Free MP3s: matryoshka

Matryoshka are a beautiful Japanese ambient post-rock band who released an album called Zatracenie in 2007.

All but two of the tracks are available for free download from last.fm:

(right click and "save link as" to download)

1. Sink into the Sin
2. Slow Snow
3. Evening Gleam Between Clouds
4. Viridian
7. Anesthetic
8. Ezekiel
9. Beyond
10. February Lifesaver

Earlier this year they released a great remix album, Coctura with remixes by the likes of aus, world's end girlfriend and tujiko noriko. Highly, highly recommended.
Here is track 10:

10. February Lifesaver (November Version)

They have a new album which is supposed to be released sometime this year.
Demo versions of some of the songs are available for free download:

1.Oblivion
2. Hallucinatory Halo
3. Gentle Afternoon
4. Monotonous Purgatory
5. Niedola

Unfortunately, they don't seem to play live very often. But if they announce any gigs, they'll definitely be listed on Tokyo Gig Guide!

Matryoshka homepage
Myspace

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?

Where to buy Japanese music online in English

by craig

Digitally

These days, it is easy to legally purchase and download mp3s. Although the quality is still not usually as good as a CD, it is instant; you don't have to wait for shipping, and it is usually cheaper.

For super-convenience, of course there is the iTunes store, but their choice is rather limited when it comes to Japanese stuff. The same can be said for Rhapsody,



HearJapan has some a nice selection of Japanese albums and songs on mp3 that you can't find in the iTunes Store. They have mostly indie and electropop stuff, as well as visual-kei and JRock.



JapanFiles is similar, and has a good selection of indie songs for 99c per mp3.

Physical CDs and Records

Sometimes we still want an actual CD or record that we can hold in our mitts and file alphabetically on our jam-packed shelves.

Let's start with the big guns.

Amazon Japan is good for those living in Japan as their website is available in English. For international orders, their shipping rates are very high though. Same goes for HMV.

If you live in Japan and can read Japanese, Disk Union is a good place to look.

If you are in the US, you can find a pretty good selection on Amazon.com.

You can find quite a bit of good stuff from a variety of genres on CD Japan or YesAsia. They also sell movies and anime and stuff.

For more specialised music, and of course to support the little guys, I recommend the following:


Otonson has a great selection of experimental and electronic music searchable by label. They also have reasonable shipping costs.



Sonore is based in France and has an interesting choice of electronic and experimental Japanese music. You can see a list of artists Sonore stocks here.

Das Gemeine have some good psych and experimental stuff. Their website is closed for maintenance right now though.



Jetset Records is a cool little record store in Shimokitazawa and Kyoto which also has an online store in English stocking a lot of Japanese and International electro, dance and indie-pop CDs and records.



Tokyo Recohan (Tokyo Record Hunting) specialises in cheap second-hand Shibuya-kei and Japanese pop CDs which you buy using PayPal. They have low shipping costs and the website is in English and French.

In England, there is Far Side Music, stocking mostly older Japanese music like YMO.

You can often order directly from the labels you like. Check out the links page for some record labels.

Some other record stores in Japan like Vinyl Junkie and Onsa can ship internationally and accept orders in English even though their websites are not in English.

Feel free to leave any other recommendations in the comments.

My Jero

While I was slinking to the station after just another day at the office in Shiodome on Wednesday, I stumbled on a free gig by Japan's newest It Boy: Jero the pseudo-hip-hop enka singer.

I figured I might as well check it out to distract myself from sulking about being too broke for Fuji Rock this weekend.

Certainly most of the ladies seemed enthralled by this American crooner, who says that his Japanese maternal grandmother introduced him to enka and the Japanese language.

I was more enthralled with his jarring image. Jero eschews kimono for gear straight from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but still performs traditionally: standing in one place, overusing facial expressions and randomly grabbing at the air as his diamond earrings glitter in the light.

Behind him, Jero promotional videos rolled on a screen, instead of, say, cherry blossoms and oceans like in the usual enka videos. His voice was a bit deeper than I expected, and while quite pleasant, I'd like to hear it again in a few more years when he's got a bit more polish and power.

Because his image is so jarring, I was expecting him to add his own touch to the music, but the arrangements he sings over are starkly traditional -- no beats, samples, skits, or other accouterments of modern hip-hop.

During the post-performance harassment -- err, questioning -- by Nippon Television flunkies, Jero remained soft-spoken and gracious. He must really be a publicist's dream: a novelty, but not enough to alienate anyone, and seemingly tireless, as shown by his endless number of TV appearances, gigs and coffee advertisements.

What do you think, is Jero nothing but shtick or is he the real thing?

(photo is from Jero's official blog)

Tokyo Gig Guide in Best Of The Web '08

Tokyo Gig Guide was included on Japanzine's Best Of The Web '08 article about Japan websites.
It's in the 'Tragically Hip' section, along with some good music sites like Japan Onchi and Improvised Music From Japan.

Dancing to a Japanese Beatles cover band by the tandoor

Last night, a coworker had been invited to play bass in a band in Chiba, so I decided to go along.
After getting totally lost, we finally managed to get to the venue which was an Indian restaurant hidden under a huge apartment building in the middle of nowhere in Higashi-Chiba.
Inside, it was a British rock-themed izakaya-like place jam-packed with an odd collection of middle-aged locals. I tucked into a super-spicy North Indian curry and some pints of Bass.
The band set up and earnestly played Beatles songs. A few people got up and danced at first, and later after more songs, beer and samosas, chairs were pushed aside and half the place was getting on down. An Indian chef showed off some Bollywood moves and a lady in a strange dance outfit very enthusiastically tried to make me dance with her, while an old guy with overalls and a combover cheered and took photos. We were offered some home-brewed ale.
Next, just to make things even more surreal, an old guy in an orange shirt got on stage and started singing opera.
It was great to see some real, unpretentious culture. If only I'd brought along my camera.

Fuji Rock & Summersonic lineups

by craig


Some of the artists have been announced for Fuji Rock Festival `08:

NEW (April): ASPARAGUS, BEAT CRUSADERS, BEN FOLDS, BETTYE LAVETTE, Bill Laswell presents Method of Defiance, BLACKMARKET, Bootsy Collins Tribute to the Godfather of Soul, THE BREEDERS, THE CRIBS, CSS, DatA, THE DEATH SET, DOBERMAN, eastern youth, ELLEGARDEN, FEEDER, FLOWER TRAVELLIN' BAND, FreeTEMPO, GALACTIC featuring Chali 2na (of Jurassic 5) and Boots Riley (of The Coup), THE GO!TEAM, GOGOL BORDELLO, GOSSIP, GOTYE, HARD-FI, IAN BROWN, KIYOSHIRO IMAWANO & NICE MIDDLE with NEW BLUE DAY HORNS plus NAKAIDO "CHABO" REICHI, JANET KLEIN, JASON FALKNER, JASON MRAZ, KASABIAN, KATE NASH, Kicell, LETTUCE, M!NK, MELEE, MICHAEL FRANTI AND SPEARHEAD, THE MUSIC, MY BLOODY VALENTINE, MYSTERY JETS, NARUYOSHI KIKUCHI DUB SEXTET, ONE NIGHT ONLY, OZOMATLI, PRIMAL SCREAM, PRINCESS SUPERSTAR, QURULI, THE RASCALS, Riddim Saunter, RODRIGO Y GABRIELA, ROGER JOSEPH MANNING JR., RYUKYUDISKO, SEASICK STEVE, SHERBETS, SPECIAL OTHERS, SPOON, SWITCH, Tomobe Masato, TRAVIS, UNDERWORLD, WHITE LIES

Of course more artists will be announced but it looks like it might have potential. My Bloody Valentine? Yes!


Most of Summersonic `08's artists have been announced:

COLDPLAY / THE VERVE / SEX PISTOLS / THE PRODIGY / ALICIA KEYS / FATBOY SLIM / PAUL WELLER / DEVO / SPIRITUALIZED / THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN / PANIC AT THE DISCO / MAXIMUM THE HORMONE / ZEBRAHEAD / AGAINST ME! / BEAT UNION / BAND OF HORSES / BEDOUIN / SOUNDCLASH / CAJUN DANCE PARTY / CRYSTAL CASTLES / FRIENDLY FIRES / JACK'S MANEQUIN / JUNKIE XL / LATE OF THE PIER / THE METROS / MUTEMATH / NEW FOUND GLORY / NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB / OLD MAN RIVER / POLYSICS / SILVERSUN PICKUPS / SKINDRED / SOUTH CENTRAL / THE SUBWAYS / THE TING TINGS / WE SMOKE FAGS / XAVIER RUDD

NEW (March 15th): 311, Lostprophets, The Fratellis, Justice, Hadouken!, The Hoosiers, Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong, MGMT, Onerepublic, The Wombats, Trivium, Vampire Weekend.

NEW (March 21st): Death Cab For Cutie, The Kooks, Cafe Tacvba, These New Puritans, The Teenagers

A few goodies but mostly fairly yawnable.

FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL '08 is on July 25th (Fri), 26th (Sat) and 27th (Sun) 2008 at Naeba Ski Resort in Niigata.
3-day tickets are ¥39,800. 1-day tickets are ¥16,800 but limited to 10,000 tickets a day. A car park pass costs ¥3,000 a car per day and a campsite ticket is ¥3,000 valid for the festival period. Pre-booking on sale now until 6/6 from Pia, eplus, and Ganban (English)

SUMMER SONIC '08 is on August 9th (Saturday) and 10th (Sunday) at Chiba Marine Stadium & Makuhari Messe.
A 1-day ticket is ¥15,500 and a 2-day ticket is ¥28,500.
Tickets will be on sale from May 24th from:
Pia (The Pia code is 287-355 for 1 day and 782-024 for both),
Lawson (The Lawson code is 77770),
eplus and CN Playguide