Jeff Hammond - The Japan Times

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Jeff Hammond

For Jeff Hammond's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jan 30, 2005

Roots Manuva: "Awfully Deep"

After three years away from the circus, Roots Manuva is back to remind listeners just who runs U.K. hip-hop. It's not easy to describe Manuva, aka Rodney Smith, but then he does a pretty good job himself, boasting on his new album, "Awfully Deep," of his "venomous eloquence" and his "cryptic displays of deadpan." As lyrically lucid as ever, Roots Manuva's third album teems with attitude, imagination, humor and genuine insight. Standout songs include the title track and "Chin High," which deals with being strong and true to yourself. Elsewhere, drug abuse, revenge and the value of money all get the Manuva treatment.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Dec 26, 2004

The Clash: "London Calling: 25th Anniversary Edition"

"London Calling" is one of those timeless songs that can't help sending a shiver up your spine anytime you hear it and the double album it lent its title to is, for many, the quintessential Clash album. To celebrate 25 years since its release, "London Calling" has been re-issued as a special CD/DVD pack. The original album, in its entirety, together with unreleased tracks from the same period, is on Disc 1, with previously unreleased sessions from the Vanilla studios (prior to the album's recording), on Disc 2. These raw demos are mainly of interest to serious Clash fans, but some unfocused jams do offer insight into the development of certain key songs.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Dec 26, 2004

V.A.: "WarpVision: The Videos 1989-2004"

Sheffield's Warp label has been associated with cutting-edge visuals as well as its electronic music -- a reputation no doubt based on the strength of its packaging, as well some of its more striking videos, notably by the lauded director Chris Cunningham. His best work for Warp stands out on this DVD of the label's promo videos, and includes such scary characters as the dancing hermaphrodite Aphex Twin in "Windowlicker" and a rampaging girl karate-kicking her way through Squarepusher's "Come on my Selector."

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Sep 26, 2004

"Studio One Funk"

American influences in Jamaican music have always been unmistakable -- the R&B and jazz backdrop to ska, the soul influences in rocksteady and reggae, and today the hip-hop gangsta posturing in contemporary ragga. In this collection, drawn from the vaults of the prolific Studio One label, attention is on the infusion of dirty old funk into '70s reggae.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

May 23, 2004

2 Lone Swordsmen: "From the Double Gone Chapel"

Since 1996, Andrew Weatherall and Keith Tenniswood, under the guise of the Two Lone Swordsmen, have been busy pushing dance music's emotional range into areas it doesn't usually go. Their dark and twisted instrumental electro touches on feelings of despair, frustration and submerged violence.

CULTURE / Music

Apr 25, 2004

The Abyssinians and Friends: "Tree of Satta"

Only in the world of reggae could you get away with a whole album of different versions of a song formed from a single backing track, yet how each version voices the track -- with new vocalists, lyrics or different lead instruments -- is exactly what excites the reggae audience.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Mar 28, 2004

A subversive sampler of the future

Since the '80s -- when the first samplers came on the market -- sampling in music has evolved from a revolutionary and barely understood practice to become a standard tool in the production of even the most mundane pop song. It's all in the hands of the user -- and when those hands belong to Coldcut, one of the pioneering forces of sample-based music, you can be assured the results will be intriguing. By taking snatches of recorded music and spoken word and juxtaposing them with unrelated elements in a completely different context, Coldcut use sampling for satire, political comment and comic effect.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Feb 1, 2004

A testament to the love of Gainsbourg

A week before her concert appearance in Tokyo, I call Jane Birkin. That's Jane -- heavy breathing on the raunchy 1969 Serge Gainsbourg classic, "Je t'aime . . . moi non plus" -- Birkin.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Dec 14, 2003

Shooting gallery aimed at sumo

On the other side of the Sumida River from Nihonbashi is Ryogoku, the undisputed center of the sumo world. Popular ways for a visitor to experience the character of the area include watching one of the three annual Tokyo basho (tournaments) at the Kokugikan (Sumo Stadium), joining some of the wrestlers at one of the area's many restaurants serving the sumo staple of chanko nabe, or -- for real enthusiasts -- waiting patiently in line to watch the wrestlers push and shove at an early morning training session at one of the sumo stables that dot the area.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Dec 14, 2003

Bento pioneers stay the course of time

As the hub of the Gokaido, the five roads radiating from old Edo to major centers around the country, the Nihonbashi district of the capital was long one of its most bustling areas.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Nov 9, 2003

Project puts sizzle back on dance floor

Paris has long been a musical, as well as an artistic, melting pot, earning itself a reputation as the global center for world music. The city's central and North African population have long been the main source of spice, but recently some new flavors are coming through.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Oct 12, 2003

His finger on the pulse of life on Earth

The Philip Glass Ensemble has been performing the music to the film "Koyaanisqatsi," live with screenings of the film, since the year after the film's release in 1982. This was later complemented by the performance of music from the film's 1987 followup "Powaqqatsi." So far, these cinema concerts have been given before more than 5 million people worldwide.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Art

Oct 8, 2003

Bygone beauties in the modern age

Shoen Uemura was a rarity -- one of the few Japanese female artists who worked in a traditional style and found recognition and acclaim. "The Shoen Uemura Retrospective," an exhibition showing at the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum (then moving to the Utsunomiya Museum in Tochigi Prefecture later this month), brings together a comprehensive body of works loaned by more than 40 museums, galleries and private collections across Japan. It provides a welcome look at an unusual artist.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Art

Oct 1, 2003

The fine arts of craftsmanship, then and now

Among the various styles of art born in the former capital of Kyoto is the highly cultured style known as Rimpa that flowered early in the 17th century. The pioneers of the style were Hon'ami Koetsu (1558-1637) and Tawaraya Sotatsu (?-1643?), and the art form didn't become known as Rimpa until it was named for a later master, Ogata Korin (1658-1716) -- the rin in Korin being suffixed with pa (from ha), meaning "school."

CULTURE / Music

Sep 28, 2003

Singing in the ageless language of love

Among the rags-to-riches stories that make the annals of popular music such a colorful read, few tales are as dramatic as that of Ibrahim Ferrer, now age 76.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Aug 27, 2003

Broadcast: "Ha Ha Sound"

Rarely does a gem shine out from the dull ground of contemporary electronica, but when one does it should be treasured. Such is "Ha Ha Sound," Broadcast's second album.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Aug 6, 2003

Rough Trade Shops: "Post Punk 01"

When punk hit a recession-ridden U.K. in 1975-'76, using a rudimentary version of rock 'n' roll as a platform to scream obscenities and threaten to smash the state, it was enough to ignite outrage across the land. And then, before your grandfather could curse "They should bring back military service," the movement had largely imploded. But its repercussions were far-reaching, inspiring another wave of music and the rise of independent labels such as Mute, Beggars Banquet and Factory.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jul 16, 2003

Hard beats from an open mind

An unspoken hero of dance music will unpack his box of tricks in Tokyo this week.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jul 9, 2003

Dub-tropical of Little Tempo travels well

While most of Tokyo is frantically trying to cool down, Japan's prime dub outfit Little Tempo will be heating things up this summer with a series of live gigs.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Jul 2, 2003

The Octagon Man: "Magneton"

His real name might be J-Saul Kane; no one knows for sure. Kane is, however, known to possess multiple bank accounts and aliases. Most commonly known as Depth Charge, he also works under the name Alexander's Dark Band and seems to reserve the pseudonym The Octagon Man for his most twisted and deranged electro-style operations. The Octagon Man has been under intense surveillance since the "Ito Calculus" incident of 2000, and the extent of his depravity is plain to see in his latest album, "Magneton." Like his other dastardly intrigues, "Magneton" was hatched from his headquarters, the Iron Monkey Studios, on his home turf of Ladbroke Grove, West London. Despite the presence of the Two Lone Swordsmen and other fellow electro-conspirators in the same city, Kane remains a lone wolf and unique phenomenon, displaying idiosyncratic tactical and stylistic tendencies.

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

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