Ian Martin - The Japan Times

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

Meta

Twitter

Ian Martin

Ian Martin is a freelance writer covering music and pop culture. He has been active in the Tokyo music scene as an indie event organiser, DJ and label owner since 2004 and has been contributing to The Japan Times music page for almost as long.

For Ian Martin's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Dec 17, 2013

The best Japanese albums of 2013: Melt-Banana, 'Fetch'

Back in June, I picked up on minimalist psychedelic postpunk trio Extruders' "Colors" as the album of the year so far. Six months later, it's still right up among the very best of the year. Its carefully unwinding songs, murmured vocals and understated yet affecting melodies interspersed with delicately poised deployments of feedback and noise are as gently thrilling now as they were then. When considered alongside the band's hypnotic live performances, "Colors" has cemented Extruders' position as one of the indie scene's most talked about bands of the year.

CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE

Nov 26, 2013

Look to pop culture if you want to blame someone for A-Chan's gay gaffe

All art is political. All pop culture is political.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Nov 12, 2013

Sheena & The Rokkets reminisce over Fukuoka's mentai rock scene ahead of anniversary gig

Punk in Japan is widely taken as having begun in earnest in 1979. That was when Friction — freshly back in Japan from New York, where members of the group had played with The Contortions and Teenage Jesus & The Jerks — appeared alongside bands such as Lizard and Mr. Kite on the legendary "Tokyo Rockers" concert and compilation album. But just as British and American punk had roots in earlier pub and garage rock, Japan also had its own proto-punk traditions.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Oct 29, 2013

Damo Suzuki sees promise in young artists

"I don't like to make music, I like to make energy. Music is just a way to get energy, so why not just make energy?"

CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE

Oct 29, 2013

Tokyo Boredom is blazing its own trail — and the first stop is Taiwan

Of all the cliches about Japanese music being bandied around, the one I find most baffling is the idea that bands here are "just copying Western music." It's a rehash of the old jibe, originally born from fear of Japan's rapid postwar industrial growth, about the Japanese being dedicated imitators but lacking originality, so let's just call it out for what it is: obvious and utter nonsense.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Oct 22, 2013

Capsule's Yasutaka Nakata reworks signature sound on 'Caps Lock'

As the producer behind electro-idol trio Perfume and oddball techno-pop style icon Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Yasutaka Nakata has been behind some of the most interesting and forward-thinking pop in Japan, consistently pushing back the boundaries of what the mainstream can handle while maintaining a musical identity that marks anything he touches as distinctly his.

CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE

Oct 2, 2013

True tradition would be preferable to an 'Idolympics' in 2020

Ten-thousand Kumamons doing an elaborate Busby Berkeley-style dance routine to Kyu Sakamoto's international 1963 hit "Sukiyaki"? A 100-meter Hatsune Miku towering over the stadium while 80,000 spectators crane their necks for a glimpse up her skirt? Newly elected Prime Minister Pamyu Pamyu speeding up a ramp and jumping into the stadium on Kaneda's bike from "Akira" to deliver the "Idolympic" Torch?

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Oct 2, 2013

Melt-Banana: Being 'stupid' isn't so bad when it comes to touring

For Melt-Banana, the flip side of popularity overseas is that it is often regarded as a band who has never really lived up to its potential at home.

CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE

Aug 28, 2013

Twenty years ago, Cornelius releases the track that defined Shibuya-kei

The song "The Sun is My Enemy," released 20 years ago on Sept. 1, 1993, may have only reached No. 15 on the Japanese singles charts, but its importance lingers.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Aug 21, 2013

Umez label is good news for noise-pop

"Those voices makes me vomit! Too many people in one band is no good. It's kind of scary. I feel like I'm suffering from car sickness all the time."

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE

Jul 24, 2013

Piña coladas on the beach? Your soundtrack has already been written

Writing a summer pop tune is easy. Just take an uptempo rhythm, add a catchy chorus, stir in some breezy lyrics and you have the soundtrack to a thousand summer romances and several lifetimes' worth of wistful reminiscences.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jul 10, 2013

C86 sound jangles on in the Japanese indie scene

If pop culture is primarily about escapism, one of the enduring mysteries of the music world must surely be how the sounds of cold, wet afternoons in mid-1980s Manchester came to capture the imaginations of artists around the world. From the sunny shores of California to the icy hillsides of Finland, there remain to this day little pockets of musicians where it is forever 1986.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE

Jun 27, 2013

Summer's best festivals are off the beaten path

For the past 10-15 years, Japan's festival season has been dominated by four main events: Fuji Rock, Summer Sonic, Rock in Japan and Rising Sun.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE

May 30, 2013

Linguistic choices can be an artistic or cultural statement for Japanese musicians

On May 14, singer-songwriter Satoru Ono released a vinyl single titled "All My Colours." Anyone who knows Ono's work would have found themselves on familiar ground with the two tracks, in their mix of 1980s U.K. indie and '90s Japanese neo-acoustic pop, delivered with a classic pop craftsman's hand.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

May 23, 2013

Explore one of Tokyo's most indie neighborhoods at Shimokitazawa Sound Cruising

Tokyo's Shimokitazawa neighborhood is one of the most important places for indie music in the city. A lively suburb at the nexus between the Inokashira and Odakyu train lines, it's just distant enough from the big urban hubs of Shinjuku and Shibuya to avoid being absorbed by them, but close enough that it's relatively easy to access from pretty much anywhere. However, like much of the Tokyo indie scene, knowing where to go and what to see can be perplexing.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

May 16, 2013

Momoiro Clover Z "5th Dimension"

There were some curious rumors flying around prior to the release of "5th Dimension," the second album by idol quintet Momoiro Clover Z, some of them intriguing ("It's going to be a concept album") and some worrying (longtime producer Kenichi "Hyadain" Maeyamada reportedly called it "tedious and uninteresting" before hastily erasing the offending tweet).

CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE

Apr 25, 2013

A postmortem on how promoters let a Blur gig in Japan slip away

The Tokyo Rocks festival, which had been scheduled for May 11 and 12, was an ambitious attempt to bring big-name overseas artists such as Blur, Primal Scream and My Bloody Valentine together with a range of Japanese acts. On March 31, it was announced it had been canceled.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Apr 18, 2013

Extruders have a rock epiphany

"Before the gig, we were quite intimidated: a lowly rock band performing in front of a god. After, we found we could do it, and that was the turning point for us."

CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE

Mar 28, 2013

R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Find out what it means to indie's new talent

It's 6 a.m. and the tiny studio is crammed full of people and reeks of sweat. An ear-splitting punk trio do their best to blast the ceiling off and a woman wrapped in nothing but a bit of Duct tape careers around the room, shrieking into a microphone.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE

Feb 28, 2013

MBV inspires Japan to keep staring at its feet

In February 2013, there were three events that shook the world: the resignation of the pope, North Korea's successful test of a nuclear bomb, and the release of Irish/British rock band My Bloody Valentine's first new album in 22 years. Dispatched with less frequency than popes and comparable volume to nuclear bombs, My Bloody Valentine albums are rare and dangerous beasts, with venues on the band's recent tour handing out complimentary earplugs to the audience on the way in.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports