Nirgilis & HALCALI At The Unit

Ken’s got another jealousy-inducing writeup of a concert he recently attended, this one featuring a number of female-fronted bands. He focuses on Nirgilis and HALCALI, the two he seemed most interested in, commenting briefly on their stage appearances and the general feelings he drew from seeing them. The HALCALI portion leads into an interesting observation on the seemingly newfound appreciation–or even requirement–of dancing during live sets, and it’s worth thinking about. Is dancing onstage more necessary now than it was five, ten, even twenty years ago, and are artists “plain and sorta boring” (as Ken puts it) if they don’t do it? Makes you think.

Murmur, advantage Lucy, Caraway, Lost In Found

Ken heads down to the Basement bar to watch Murmur headlining a gig, and also involved in the mix are such acts as Lost in found and Caraway. It’s nice to hear Ken telling us of their connections/frienships with each other, and Advantage Lucy seems to centre that. It’s also just nice to see a sense of community within parts of the rock/indie scene.

Big Musical Harvest In September

Ken’s delighted to reveal September as being a busy month in the rock department, noting two gigs in the Tokyo area worth scouting out - if you’re lucky enough to do so - and also the news that Both Adavantage Lucy and Spangle Call Lilli Line will be releasing new albums. I’m interested to hear SCLL’s effort, as I’m a big fan, and at one point it didn’t look like they’d be making records anymore.

A Supersnazz Work-Out At The Red Cloth

Recommended reading. Ken M has a great, stylishly written entry about… well, first it’s about the health benefits and deficits of going to live shows. And that’s a very fun read in and of itself, especially if you’ve been to too many small venues to watch no-name acts perform for bored local hipsters. Ah, youth…

The part about Supersnazz is also good, if a bit too short for my taste, with some background info and overall impressions. And for the life of me I’m trying to remember if I ever saw their Sub Pop album in the racks, back when I cared about guitar music… and all I can think of is Supersuckers, which is kind of sad.

Perfume’s Gravity, Before They Took Over Japan

Ken M takes a look at a video of Perfume performing “Inryoku” at a 2006 event and focuses on how far they’ve come since then. These were the type of events that started a buzz about Perfume. However, if they were to perform this type of event (a release event at an Apple store), and it were announced ahead of time, the place would be swamped.

Formoz, The Festival A Typhoon Blew Away

Ken talks about the Taiwan music festival formoz, mainly how it’ll be coming to an end soon - in all the ways that are possible - and how the experience of it all has been for him when he’s been able to attend. Apparently the event used to be able to draw in a few well-known Japanese artists, and ken mentions this as a small indicator of a festival that’s seen better days, and how it’s now ready to call it a day. There’s more interesting facts and insight in the read. So read it.

Go Chic At Formoz Festival

Ken unearths a Tawainese band named Go Chic at the Formoz festival, and there’s plenty of Perfume comparisons to think about. That might get some of you interested, I’m sure, and the list of sounds these five girls are supposed to posses is really something.

Japan Live TOKYO LIVE HOUSE GUIDE

Ken does a wonderful job at describing the many clubs in Tokyo that house live music. The post works very much as a list, and each one comes with a neat little description that’s both informative and interesting. A nice balance of to-the-point facts and Ken’s own observations make it a must read for all Japanese indie/rock fans amongst us. Even if we may never get a chance to go to these clubs ourselves, we’ll still want to know what these experiances are like. Perhaps even more so.

Japan Live

By its own description, Japan Live is “a journal about Tokyo’s independent rock scene.” The author, Ken, actually lives in Tokyo, meaning he’s able to attend live shows and report on them on a fairly regular basis. This is a great source not only for existing fans of indie bands but also new ones, as his detailed reports may get you interested in something you’ve never heard of.