Tag - high-notes

 
Menu
Search
 
May 16, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

HIGH NOTES

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Sep 5, 2001
Space Shower
Space Shower TV, the homegrown version of music television, has been instrumental in promoting what might be best called Japanese pop, as opposed to J-pop. These groups may not make the upper reaches of the chart -- they are either too raw or too offbeat -- but they are also too accessible or too popular...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Sep 5, 2001
Nils Petter Molvaer: 'Solid Ether'
Being a respected regional musician has its good points and its not so good points. Nils Petter Molvaer, who was born in 1960 and raised on an island off the northwest coast of Norway, eventually made his way to Oslo in the early '80s and became the most acclaimed trumpeter in the city's burgeoning jazz...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Sep 5, 2001
The Strokes: 'Is This It'
Let's put our hands up and admit it, right. We are all sick of the aging rap-rock racket of Limp Bizkit and their ilk, the punk-lite of Blink-182, etc. and the overblown histrionics of mainstream British rock. We need a feisty new band to kick down the door, spray the establishment with aural bullets...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Sep 5, 2001
Tierney Sutton: 'Blue in Green'
Jazz vocalist Tierney Sutton's second release, "Blue in Green," is a stunning tribute to pianist Bill Evans. Evans, one of the most influential pianists of the past 50 years, expanded the rhythmic and harmonic possibilities of jazz. Evans also knew how to play to both a general audience and other musicians,...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 29, 2001
Roxy Music
If any band personified the decadence of the '70s, it was Roxy Music. Singer Bryan Ferry epitomized the dissolute lounge lizard made handsome by a glib tongue and good fashion sense. The band's torch-song pop, poised on the periphery of disco and New Wave, chronicled the underbelly of the good life:...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 29, 2001
Marshall Crenshaw
With its encyclopedic array of early rock 'n' roll hooks and a spare guitar sound that anyone could duplicate, Marshall Crenshaw's eponymous 1982 debut was the perfect primer, the kind of record mainstream acts could plunder for material to plug into the already ebbing New Wave. The fact that the record...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 29, 2001
Charlie Haden: 'Nocturne'
Bolero is the Latin American equivalent of ballads -- slow, romantic, mid-tempo and loaded with sentimentality. As such, it is a style of music more suited to dancers moving cheek-to-cheek by candlelight than to a cutting-edge improvisational jazz artist. But on his latest release on the Gitanes label,...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 29, 2001
Sizzla: 'Black History'
This, I believe, is Sizzla's 16th album since his 1995 debut, although forgive me if I've missed one or two in my calculation, as we're talking about a reggae artist so prolific that, this year alone, we're looking at the possibility of four new albums.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 22, 2001
Nina Persson: 'A Camp'
Not too many musical groups preface their name with the indefinite article, but A Camp doesn't describe a band so much as the state of mind that led to this album's recording. Promoted as a Nina Persson solo effort in fact, if not in name, the record of the same name is loose and uncluttered, dabbling...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 22, 2001
Wiggle
W iggle combine the hard, harsh beats of The Chemical Brothers with the noisy exuberance of The Boredoms and an occasional female vocal that sounds like Shonen Knife on speed. Bravely straddling the accessible and the arty, they would be worth going to see for the music alone.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 22, 2001
Rodney Hylton Smith: 'Run Come Save Me'
If you think the only thing Britain has to offer hip-hop is a bunch of arenas for the likes of Eminem and other Americans to fill when they make the short trip across the Atlantic, then it's time to listen to Rodney Hylton Smith and reconsider.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 22, 2001
Ernest Ranglin: 'Gotcha!'
Ernest Ranglin has one of those split personalities. A native of Jamaica, he contributed his guitar work to countless ska sessions in the '50s and later played with famed Jamaican bands such as The Melodians and The Wailers and with Jimmy Cliff. The flip side is his love of jazz. As a genuine guitar...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 8, 2001
Sonicmania
The music world is going ape for apes. Nigo, of fashion label A Bathing Ape, has just issued the latest installment of his Ape Sounds hip-hop project; Cornelius (named after the leading simian of the original "Planet of the Apes") will release the highly anticipated follow up to his "Fantasma" album...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 8, 2001
Mamady Keita and Sewa Kan
The rhythms Mamady Keita draws from the djembe can make one feel as though awakened from centuries of sleep or even perhaps strangely nostalgic. They are at once familiar and fresh, offering the forgotten comforts of a mother's heartbeat and stimulating senses unused in everyday modern life.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 8, 2001
David Mead: 'Mine and Yours'
David Mead's songs are invariably described as "lush and sophisticated," adjectives that are normally a good indication something is boring. As a performer and songwriter, he's often compared to Paul Simon, probably because he's from New York and exercises a tendency toward complex phrasing. Further...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 8, 2001
The Asakusa Samba Festival
The Asakusa Samba Festival (Aug. 25) is no doubt the best-known manifestation of Brazilian culture in Tokyo, but if you're looking for a more intimate glimpse of Brazilian dance, music and martial arts, then check out the Capoeira Zoador party this Sunday. Held at Sabbath Tokyo in Harajuku, this mini-carnival...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jul 25, 2001
The Avalanches: 'Since I Left You'
According to the credits on their debut album, "Since I Left You," The Avalanches are six young men, only two of whom play instruments (guitar and piano/percussion). The rest are listed as "mixers," which makes sense when you consider that the record contains no less than 900 samples. Surprisingly, no...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jul 25, 2001
Alex Sipiagin: 'Steppin' Zone'
Pity any young trumpeter having to play in the shadows of Wynton, Miles and Louis. All the innovation's been done, all the peaks have already been reached. Still, there's always room for good music. Alex Sipiagin's second recording, "Steppin' Zone," may not propel him up there with the masters, but it...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jul 25, 2001
Iggy Pop: 'Beat 'Em Up'
Iggy Pop would take two tabs of LSD before a show (to get him in "the mood") and then during a chaotic performance by his band, The Stooges, the stage would be bombarded with beer bottles from irate punters. As the acid majorly kicked in, Iggy, no longer able to stand up, would writhe on the floor screaming...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jul 25, 2001
Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros
Though I have been a fan of Joe Strummer since The Clash, even I had my doubts last year, when I first saw him live with the Mescaleros at Akasaka Blitz. The band spent a shaky first hour probing the audience for signs of recognition of songs from their first album "Rock Art and the X-Ray Style." In...
Japanese stripper bids to have her porn movies taken off internet
Plaintiff Miyuki Ariga (left) speaks at a news conference along with her lawyer, Yoshitomo Morohashi, after filing a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court on Monday.
In Japan, 68,000 people over 65 projected to die alone at home this year
As Japan grapples with its population's rapid aging, supporting people who live and age alone is looming larger on the policy agenda.
Kishida defends planned rule to revoke foreigners' residency
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a meeting of the Lower House Judicial Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
Japan concerned over U.S. officials' remarks on atomic bombings
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham speaks to reporters during a news conference in Washington on Thursday.
Was Onosato's defeat of Terunofuji an era-defining bout?
Onosato (right) defeats Terunofuji at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on May 12. While nothing in sumo is guaranteed, it seems almost inevitable that Onosato is destined for the top of the sport's pyramid.
Japanese rap creates its mecca in Pop Yours
Tokyo-based artist Jumadiba says he forgoes the label of simply “rap” for his music because the Japanese rap scene isn’t confined to a particular sound.
Who’s toughest on China? Biden’s tariff tactic ups ante as election looms.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about new actions to protect American workers and businesses from China's "unfair" trade practices, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
Was Onosato's defeat of Terunofuji an era-defining bout?
Onosato (right) defeats Terunofuji at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on May 12. While nothing in sumo is guaranteed, it seems almost inevitable that Onosato is destined for the top of the sport's pyramid.
Ishin struggles to set itself apart from other parties
Nippon Ishin no Kai Secretary-General Fumitake Fujita (right) speaks beside Yui Kanazawa, the party's candidate in the Tokyo 15th district by-election on April 28. Nippon Ishin lost in this by-election as well as another in Nagasaki held on the same day.
In Japan, 68,000 people over 65 projected to die alone at home this year
As Japan grapples with its population's rapid aging, supporting people who live and age alone is looming larger on the policy agenda.

Podcast

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

Longform

Things may look perfect to the outside world, but today's mom is fine with some imperfection at home.
How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan
By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there
Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER