At the entrance to the headquarters of concert-promoter Smash is an original poster for the Sex Pistols’ “God Save the Queen” single. When the group did a reunion tour of Japan several years ago, Smash President Masa Hidaka had them autograph it. This may ...

The title cut of the new Felicity sampler — a jazzy drum ‘n’ bass joint effort by newish Japanese pop group Spangle call Lilli line and electronica outfit Spanova — elicits a series of responses: familiarity (haven’t I heard this before?), confusion (but where?), ...

Daevid Allen’s ’60s psychedelic group Gong spent a good many of its albums relating the adventures of Pothead Pixies and Radio Gnomes on the peaceful Planet Gong. Makoto Kawabata channels music from outer space into his band, Acid Mothers Temple. Fuse the two together ...

Dani Siciliano’s voice is such a classic jazz instrument that one expects her to break into an improvised scat at any moment. Yes, her voice is somewhat thinner and higher than that of Ella Fitzgerald or June Christy, but she shares the same stylish ...

Sitting in his record distributor’s office in a small house in Naka-Meguro, Riow Arai is ostensibly being interviewed. But he isn’t answering questions, he is asking them. His latest album, “Device People,” is about to be released in Britain, and with only a faint ...

Osaka’s Satanicpornocultshop has been described as a hip-hop band due to their cut-and-paste aesthetic, but one wonders if even that famously elastic genre has enough room to accommodate the absolutely gleeful musical abandon that surfaces on their sixth album, “Anorexia Gas Balloon.” The first ...

Yoko Ono loves me. Or at least she said that she does in the e-mail interview we conducted as she crisscrossed the globe. Peace and love have so long been central to Ono’s public persona that it is tempting to view it cynically. What ...

To the general public, Yoko Ono is best known as the wife of John Lennon. Some may have a vague inkling that she is important for something other than the far-out records she made with her husband, but without knowing exactly what. Yet “Yes ...

Psychedelia, for most people, was all about bad fashion and, of course, bad trips. The loud paisley ties long ago made their way to secondhand shops, though. And with a few exceptions, the music has been consigned to “influence” status. An astute listener can ...

You could call Seigen Ono a connoisseur of sound. He chooses only the finest sonic ingredients and knows exactly how to obtain them. As an avant-garde jazz composer and guitarist, he might not be a household name, but check out the credits on some ...

Acid Mothers Temple and the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. is arguably one of the most influential Japanese bands in the world at this moment. But want to read a review of one of their records? You’ll have to find a copy of The Wire or ...

Scout Niblett deserves to be a star just on the strength of her name. Born Emma Niblett, she adopted “Scout” as a performing moniker because of an obsession with the leading character in the Southern saga “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The South turns up ...