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April 30, 2024
 

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HIGH NOTES

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 7, 2003
Banda Bassotti
A prominent critic once called the Clash "the only band that mattered," a comment that went beyond appreciation of the band's punk sound and acknowledged its radical political outlook.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 30, 2003
Aoki Takamasa, Ogurusu Norihide and Takagi Masakatsu: "Come and Play in Our Backyard"
Last week a friend of mine complained about a performance of "laptop music" he saw recently. "If I wanted to elbow through a crowd just to watch someone sit behind their Powerbook," he snarled, "then I could just go to my office -- and it's not as smoky." He's got a point, but computer-generated music obviously can't be summed up that easily, especially when it is evolving in so many directions. Three Japanese artists have recently garnered attention for pushing the data-DJ medium forward, in both their live sets and a collaborative studio project -- their first as a trio.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 30, 2003
Matthew Sweet: "Kimi ga Suki * Life"
When applied to pop musicians, the term "big in Japan" tends to be pejorative, as if Japanese fans were less discriminating than those in the rest of the world. The only way to dispel the condescension inherent in the term is by example.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 30, 2003
Dave Douglas: "Freak In"
Many jazz artists try to force sampling, computer loops and synthesized textures into a relationship with acoustic instruments that just doesn't work. On his new release, "Freak In," Dave Douglas, though, lets both sides work things out on their own terms. The result is a musical friction that produces both heat and light.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 23, 2003
The Kills
The critical lowdown on The Kills includes the belief that the band would not have attracted the attention it has if it weren't for The White Stripes, since The Kills are also a boy-girl duo who play blues-based loud rock. But couldn't the opposite be just as true? It sounds impossible, since the Stripes released their first album in 1999, at which time The Kills' vocalist VV (Alison Mosshart) was in a Florida punk band and hadn't even met her future partner, Londoner Hotel (Jamie Hince). That happened two years later, after the two had been trading tapes for some months and VV decamped to England.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 23, 2003
"Saddle Creek 50"
To the surprise of many, the American underground's most fertile soil is now found on the parched plains of Omaha, Neb. Despite the scarcity of clubs, record shops and other hipster-habitat markers, this remote Midwestern town has cultivated a bumper crop of interesting bands. Early bloomers Tom Bascle (The Faint) and Connor Oberst (Bright Eyes, Desaparecidos) have garnered the attention of Rolling Stone and The New York Times, but the area is ripe with local talent -- with more moving in.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 23, 2003
Japan Blues Carnival 2003
Every year in late May, between the cherry blossoms and the rainy season, the Japan Blues Carnival packs the Hibiya Outdoor Theater with an afternoon and evening's worth of blues. This year the festival will feature Ike Turner, returning to the stage after a long absence, and Louisiana slide guitarist Sonny Landreth.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 23, 2003
Gigi: "Illuminated Audio"
Most remixes are done for a quick buck -- slap on a bunch of reverb, stretch things with some delay, maybe drive the whole mess with a new drum track. Whatever. "Illuminated Audio," however, an ambient remix of Ethiopian-born singer Gigi Shababaw's self-titled 2001 debut, is a pleasant exception.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 16, 2003
Doctors of Madness/Sister Paul
'Walls of white noise and feedback laid over speed-fueled, dumb-ass rhythm. The harmonic equivalent of bare-knuckle fighting. Sonic Porn. We set ourselves in a circle in the studio, turned down the lights and attempted to blow each other off the face of the Earth." So said Richard Strange, singer and guitarist of Doctors of Madness, describing the recording of his band's 1976 debut "Late Night Movies, All Night Brainstorms."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 16, 2003
Tibet Freedom Concert
The fall of Baghdad happened so quickly that no one had time to come up with an antiwar song that spoke to our doubts and fears and resentments of the military-industrial complex. No "Masters of War," not even a "Fixin' to Die Rag."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 16, 2003
Pharoah Sanders
When John Coltrane expanded his traditional quartet by adding a young, little-known saxophonist from Little Rock, Ark., it wasn't so he could take a break. Coltrane knew Pharoah Sanders was a soul mate ready to accompany him on an exploration of the jazz universe's outer limits. Indeed, Sanders often sounded like he had never set foot on the planet.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 9, 2003
The Bad Plus: "Here are the Vistas"
It had to happen eventually. Every other social and musical trend has at some point been swept into jazz's fold. The Bad Plus' debut CD, "These Are the Vistas," is a startling work, taking some of its cues from grunge's earnest, introspective stance. Even while sticking to a piano, bass and drums line-up, The Bad Plus floods its jazz with attitude -- and plenty of it. In much the same way grunge chipped away at the conventions of rock, the Bad Plus seeks to disrupt the traditional jazz piano trio.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 9, 2003
Blood Brothers: "Burn Piano Island, Burn"
Though "Burn Piano Island, Burn," the third album by Seattle's Blood Brothers, has been hailed by headbangers as the first hard rock record in a while that will actually scare parents to death, its real value is in the way it reconfigures hardcore for fans who've become bored with hardcore's predictability. Boasting two screamers in front of a power trio, the group seems to have as much fun challenging the extremism of standard thrash metal as they do exploiting it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 9, 2003
Compilation: "Spirit of the Blues"
The title "Spirit of the Blues" is not misleading, but it may be perceived as such. The key word here is "spirit" and so if you're a blues purist who insists on 12-bar progressions and what not, then forget it. This 17-track compilation album of Japanese artists is a chaotic mess and all the better for it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 2, 2003
Romane
No European jazz musician looms as large as Django Reinhardt. Born into a Gypsy family of musicians in 1910, Reinhardt transformed acoustic guitar playing with brilliantly fast harmonic changes and a joyous swing. Along with violinist Stephane Grappelli, he formed the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, which fashioned what has become an entire genre: acoustic swing. One of the best guitarists in the latest generation of Reinhardt devotees, Patrick Leguidecoq -- better known as Romane -- comes to Tokyo in May.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 2, 2003
Jon Madof: "Rashinim" -- oud is in Webby --
Jewish music is as varied as the people that make up the diaspora. Depending on where you're tuning in, the music might be traditional or it might lean toward funk, jazz, metal, punk, orchestral or even spaghetti western. The Jewish guitar power trio, though, remains elusive. There is, of course, Yossi Piamenta, who some call the "Hasidic Hendrix." His ability to wail out ancient Jewish tunes and prayer melodies on a Stratocaster is legendary . . . well, around Brooklyn, anyway. And good luck finding any of his albums.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 2, 2003
Yo La Tengo: "Summer Sun"
The first thing people notice about any record is its title. "Summer Sun," the latest offering by Yo La Tengo, might appear to be a collection of bright pop singles. Indeed, the band has covered the Beach Boys in the past and always includes original pop songs on their records amid the ambient experimentation and feedback-fueled freakouts. But the second thing people notice about a record is its cover art, and here we see the band's three members dressed for winter under an overcast sky.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Mar 26, 2003
Ibrahim Ferrer: "Buenos Hermanos"
"Buenos Hermanos" is yet another great album of Cuban music. But it's worth noting some of the other reasons why this album is such an achievement.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Mar 26, 2003
Libertines
Many rock bands want you to think they work and live outside normal society. London's Libertines are no different, but in their case it's as if they've never been in normal society in the first place. Last June, they cracked the British Top 40 with "What a Waster," a short, crass song that treats drug addiction as a poor financial planning.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Mar 26, 2003
Space Invaded
"Space Invaders," an exhibition of cutting-edge architecturally inspired design from the United Kingdom currently showing at the TN Probe space in the Hanae Mori building, explores the way visual design shapes and defines space. Space Invaded, an evening of electronic-based music featuring Janek Schaefer, Main and Nobukazu Takemura, pushes this brief into the realm of sound, reworking concepts of space with the laptop and synthesizer rather than the backhoe or plasterer.
When will Japan intervene to support the yen?
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki has reiterated the government's readiness to take an appropriate action as the yen continues to slide against the U.S. dollar.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Raising kids in Japan as a single parent? It takes a village.
Making things work as a foreign, single mother in Japan isn't easy, but these tips and tricks can help you through the hardest parts.
Yen rebounds strongly after first slide past ¥160 since 1990
The yen dropped to ¥160.245 per dollar on Monday before heading into the other direction to ¥155.01 amid speculation of an intervention by Japanese currency authorities.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.

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