Tag - frf

 
 

FRF

Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 17, 2016
Slot Machine plans to show Fuji fans how Thailand rocks
Thailand has been a destination for Asian artists looking to expand their markets. From J-rock to K-pop, fans in Bangkok have been able to listen to their fill. Rock band Slot Machine wants this to be a two-way conversation and the members say they'll begin it this year by being the first Thai band to play a major stage at Fuji Rock Festival.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 22, 2014
St. Vincent sits at a crossroads of 'the acceptable and the strange'
Chatting to Annie Clark, what is noticeable is how much she differs from her artistic alter ego. The music she creates as St. Vincent — ambitious art-rock that blends avant-garde sound with melodic richness — has been refined to the point that now, four albums in, she is an artist working entirely in her own sphere. Her songs drip with anxiety, vulnerability and sexual intrigue.
Japan Times
CULTURE
May 31, 2014
Essential summer festivals 2014
A summer without festivals simply wouldn’t be a proper summer in Japan, so now that the humidity has returned, it’s time to slop on an extra layer of sunscreen and line up some outdoor activities.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUJI ROCK 2013
Jul 31, 2013
A year of tough choices at Fuji
Wandering around on the opening day of this year's Fuji Rock, I got the impression that numbers were down on previous years. Of course, anyone who has ever been stuck in the event's seemingly never-ending lines for the portable toilets — or who's been shut out from seeing their favorite band as the tent-like confines of Red Marquee filled to the brim — will be able to tell you that this is not necessarily a bad thing.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUJI ROCK 2013
Jul 25, 2013
Storify: Fuji Rock Festival 2013
The Fuji Rock Festival's pre-show matsuri kicked off tonight. Over the next three days, we'll be curating the related tweets and images coming from social media.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUJI ROCKERS
Aug 2, 2012
Purity Ring's secret? Start your morning right
How does Fuji Rock compare with other festivals around the world?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUJI ROCKERS
Aug 2, 2012
Mono wants you to give your parents a hug
Great gig!
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Jul 26, 2012
Fuji's Rookie A Go-Go stage holds an antidote for the same-old rockers
The Fuji Rock Festival kicks off tomorrow with its dependable mixture of ageing rockers from abroad, a handful of predictably chosen Japanese acts, and just a smattering of blogged-about buzz bands. This year in particular, the joy I felt upon the demise of Oasis has been replaced with the dread of the hydralike horror of two separate Gallagher-fronted bands as headlining acts on two successive days.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 1, 2011
The New Mastersounds hone a jazz-funk style at gigs
The New Mastersounds have many old friends in Japan. The British four-piece was first noticed on these shores by fans of Scottish Northern Soul and funk DJ Keb Darge's "Deep Funk" series of compilations in the early 2000s, and an impressive live resume has followed.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 24, 2011
1991 USSR coup attempt's steep cost
Twenty years ago this weekend, a group of Communist Party Politburo members and Soviet government officials attempted a coup d'état. They created an unconstitutional "committee on the state of emergency," isolated the Soviet president and removed him from power.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 4, 2011
Lesser lights shine amid Fuji Rock rains
When U.S. act Washed Out hit the Red Marquee stage on Friday night, that's when the Fuji Rock Festival 2011 really began to get going.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 28, 2011
Vaccines bring shot of rock to Fuji
Even before the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake caused concert cancellations en masse, The Vaccines had to start pulling out of overseas tour commitments due to singer Justin Young's throat operation. Now "100 percent better," the band will show the audience at this year's Fuji Rock Festival what has made them Britain's most talked-about indie-pop band since Arctic Monkeys.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 14, 2011
Fighting for change the Fuji Rock way
Faced with the nation's worst disaster since World War II, Fuji Rock Festival founder Masahiro Hidaka had to make a choice back in March — whether to hold Japan's biggest summer music festival this year or not. He decided that the show must go on.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 6, 2010
Hippies and hipsters brave a soggy Fuji Rock
When you're talking about a music festival whose inaugural event was literally wiped out by a typhoon, it can feel a bit petty to complain about the weather. All the same, campers arriving at Fuji Rock Festival in Naeba on Thursday last week might have hoped for a warmer welcome than the torrential downpour that greeted them. Though things improved as the weekend went on, the rain still managed to put a dampener on the proceedings, and might explain the muted reception afforded to some of the festival's biggest acts.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 6, 2010
Thoughts on Fuji — Dirty Projectors, Ozomatli, !!! and Yeasayer
Dave Longstreth, Dirty Projectors You mentioned during your show that it felt pretty early to be rocking out . . .
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 30, 2010
LCD Soundsystem bring some edge to Fuji Rock Fest
Share your experience at Fuji Rock with The Japan Times Be sure to check out our live online coverage of the 2010 Fuji Rock Festival at tokyo.japantimes.co.jp. We'll feature interviews with some of the acts, reviews of all the major performances and lots of visuals.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 23, 2010
Hikashu to take 'pataphysics to Fuji Rock
On the face of it, the lineup for this year's Fuji Rock Festival has not been kind to Japanese artists, with representation on the higher profile stages confined to such stalwarts as melodic punk rocker Ken Yokoyama and dance duo Boom Boom Satellites. The lack of any real challenge to these oldies' dominance is either an indictment of the ambition of the younger generation of musicians, or more likely of an increasingly conservative music industry.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / A SCORCHING SUMMER SCHEDULE
Jul 2, 2010
Fuji Rock Festival: Atoms For Peace
It sounded like a practical joke at first: Radiohead's Thom Yorke starting a band with frat-funk bassist Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers? But after a string of successful dates in the United States, including California's Coachella Festival, it's clear that Atoms for Peace mean business — and know how to stir up one hell of a party. It's been seven years since Radiohead last played at a Japanese festival and this looks to be the next best thing. Maybe even better.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 23, 2010
Inspector Cluzo mix rock, blues, funk — no bass
Last year, French rock group The Inspector Cluzo played 185 concerts in 23 countries. Despite linguistic and cultural differences between the guitar-and-drums duo and their audiences, they had little difficulty spreading their basic message: "F-ck the bass player."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 29, 2010
Math rockers Toe take it slow
Toe have their own record label, Machupicchu Industrias. It's not so much to flaunt a punklike DIY ethic, they're basically just slow.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world