing. The band was already broken up, or broke up shortly after I met him. I have a feeling that someone from the band went on to play in a more well-known band, but I can't tell from the members list in the CD.
So, what you have here is some brutal crusty thrash. It's pretty dang good, outside of the extremely fuzzy guitars that sound a little ridiculous. The song-writing and playing is tight and harsh, just like it should be. Overall, pretty damn good shit to go to sleep to.
Finishing off the week with one of the few Killie releases that was actually "mass produced." There were 2000 of these made, not 100 like the cloth packaged CD I posted on Monday, so it actually got around. You can find this for somewhere around 10 bucks on discogs.com, to name one place.
What's sad, is that with such great packaging, you get so little music. Seriously, only two Killie songs? And they needed their own CD? How about this, Killie. Give me something with, let's say, 10 songs. Anything. A collection of everything, an LP, a 5xCD. I don't care, I just want a bunch of your songs together on something that isn't a personal mix CD. It's like you're passing drugs out in a slow drip, and it's driving people like me into a frenzy. We want more!!!!
Ah, now that I've got that out of my system, these Killie songs are badass. I enjoy Off Minor, but only listened to their CD once. Killie's whats important here, and they certainly deliver (quality, not quantity). Umm.... I tried to get good scans of this, but it was super hard. There is printing on the inside of the cardboard as well, which is cool looking. How about, just go get this release yourself, since it's not being sold for an exorbitant price (yet).
It's always fun to find new things when scanning these releases in. This DVD is a perfect example. Yoshi sent a handful of these DVD's with a trade we did, and I always that it was just a plain, black sleeve. But once I scanned it in and started finagling with the contrast, I found a secret. There's a little hammer on the sleeve! You can kind of see it on the picture above. I was always confused that a band like Killie, who always puts so much into their packaging, would have just a plain black sleeve for anything. So, this little hammer was a pleasant surprise.
We have a DVD here with a single song (called Resurrection in English, but the Japanese title is more aptly translated as"Christ is resurrected"). The production quality is really amazing and the sound quality of them playing live is good enough to listen to. The song is good, their performance is awesome. All around it's a win-win. The question is, why didn't you buy one of these when I was selling them for one-frickin'-dollar in my distro? It seriously took a few months to get rid of these, even though I was practically giving them away.
5 years ago, the zine Give Me Back was just starting up, and Killie was preparing to release their After All... LP on the world. I conducted an interview to submit to the zine with Yoshi, who translated for the other guys in the band. What followed can be generally labeled as a clusterfuck. I rushed the interview to make the deadline for the zine, they decided not to publish it, I got really pissed. Yoshi and the other members were upset, but seemed to take it in stride. I, however, was caught in the middle, feeling like it was my fault and trying to deal with both sides. It really sucked. Killie's response to the debacle can be read here: http://killie.jp/archives/interview_july_2007.html. I thought it might be fitting to just publish the email exchange, though. It was a pretty rough time for me, as I'd just come back from touring Europe with Cease Upon the Capitol, and was trying to figure out what to do with my life. Looking back, I wonder if I could've handled it differently, asked different questions, pushed a bit harder. Either way, it's in the past now, and all I have are these memories. I'm throwing in a jump break, cause this thing is really long. Enjoy!
After the 3cm Tour show I attended in 2003, I was headed back to Bomber's apartment (drummer from Gauge Means Nothing who I was staying with). I was chatting with 3cm Tour as we walked to the train station. One of their friends was from the band Anthropic Disease, and passed me one of their CDs. It was super late and my destination was on the other side of Tokyo, so Hirotatsu invited me to hang out at his apartment until the trains started running. We hung out, listened to records, talked about various things. He mentioned that they would be releasing a split CD with After Forever some time the following year. I was super into both bands, so I asked if I could release it in America and he agreed.
Months later, I'm back in the States, back in college, and I have no money. I'm trying to put out the Dip Leg CD, and end up have to put it all on a credit card. Discussions around the release of this CD in America break down and eventually the project is cancelled. Ah... I still regret it now.
These are two bands at their prime, two of the best Japanese bands there ever were. After Forever keeps doing their vicious, metallic screamo thing, and 3cm tour keeps doing their pensive, screamy emo thing. You've probably already heard these tracks, or at least heard the bands, so you'll know what to expect.
Also, Ryuzaki-san (from Bright and Dark Side) did the art for this, and it is so amazingly good. This might have been one of the last things he designed, but if it isn't, it's the latest that I own. So, so good.
I'm pretty sure I picked up this CD on my trip to Japan in 2003. During that trip, I caught a 3cm tour show at Koiwa EM Seven. It was pretty amazing, and arguably better than any of their recordings. There's just something about their quiet precision in a room with a bunch of other people, like you can hear the collective breath.
I am like so frickin' busy this week, so I don't have much else to write. Sorry! Hope you enjoy.
Bright and Dark Side, man... these guys are great. I saw them at a New Years Show in 2003. It was on the 6th or 7th floor in this tall building. Supposedly it was a Community Center, it just seemed an odd place. The floor was like a large, open air office with a beautiful view out the windows and cubicles randomly placed around. Before the show we lounged on couches in the area, and I think there was even a kid's playspace somewhere. The show was in a large room with doors separating the hallway to it. At the end of the hallway were double door opening into another space, also being used to have a show. The overall space was weird, but super comfortable and spacious.
I met Ryuzaki (bass) when we stopped by his place before the Malaysia tour. I was with Yuichi (and maybe Ponchi?) and we went to his flat to pick up some patches. He had this small crafty contraption that was a weird screenprinting thing. Using one of his design, he'd screenprinted a pile of patches, and that's what we picked up. I don't remember much about his space except it was really clean and cool looking (kind of like his design). Later, as Gauge Means Nothing traded out members during 2004 and 2005, Kenchan (guitar) would play drums until the band disbanded. I think his only recorded contribution was on GMN's last song.
As for the sound, BADS plays this really percussive, jazzy emo. The songs can get really long (6-10 minutes), but just feel so right at that length that you can't complain. The vocals are no bullshit, screamed and yelled, just like they should be. It's just perfect, it's just right. Most bands have those embarrassing parts that just don't sound right, like they forgot what they were trying to do in the song, but each BADS track is perfectly crafted and everything just flows so smoothly together.
There isn't much in the way of recordings from BADS. I have a split cassette tape and they have one song on the second volume of the "Here Comes the Bottom Line" compilation series from Impulse records (buy it from me here), but that's all that I know of, unfortunately. There's been talk about a full-length or EP coming out from them sometime. It's still listed as a pending release from Endless/Nameless Collective. I hope it sees the light of day eventually, because there are some great songs they've created that deserve a good recording.
Egoist for Men is a weird group. Their sound is pretty wild. I played a show with them in 2003 while I was playing guitar in Gauge Means Nothing at a Community Center in Tokyo. The singer hooked his vocal mic up to a few effects pedals before the show, and wow, did he use them. It's not as obvious on this demo, but their track on the 'Light Your Way' compilation shows a lot more effects.
I love the artwork for this. It was done by Ryuzaki-san, who also did artwork for the Gauge Means Nothing ep and 3cm tour/After Forever split. His own band, Bright and Dark Side, played that same night at the Community Center.
I'm not sure how to describe this. It's not really screamo, even though they played with a lot of screamo bands. Maybe punk/emo? I don't know, you'll probably just have to listen for yourself.
God, I'm so glad it's Friday.... Have a good weekend!
