The risk critics run by penning a negative review of a relatively unknown group is that said pan will actually spur readers to seek out the music. Such is the case with Japanzine’s review of Yokohama duo Small Color’s In Light (which is only available through the PDF of the issue, go here to check…
Seeing a harp sitting on stage at Osaka’s small Sunsui venue Saturday night required a few moments to process. Joanna Newsom’s primary instrument makes sense in the context of an opera house or a Victorian garden party, but looked out of place in a darkened, beer-smelling underground club. It was like someone stole a prop…
Using a covers album as a starting point for a group usually wouldn’t be a good idea, but in the Sweet Vacation’s case it might be the best. The duo (Daichi and May) produce a Euro-laced version of J-Pop that, well catchy, isn’t the most distinct sound around. Cover The Vacation, the group’s covers-only EP…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbZ2q1DmvJY&hl=en_US&fs=1&] Reviewing the music of LANDS is tantamount to reviewing the music of Marty McFly and the Pinheads. The group exists to serve as the “featured band” in the recently released Japanese movie Bandage, a film about the early ‘90s indie rock scene of the country and the life of budding rock stars off-stage. LANDS…
Considering the two people performing live as HNC Saturday night at Flake Records in Osaka also make up the twee-crunk duo Love And Hates, I went into the (free!) show expecting the same sort of goofy chaos I’d witnessed several months ago. Color me surprised: HNC knows how to keep their alter-egos in check, and…