& Others--Live (K-L)

Kahimi Karie

Kahimi Karie/Momus/Gilles Weinzaepflen--Fez--10/13/98
This was a big mistake. Dan and Peter joined me, but left almost immediately after discovering that the place was packed and there would be no place to sit down. I should have left too. I was interested because Osamu had told me about Kahimi Karie, telling me that I might not like her music, but that she was very popular in Japan, and very cute. I thought it would be fun to see her in such an intimate setting.
After another short break Kahimi Karie came out accompanied by more tapes and Gilles and Momus on the Korg synthesizers. Momus claimed it was her first live performance. He played guitar in a couple songs, and Kahimi played it in one. She had a thin, breathy vocal which reminded me of Claudine Longett, but Claudine had more of a voice. Momus had apparently written most of the songs. He was the only one of the three who rose above synthesizer lounge music, and he did it by being obnoxiously “hip”. The whole thing sucked, only rarely even achieving clever. I felt very much ripped-off. I suspect that the 40% of the audience who were Japanese felt similarly. Perhaps she’ll get better as she gains more live performance experience.

Masami Kawaguchi’s New Rock Syndicate

Bardo Pond/LSD March/Masami Kawaguchi’s New Rock Syndicate--Tonic--1012/06
I saw Masami Kawaguchi play once before with his band MIMINOKOTO. At Tonic he was able to play at the volume of his choice, and apparently, MASAMI KAWAGUCHI’S NEW ROCK SYNDICATE like to play loud. They are a trio, and the drummer is a woman. They started off with a wild, rockin’ psych instrumental, to let us know right away where they were headed. The tempos changed quite a bit throughout the set, and most of the songs featured Masami Kawaguchi on vocal, and often included several guitar solos. His rhythm section tended toward the basics, but kept the beat steady and strong. Kawaguchi’s guitar solos were intentionally disjointed and very angular, and as he played them he lurched about, but stuck to his side of the stage. Though his vocals were not that strong, his guitar solos were striking, and his jerky movements about the stage were definitely entertaining.

Ketchup Mania

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.
KETCHUP MANIA were up next and it was back to the rocking. They were a fairly straight punk rock band, and they rocked it hard with drums, bass, and guitar, but out front was a young woman in a dark dress with all kinds of spangles and shiny discs hanging off it. She was energetic, and did a good deal of jumping and bouncing about the stage, but what she added to the band, besides more energy, which they already had a good deal of, were very happy, pop-style vocals. It’s something only the Japanese would do, and more power to them. It was punk rock, but it was fun, and when they took the tempo up a notch they would break into ska, and successfully got the only real mosh-pit of the evening going. It kept going for most of the rest of their show, too, and they seemed to be loving it. They rocked us good and hard, and had a great time doing it. The only people who might not have enjoyed it were some of the people in the inner circle surrounding the mosh-pit.

Kiiiiiii

Kiiiiiii/Tomomi Adachi--Tonic--March 3, 2007
Another wacky night at Tonic. There won’t be many more. Yep, another New York club is closing. Tonight, though, the wackiness was a lot of good fun.
To the sounds of THE JACKSON FIVE’s ‘I Want You Back’ (U.T., the singer, told me later that she loves Michael Jackson) KIIIIIII took the stage and began pulling all manner of toys, scarves, and sparkly streamers out of a robot bag, littering them around the stage, and draping them on microphone stands, monitors, and everywhere else they could think of. In this way, the two young women made the stage their own. When the song ended they began singing and doing an odd little dance. One of the women, Lakin’, was a drummer, and though not great, she was talented enough to keep a variety of beats. The other, U.T., was the singer, and actually had a very nice voice, and sometimes would play Casio keyboards. More often, though, she would sing and bound about the stage, sometimes singing, sometimes shouting, sometimes doing odd dances, and regularly falling down in front of the drums to end a song. At times Lakin’ would come back to the front of the stage to sing along with U.T. Several times she brought out an alligator hand-puppet to help her sing along, and at those times she would sometimes stomp on the stage to keep the beat. Both women took turns jumping off the stage to get some power slaps from the audience, or just to run to the back of the room. Their songs were silly, sometimes petulant, always childish, and occasionally beautiful. Subjects that I can remember now included milk chocolate, vacations, jumping on the bed, dancing, and, of course, love. At times there was even a sadness, but that was usually to set up an energetic expression of joy, and joy is what they were intent on spreading--great gobs of it! The singer, especially, made it difficult to take pictures, because she was always moving. Their set was like an improvised playtime, and they were having fun, fun, fun. My guess is most of the audience wanted to get up on the stage and join in the fun, but the way KIIIIIII was spreading the fun around, I’m sure everyone there was having fun right where they were. The music was primitively iffy, but there were usually clever moments in each song, KIIIIIII was having a great time, and they were happy to share their joy! A good deal of applause got us an encore of a couple more songs, and KIIIIIII began packing up their gear as JACKSON FIVE tunes began playing again.

Koenji Hyakkei

Koenji Hyakkei/Time Of Orchids--Knitting Factory--5/14/07
KOENJI HYAKKEI were amazing! Technically all of them were way up there. They’re led by Tatsuya Yoshida, most well know for his duo RUINS. He was on drums. There was a five-string bassist, a woman on soprano saxophone, a woman on lead vocals, and a pianist who also had an organ. They all sang, and seemed to all sing well, but the lead vocalist was spectacular. Her vocals were strong and full, and her range and dexterity were stunning. The material was completely over the top. It’s influences were all over the map. I heard middle-eastern, funk, rock, classical, jazz, opera, and usually each of those flavors was mixed with two or three of the others. On top of that it was hyper to the max, as if keeping up with a speed fiend. Late in the set, over on the side, I saw a guy dancing to it, and he was doing a wonderful job of representing the music. His feet were bouncing around like he was dancing on coals, and his arms were jerking around like a crazy man. It was quite a sight, and as most of the time you couldn’t see much of the band from where I was, I kept watching him until he wore himself out. The material was easily overwritten, and yet, it all fit wonderfully, and much of it was a true joy to hear, though a bit on the exhausting side. Even with the rich abundance of sound, every now and again, I just had to stop and pay attention specifically to the incredible things the lead vocalist was doing. Her vocal chords got quite the work-out throughout the set, but the quality of her vocals never flagged. Generally she stayed in the higher vocal ranges, but at one point, when she was singing along with the bassist, she took it down to below where he was singing, much lower than I would have expected her capable of. Everyone in the band got their chance to shine, and each of them easily proved their value to the band. It was an extraordinary set, and it wore a few people out, but most clapped with exuberance when it ended, and clapped some more when the band returned to the stage for their encore, which Tatsuya Yoshida introduced as “a pop song from the first album.” Honestly, it didn’t sound that ‘pop’, but maybe that’s one of the few stretches they’re not quite prepared to make yet.

Kokeshi Doll

Japanese Girls Samurai Tour ‘04: Bleach/Petty Booka/Noodles/Kokeshi Doll--Knitting Factory Tap Room--3/23/04
Ryota Mori, my photographer tonight, and I did an interview with BLEACH after their soundcheck, and in a state of contentment close to bliss, we took too long over a chinese dinner and, unfortunately, missed about half of KOKESHI DOLL’s set. KOKESHI DOLL are a trio. They rocked us hard, but too often the beats tended to plod rather than kick. The band is competent enough, but the only thing that gave the songs any fire at all was the singer/guitarist. Her singing was both fiery and dramatic. She writhed and twisted herself around the microphone as she sang, and the passion of her vocals did put some heart into the performance, but failed to breathe much life into the material. There may have been something in the first part of their set that would have warmed me to the second half, but as it was, I was disappointed that KOKESHI DOLL had failed to live up to the recordings I had heard.

Limited Express (has gone?)

Limited Express (has gone?)/The Punks--Knitting Factory--9/16/05
While Jesus and I talked, a guy named Ray came over and introduced himself. He recognized me from the website, and just wanted to say, “Hi!”, I guess, ‘cause he didn’t say anything much about Rock of Japan. He did have positive things to say about LIMITED EXPRESS (HAS GONE?), though, and soon they were on stage and getting ready for their set. It took them a while to get their sound together, but as they did, the crowd grew, and once they started into their set, they had a respectable sized crowd pushing their way towards the stage. Yukari, the bassist and lead vocalist, was obviously overjoyed to see so many people there to see them. They’re a trio, and happily launched into their set like it was a party. All three of them were technically very good, and their music rocked with offbeat jazz diversions spicing things up royally. It was as if they had written typical pop/rock songs, and then taken them apart, and put them back together however they pleased with improvised asides. The music was wonderfully quirky, and the happiness they obviously had playing it was a joy to be seen. Yukari would jump out into the audience, and hop up and down while playing fluid riffs that rolled and turned the songs. Jinichiro Iida repeated his intricate guitar riffs with slight variations until they made perfect sense, and regularly he would run up to his microphone, emphatically pointing and gesturing out at the crowd. Koji Narazaki, on drums, kept a stern beat, but smiled at his coconspirators, as if sharing a joke that only they were in on. Everyone there obviously enjoyed the party the band was having, and many hopped along with Yukari. It was an exciting set, and the only shame is that it ended so quickly (easily under half an hour), with no encore.

Limited Express (has gone?)/Child Abuse--Rocky’s--9/30/05
LIMITED EXPRESS (HAS GONE?) took their time setting up again, and then left the stage. I believe they were wearing the same clothes when they came back out, so I’m not sure why. Perhaps they did a power circle or something, because when they came back out, they all slapped hands in the center of the stage and began their set, once again with big smiles on all their faces. The first song went fine, and I even recognized it from the previous show, but when they started into the second song, none of the microphones were working. They improvised a bit, tried again, and after hearing an explanation from one of the sound men, apologized to the crowd, and before leaving the stage, recommended drinking while the sound was sorted out. About five minutes later, after another three-way hand slap at center stage, the band was back again at the rocking. I think they’re one of the cheeriest bands I’ve ever seen. They have an odd sound. Jinichiro Iida tends to play variations on a riff on his guitar. Koji Narazaki follows him spiritedly on drums, and on bass Yukari makes things bounce as she wrestles the riffs and leads them through their turns. Yukari also handles most of the vocals, using a range of styles, many exaggerated and humorous. Jinichiro accents things with his screams. In an early song, Yukari put her bass down and playfully added some new kinks to her vocals. The band took the music way down and Yukari went into a soft mumblespeak. It was the strangest thing I had heard them do, and made much of their other music seem quite predictable, which it isn’t. It was a good deal longer set than I had seen them do for CMJ, and it wasn’t long before they were back to expressing their joy. In time, even their strange style, which had begun to feel familiar, tingled with excitement again. Then the microphones began to loose volume, and you could see Yukari lose her patience. She dropped her microphone, and grabbed Jinichiro’s. Dissatisfied with it, she shoved the stand, and it toppled off the stage. The microphone in front of her bass speakers was the one she found that worked, but by then it was too late. The music built up to a dramatic turmoil, Yukari pushed over some of the drums, and stormed off the stage. Jinichiro and Koji kept the music roaring, Jinichiro raised his guitar up above his head and slammed it down on the stage. The set was over, and the band was unhappy, but it had been a good set, and I still felt joyful.

Lolita No. 18

Independants/Lolita No. 18/Blondie/Ronnie Spector/Dictators--Tramps--7/17/98
(Joey Ramone's Cyber-Bash '98)
        LOLITA NO. 18 were the band I was there to see. I had read one good review of a live show. Otherwise I knew nothing about them or what they sounded like. They turned out to be a quartet consisting of a lead singer and the standard rock trio backing. The trio seemed typically cute, young, Japanese girls, but the singer put on a good schtick as a loud, unbred, bad-girl clown. It reminded me of Akina’s soap-opera image. They started off with some hard-core sounding stuff, but done with big smiles. Almost every song was done with big smiles. I was quickly relieved to find that they played in an impressively wide range of styles. The singer played a good harmonica in a slow ballad. Technically they are a little lacking, but considering they’re a trio, they do fine, and the guitarist was even impressive. She was, I think, the best musician of the band, and she had a very nice stage presentation. She never seemed to be taking anything too seriously and was having as good a time as possible. My favorite part of her presentation was when she introduced each member of the band and their likes. The drummer likes turtles. The bass guitarist likes butterflies. The lead singer likes beer. (Someone from the audience shortly brought her one.) The guitarist then introduced herself and said, “and I like Snoopy.” They then proceeded to play ‘Hang On Sloopy’ with a chorus that went, “I love Snoopy, Sloopy hang on.” When I thought to pull out my earplugs for a moment, I was surprised to find how loud and full their sound was, too. Joey came out and sang ‘Rockaway Beach’ with them. It was a very enjoyable performance, and though the rhythm section rarely cracked a smile, the other two rarely didn’t. They came off as a very sweet, fun, rockin’ band.
        Immediately after LOLITA NO. 18’s performance I went back to their stand and found it crowded with people buying CDs, T-shirts, posters, and buttons. It took a while for me to purchase their three CDs, and while I was waiting, the lead singer came over to help out at the table. She had dropped the rude, dummy act, but remained sweet and friendly. I congratulated her on the show, and asked for one of the small felt-tip pen drawings that each of the four had done. Someone before me had done the same thing, so I figured it was worth a try. She graciously obliged, allowing me to pick which of the remaining three I would like. I also signed their book.
        I would have left the club then, but before I got away from the table, THE INDEPENDANTS had started up. The table was still crowded with people wanting to buy LOLITA NO. 18’s wares when I finally left the club.
        All total, it was a wonderful night and I was very glad that I had finally decided to attend.

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!
LOLITA NO. 18 closed out the show in style. The guitarist, Ena Arai, who impressed me last time I saw them, is even better now. This is a damned good rockin’ band, that no longer needs to play on their cuteness, and doesn’t. They sounded tight and professional. I was impressed! Only the vocalist, Masayo Ishizaka, seems to have stubbornly refused to improve. Her vocals are still grating and a bit annoying, but she’s the show. Every band was good to great, but this was the only band that inspired a full-fledged mosh-pit and kept it going throughout most of their set. Masayo did manage an impressive soulfulness on one song, and both her kazoo and harmonica (one song each) were good, but mostly she was there to lead her band through a hot punk rockin’ set. The covers included:‘Hang On Sloopy’; ‘Shakin’ All Over’; ‘Rockaway Beach’; and ‘Video Killed The Radio Stars’--a wide variety, all of which they handled easily with a lusty vigor. It was an exhilarating set, and a perfect way to end a wonderful evening.

Love Psychedelico

Japan Nite 2001: Love Psychedelico/Bleach/The Jerry Lee Phantom/Heart Bazaar--Elbow Room--3/19/01
Wow! It was a great night with four good to maybe even great bands, all of which got a good response from the crowd. It was well attended, almost exclusively by Japanese. That’s good and fitting. Still, I can’t help but feeling that non-Japanese New York rockers are really missing out. As the crowd left, Supervoid.com (who sponsored the show) passed out a free sampler CD with songs by the four bands and five others.
LOVE PSYCHEDELICO are now enjoying top of the charts popularity in Japan, and fittingly closed the show. They are bass, drums, guitar, and keyboard, plus the singer/frontwoman sported an accoustic guitar for the first few songs. I was not overly impressed initially. The accoustic guitar added a folkiness to their standard AOR approach. The band was technically very good, but the songs didn’t do much, and the introduction of a Dylan cover, ‘Like A Rolling Stone’, confirmed my fears. Then she put the accoustic guitar down, took off her jacket, and started the next song off with a quasi-rap intro. It seemed kind of daring, and better than you’d expect from a folky, plus it was a good, catchy, well-written song. From then on, with her just singing, they rocked, and every song was impressive. They really are a good band and deserve their success. She commanded the stage well, with occasional competition from the lead guitarist; and the songs, one after the other, surprised me with their richness and their hooks. Theirs was one of the CDs I picked up on my way out the door.

LSD March

Bardo Pond/LSD March/Masami Kawaguchi’s New Rock Syndicate--Tonic--10/12/06
For the LSD MARCH set, Masami Kawaguchi moved from the left side of the stage (his left) to the right, where he picked up a bass guitar. His New Rock Syndicate band members left the stage, and the guitarist and drummer of LSD MARCH joined him. LSD MARCH are a trio. They started with a slower number, and their guitarist, Shinsuke Michishita, seemed to be doing his best to avoid playing along with his rhythm section. He quickly revealed himself to be the more accomplished guitarist. His playing was always in the outer cozmos, and often quite beautiful. When he went into an intense guitar solo, he often seemed to be doing a modern dance in a rather spastic manner. His body would jerk into an extreme position, which he would then hold. Many times he would only play the guitar as he jerked about, and as soon as he froze, the guitar sounds would either stop, or the feedback would hum. His vocals were slow and mesmerizing. Masami Kawaguchi’s bass playing was more innovative and fluid than his bandmate in the New Rock Syndicate. The drummer seemed to switch between intricate jazz-like maneuvers, and stomping out the beat loudly and powerfully. There were some rockers, but many of the songs moved at a slow, other-worldly pace. The most interesting number seemed to be a jazz inspired improvisation. All three members of the band played off each other in an agressively abstract manner, as if they were playing against each other, rather than together. It was an impressive set that grew more intriguing as the band stretched their format, and Michishita’s guitar solos soared further and further out into the LSD MARCH ozone. The band members are all quite good, and their serious approach to their music put it across with an impressive warmth, but the guitarist’s awkward and energetic dance/duel with his guitar kept things vibrantly in the here and now.

Luminous Orange

Luminous Orange--Siberia--10/15/04
I arrived at Siberia early, hoping that LUMINOUS ORANGE would actually play at 8PM, so that I would have the time I needed to get over to Brooklyn and see BLEACH tonight, as well. LUMINOUS ORANGE was the first band, and there were some problems setting things up, but the band and the sound men got things straight, and half an hour late, we got LUMINOUS ORANGE. The band is led by Rie Takeuchi on lead vocals and guitar. As I understand it, the rest of the band changes from time to time, but tonight featured three young men on guitar, bass, and drums. They were all fine musicians, as is she, and though they played loud enough for the sound man to recommend that they turn down--they didn’t, the sound wasn’t abrasive at all. Song after song blended into each other, and her sweet and gentle vocals, barely audible over the instruments, had a calming effect, a bit like getting a massage on a traffic island in midtown. Though the songs seemed quite similar, and all had a kind of pulsing flow, they were often intricately arranged. I was most interested in what the two guitarists were doing. Sometimes they seemed to both be playing rhythm guitar, but at cross currents; and at other times they seemed to be playing similar leads that worked together like harmony. After a song, and an embarrassed silence, Rie announced, “Hello, we are LUMINOUS ORANGE. Thank you for coming.” It was the last we heard from anyone in the band until she announced the last song, and repeated, “Thank you for coming.” The band plays its music. They’re often looking down at their guitars, and there’s silence during tune-ups, but their music has a unique sound all its own. When they stopped, members of the crowd demanded an encore, and Rie was claiming that because one of the members was new they had played everything they knew. As it turns out, I had lots of time to spare, and should have waited to see if they would do another tune, but it didn’t look like they were going to, and I didn’t want to miss any of BLEACH’s set.