& Others--Live (S)

SA

Japan Nite 2009: Detroit7/Asakusa Jinta/Grapevine/SA/Sparta Locals/Omodaka/Flip--Bowery Ballroom--3/22/09
Ah, Japan Nite 2009! Japan Nite has become a tradition. Once a year, Audrey Kimura, of Benten/Sister Records organizes the Japanese bands for SXSW, and after the SXSW shows, she takes a bunch of the bands on a short, but slowly expanding, tour of some of the bigger cities of the United States. Thankfully, New York has always been included. Sometimes Audrey comes back later in the year, but the March Japan Nite show has become a tradition, and it’s often the best show of the year. This year she brought seven Japanese bands. Wow!
Next up was SA, aka SAMURAI ATTACK. Roger had told me earlier that they were one of the bands he was most interested in seeing, and that they had been a well known Japanese punk band in the ‘80s, had retired, and recently had reformed and were doing the comeback thing. They were obviously a very experienced band, and were used to a big audience reaction. In fact they demanded it, and almost immediately they got a mosh pit going. It was the only real mosh pit of the entire night, and though it wasn’t a constant thing, it reoccurred regularly throughout their set. They were a good looking band, and consisted of a bassist, and a guitarist whose blonde hair stuck straight out of his head in every direction like a spiky afro, or maybe a rockin’ halo. The drummer had a mohawk, and the lead singer had a golden brown pompadour. They were showmen, and the lead singer, especially, kept the crowd excited and energetic. Whenever the audience got silent between songs he would demand that we make some noise, and incite us in whatever way he could think of to get us yelling. Their music had as much hard rock influence as punk, but it definitely had a healthy amount of punk to it, the big difference being that it was the kind of joyful punk that I don’t remember seeing around here much. The guitarist regularly stuck his tongue out at us, but always while wearing a big goofy grin on his face. They rocked us good and hard, and they were certainly having as good a time doing it as we were having rocking along with them.

Sabbat

Sabbat/The Chasm/Sun Descends/Dimentianon/Superchrist--Northsix--9/18/05
It was a long night of heavy metal. It’s been a long time since I was a fan of heavy metal, but if you are a fan of heavy metal now, it was a great place to be, maybe even the only place to be.
SABBAT came out in their stage clothes, and began setting up their stage. That got a few hoots from the audience, because the bassist wasn’t wearing any pants. He was wearing thong underwear, which was what elicited the whoops, laughter, and screams. The drummer was wearing a pair of more conservative underwear, and the guitarist wore all black with a kind of tuxedo jacket with tails, oh, and full-length pants. It took a while to get their equipment together, and it was getting late, but a good number of people had stuck around to see SABBAT, and when it was over, those who had stayed seemed very pleased. The trio began their rocking, and did it in a very friendly manner, with even a certain amount of humor. Technically the bassist was easily the best of the evening. At times he seemed to be following the guitarist note for note. Stylistically the guitarist rose high above any of the other guitarists I heard this evening. His leads regularly displayed a structural beauty, and I heard a strong classical music influence in some his lead lines. The bassist handles most of the lower range vocals, and the guitarist takes most of the higher range ones. The drummer, though he blew the opening of one song twice and was chastised for it, rocked it hard throughout a long set. They closed their set with a song they claimed they had been playing now for twenty years! Their music remained in the heavy metal realm throughout, but their playing was impressive, the music often beautiful, and they were obviously having a great time. Plus, their rocking kept the dancers wild, and the rest of us on our toes, dodging body blows.

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Bang On A Can All-Stars/Ryuichi Sakamoto & Bang On A Can All-Stars/Ryuichi Sakamoto/Brooklyn Rider String Quartet with Wu Man and Sandeep Das--World Financial Center’s Winter Garden--5/31/09
      The Winter Garden is a big beautiful room with a glass ceiling, and by the time I got there it was getting crowded. Their are tall, tropical trees symmetrically placed in rows throughout the room. They were so similar, I asked a guard if they were real. He said that originally they were all real, but that some had fallen down and been replaced by simulations.
      Ryuichi Sakamoto appeared next. He was alone on piano, and he opened with a very intricate, and delicate piece. It was a classical styled number, and the most interesting thing was that the room really quieted down for the star of the evening, not that it was terribly noisy before that. After the piece, Ryuichi Sakamoto stood up, motioned to someone off-stage to come over. Apparently an adjustment needed to be made on the piano. They lifted up the hood, adjusted something, closed the piano top, and left the stage. Ryuichi Sakamoto then played us a more somber number. It was slower moving and moodier. When it was done, he signalled again, and this time it brought out the BANG ON A CAN ALL-STARS. The BANG ON A CAN ALL-STARS were Robert Black on bass, David Cossin on percussion, David Friend on keyboards, Derek Johnson on electric guitar, Caroline Stinson on cello, and Evan Ziporyn on clarinets, who also seemed to be leading the band through the pieces, though Ryuichi Sakamoto had written the material. The first piece started with the clarinet slowly moaning. Ryuichi Sakamoto pulled out something which may have been a mirror, and seemed to be reflecting light onto the back wall of the stage. Then he slowly turned around toward the audience. After awhile he turned back to the All-Stars, and made a signal. The rest of the band joined in with the moaning clarinet, and Ryuichi Sakamoto took his place back behind the piano. It was a nice change to have a full band backing him up this time, and the band as a whole truly played as one. Again, it was very much a classical sounding piece, though it had some jazz elements to it, too. For the second number, Ryuichi Sakamoto came out from behind the piano, and traded places with David Friend, who had been playing electric piano. This piece had a bit more of a clip to it, though it certainly wasn’t uptempo. It resembled more of a show tune than a classical piece. Interestingly, in between the two songs there was no applause, almost as if no one was sure the piece had ended. They did get a good deal of applause at the end of the second piece, though, when they took their bows.
      Next the BANG ON A CAN ALL-STARS played a piece by Steve Martland called ‘Horses Of Instruction’. It was a vibrant piece, and they played the hell out of it. It was fun to watch, and a nice thing to see and hear after Ryuichi Sakamoto’s more reserved pieces.

The Salinger

Japan Nite 2002: Bleachmobile/The Salinger/ Understatements/Bonkin’ Clapper/Nananine/Clammbon--Elbow Room--3/18/02
Again Supervoid.com sponsored Japan Nite, and like last year, as we left we were given a various artists CD with two songs each by ten Japanese bands, five of whom had performed for us that night.
THE SALINGER were on before long. It was kind of embarassing that the top of the lineup was playing to a very diminished house. It didn’t seem to worry them, though. They cranked it up, and rocked it hard. They’re another trio, with a singer making them four. Technically they were a good band, but their major strength was in their ability to rock it out, and keep it coming. It may very well have been the longest set of the evening, and they didn’t slow down until near the end, when they delivered a more soul-stirring number. Even it had a pounding beat, but it was a considerably slower pace than the rest of the rocking set they’d entertained us with. They put on a good show, and the vocals seemed to have a bit of a rap influence. Their material, except for that one song near the end, wasn’t especially wide-ranging, but they’re a strong band, they rock hard, and they keep it coming!

Scandal

photo by John Li

Japan Nite: The Beaches/Detroit7/Ketchup Mania/Petty Booka/The Emeralds/Scandal--Knitting Factory--3/16/08
It was another great night of Japanese rock ‘n’ roll brought to us by Audrey Kimura and Benten/Sister Records. They sold out and Knitting Factory was jam-packed with smiling, happy people who knew they weren’t gonna get another onslaught of Japanese rock like this until Japan Nite rolls around again next year. Oh yes, and, of course, all the bands told us they loved New York.
SCANDAL were four cute, young women playing catchy, pop songs with two guitarists. All four, even the drummer, wore schoolgirl outfits with plaid skirts. The songs were surprisingly catchy, and my friend Keiko even suggested that they probably had some pop wizzard writing their material for them. What surprised me was how hard they rocked them. Technically they were good musicians, and though the songs were catchy and cute, they were rocking them hard, and having a great time doing it. They would get excited, and jump up into the air, and the drummer just rocketed them through every tune. The rhythm guitarist and bassist handled most of the lead vocals. At first I was thinking that their harmonies were noticeably off, but they tightened those up pretty quickly, and the band did a good job, not only playing through the energetic material, but also in exuberantly letting us know how much they were enjoying performing for us.

Seikazoku

Japanese New Music Festival: Acid Mothers Temple SWR/Zoffy/Ruins Alone/Ronruins/Zubi Zuva X/Shrinp Wark/Akaten/Seikazoku--NorthSix--9/3/06
The Japanese New Music Festival was Atsushi Tsuyama and Makoto Kawabata of ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE, and Tatsuya Yoshida of RUINS in various combinations. The only exception was RONRUINS, a project of Yoshida’s which included Ron Anderson on guitar and vocals, and Jesse Krakow on bass and vocals. The majority of the people attending understood the situation. All the bands were there. They were just made up of the same three people, and many didn’t play more than a few songs. At one point I was just going to do one report of the entire evening, but as it turns out, I’ve divided my reports up for the different “bands”. Throughout the evening, the three principals regularly welcomed us to “The Japanese New Music Festival”. They did it so often, it became a running gag. All three of the principals sang in most of the “bands”, though Kawabata tended to stick to back-up vocals.
SEIKAZOKU started things off. Kawabata began on the violin, but soon switched to guitar, though for a while he continued using the violin bow on his guitar. In the beginning he also tinkered with a small eclectronic toy thing with some small mallots, and it sounded like a xylophone. Yoshida also had some kind of electronics back behind his drums, and tinkered with them occasionally, but mostly played his drums. Tsuyama switched back and forth between two guitars, one of them pink and miniaturized. The eclectic combinations of these various instruments was quite improvisational, and a bit on the noisy side. They only did a couple of songs, or one long one, and then it was AKATEN’s turn.

Shrinp Wark

Japanese New Music Festival: Acid Mothers Temple SWR/Zoffy/Ruins Alone/Ronruins/Zubi Zuva X/Shrinp Wark/Akaten/Seikazoku--NorthSix--9/3/06
The Japanese New Music Festival was Atsushi Tsuyama and Makoto Kawabata of ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE, and Tatsuya Yoshida of RUINS in various combinations. The only exception was RONRUINS, a project of Yoshida’s which included Ron Anderson on guitar and vocals, and Jesse Krakow on bass and vocals. The majority of the people attending understood the situation. All the bands were there. They were just made up of the same three people, and many didn’t play more than a few songs. At one point I was just going to do one report of the entire evening, but as it turns out, I’ve divided my reports up for the different “bands”. Throughout the evening, the three principals regularly welcomed us to “The Japanese New Music Festival”. They did it so often, it became a running gag. All three of the principals sang in most of the “bands”, though Kawabata tended to stick to back-up vocals.
I believe SHRINP WARK were next, though they never announced themselves. They were Yoshida on drums and electronics, and Kawabata on guitar. They did one of the straightest rock jams of the evening, and it sounded good to hear some fairly straight out rocking, especially from Kawabata. Yoshida got lots of chances throughout the evening to show off his masterful technique on drums. One SHRINP WARK jam, though, seemed to be enough.

Space Combine

Electric Eel Shock/Space Combine--Continental--4/23/00
I walked in, and SPACE COMBINE were setting up as a trio. When they were ready, their lead singer jumped up and joined them. They were a competent band, and rocked through a set that covered a lot of ground, but never strayed far from traditional rock. A couple of the songs were intricate enough to show off the band’s chops. The lead singer commanded the stage well, and established a good positive rapport with the small, but enthusiastic, audience. His jumping about and gooning added a good rockin’ spin to the band, who managed to give him some of the background vocal support he needed. It was an enjoyable set.

Spanam

Peelander-Z/Uzuhi/Spanam/Gaijin A Go Go/The Statues Of Liberty/Hello Tokyo--Knitting Factory--7/6/08
It was a big night! Not only were there six different bands, including SPANAM from Japan, but Peelander Blue was playing his last night with PEELANDER-Z, and tonight, it turned out, we got to meet Peelander Green, his replacement.
I came back in, after what I guess was SPANAM’s soundcheck. One of them announced, “We’re free!” as he left the stage. The P.A. was playing a song that repeated the phrase, ”I’m Free!” Soon they were all back, and they launched into the hardest rocking set of the night. SPANAM are a bassist, drummer, guitarist, and a lead singer. There was so much power coming off that stage, it wasn’t easy to judge their technique, but all four of them were obviously very capable at kicking it out forcefully. They easily had the biggest mosh-pit going tonight, and, in fact, it must have worn the moshers out, because I don’t think there was any more moshing for the rest of the evening. Of course, it could have also had to do with a woman who’d been hurt by a mosher, and was demanding money. The only time when SPANAM weren’t rocking up a storm was after a few songs when a humming feedback-like sound started up after a song while the bassist and guitarist retuned. They slowly started up again, solemnly and a bit hauntingly, but soon it was back to the all-out attack, with the bassist, guitarist, and singer, all leaning out toward the audience from the front of the stage, or sometimes stalking around the stage, so that the bassist and guitarist had regularly changed sides of the stage. It was a rip-roaring set of hardcore based hard rock, and though it may have lacked some subtlety, I didn’t hear anyone complaining.

Sparky Quano

IsFest 5: Bullet Proof Junkies/Uzuhi/The Ricecookers/Sparky Quano/The B.C.P.--Knitting Factory--2/22/07
Sparky Quano is a guitarist from Japan. He’s a solo artist, and a very impressive guitar player. He had a wide array of boxes spread out on the stage in front of him. There were three loop boxes, and a wide variety of effects boxes. He used these to create a variety of instrumental soundtracks, which he would jam on, and add different odd vocal sounds to give the music an eerie effect. His quasi-soundtracks had a good range, and while jamming on top of them he used his many effects boxes in a wide variety of intriguing ways. He easily proved that he was a superior guitarist, and though he’s not Gary Lucas, he’s certainly not that far behind. He created all the music right there, and by himself. He even danced around a bit while he played guitar. It wasn’t a terribly exciting show, but the music was very impressive.
UZUHI and Sparky Quano were my favorite acts of the night.

Sparky Quano/Superfortress/Object--Knitting Factory--7/23/08
Sparky Quano is an impressive guitarist. He set up in a colorful hat, a blue Puma T-shirt, and blue pants with a certain amount of Indian flavor to them. Their were circular lines that decorated the pants, and some shiny, reflective material embedded in the designs. If you didn’t look close, though, the very close to matching blue T-shirt and blue pants looked very much like hospital scrubs. The hat was even vaguely shaped like a doctor’s hospital hat, but it did not resemble one. I recognized three similar boxes which he had had last time, and which were used to loop various parts of his soundtracks. There were some other boxes, though, that I could not remember whether they had been with him the last time I saw him. One interesting thing I hadn’t noticed last time was that Sparky Quano played barefoot, and many of the manipulations of his boxes were done tonight with his toes. He opened and closed his set with acoustic guitar, and it was amazing to watch him play it. He did not use his boxes when he played the acoustic, rather he used very dexterous fingerwork on both the fretboard and his picking hand, which he often played on the fretboard, and often by just tapping on the strings. Interspersed with the fingerwork, though, he would tap on various areas of the guitar, using it as percussion. The rest of the set he used the electric guitar and the boxes, and was able to quickly create a wide variety of soundtracks with his loops, which he would then embroider upon with his very impressive lead playing. Each tune had a completely different feel, as if they were each from different movies, and occasionally he would interject vocal effects. The audience warmed to him quickly, and several people went up on stage after the show to shake his hand and thank him.

Sparta Locals

Japan Nite 2009: Detroit7/Asakusa Jinta/Grapevine/SA/Sparta Locals/Omodaka/Flip--Bowery Ballroom--3/22/09
Ah, Japan Nite 2009! Japan Nite has become a tradition. Once a year, Audrey Kimura, of Benten/Sister Records organizes the Japanese bands for SXSW, and after the SXSW shows, she takes a bunch of the bands on a short, but slowly expanding, tour of some of the bigger cities of the United States. Thankfully, New York has always been included. Sometimes Audrey comes back later in the year, but the March Japan Nite show has become a tradition, and it’s often the best show of the year. This year she brought seven Japanese bands. Wow!
SPARTA LOCALS were next. They were our second four-piece band with two guitars, bass and drums. The one thing they did, no matter what they were playing, was to keep a good groove going. They started off with some light bouncy songs, that seemed to have both a touch of pop and a relationship to friendly pub rock, but they also had a traditional feel to them, especially with the very natural groove that was a part of every song they did. As the set went on, they rocked it up a bit, still maintaining that solid happy groove, and even as the lead guitarist leaned forward, and then threw his long hair back over his head, he kept the guitar churning, and the rock gave their natural groove a good momentum. The audience could feel it, and as their songs added a bit more rock to the hearty rhythm, the heads bobbed more animatedly. Toward the end of the set, the lead singer/rhythm guitarist introduced the members of the band, and then introduced himself as Iggy Pop. Of course, he wasn’t Iggy Pop, and quickly admitted it. Then he introduced one of their last songs, which he said was about anger. He asked the crowd if any of them were angry. He found someone who claimed they were, and then asked him why. The guy apparently responded that he was angry about everything, and the singer responded, “Me, too.” He then taught us what Japanese people say when they’re angry, “bakayaro”, which happened to be the refrane of the next song. That was the song that most got the crowd going. They weren’t moshing or dancing yet for the most part, but there were a good number of fists raised, and a lot of people yelling “bakayaro” along with the band.

Spoozys

Japan Nite 2000: Lolita No. 18/Polysics/Number Girl/Spoozys/Mummy The Peepshow--CBGBs--3/20/00
What a great night! I can’t remember the last time I saw five bands in a row that were all good!
I was surprised to see THE SPOOZYS come out second. I assumed they’d be saved for later. Appearing in astronaut suits, complete with the helmets, they made an immediate impression, and started rocking from the start. This is a great band! The guitarist rocks full-on, and is way on top of his game. Meanwhile, the woman on keyboards, and the guy on effects, are taking this great rockin’ guitar and seasoning it with cheesy ‘60s sci-fi sound-effects. It’s a great sound! It rocks hard and it’s fun. The performance was good too, with the guitarist and the effects guy bounding across the stage in spastic syncopation. They were better than I expected, and their record’s so good, I was expecting a lot. They delivered with humor, rockin’ energy, and smarts!

The Pleasure Unit/The Spoozys/12 Rods--Brownies--7/11/00
THE SPOOZYS came out in their astronaut outfits with helmets, and slowly made their way to their positions on the stage as if they were walking on the moon. The helmets came off immediately this time. Hey, it’s summer! THE SPOOZYS then started up a rockin’ set that had the good-sized crowd all smilin’ goofy grins in no time flat. There was quite a bit of energetic showmanship. Jun Matsue has actually toned things down a bit since last time I saw the band, but he did get out into the audience once, and showed-off his guitar-slinger chops several times. Mostly though, he left the choreography and gyrating to the bandmates on either side of him, and stuck to pounding out the songs, one after the other. They started with the newer material, and closed out with a few older, easier to recognize, tunes. He did take a break at one point to play a very spacy ‘Happy Birthday’ to a friend, and later stopped to make a series of announcements, including that they had recently been signed to Jetset Records here in the States. Congratulations! He also apologized for his bad English, explaining that, after all, they were from outer-space! The set was longer than last time I saw them, which I appreciated, but it still seemed too soon when they put back on their helmets, and slowly crossed the moon’s surface again to exit the stage.

Qypthone/Himawari/Creme Blush/Spoozys/Peelander-Z/Condor 44/Fantasy’s Core--New York -- Tokyo Music Festival--5/26/02
This night of the New York -- Tokyo Music Festival was quite the success. Let’s hope it does become an annual event! The pier was a nice place to be. The wide variety of bands was intriguing. The MC regularly mispronounced the bands’ names, when he knew them at all, but that’s a small complaint. The bands set up quickly and kept coming.
The SPOOZYS, introduced as “The Smoozys”, came out in their astronaut suits, except for Jun Matsue, the guitarist, who wore an alien mask. They played through a couple of songs before removing their helmets, and it was nice to hear them again. The performance was pretty straightforward, except for one point in the middle of the set when Jun stepped out into the audience and unleashed some of his guitar wizzardry. Their sound is maturing, which seems to mean longer periods of jamming in their songs. To aid them in this they’ve ditched the guy who previously jumped about over on the side and occasionally twiddled some switches, and replaced him with a bassist and a second keyboard player who was quite good, and seemed to be mixed louder than anyone else in the band. I’m not sure I like the new direction. They seem to have cut down on the humor, and the previous quirkiness of their songs, but this is a good band, and I enjoyed seeing them again.

Stance Punks

Benten Tokyo Presents Japan Nite: Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re/Pe´z/Ellegarden/Stance Punks/The Rodeo Carburettor/The Emeralds--Knitting Factory--3/20/06
Australian Cattle God Records have started up a side label for Japanese bands, apparently in connection with Benten/Sister Records, called Benten Tokyo Records. This tour is kind of an announcement of that, with TSU SHI MA MI RE, who are already signed to Cattle God Records, headlining the bill. The audience was evenly mixed between Japanese and caucasians, and many of them were much younger than are usually seen at these shows, which is certainly a positive thing. Six Japanese bands in a row! Oh, and almost every band made a point of letting us know that they, “Love New York!” I’m exhausted, and I’ve only just begun writing.
STANCE PUNKS were next. They had three CDs for sale in the bar, so they’ve obviously been around for a while. They had a guitarist, bassist, drummer, and a lead singer, and mentioned several times their admiration for THE RAMONES. They had a bit more of the bar band/punk in their sound, but they had a good deal of humor in thier songs, and the lead singer was an energetic clown. Several times the bassist, who had a very cool “Who? Kill Felix” T-shirt, with a picture of Felix The Cat on it, talked to us in fairly good English, but about halfway through the show he seemed to have run out of things to say. The singer, who admitted he didn’t know any English, substituted for it by leaning out toward the audience and comically staring blankly at us in between songs. He was a likable guy, and a very energetic entertainer. A number of audience members responded to a slower number toward the end of the set by raising their arms and gently swaying to and fro, which looked like something out of a Broadway musical or a football game. The band wasn’t really adding anything new to the classic punk they were playing, but they were obviously having a great time, and the crowd was beginning to get good and rowdy in their enjoyment of it, too.

Stone Deaf

Stone Deaf/Winston Like That--Midway--9/23/07
STONE DEAF began setting up. I’d been talking with them, and had learned that they had all lived and played in England for a while. The bassist and drummer had even played in the same band there, but it was the guitarist and drummer who had formed STONE DEAF, and the bassist was a replacement for the original bassist. They didn’t know many of the Japanese bands I mentioned, but when I asked them if they knew MIKABOMB (who also lived in England), they all responded warmly. I had asked them what kind of music they played, and been given very vague answers. When they started up, with a flurry of drums from Ai, the female drummer, it was quickly apparent that they were a rock band. They opened up with ‘Get & Loss’. It’s the video I’d seen on their website, an instrumental that has a bit of a spy movie theme sound to it. It’s a good riff, and has a lighter feel than most of their material. They seem very influenced by the English rock they must have listened to. The lyrics, all seemed to be in English, and seemed to be straighforward rock lyrics, dealing with traditional rock subject matter. The music was the most impressive thing. The guitarist, Yukio, keeps his leads reserved, but he plays some of the hottest riffs I’ve heard in a while. They give the songs bite, and add a bit of a subtle psych reverberation to their sound. Otomu, the bassist, is also quite subtle. His fluid bass lines flow through the songs, and caress them from the inside with a cleverness that was a joy to hear. Ai, the drummer, is a good, strong drummer, though she lacks the subtleness of her bandmates. She keeps a strong, steady beat, and yet, is not a pounder, so there’s some subtlety. It’s a straight-ahead, modern, rock band. Yukio handles the lead vocals, but they all sing, which adds a hint of beauty, and the guitarist’s edgy and precise riffs, and the bassist’s seductive meandering, make this a band worth checking out. There’s very little theatre, and they didn’t say much more than, “We’re from Tokyo, a long way away.” It must have seemed even farther away with only about ten people looking back at them, but they played a strong set, and it was fun to watch Ai slamming away at her drums.

Strike Out

Dynamite Club/Skyflower/The Plungers/Strike Out/The Spunks/Sun Sui Chi--Continental--8/12/01
Strike Out, who are from Nagoya, took the stage and rocked from start to finish. Technically they’re pretty strong, though the drummer muddied the changes with too many cymbals. There wasn’t a wide range in their material, from what I could hear, but they consistently rocked hard, and the lead singer was obviously enjoying himself. He bounded around the stage as if trying to find a way off, but he was obviously right where he most wanted to be, and his sheer exuberance brought a party atmosphere to the performance. The band was obviously having fun, and the audience gave them a warm reception.

Suishou No Fune

Suishou No Fune/Malkuth--Club Midway--10/24/06
SUISHOU NO FUNE are also a trio. Unlike most trios, though, they are two guitarists and a drummer. The guitarists are male and female. The male mostly seemed to play chords, strumming the substance of the songs, while the woman often seemed to be hunting around for single notes, which hung in the air with lots of sustain. Before they began, both guitarists had a row of effects boxes set at the front of the stage. The woman had some trouble with hers, though, pulled out two, which she hooked up together, and kicked the rest of them over into a pile on the side of the stage. They started their set off gently. The male guitarist slowly introduced various effects. The drummer softly added some cymbals, and then some light drums. The woman eventually joined them in the slow, swirling, psychedelic swelling of strange sounds. The woman sang a couple of softer numbers, and the male guitarist sang one. These softer numbers, especially the vocals, had a folky feel. They were sung sensitively and warmly, but the music continued to have psychedelic and improvisational overtones. The drummer was playing a large set of drums, with two bass drums, about five tom-toms, and about that many cymbals. He used the full set subtley, and impressed me quickly. The band wound things up with a chaotic, and rocking, psychedelic rave-up. It roared, and was a release after the gentle excursions of the earlier material. The guitarists both rose up magnificiently, and the drummer came alive, as if he had been set free. He used that large set to forcefully pound that song, and the set, to a majestic close. He’s an amazing drummer, with a full head of hair, and in that last rocking number, I was reminded of the power and the eclectic nature of Ginger Baker.

Suishou No Fune/Mata Llama/Malkuth--Glasslands--3/18/07
Tonight, SUISHOU NO FUNE, which means Holy Bridge, was just the two guitarists. They are a male and female, and came off a bit like a hermit couple, isolated from society, and creating their own unique music to enrich their lives. Yeah, it’s probably just my imagination inspired by their music. They started off very slowly and gently, then the woman began singing. It came off as a haunting folk ballad. There was a lot of delayed reverb on all the vocals, and it enriched them and added to the haunting quality. The man stuck mostly to chords, playing the rhythm, and she picked out slow lead runs. Often each note seemed to be chosen at the moment she played it. Then the man would choose an effects box or two from the row of boxes in front of him. Following his lead she would choose from her row of effects boxes, the song would lurch into a more rocking rhythm, and the effect was like a kind of witchcraft that again added to the haunting qualities of the song. The man sang the second song, and they both sang on the third song. They were all long, slow songs that followed somewhat similar patterns, and were all rich in depth and sorrowful magic. The songs would come to a dramatic end, the small audience would applaud generously, and with the delayed reverb, she would softly say, ÒThank you--kyu--kyu--kyu...Ó At the end of the third song they took off their guitars, an audience member encouraged them to do, ÒOne more!Ó, the audience applauded again, and they were pleased to play us one more, as requested. The male sang this one, and his vocals became a bit rougher this time out. They slowly built it up again, and he closed it with some very noisy guitar, bringing their set to a firm and hearty close.

The Suzan

The Suzan/Macarthur a Contti/The IO’s/Tryst--Pianos--3/1/06
THE SUZAN were up next, and I wasn’t really sure what to expect from them, either. They were four young women, and, unfortunately, they were only barely competent musicians. At first the lead singer stuck to singing and shaking an emphatic tambourine. It got a bit better when she picked up a guitar, or traded the keyboards with the other guitarist, as it helped to fill out their fragile sound. Their playing kept things primitive, and only the lead singer seemed to muster much enthusiasm, waving her tambourine around, and enthusiastically strumming up some rhythms on guitar. The songwriting, though, was quite good, and displayed an impressive amount of variety. Their primitive playing kept things in a garage vein, but they were obviously aiming for pop, and managed to squeeze some r&b shouts, and maybe even an ounce of soul into the material. The songs are well developed, and the singer’s vocals are strong enough to put them across and even provide both sweetness and punch when needed. If they beef up the musicianship, they might have something.

The Suzan/Hotchacha--Pianos--10/3/09
I wasn’t really that impressed with THE SUZAN the last time I saw them. Technically, I’m not sure they’ve gotten that much better, but they have gotten quite a bit tighter as a band. Interestingly, they had a kind of tropical feel to most of their songs. The lead vocals were very strong, and the other vocalists helped to fill out the sound. THE SUZAN are now a keyboardist, a drummer, a bassist, and a singer/guitarist. Most of the time the singer did not play guitar, but now and then she would pick it up, and add a bit of rock to the songs. One new touch was their costumes. All four of them wore a piece of clothing made out of the same material, but each of them were wearing a unique piece of clothing made from that material. Another thing I noticed as they set up was that all four of the women wore tights. The tights the drummer wore were the same color, a dark green, on each leg. The tights the other women wore, though, were different colors for each leg, and each leg matched one of the legs of the other two women in the front line of the band. THE SUZAN’s songs are joyful, and presented with a warm exuberance. Perhaps describing their music as tropical isn’t completely accurate. Maybe it’s just the way they’ve created their pop music with a quirky dance beat built into it, but to me the dance beats they use have an earthiness that give the songs a kind of traditional feel, which is how I arrived at the tropical description. THE SUZAN played a nice set, involving the audience regularly in singing along, or clapping, and ended their set with a more upbeat tune where the singer played electric guitar. They were well received, but there wasn’t that much applause at the end of their set. Still, HOTCHACHA, the band before them, had done a short set. Perhaps Pianos was ahead of schedule, or perhaps the soundman decided that as THE SUZAN had come all the way from Japan for this gig, that they should get to play a little more. Twice he encouraged them to play one more song, and they seemed to have no difficulty at all in choosing two more songs to entertain us with. After the set THE SUZAN came down off the stage and were greeted by friends and fans, many of whom bought their CDs.

Swinging Popsicle

Swinging Popsicle/Love Etc.--Knitting Factory--6/19/07
LOVE ETC. were the perfect band to open up for SWINGING POPSICLE.
SWINGING POPSICLE are a trio of a guitarist, a bassist, and a female singer/acoustic guitarist. They were supported by a drummer and a keyboardist. SWINGING POPSICLE are a very pleasant pop band. The woman has a nice voice, as do her fellow bandmates, who regularly supported her with back-up vocals. Except for the support drummer, everyone in the band played with a lot of subtlety. The songs were clever and well arranged. Technically everyone was very good. Now and then the bassist would do something like start out a song with a strong bass riff that showed his stuff, or the guitarist would do a well-written lead that truly decorated the song and expanded its flow. Most of the songs were sung in English, and the lead singer’s English was quite good. The only time she let us down as a spokesperson for the band was when she had difficulty setting up her acoustic guitar for the second song. At one point about halfway through the set someone let out a soft “meow”, and it was funny the first time, and got some laughter. Unfortunately, it kept happening, and wasn’t nearly as funny the tenth time. The band would laugh politely, though, and continue their very sweet, and warm, music. Perhaps because the singer was too polite to introduce herself, the pianist introduced the bandmembers. During one song the singer went back to the keyboards and played with an effect. Near the end of the set they did a song called ‘Change’ which rocked a bit more than most of their material, and gave them all a chance to step out a bit, but even it had a certain restraint that took the forcefullness of the playing, and turned it into a positive emotional release. The songs were all presented in a respectful way, and the last song was another gentle song with a natural flow. This trio is probably too mature for U.S. pop radio these days, but its music is clever, well done, sweet, and all the songs had an undeniable warmth. It was a pleasant show, and JapanFiles.com succeeded in getting out a good crowd of people for a Tuesday night, including representatives from The Daily Sun, Purple Sky, KarateRice, and Genki Shock.

Kokusyoko Sumire/Swinging Popsicle/Echostream/Gelatine--The Studio--9/27/09
This is the second time I’ve seen SWINGING POPSICLE, and I wasn’t that excited about seeing them again, but I’m glad I did. I am still not that excited by their music, but I have a whole lot more respect for them now. Last time they had a support drummer and a support keyboardist backing them up. This time it was just the three of them on bass and backing vocals, guitar and backing vocals, and the female lead singer who also plays acoustic guitar at times. The rest of their sound, which mostly seemed to be drums, was provided by recordings. Their songs are sweet, pop music, which seems influenced a good deal by the richness of gentle folk music. Their songs are earthy and beautiful, and their performance of them is surprisingly full. The guitar lines are so gentle, they soak into your brain without you noticing them, but when you watch his fingers play them you realize how perfect they are. Her lead vocals are strong, don’t draw attention to themselves, are pleasant and warm, and when the two males sing back-up to support her, often in surprisingly high tones, the vocals are rich and beautiful. Tonight the bassist was wearing a white T-shirt with the words “Loud Cut” written on it in black. The guitarist was wearing a black T-shirt with the words “Loud Cut” written on it in white. Loud Cut it turned out was the name of their latest CD. They didn’t play any actually loud cuts tonight, though I’m sure they played some songs from the new CD, but their set was honest and sincere, and I appreciated their artistry.