OOIOO [JAPAN]
right hand ponk mp3
ene sode mp3 @ better propaganda page
i’m off to see OOIOO tonight in sydney, so only right to herald in a quartet of japanese tracks today>> pronounced oh-oh-ey-oh-oh, OOIOO is the brainchild of the uber-talented yoshimi yokota – best known for her work with the boredoms as well as lending an occasional hand to kim gordon’s free kitten. [you may also recognise the name from the flaming lips‘ tribute ‘yoshimi battles the pink robots’]. she’s just released a ‘best of’ compilation featuring tracks from her first three (of five) albums, entitled ‘cococoooioo’. yoshimi and the boredoms particular strain of music is where my love affair of japanese music began – i saw them live in london in 2002 – yoshimi and two other drummers, sitting in a circle of three kits facing each other, bashing all shades of hell from the skins, while the other main boredoms player, eye, stood on a table and played a frequency generator, extreme high pitches at extreme high volumes. i’d never seen a gig like it (and possibly never will again) and i had certainly never heard any music like it. their take on psychadelic improvisation is not only radical, it’s almost thoroughly unique – and in this day and age where pop has eaten itself time and time again, that’s a rare beast indeed. [thrill jockey page]
WE ACEDIASTS [JAPAN]
ibasho mp3
if you’ve picked up a copy of the dfa‘s latest compilation (‘dfa records volume 2’) then hurry back to the two tracks from japanese band j.o.y. – the marriage of japanese rock with the dfa’s signature style is a joy to behold, although i reckon the original wins out over the dfa remix. another japanese band touched by the hand of the ubiquitous new yorkers is we acediasts. the four piece (three from japan, one from new jersey) recorded two tracks with the dfa, both of which can be found on their release ‘pre acediasts’, along with six other tracks recorded in tokyo. the above dfa mp3 is a rare opportunity to hear the producers stripped right back, a minimal marriage of trademark post-punk 4-4, krautrock, psych and post-rock. unfortunately, it seems like the we acediasts project was short lived, splitting not long after these sessions were recorded. [site]
ROVO [JAPAN]
horses mp3
i found this band on an import compilation called ‘anima mundi’, a great collection of japanese psych-rock. another offshoot from the prolific boredoms factory, this time featuring guitarist seiichi yamamoto. their mandate is to create ‘man-driven-trance’ which one reviewer took to mean that their music “signalled a wish to destroy the boundaries between DJs and bands, digital and analog”. the track above is now stretching the concept of ‘new music’, released in 1999 (taken from the album ‘imago’), but like a great deal of this genre, it genuinely doesn’t date. the six piece also features members of other japanese bands including dub squad, demi semi quaver and bazooka joe. john zorn’s tzadik label (who recently released a fat planet feature album, ex-cibo matto member yuka honda‘s ‘eucademix’) has a live double with additional bill laswell mixes here.
MARXY [JAPAN]
neoplasticism vs. de stijl mp3
marxy is david marx, originally from the u.s. now resident in tokyo. as an american in japan, influenced by all the beautiful insanity of the local culture, it’s no surprise that his album ‘kyoshu nostalgia’ is a twisted marriage of the two countries – and two specific styles. if you’ve heard any pure j-pop, you’ll know there’s a bagful of sugar in the saccahrine sounds. it’s a little too much for me most of the time, but it’s so unlike western pop music that it demands attention. usually, it’s the leftfield pop that makes the grade outside the homeland, e.g. pizacatto five or puffy amiyumi. marxy, however, it taking j-pop in a direction that’s entirely unexpected. imagine for a moment that the beach boys were brought up in tokyo – think j-pop mixed with sixties surf melodies, vocal harmonies and lyrics chock full of sweet teen longing. it’s bizarre, unique and completely unexpected. the above mp3 is an anomaly, the lone voice in the album pack that marries marxy‘s sound with electronic breaks – although the breakdown towards the end points directly towards the rest of the album. a curio not to be missed. [site]