Club 8

Fancy some Swedish pop?
Club 8 will be in Japan on April 3rd for a show at O-Nest, supported by 4 bonjour's parties and Mondialito.



Club 8 is Karolina Komstedt and Johan Angergård, also in the great indie-pop band, Acid House Kings. Since 1995, Club 8 have released 6 albums on Spanish label Siesta and Swedish label Labrador. Their sound has moved between twee, bossa-nova, electronica and shiny, happy but melancholic pop.

Their new album, Boy Who Couldn't Stop Dreaming, is out in Japan now.
Listen: Whatever You Want mp3




4 bonjour's parties is a seven piece band who play a large array of instruments from guitar to flute to synthesiser and everything in between. Could they be called dreamy chamber-pop or Belle & Sebastian meets Tortoise? However you describe them, they are definitely one of the most interesting and original bands in japan right now.



Mondialito play beautiful down-tempo, acoustic-electro-bossa. Singing almost all songs in French, you can hear the influence of Keren Ann. Their 4th album, Cher Mon Amoureux, is out now.

On The One, Tearbridge International and Cookie Scene present Club 8.
April 3rd (Thursday) at O-Nest in Shibuya.
The doors open at 6:00 and the music starts at 7:00.
Tickets can be purchased from Lawson. The L-code is 72151.
It costs 3400yen advance or 3900yen at the door.

O-Nest Jan 4 2008

by craig


i am robot and proud


group_inou


ametsub


kashiwa daisuke


shuta hasunuma

a place in the sun vol.7 @ O-Nest 24 march

by craig

O-nest is an odd venue. For most shows, you arrive at the bar from the elevator on the 6th floor, then clamber down to the 5th floor via the fire exit out the back among the love hotel rooftops. For this show, bands were playing both on the 5th floor and in the bar on the 6th floor, so it meant there was a lot of clambering. All this clambering plus overlapping start times meant missing the start of sets or missing some bands altogether.
I'd been wanting to go to one of the events put on by the great a place blog and had been looking out for the chance to see some of these bands, so I was glad I could make it along to this show. Even though there were the festival-like hassles of dashing between bands and even though I arrived late. Unfashionably late, that is, because I came from work still wearing a tie. Loosening my tie, I really enjoyed the couple of songs I managed to catch from Cokiyu who was playing on the bar floor. She was short and fragile, quietly playing delicate sounds on her laptop and whispering. So quiet in fact, that I could barely hear her. I need to get my hearing checked and pick up her new album when it comes out in May. The only chance at the moment to hear Cokiyu's vocals is on one of the tracks on the excellent new album by aus, also beautiful, fragile electronica. Cokiyu plays toy piano in Shugo Tokumaru & The Magic Band. They'll be playing on april 29th, also at O-Nest. Details.
I found my friends downstairs waiting for Miaou. I'd seen Miaou once a couple of years before and kind of liked them but also kind of got bored. Since then they have greatly improved, and I'm also getting more into this guitar stuff again these days. They use intertwining guitars and bass building up and back down, breaking out into louder sections and settling back down again in classic post-rock style. The song that impressed me the most also sounded quite like one of my favourite Múm songs. I picked up Miaou's latest EP which I've since been enjoying.
Moving back upstairs where we spent most of the rest of the night, we caught the end of Lullatone who I was really disappointed to have missed. Child-like electronica complete with toys and soft vocals. I'll have to try to see them again. Next was the Australian indie-popster Alexis with her band The Motifs. Wow, so Melbourne! Lovely twee vocals, simple melodies and a bunch of guest musicians. Again it was too quiet for my poor ears to properly hear. More indie-pop was up next with 4 bonjour's parties, this time a bit louder. They move between indie-pop and Tortoise-like instrumentation with all kinds of instruments plus seven ever-so-cute members crowding the tiny corner acting as a stage.
Downstairs The Sun Calls Stars started off seeming interesting with 2 drummers and 2 mini-saxophone(?) players. But soon the repetitive trance-jazz squawking became tedious, so back upstairs (or downstairs? I'm lost..) for drinks.