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 Craig Exton

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Craig Exton
Craig Exton is a music-obsessed Australian who has been living in Tokyo since 2002. He runs the website Tokyo Gig Guide, writes, plays music, takes photos and makes films.
For Craig Exton's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 27, 2012
Yucca "Our Journey''
Six long years after their first two enjoyable albums, Tokyo band Yucca made a welcome return in June 2012 with the even more impressive "Our Journey (to anywhere we want)." It may not be the most innovative album of 2012, but because of its beautiful textures and overall listenability it was the Japanese album that I found myself playing the most.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 18, 2012
Mamadrive "Mousou Tengoku"
On their first full-length album, Kobe's Mamadrive prove pretty good at capturing the energy and power of their live shows. Masako Shibuya's strong voice leads the songs and her distorted bass lines work with Maika Sasakawa's guitar riffs to weave counter-melodies around the vocal ones. The noisy and more complex indie-rock elements in their music show influence from 1990s alternative-rock acts such as Number Girl, while the emotional vocal style — and commercial accessibility — comes more from that decade's J-pop and pop-punk scenes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 4, 2012
Chairlift taps childhood memories of Japan for inspiration
Next week will mark Brooklyn, New York-based synth-pop duo Chairlift's first gig in Japan, but it won't be the first time here for Caroline Polachek.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 20, 2012
Extremities festival brings together experimental artists from Australia and Japan
Support from government bodies and nonprofit organizations helps develop and promote artists and musicians internationally. Japan sees various events such as Nordic Music Night, Finland Fest and British Anthems thanks to financial assistance from the embassies of the countries involved. Australian support will bring together similar-minded artists from Australia and Japan for the three-day Extremities festival exploring the sonic extremes of the two nations.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 31, 2010
Best Japanese/overseas albums of 2010: Tokyo Gig Guide
Lemon's Chair — "[I Hate? I Hope?]"

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