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April 19, 2024
 

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PLAY BUTTON

Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Jan 4, 2004
Nothing lost in the digital translation
Sitting in his record distributor's office in a small house in Naka-Meguro, Riow Arai is ostensibly being interviewed. But he isn't answering questions, he is asking them.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Nov 9, 2003
In a community of like-minded spirits
Psychedelia, for most people, was all about bad fashion and, of course, bad trips.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Aug 24, 2003
The incredible remixing man
A good remix uncovers an element of the song that was already there so the listener perceives it in a whole new way. A bad remix often ends up as a vehicle for someone else's ego, with the original becoming so contorted and manipulated that it is unrecognizable in the final product.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Jun 22, 2003
Complacency-bustin' beats
Despite the slowly growing hype around DJ Klock, he arrives at for the interview, not with a label rep, but with his wife, Yuki. At the office of his small record company, Clockwise, he even answers the phone.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
May 25, 2003
Classic country without the hair spray
Neko (pronounced like Nico) Case certainly has the tresses to make it in Nashville. Her long luxurious auburn locks would need only a little coaxing and a lot of hair spray for a Loretta Lynn do.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Apr 27, 2003
The wandering laptop minstrel
With his long black hair pulled back in a tight, neat ponytail and his pale complexion, electronica musician Nobukazu Takemura has an otherworldly quality somewhere between a computer geek and a monk.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Mar 23, 2003
A beautiful day in the life of sound
The phone line buzzes, the electric heater drones and the pitter-patter of rain can be heard in the background. Not the perfect sonic environment for a phone interview, but for Yuko Kitamura, it is perfect.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Jan 26, 2003
A rare chance to tap into Cat Power
Chan Marshall sits in her record company's office toying with a partially eaten apple. It is a fitting symbol. In Tokyo to promote her new album under the Cat Power moniker, "You Are Free," Marshall (first name pronounced Shawn) is dealing with her own peculiar fall from grace: the publicity tour.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Dec 22, 2002
Exploring musical compositions' demarcation lines
What is the difference between a track and a song? To the average listener, nothing -- the terms are often used interchangeably.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Nov 24, 2002
Pulsating with rock, reality
To describe the dizzy thrill of Sleater-Kinney, one has to reach back to the bristling energy of early rock 'n' roll. Think of Chuck Berry cackling the words to "Maybelline." Think of Wanda Jackson's redemptive howl. Think of Muddy Waters' deliberate spelling of "M-A-N," each letter promising transgressive pleasure and social upheaval.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Oct 27, 2002
Sound in all the right places
Quality control is something few recording artists manage gracefully. What back catalog doesn't contain its share of half-realized (or half-baked) ideas or downright duds?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Sep 22, 2002
The building blocks of a good scene
As the torpor of summer dissipates into autumn's more tolerable temperatures, the music scene moves from the beaches of Shonan and the foothills of Fuji back into its dark and dank urban recesses.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Aug 25, 2002
Mad Max: Beyond the laptop
Postmodern hijinks have become such a staple of contemporary pop music that genre bending and blending are hardly news anymore. What artist hasn't ransacked the back catalog of some long-lost funk or soul label, or lifted grooves from obscure jazz hepcats or, for the even more adventurous, modern classical composers?
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Jul 28, 2002
Getting their message across
Hip-hop commentators talk a lot about roots: about old school roots and neighborhood roots and ultimately roots in Africa. Though hip-hop has flourished in Japan, much of it is distinctly rootless, imitating the goofy antics of The Beastie Boys or the street-savvy poses of gangsta rappers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Jun 23, 2002
Ancient didgeridoo adopted by the digital generation
In 1992, Aphex Twin released "Didgeridoo." It was a strange name for an electronica-driven track designed, according to its creator, to be too frenetic for dancing.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
May 26, 2002
Phew: There and back again
Hiromi Moritani looks like a typical, well-heeled matron. Her chic black ensemble is a touch artier than the average mother's wardrobe, but sitting in her record label's office, her conversation dwells on the perils and pitfalls of being a mom. Hearing her fret over her young son and the evening's dinner menu, it is difficult to reconcile the suburban mother with the wailing siren of the punk rock band Most.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Apr 28, 2002
A familiar story but with a sincerely new spin
Sometimes hard times can turn out to be the best of luck. There is nothing like a little parental abuse -- or substance abuse -- to burnish an artist's street credibility. Everyone from Eminem to Nine Inch Nail's Trent Reznor to, more locally, DJ Krush has a rough past.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Mar 24, 2002
Music, an improvised definition
Improvised music poses a considerable critical challenge. It now takes in such a wide variety of styles -- from jazz to minimalist electronica, from contemporary classical music to rock -- there is no one absolute set of criteria by which to judge it.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Feb 24, 2002
The method to the madness
Like Bauhaus architecture or a Charles Eames chair, Stereolab is retro yet refreshingly new. Beneath the surface of their shiny, polished pop, the lilting melodies of '60s lounge music, the drone of German progressive rock and the lightest hint of dance-floor beats coexist in a controlled upheaval.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Jan 27, 2002
Yuji Katsui: An anomaly on the dance floor
Whether jamming with techno-trance outfit Rovo in front of a seething dance floor, adding to the psychedelic vibe of prog-rockers Bondage Fruit or frolicking in the pop carnival of Demi Semi Quaver, Yuji Katsui is something of an anomaly. With all these groups, the 38-year-old plays neither a sampler nor guitar but the violin.
No link to Nankai Trough quake seen after temblor in Shikoku
Satoshi Harada from the Meteorological Agency explains about the magnitude 6.6 earthquake during a news conference early Thursday.
Thousands evacuated as Indonesia volcano erupts
Indonesia's Mount Ruang spews hot lava and smoke as seen from Sitaro, North Sulawesi, on Wednesday.
Why hasn't Japan moved to prop up the weak yen?
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Snake on a train: Discovery of serpent delays Tokyo-Nagoya shinkansen
A Tokaido shinkansen. It is unclear whether the snake was venomous or how it ended up on the train, and there was no injury or panic among passengers.
In a first, Japan doctors sue Google over negative reviews on firm's map app
One of the lawyers representing a group of doctors suing Google told a news conference that the main purpose of the lawsuit is not to seek compensation but instead to raise awareness over various problems with the Google Maps system.
'House of the Owl' brings Hollywood values to Japanese TV
In the new Disney+ series “House of the Owl,” Min Tanaka (left) plays a powerful political fixer, or “kuromaku,” who has a troubled relationship with his adult children, particularly his idealistic son, played by Mackenyu.
Benefits and risks: AUKUS looks to take gamble on Japan
U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British leader Rishi Sunak deliver remarks on the AUKUS partnership, after a trilateral meeting, at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego in March last year.
Kyoto’s demon night parade lives to haunt another day
In a Kyoto long past, the "hyakki yagyō" (100 demon night parade) haunted a sleepy corner of Kyoto. Now, one enterprising monster enthusiast has won a small batttle to keep the march alive.
U.S. deploys midrange missile system in Indo-Pacific for first time
A U.S. Army Mid-Range Capability (MRC) Launcher arrives as part of the capability’s first deployment into theater on Northern Luzon, Philippines, April 8.
Unpacking the chaotic by-election in a scandal-hit Tokyo district
People listen to a campaign speech in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Tuesday.

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