With the latest releases by Kemuri, Snailramp and Potshot turning up in the record charts, ska-core has emerged from the underground. Ska-core has thrived through a network of small clubs and indie record labels across Japan much like its musical cousin, mellowcore. (Members of Snailramp run one of the strongest labels, School Bus Records.) And, like mellowcore, this has meant that ska-core has been able to gain popularity without the usual aid of Tokyo media and major label hype.

Gianormous Records, as part of its ongoing attempt to catalog Japan's various musical subcultures, has put together a selection of up-and-coming ska-core groups for its latest installment of the "Japanese Homegrown" series.

The ska-core compilation is the fourth release in the series, and like its predecessors, gives a bird's-eye view of a vibrant corner of the Japanese indie scene. As the name implies, ska-core combines the intensity of hardcore with the light swing of ska. Ska-core originators came out of the California punk scene. However, unlike its California hardcore counterpart, not to mention British ska and two-tone, Japanese ska-core is decidedly unpolitical, despite the almost obligatory songs about race or peace. Instead, Japanese ska-core takes the Amercican model and adds a sunny smile.

A classic example is the cut from Pez Stomp. "Dog Race" takes the standard hardcore tune (frantic guitar-powered interludes sandwiched between slower bits) and adds bright, ska-derived horns.

Exuberant? Yes. Original? Hardly, but that's not really the point.

Ska-core may not be the stuff of musical epiphanies, but like its cousin, dancehall reggae, or even the swing revival, is meant for a night of shimmying and shaking fun.

The "Japanese Homegrown" compilation provides plenty of that. One Track Mind's cut, "D-Skas," lilts with almost New Orleans-style horn arrangements and a slap bass while Kansai's Yokozuna Ichiban's "Killer" combines frenetic ska beats with an almost ominous horn line. Change Up's "Absolute Power" is likewise a cut above thanks to interesting horn arrangements.

The track from No End Why, the band of the album's producer, Akila, is also a standout. Sounding more like guitar punk than ska-core, except for an occasional skipping rhythm, "Sunny After a Rainy Day" is easily the tightest song on the record.

Saitama residents can get a taste of ska-core this weekend as big hitters Potshot headline TV Freak's Record's TV Freak's Night 2000 at Kumagaya's Vogue. Otherwise, keep an ear to the ground and, increasingly, an eye on the record charts for more from this exciting scene.

TV Freak Nights 2000 with Potshot, Neurotica and Grest May 13 at 6 p.m. at Kumagaya Vogue in Saitama. For more information, contact Vogue at (048) 524-4100.

Certain clubs become so connected with a particular moment in musical history that they almost become as important as the bands that put them on the map. Such is the case with New York's CBGB's (home to American punk) or even the now-defunct Max's Kansas City, the testing ground of the Velvet Underground.

Bears, a small one-room club in Osaka, has acquired the patina of legend through its association with the Japanese noise scene. Before Cornelius or DJ Krush stoked interest in the more accessible areas of Japanese music, Japanese purveyors of sonic chaos were notorious in esoteric music circles. During the late '80s, tapes of Hanatarashi (an early group of the Boredoms' Eye Yamataka) and Merzbow became the equivalent of musical gold.

This weekend Noise May Day 2000, a mix of well-known noise/improvisation groups, as well as some new names, will add a little more gloss to Bears' reputation as the nexus of Japan's extreme music scene.

Interestingly enough, the highlight of the weekend may be a noise veteran who has turned down the volume a notch. K.K. Null was best known for his ferocious presence as the lead singer and guitarist of Zeni Geva. Though not exactly noise (Zeni Geva had recognizable songs), the group's full-throttle performances and dark mien qualified them as fellow travelers of the noise scene.

During Zeni Geva's recent sabbatical, Null has reinvented himself as a solo improvisational performer. Rather than using the thrust of feedback to batter his audience into submission, Null crafts delicate, almost electronic-sounding pieces (though he eschews electronica of any sort) that seem closer to ambient music than noise.