múm to play TAICOCLUB festival in Kawasaki

The enigmatic Icelandic band múm have been confirmed to play at TAICO CLUB 09 in Kawasaki, along with British electronic duo Plaid, microhouse artist Isolée, and Detroit techno DJ Carl Craig.


Earlier this month was TAICO CLUB at Nagano Kisomura Kodama No Mori, but this year there will be another festival in Kawasaki.

TAICOCLUB '09 KAWASAKI will be held on the weekend of the 19th and 20th of September at Kawasaki Higashi Ogishima East Park.

Ticket information and the full lineup is yet to be announced, but so far the announced lineup is:

múm, SOUTAISEIRIRON, Carl Craig, Theo Parrish (Sound Signature), Plaid (Warp), JAMES HOLDEN, DJ KRUSH & Kazunori Kumagai, isolée, Omar S, PARA, sleeparchive, Sascha Dive, INO hidefumi, LUKE ABBOTT, DJ NOBU (Future Terror)

More info

LITE, Boris, Cro-Magnon, nenem @ LiquidRoom, June 12th

by colin


After a rather lengthy walk around the lovely Ebisu gardens and Yebisu beer museum I made my way to the LAUNCHPAD event at the Liquid Room. The Liquid Room is a popular live house in Tokyo and considered to be one of the city’s best. Tonight’s LAUNCHPAD bill included a healthy dose of some of Japans finest trend setters - Nenem, Cro-Magnon and LITE, with Boris headlining the night.

As usual, the gig started on time with the first band of the night walking onto the stage to zero applause or acknowledgement. It was early and sunny outside, so they probably had expected a small crowd.

Nenem are a 5 piece that make some incredibly well crafted songs with bizarre noise samples and guitar rhythms that would grab anyone’s attention. People seemed immediately engaged in their set with songs blending into one another and lots of surprises thrown in randomly for good measure. A really great sound to the whole set I thought. An incredibly skillful guitarist armed with an large selection of effects lead the band and seemed to orchestrate the other members with his nodding head. The performance and sound were both absolutely flawless. The keyboardist positioned himself centre-stage and rightly so; superb talent like his just can't be ignored.

Next up was the brilliantly trendy Cro-Magnon. A Tortoise meets New Order type mash-up which the smallish crowd completely lapped up. The trio appeared quite confident throwing ominous stares out to the crowd. They had the crowd in the palm of their hand and moulded us into their dancing puppets with ease. The addition of a cowbell, drum pads, some pitch shifting tools and a guy busy tweaking knobs on his Korgs really made this more memorable than your average gig. Really enjoyed this even if it leaned a little on the eighties side.

It was time for LITE and I was genuinely pumped for it. I knew LITE quite well and I like their stuff a lot. They were one of few Japanese bands I was quite crazy about before I left for Japan, so I was very excited seeing them play on their native soil. I caught them on their last Irish tour in Dublin’s intimate Whelans venue where they played to about 80 people, mostly people who went by themselves and had nothing better to do on a Monday night, and the average age was 25. Tonight was much different. They were playing on their home turf to the most diverse crowd I had ever seen at a gig. Some people were as young at 18 and I saw some borderline granddads floating around too. Marshall stacks and an impressive drum kit were wheeled onto the stage, which was quite the contrast to the ram-shackled setup they had when I saw them in Dublin where they had presumably rented the gear or borrowed it. Even with that gear they performed one of my favourite Whelans gigs to date. Again, taking to the stage to not even the slightest clap or a "woo!!," LITE broke into a killer rendition of "Ef". Probably my favourite LITE song and they were in top form. The crowd started to roar and it was obvious that most people were here to see them, including a spattering of foreigners. LITE have travelled the world quite a bit now and I am not surprised they have foreigners coming back for seconds. What I like about LITE is that they are not about costumes, gimmicks, fake moustaches, fancy back drops or dry ice. They are the real deal. A scarily talented bunch of guys who play complicated guitar compositions with ease and I'm pretty sure every guitarist that was present tonight felt a little inadequate after LITE's set. I certainly did. The small banter with the crowd was completely not understood by me but they sounded incredibly grateful to be playing the gig and to be acknowledged in a scene that is saturated with rock music. The crowd applauded politely and the crowd pleaser "Human Gift" got a well-deserved airing, transforming the crowd into a flailing limb frenzy. A brilliant band and I cannot wait to see them play with Adebisi Shank on the 15th July in Super Deluxe. The set was over after about 7 songs and I contemplated giving Boris a miss as I was on a high. But I stuck around and I really regret it.

Quite the contrast to LITE's incredibly accomplished and engaging set, Boris performed very loud (I have heard nothing like this since My Bloody Valentine at last years Electric Picnic; I was genuinely scared) drone, psychedelic, stoner rock. They have the long hair, double neck guitars, a sweaty bare-chested drummer, reverby vocals and an overused dry ice machine to go with it all. Their equipment set up was beyond ridiculous and it was just not needed for a 900 capacity venue that was only half-full (many left after LITE's set). It's acceptable to see this at a stadium but not in a venue this small. Enormous Orange PAs dominated the back of the stage towering over the band. The drummer sat on a podium with a huge gong glimmering behind him. I was waiting for heads to spontaneously explode around me during some of their over-the-top self indulgent "wall of sound" efforts. The skill is certainly there. I have no doubt about that but for me Boris's set is 100% style over substance unfortunately.

More photos of LITE:

Fuji Rock Festival 09 per-stage lineup

The Fuji Rock Festival daily lineup has been announced, including a bunch of new additions and the bands for the Rookie A-Go-Go stage. Here it is, with links to the artists' websites/myspaces:

24 July (Friday)

GREEN STAGE
OASIS
PAUL WELLER
PATTI SMITH
Lily Allen
DOVES
WHITE LIES
TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA

WHITE STAGE
The Neville Brothers
ROBERT RANDOLPH & THE FAMILY BAND
hanaregumi
Chara
EBONY BONES!
GUITAR WOLF

RED MARQUEE
SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO
PEACHES
THE VIRGINS
LOW IQ & THE BEAT BREAKER
M83
CAGE THE ELEPHANT
LONGWAVE

PLANET GROOVE
EYE (BOREDOMS)
GANG GANG DANCE
DIPLO
BURAKA SOM SISTEMA
CRAZE & KLEVER

FIELD OF HEAVEN
clammbon
TORTOISE
JEFF LANG
SAKEROCK
Curly Giraffe
ASA-CHANG & JUNRAY

ORANGE COURT
SYSTEM 7
GONG
orquesta de la luz
Räfven
esne beltza
BOIKOT

ALL NIGHT FUJI
DJ TEI TOWA
KEN ISHII
YOJI (ex. YOJI-BIOMEHANIKA)
DJ TASAKA
NEWDEAL X TAMAKI ROY

CRYSTAL PALACE TENT
Sim Cass / jimbo limbo
WILKO JOHNSON
Baby Soul (Gaz's Rockin' Blues)
icchie SPECIAL SESSION BAND
PRINCE NAOKI (Dun Store Records)
Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves
Lilly Allen

PALACE ARENA
State Circus of Mongolia

ROOKIE A GO GO
uchikubi gokumon doukoukai
Jaribu Afrobeat Arkestra
SuiseiNoboAz
reito
Harp on mouth sextet

DAY DREAMING
Hiyoshi
uminekosounds (acoustic set)
Predawn
arupachikabuto
haiiro de rossi

25th July (Sat)

GREEN STAGE
FRANZ FERDINAND
BEN HARPER & RELENTLESS 7
JET
UA
SEUN KUTI & EGYPT 80
THE BIRTHDAY

WHITE STAGE
PUBLIC ENEMY
BAD BRAINS
ZAZEN BOYS
MELVINS
Kinniku Shoujotai
THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM
9mm Parabellum Bullet


RED MARQUEE
DINOSAUR JR.
TRASHCAN SINATRAS
COMEBACK MY DAUGHTERS
THE HIGHER
IDA MARIA
FUNERAL PARTY
a flood of circle

TRIBAL CIRCUS
CROOKERS
80kidz
THE SHOES
THE BLOODY BEETROOTS
FAKE BLOOD

FIELD OF HEAVEN
funky METERS
EASY STAR ALL STARS
TheSkaFlames
THE AGGROLITES
COOL WISE MEN
HAYLEY SALES
TOM FREUND

ORANGE COURT
BOOKER T.
SOIL & "PIMP" SESSIONS
PRISCILLA AHN
JUSTIN NOZUKA
Eli “Paperboy” Reed & The True Loves
THE INSPECTOR CLUZO

CRYSTAL PALACE TENT
mori masaki (Ego Wrappin')
azuma mitsuyoshi trio +1
TAKKYU ISHINO
Altan Urag
RADICAL MUSIC NETWORK (MESTIZO FIESTA PARTY)
EKD
DIPLO

PALACE ARENA
State Circus of Mongolia

ROOKIE A GO GO
bouzumans
kowarekakeno tape recorders
THE DESCRIPTIONS
KATE SIKORA
nenem

DAY DREAMING
Takuya & Raymond (the samos)
MYSS
orokamonopotechi
Eccy
tamaki ROY
Cypress Ueno & Robert Yoshino
DJ BAKU

26th July (Sun)

GREEN STAGE
WEEZER
FALL OUT BOY
BRAHMAN
JIMMY EAT WORLD
asai kenichi
COBRA STARSHIP
BASEMENT JAXX

WHITE STAGE
RÖYKSOPP
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
YUKIHIRO TAKAHASHI
CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH
DE DE MOUSE
THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT
HOLY FUCK
POLYSICS

RED MARQUEE
MAXIMO PARK
FRICTION
ROWLAND HOWARD
HiGE
TWISTED WHEEL
CRYING NUT
MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS

SUNDAY SESSION
WILKO JOHNSON
TAKKYU ISHINO
SONNY J
THE JAPANESE POPSTARS
DJ TIM HEALEY

FIELD OF HEAVEN
DISCO BISCUITS
ROVO
sunnyday service
Dachambo
Steve Nieve Band featuring Glenn Tibrook
nakamura mari

ORANGE COURT
SEUN KUTI & EGYPT 80
Shibusa Shirazu Orchestra
SOUL FLOWER UNION
zunoukeisatsu
JUANA MOLINA
Altan Urag

CRYSTAL PALACE TENT
watanabe toshimi (TOKYO No.1 SOUL SET/THE ZOO 16)
ASAKUSA JINTA
jimbo limbo
Big Willie's Burlesque
SHACHO (SOIL & "PIMP" SESSIONS)
Räfven
CABARET CATS with JVC FORCE TYO

PALACE ARENA
State Circus of Mongolia

ROOKIE A GO GO
Mahiruno
Gekitetsu
animanimus
THE CENTERHITS
taizan ni asobu

DAY DREAMING
SEINOIZE
MATSUSAKA DAISUKE
ALTZ
YODA


I wonder who else will be added?

DOG and theremin show

by craig

Enban is a Koenji institution. A tiny record store stocking independent music by day and a place to see odd music at night. Random gigs here are likely to be more interesting than what's on at most livehouses.

On Monday night it was pretty packed when I entered (about 25 people) so I had to stand between the shelves of 7"s, DVDs and CDs, resting my beer on a stack of homemade CDRs.

A huge dog entered because first up was Inuhiko. Inuhiko is a duo, the Inu half being JON(犬) or in English JON (THE DOG) and the hiko half is well, HIKO. JON(犬) plays pump organ and sings in a child-like voice dressed in an amazing dog costume. HIKO is the drummer from legendary hardcore punk band GAUZE formed in 1981. So it was pump organ, squeaky vocals and muted crazy hardcore drumming complete with double bass pedal! Awesome!

Next, Hayato Tsuji started playing piano while doing some eerie breathing/singing. He was joined by psychedelic guitar shredder Tansch (from ginen tsubame). Hayato could really sing, sometimes sounding like Sigur Rós and other times doing his breathing thing or possessed screaming. Just to make sure it didn't go all Radiohead, Tansch, skinny and pouty with huge hair just as a psych rock guitarist should be, did lots of solos with his amp turned down to 2.

Those who weren't there to see a dog play organ were there to see two Okinawans play theremin and piano. Nori Ubutaka had a cool old Moog theremin which he managed to tame amazingly well and played his original compositions with vocals and piano by the extraordinarily unique Emi Eleonola, diva from the bizarre avant-prog group DEMI SEMI QUAVER. They spent half the set chatting, reminiscing and answering questions from the audience about theremins (How many volts does it run on?).


(from Colin)

Soundroom vol. 32

by craig


One of the only reasons to go to Roppongi is to go to Super Deluxe, one of Tokyo's only venues where you can pretty much guarantee to see something original and interesting on any night. SOUNDROOM is a monthly event held there with "experimental music from Tokyo that defies categorization."

Monday night's show certainly did have acts that defied categorisation! Colin and I arrived to find a huge area in the centre dedicated to numerous toy and homemade instruments, casio keyboards, synths, radios, lamps and all sorts of toys and unidentifiable stuff. We couldn't wait to hear and see how they were going to be used.


(Photo by Colin)
First up were naph + Tetsuro Yasunaga + aen.
Playing bass in a very nontraditional way was naph who also plays with mondii in RdL, makes music for games and commercials, and has worked with many artists from Tujiko Noriko to Kool Keith.
Tetsuro Yasunaga is from the experimental band helll. He left his bag hanging on his shoulder and played pulsating sounds and sinewaves on what looked like a synth.
Looking like a bicycle courier while twiddling knobs and working from CDs was aen aka Yasufumi Suzuki who runs the Commune Disc label. He is also the organiser of this event.
Together they played strangely engaging improvised noise and ambient sounds.


The all-star (well, experimental music stars) guest band All The Frogs Are Our Weekend started soon after.
Chihei Hatakeyama played noise and ambient guitar sounds with his flying V through a laptop and various pedals.
Eriko Takahashi (elly) from experimental synth unit neohachi sat up front and waved her hands over the synths in her unique style.
naph joined them on bass, and on drums was Tomoyasu Takanishi aka Flower Triangle, keeping things together.
Their songs had some structure but allowed lots of improvisation and trance-inducing spacey drones.

Next, those responsible for the odd objects appeared; OPQ (Takafumi Suzuki) with aritan-bo (Mayumi Arita) and Shibata. First they just played a radio half-tuned to a French language program and picked up random toys here and there, making sounds in a very disappointing and twee way. But soon it all came together as aritan-bo played guitar under Takafumi who made amazing sounds and melodies on plastic wind instruments and keyboards with Shibata processing tape loops. Together they made some delicate folktronic noise with plastic toy piano tingles, ringing bells, balloon squawking and tossing, distorted voices and plenty of sounds from instruments and things I couldn't name. Loads of fun!

Last was Flower Triangle. Looking like a skinny elf puppet, Tomoyasu jumped from laptop to drums to melodica, playing cool glitchy electronica that everybody seemed to be too tired to concentrate on properly.

I'd definitely recommend Soundroom if you're looking for something different. It's on the last Monday of every month and is only 1000yen.

Also highly recommended and at Super Deluxe is another monthly experimental music event called Test Tone, held on every second or third Tuesday.

The next SOUNDROOM is June 29th. Details.

The next Test Tone is June 9th. Details.


Neohachi uploaded the All The Frogs Are Our Weekend performance. Here's the end:


Here's the end of OPQ:

Funny Band Names

by craig

Over the last few years I've been keeping a list of the band names I've come across which have amused me the most.
These have been taken straight from livehouse schedules, so sometimes the random case/spelling/punctuation are mistakes of the livehouse, but more often than not they are parts the bands' real names. Some of these are good bands by the way, though I have never heard most of them!

Almond toe schooters
Amicable NIKI reservation
ANGRY PENGUIN ROBO
APPLE PANDA KICK
ASIAN BEAUTY MUDER
asphalt frustration
ASSHOLE UNITE
AWESOME DUDE
BABY SHITTER
BAD LOOKING GIRL
Balls Of The DRAGON
Bankrobber Mamma
BARBIE ATTACK DOLL(S)
BATHTUB SHITTER
BEE! BANG! BOO!
BEEF COW KARMA
Before Christ Butterfly
BEN thinks little of sneakers
The Big Machine Bazooka Rocks
Bitch Lunch Box
BITCH ON THE BEACH
the blah,blah,blah
BLAND PEPPER SAUCE
BLOODY CUNT
THE BLUEBLACK PINHEAD ROLL
BOTH CHEESE
BRASSIERE HOOK
Bulldog In Twister
Bunny Girl Piss
BURSTED BOOB
BURST HEAD LOLLIPOP
Bus Stop Mouse
THE BUTTERFLY FROM VENUS
butterfly in the stomach
Camel Vain Ballet
Camille Of The Raspberry Juice
THE CAT FANCLUB
thee catfish Paddy field
Cathy lost one's apricot yesterday
the cement pets
the chef cooks me
CLEAVAGE
contagious orgasm
continuous connoodling
CRAMP THE LADYBUG
CUTTER ACID TACKLE
DARGI SUICIDE MAD PINK
Deadman's Chorizo
DEEP FREEZE MANIA
DELETE YOU PSYCHO
die!!die!!color!!!
DIE YOU BASTARD!
The Dilemma of Hedgehog
DISEASED KIDS
DISTURD
Dizzy up the girls
DJ:Duck Soup Family Club
DJ FUCK RYU
DJ Shhhhh
DREADLOCKFELLOW
Dr.Margarine and his crazy pants
DRUNK GIRLS
dumpy Macho Wife
THE Dust Fellows
Egg Murder
ELECTRIC BAZOOKA
ELECTRIC SLIMY BABIES
enamel the evening calls
Face under cork killers
FAT or DIE
F?C large selection'
fisherman's rubber boots
FRAIL HEAD SQUEEZE
The Freddie Mercury
FREEZE HUDDLE FORMATION
Fuck'n Windows united 101
FUCK THE LOTS OF YOU
The Fuddy Duddie's
Funny-RAT
GAS BILL ASIA
Generation Sex Soda
gentlemen underwear
GODHAND of 3minutes
GOD'S GUTS
golden tampon
GOODBYE ME,HAVE A NICEDAY
Good Dog Happy Men
GO ROCK SEVERAL HATES
GREEN HERB STRAIGHT TEA TIME
GREENPEAS YOUNG
grow a fool
GUILLOTINE TERROR
THE HACKED RABBIT HOUSE
HANDS CLAP GANG
HARD CORE DUDE
HARD?GAY?POLICE
Head Job
HEMP COACHING JUICER
HIGH SCHOOL ORANGE BUS 300%
hippo's pig band
Horny Busted
HOT BITCH'S MARIE
hot hip trampoline school
Impotence Trichomonad
Independent Fuck For Girl
Intelligent minni vanilli
ILL SPAGHETTI
In197666
JACK BLOODY NO SMOKER
jerk eggplant
Jisatsushitaikedoashitashigotoda
Kicking Asshole
kill the poltergeist urban security
THE KITCHEN GIRL UNDERMINE
Large House Satisfaction
Lick a man when he is down
LIFE IS JUST LIKE A CHRISTMAS
Little fats & Swingin' hotshot Party
Little sadistic doors
THE LOONY SAGE GARGOYLE
TheLovinGRAND-DAD
Macbeth the Imprish club
Male Goat
MAY FRY PARASHUTE
melancholy kindergarten
Millions of Jesus
minimal hug
mocidade vagabunda batteria nota 1000
MONGOOSE HELL LAZER
Monky T Ace from Cool Running
monogram gain the mode age
MOP OF HEAD
mush the room
music is good
My Cobra and her heads
THE MY BABY IS A HEADFUCK
my plastic JonBenet doll
The NAF in the SweLL
NAPALM DEATH IS DEAD
Natural Ambient Psychedelic Sex
NICO Touches the Walls
NISEUO cosmic-chang mothership progress
NO FORE PLAY
no-side-whiskers
NO SPEAK ENGLISH
oh my God,you've gone
ONION HEAD CUBE
OPPAI?KIDS
the Oriental bus stop
the oriental mosh pit
PIECE OF BREAD
PINK PARTY POODLES
Poor Midnight Grandma
the powerful banana
PSYCHO FOOD EATERS
Pudding paranoia
pygmy with bitter ends
Quinka, with a Yawn
RED BACTERIA VACUUM
Rice Riot
ruin close reptile
Salmon mousse papa
S AND THE NICOLE KIDMEN(ex.PANICSMILE)
Sanitation Facilities
SATAN'S WC
Sausage Butterfly Pasta Festa
school food punishment
SCORNFUL RAT
screw that comming off
SEX INSTRUCTORS
SEX～VirginKiller～
SHEEEEPS
she might be swimmer
Shit
Shit in the park
Sibelian Hair Madness
SILLY BILLY
SLAPPIN' JAPS
slob
Solid Afro
SORRY FOR A FROG
speedy dark and frozen bitch
SPICY SOCKS
stamp one's feet
still…you turn me on
STUPID BABIES GO MAD
Subway School DISK position
SUPER BAD DUDE
SUPER BEER
SUPER GET GET TWO
Taichi ueno & THE FAMILY VEGETABLE
TANGY BURP
TASMANIAN BABY
TEDDYBEAR UNDEAD
Teenagers Bloody KillinG
that's a no no!
Thousands Birdies'Legs
three weeks old lovesick puppy
TRASH MUFF
THE UNCLE OF GREEN CAR
Uncute
UNSNAPED BRANCH
untitled smells things
up wife
VIBRATE TWO FINGERS
wash?
WET THE BED
WHITE LOSER
WHO SHIT
Who the Bitch
Willing to be CURE
THE WORLD APARTMENT HORROR
Yakisoba Eater With No Chopsticks
YOGURT-pooh
Yum!Yum!ORANGE
1000s of cats
6x9=54
767 not threeseven
←↑Zigzag→↓

Which are your favourites?

Shibusashirazu Orchestra @ Goodman

by craig


Daisuke Fuwa has conducted the Shibusashirazu Orchestra for 20 years, a huge collection of free jazz musicians and dancers. I had heard so much about what an amazing live band they were but never had the chance to see them live. Last night they were playing at Club Goodman in Akihabara so I jumped on my mamachari and pedaled over there. After being distracted by the shiny things in the guitar shop above, we descended the stairs to the tiny livehouse in the basement. It soon filled up with enthusiastic fans and the stage filled up with over 20 musicians and performers; drums, saxophones, trumpets, guitars, bass, keyboards, tuba, dancers, singers, girl waving giant bananas....


The crowd pumped their fists as Shibusashirazu started their first song, a 30 minute half-improvised jazz/ska/rock explosion with long crazy guitar and sax solos. Butoh dancers appeared from nowhere on the platform beside us scaring the girls behind me. Later they played a Kiyoshiro Imawano song as a tribute to the legendary rock singer who recently died of cancer. The sound and energy was amazing coming from the middle aged guys on the stage as they played over 3 hours of fast wild rock-influenced jazz causing even the shyest audience members to dance and wave their hands in the air. I was exhausted.


There is nothing like a Shibusashirazu Orchestra show. You have to experience it at least once.

They are playing on Sunday May 10 (as Shibusashirazu) at O-Nest supporting moools and nhhmbase. Details.

The Orchestra is also playing at Club Quattro in Shibuya on May 28th. Details.

Shibusashirazu Orchestra are regulars at Fuji Rock Festival and will be playing again this year on day 3 (July 26th). Details.

You can sometimes catch members of the orchestra playing at places like Airegin in Yokohama.

FLO Union Spring Special!

by craig

The next Flo Union on Sunday April 19th will feature an interesting variety of special international guest musicians and artists:


*********************************************
For this month's dose of analog-electro punk-disco violence we have Syndrome WPW from Switzerland.

For French folktronica, there'll be Morel, a project of Will from Selvaluna.

And from Australia, catch The Hubble Telescope, a project of David of Like Chandeliers / Cartwheel / Cruiseboat fame.

Not strangers to Flo Union, RightMind, who have recently released their 1st album, will be delivering their trusty electronic-rock.

Visuals will be provided by Flo Union's own VJ David Roy.

Displaying her original nail art will be Pink Cherry from Italy.

On the decks between sets will be DJ Joe Kern.

For guffaws, there will be Chizue and friends doing some comedy.

*********************************************
Things kick off at 8:30pm on Sunday April 19th at The Pink Cow in Shibuya and entry is FREE! (Details at TGG)


Flo Union Media Lounge is a (very) relaxed monthly music, media and art event where all types of artists, musicians, performers and filmmakers have up to 20 minutes of stage time to perform, display or present their stuff. If you would like to participate in an upcoming event, or to join the mailing list, email flounion@gmail.com

Summer festivals - 1st lineups announced!

by craig

The first lineup announcements have been made for Fuji Rock Festival, Summersonic and Taico Festival. Of course more artists will be added in the coming months.

Franz Ferdinand, Weezer, Fall Out Boy, Röyksopp, Ben Harper, Basement Jaxx, M83, Animal Collective, Simian Mobile Disco, Patti Smith, Bad Brains, Melvins, Diplo, Justin Nozuka, The Higher, Gong, Gang Gang Dance, Polysics, The Gaslight Anthem, The Virgins, Crookers, The Bloody Beetroots, System 7, The Aggrolites, Longwave, Twisted Wheel, Fake Blood, The Japanese Popstars, Easy Star All Stars, Hayley Sales, Räfven, Jeff Lang, Rowland S. Howard, Comeback My Daughters, Funky Meters and Ben Harper & Relentless 7, clammbon, DISCO BISCUITS, 80kidz, Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves, hanaregumi, The Inspector Cluzo, Juana Molina, THE KILLERS, Kinniku Shoujotai, 9mm Parabellum Bullet, OASIS, PEACHES, PRISCILLA AHN, PUBLIC ENEMY, SAKEROCK, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, TheSkaFlames, SONNY J, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, Tortoise, ZAZEN BOYS

Fuji Rock Festival will be held again at Naeba ski resort on July 24th, 25th and 26th. It will cost you a whopping 39,800yen for three days, or 16800yen for one. One day tickets are limited to 10,000 a day. If you'd like to camp or park, it'll cost you an extra 3000yen. You can get tickets from eplusPia or Ganban. Keep your eye on the Ganban English site or Festival's English site for info on buying the tickets in English or from overseas. Tickets are on sale from March 7th.

Tokyo Gig Guide Day One, Day Two, Day Three

August 7th:

My Chemical Romance, Nine Inch Nails, Kasabian, Aphex Twin, The Enemy, Mogwai, Paramore, Phoenix, Soulwax, Tahiti 80, Boys Like Girls, The Big Pink, Datarock, Girl Talk, Ghostland Observatory, Kyte, Mercury Rev, Mew, Never Shout Never, Red Light COmpany, Saosin, School of 7 Bells, 2ManyDJs

August 8th:

Linkin Park, The Specials, Elvis Costello, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, CSS, Klaxons, Placebo, The Ting Tings, Tom Tom Club, The All-American Rejects, Hollywood Undead, Lenka, Little Boots, Mondo Diao, Metronomy, Matisyahu, Mutemath, Yuksek

August 9th:

Beyonce, The Flaming Lips, Mastodon, Sonic Youth, Teenage Fanclub, Cancer Bats, Enter Shikari, Five Finger Death Punch, Gogol Bordello, Iglu&Hartly, Kid Sister, N.A.S.A.,The Qemists, Solange, Tame Impala, The Temper Trap, The Vaselines, The Veronicas, VV Brown, War

Summersonic are celebrating their 10th anniversary with a special 3 day festival this year at Makuhari Messe and Chiba Marine Stadium on August 8th, 9th and 10th. You'll have to cough up 14,000yen per day or 39,000yen for the three days. Tickets from Pia, eplus and Lawson. Tickets from overseas available from Mosaico.

Tokyo Gig Guide Day One, Day Two, Day Three


Squarepusher, Ricardo Villalobos, TAKKYU ISHINO, Takeshi Kubota, Doseone & Jel (Themselves/Subtle from Anticon), SIS (Sei Es Drum/Cecille), Zazen Boys, Fumiya Tanaka, Daniel Wang, DE DE MOUSE, Matmos, DJ MITSU THE BEATS, world's end girlfriend

TAICOCLUB will be held at Nagano Kisomura Kodama No Mori on June 6th and 7th. Keep your eyes here for ticket info. Tickets will probably soon become available from Pia, eplus and Lawson.

Tokyo Gig Guide Day One, Day Two

An Experimental Evening

by liza

Just a quick post to tell everyone about some bands I saw a couple of weeks ago!

Some Sunday afternoon randomness (drinking may or may not have been involved!) led me to Shibuya's O-Nest on Feb. 8, where Lowborn Soundsystem was playing a gig to celebrate its first album. Since the band billed itself as "post-punk," I was expecting something along the lines of Gang of Four.

Was I wrong! The 7- or 8-member group (it was hard to tell with all the jumping around!) tore onto the stage, ripped up a poster of a Japanese politician and launched into a set that was more Polysics than Joy Division. There were lots of trippy electronics from three DJs/programmers -- but again, hard to tell exactly as there were condoms and maxi pads raining down from the sky, as well as a pig's head, which was real, I learned at the afterparty from the comedian cracking wise between sets.

I don't think I'd classify them as "post-punk/alternative," but they certainly have enough punk attitude to go around. Check out their MySpace here.

Before their set, I was unexpectedly treated to a performance by 30-year-plus experimental veterans Hikashu (ヒカシュー, or "Hikasu" in romanji sometimes). They're outrageous, theatrical and all over the place. How often do you get to see a theremin used on stage? I always wondered how the spooky music in B-movies was made.

It looks like their next gig isn't until April 1 at Star Pine's Cafe, and I definitely recommend checking them out. Their experience really shows in their sound. MySpace here.

(image is from Hikashu's MySpace photos)