Almost all Japanese editions of albums by foreign artists contain Japan-only bonus tracks, but few of these tracks are as site-specific as the one that closes the debut album by the New York-based postrock quartet Battles.
The title, "Katoman," refers to a Tokyo concert promoter who goes by that nickname. Working alone, he has become something of an underground legend, and may have affected music on an international scale more than he realizes.
"The first tour we did here in 2004 was 11 shows," recalls Battles' Ian Williams, sitting in the noisy press hospitality area of Naeba Prince Hotel at the Fuji Rock Festival, where his band will take to the White Stage later in the afternoon. For lunch, he is eating individually wrapped chocolates and drinking mineral water.