I ain't got the faintest idea what this is: Babymetal plot world domination with Lolita rock

Babymetal plot world domination with Lolita rock

But you know, I have to pontificate on it from within my fortress of ignorance like some kind of idiot king.  I've heard stirrings about Babymetal, but until now I could just turn away.  Every morning when I hit work, I check out this stuff on Japan Today-- which seems to draw a great portion of its content from RocketNews24-- because I want to know what's happening in my adopted home country and some of the articles prove useful for our upper level English Club activities.  And the Japan Times website puts a limit on how much you can read before you have to pay for it.  Screw that.

Thanks to this little daily ritual Babymetal leaped into my consciousness this morning because Japan Today's story about them is one of the most popular right now.  So I read about Babymetal.  And I learned Babymetal is a trio of junior high girls who mesh Lolita style with heavy metal for some reason.  Their names are Su-Metal (she gets the most quotes in the article), Yuimetal and Moametal.  They have a hit single titled "Gimme Chocolate," which continues the continuity of Japanese female rockers and singers singing about food and candy, a tradition stretching as far back as Shonen Knife's early days, which then jumped the Pacific along with Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda of Cibo Matto fame, and eventually returned to Japan and mutated into Kyary Pamyu Pamyu.

My first thought as I plunged into the article was these girls are some of those musical prodigies you hear about from time to time, or see in viral videos on YouTube.  You know, the 9-year-old who can play the drum parts to Rush's "Tom Sawyer," or the kid with the four-octave voice who wows the usually heartless judges on some televised talent contest in Europe.  Just some friends taking music lessons who bonded over a mutual love of heavy metal and had connections somewhere.

Actually, from what I gathered via the article and a quick visit to Wikipedia just now, Babymetal is a manufactured group concept and the three girls have been kicking around the Japanese music scene in various junior idol singing groups for a few years now.  They don't play instruments as far as I can tell.  But at least merging two apparently diametrically-opposed ideas is fresher than simply cloning AKB48 or Perfume with children and dumping some wan pop song theme from an anime series on the charts for the ten thousandth time.  It may all be a carefully orchestrated ploy by a talent agency to make a few yen, but the girls' seeming devotion to metal gods and thrill at meeting Metallica reminds me of Electric Eel Shock, a legitimate hard rocking group who have been upholding the banner of pure rock for a number of years now.  And that's not a bad thing, either.

I'm a rock person myself and if Babymetal can act as a gateway for an infusion of new fans who go on to discover the power and glory of good, honest guitar-based rock music, then I'm all for it.  Not enough to buy a CD, but from the periphery, as a casual observer.

Any list that contains Melt-Banana and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu is all right by me!

MTV Iggy's Best of Japan 2013 manages to do it!  Melt-Banana posted a link to this on their Facebook feed, and I commented, "MxBx meets Kyary Pamyu Pamyu?"  Melt-Banana seemed to give the concept approval because they liked it, and so did a couple of other people.  The next person took it one step further by suggesting Melt-Banana and KPP collaborate, which I think is an idea so right on it could possibly tear the space-time continuum with how much excellence it would deliver if it should happen.  Someone else disagreed, though.  "Hell no!" came the reply from another MxBx fan, who apparently doesn't have much love in his heart for Kyary Pamyu Pamyu.

Or is he a Kyary Pamyu Pamyu fan who hates Melt-Banana?  Well, everyone has his or her own tastes and preferences.

But if anyone in the industry who happens to have the ability to make things happen also happens to be reading this, how about making MxBx-KPP happen?  Because that would be a happening, man!

Melt-Banana's "Fetch" is really racking up the accolades!

Fetch, the newest release from Melt-Banana, has made a number of year-end lists for best albums of 2013.  Rolling Stone magazine ranked it #17 out of their top 20 metal albums.  I guess it would have ranked higher had it actually been a metal album (they admit as much).  Ian Martin, writing for the Japan Times, declares it the "absolute best [Japanese] album of the year."  I need to give the others in his article a listen!  At least one person on the Kansas City music scene likes it.  And Spin magazine made it their "Album of the Week" way back in September, just before its official release date.

They made it onto at least one more list, but I can't seem to find the link and I'm out of time.  Got classes to teach and all that good stuff.  Anyway, congratulations to Melt-Banana!

Electric Eel Shock joins the bill for Osaka Rock Day!

Maybe they were already on it.  I don't know.  I'm Japanese illiterate, so Electric Eel Shock may have already been on my ticket when I bought it.  What I do know is they're playing the Osaka Rock Day show with Shonen Knife and Melt-Banana, which amounts to my holy trinity of Japanese rock acts all appearing in the same place, on the same day, with the same me watching.  One reason I moved to Japan in the first place was to have greater opportunities to see bands like these.  While I've managed to make it to quite a few Melt-Banana "lives," both Shonen Knife and EES proved as elusive as the shark before now.

I'm a little concerned that in fulfilling this quest I may die soon after.  These things tend to happen.  What I want to let the fates and the universe know is I plan to stick around to see a few other bands I haven't been able to catch.  Still out there cruising beneath the waves remain Voredoms/Boredoms, OOIOO, 5678s, Puffy, Go!Go!7188, Spookey and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu.

Which brings me to this.  A list of bands and musicians I've seen live, both in Japan and in the US.

REM
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Bob Dylan
Statler Brothers
Tom T. Hall
Harvey Milk
The Replacements
Violent Femmes
Smoke/Opal Foxx Quartet
Dreams So Real
Red Krayola
Fantomas
Drivin N Cryin
5/8
Jet By Day
Built to Spill
Modest Mouse
Toy Missile
Melt-Banana

Okay, that pathetic, paltry list was meant to be more impressive but now I realize years of altered states living robbed me of memories of dozens of other acts I've seen live.  Actually, some of these I only learned I attended after the fact.

Osaka Rock Day 1/25/14

I will be attending this show.  They have a spectacular slate of bands scheduled, with the legendary Shonen Knife headlining.  Among the openers?  Another legendary band by the name of...

Melt-Banana.

My entire life has been leading up to this show.  Which worries me a little, because afterwards what else will there be to keep me here?  Oh sure, love, family, friends, work, hobbies, the chance to see other shows equally as cool as this one, scientific discoveries and books to read.  But anyone could pull all that out of a hat.

Fourth Annual October is Spookey Month: a video by the band that inspired my annual Halloween holiday tradition

This band is from right here in Hamamatsu.  They seem to be on the inactive list of late, but here's hoping they'll re-emerge soon with some new music.

Melt-Banana: Being 'stupid' isn't so bad when it comes to touring | The Japan Times

Melt-Banana: Being 'stupid' isn't so bad when it comes to touring | The Japan Times

This is a fantastic interview with Melt-Banana.  As a veteran of playing shows for no people myself, it's fun to read about their early days with four people up front, or playing mostly for the venue's owner and the other bands on the bill.  They've been hardcore tour monsters for so long, I imagine they have thousands of anecdotes stored up about shows large and small.  With their newest album, "Fetch," now available and another North American tour in the offing, it's time to take another look at one of my favorite bands courtesy Yako, Agata and interviewer Ian Martin.

Their dedication, motivations and laser focus come across quite well in this chat.  The 3/11 earthquake/tsunami rattled them, just as it did everyone, but here they come again.  I'm going to miss Rika bouncing away in front of her amp (this interview is the first I've read that actively engages her absence at any length), but we've all come this far together and there's no point in backing out now, with all this challenging new music on the way.  I'm one of those fans in favor of bands evolving their sound and trying new things, and from what I've heard so far, "Fetch" is something special.

Oh, and their basic niceness.  When you feel like you have to play to those four people because they came out specifically to see you, that's nice.  I've seen this in action firsthand in my few, brief interactions with them at shows, although I'm way too shy to ask for a photo or any of that jazz.  Just seeing Yako talk to a couple of late-arriving fans and put them on the list so they could get into a sold-out show even though the entire thing grew out of a misunderstanding with the door guy remains a highlight and all I did was stand nearby and watch as it happened.  They also take the time to "like" even my lame comments on their Facebook feed. 

They are nice.

Usually I spend October blogging about Japanese monsters and ghosts, but this year October features two holidays.  One is the "Fetch" release date-- my copy should be heading my way as I type-- and the other is our more traditional, end-of-the-month horror fest.  We'll be dealing with "Fetch" as soon as it gets here and then we'll visit some haunted houses or invite ghosts into our apartment for a little talk.

Melt-Banana at Club Heavy Sick, Hatagaya, April 29, 2012

These are pretty awful but they document the last Melt-Banana show I saw with Rika on bass. This was a very nice weekend, everything going extremely well, perhaps even perfectly. Here's Heavy Sick, just a two or three minute walk from my hotel:

Let's see if we've come to the right place.  We have--

Sold out! Oh no!  But what's this?

I bought my ticket the day before because I've never been to a Melt-Banana show that hasn't sold out.  It was nerve-wracking cutting it even that close, but the end result was I got to hang out with some really cool people and experience some music I wouldn't have under other circumstances while buying my ticket to the Melt-Banana show.  So it pays to keep yourself open for new kinds of fun.

But at least one other couple had the good fortune of getting involved in a language mix-up with the door person and having Yako herself come out of Heavy Sick and add them to the audience list.  That made everyone feel good.  Added a positive vibe to an already ultra-smooth evening.

Heavy Sick is very small.

Here are images from the show itself.

And there you have it.  I have no idea what Rika is up to these days, but Melt-Banana is a duo.  We saw them next on Christmas Day the same year.  They played most of the same songs from this set.  Sorry my photos are so lousy this time around.  I'd blame the camera but it was all me.

Two more old Melt-Banana photos...

I took these at Shibuya O-Nest but I can't for the life of me remember when. 2009? That seems about right. There's a blog post on it around here somewhere and maybe some video as well.

Melt-Banana may have a new album this fall.  Well, yes, it turns out they do indeed.  It's called fetch and it's due in in October.  Now that they're officially a duo, I'm anxious to hear if their sound has mutated as a result.  The band will tour North America in support of the album's release.  They're calling it the "2 do what 2 fetch" North American Tour 2013, and I'm sure it will be a soul-changing event for those of you lucky enough to attend. Here's the schedule:

10-16 Vancouver at The Biltmore Cabaret (CANADA)
10-17 Seattle at Chop Suey (WA, USA)
10-18 Portland at Dante’s (OR, USA)
10-19 Boise at Nuerolux (ID, USA)
10-20 Salt Lake City at Urban Lounge (UT, USA)
10-21 Denver at The Larimer Lounge (CO, USA)
10-23 Minneapolis at Triple Rock Social Club (MN, USA)
10-24 Milwaukee at The Cactus Club (WI, USA)
10-25 Grand Rapids at The Pyramid Scheme (MI, USA)
10-26 Cleveland at Grog Shop (OH, USA)
10-27 Chicago at Double Door (IL, USA)
10-28 Pontiac at The Crofoot Ballroom (MI, USA)
10-29 Toronto at Lee's Palace (CANADA)
10-31 Philadelphia at Union Transfer (PA, USA)

11-01 Brooklyn at Saint Vitus (NY, USA)
11-02 Providence at AS220 (RI, USA)
11-03 Boston at The Sinclair (MA, USA)
11-04 Washington, D.C. at Black Cat - Backstage (DC, USA)
11-05 Chapel Hill at Local 506 (NC, USA)
11-06 Atlanta at 529 (GA, USA)
11-08 Dallas at Club Dada (TX, USA)
11-09 Austin at Fun Fun Fun Festival (TX, USA)
11-11 Albuquerque at Launchpad (NM, USA)
11-12 Phoenix at Last Exit (AZ. USA)
11-13 Los Angeles at The Troubadour (CA, USA)
11-14 San Deigo at The Casbah (CA, USA)
11-15 Pomona at The Glasshouse (CA, USA)
11-16 Oakland at The Oakland Metro Operahouse (CA, USA)

It's not that often you see OOIOO name-checked at the Japan Times: Twenty years ago, Cornelius releases the track that defined Shibuya-kei | The Japan Times

Twenty years ago, Cornelius releases the track that defined Shibuya-kei | The Japan Times

My grasp of Japanese music is pretty weak, but I have been an admirer of Boredoms/V∞redoms for a very long time. Strangely enough, though, my music collection is much heavier on the OOIOO than the Boredoms.  The reason is I find OOIOO more pleasant to listen to for extended periods.  Their music kind of matches the flow of my blood or the various speeds of my thoughts, so if I start to listen to one song, I generally end up letting the CD keep playing to the end and the result is a kind of sensory immersion experience where I'm awash in sound and rhythm.  I like that a lot.

Shibuya-kei is just something I've heard of, sorry to say.  So articles like this prod people like me to get off our asses and do something about such things.  The big problem is, I'm writing this at the beginning of a workday, so I have to try to do my best here while also keeping Cornelius in mind so I can do some musical exploration once I get home.

Speaking of Japanese music, I did a few little searches for live shows yesterday.  Mostly Shonen Knife (they're off to Europe) and Puffy (they have a new single).  My all-time faves, Melt-Banana, are playing a few shows this September here in Japan, then jetting to the US for a major fall tour.  I'm very interested in seeing Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, but I'll probably have to go alone.  She's the hardest working girl in show biz right now.  Of course I'd jump at the chance to see OOIOO or any of their related projects.  And what of Hamamatsu's own Spookey?  I usually declare October to be "Spookey Month" here and on my comic book blogs as part of my month-long Halloween celebration, but they haven't put out any new material in a while.  I don't think they've broken up exactly, just other more pressing matters have interfered.

Are Toy Missile still around?

Why not mix performance and cooking?

DJ Miso Shiru and MC Gohan raps and roasts on 'Mother's Food' | The Japan Times

While I'm generally against making generalizations (oh gosh, what a clever lad am I!), if I had to make one about Japan, it's that this is a food-obsessed country.  Or maybe I'm the food-obsessed one so I notice all the TV shows about cooking and eating and that's skewed my perspective, along with an appreciation of acts like Shonen Knife and Cibo Matto who made their initial impressions on me by singing about food.

What I'm struck by when reading about DJ Miso Shiru and MC Gohan isn't so much the name of her act-- which translates to "miso soup" and either "rice" or simply "meal" or "food," it's the chances of an actual cooking demonstration breaking out at her gigs.  And that her raps consist of recipes.  Rather than simply celebrating the pleasures of food, DJ Miso Shiru and MC Gohan says, "I just want to make people want to cook."

The emphasis on the second want comes directly from The Japan Times, but I see this concept as the logical extension of food-based songcraft.  Rather than put out cook books, perhaps it's time for someone like her to put out cook albums.

Someone call the Food Network.  They seem to have an opening right now.

Melt-Banana at Heavy Sick, April 29, 2012!

I can't believe it's been a year since this show.  It took place at Heavy Sick in Hatagaya, which was incredibly convenient for me because I could stay at Sakura Hotel with about a 5-minute foot commute to and from the venue.

Let's time travel and see what happened...

Of course it sold out.  Here's a sweet story.  A couple came up while I was waiting to get in and they were disappointed not to be able to buy tickets.  I can't remember how it happened, but they ended up telling the door guy their dilemma and he mistakenly came to believe they were friends with Melt-Banana.  Language barrier.  He popped into the club and a few minutes later came out with Yasuko.  She looked a little confused and the couple were embarrassed and apologetic for the whole mix-up.  While they'd both been perfectly willing to give up and go elsewhere for fun, Yasuko quickly added them to the attendee list.  They paid the ticket price and in they went.  A very cool moment all around.  It made me very happy.

There's no requirement for musicians you like to be nice, but it's always extra sweet if they are.

Yeah, I had a ticket.  I bought mine the night before because I was pretty sure the show was going to sell out.  Awesome bands, small venue, Tokyo.  This usually equals sell out show.  Actually, every Melt-Banana show I've been to has been a sell out.

This might have been their last time with Rika on bass.  Definitely ONE of the last times.  I'm going to miss having her over there on the left pumping out bass and doing that little bouncing move.

Anyway, here are some really lousy photos I took with my iPhone!  Some of them might be duplicates, too!

The next time I saw them was the night of Christmas Day the same year.  That show was in Shibuya where they opened for Guitar Wolf.  While the Heavy Sick show was pretty good, they had more energy in the Shibuya venue even if they were reduced to a duo.  However many people they have in their band, I highly recommend you attend at least one Melt-Banana show if you're here in Japan or if they tour through your country.

Yuko Oshima reclaims AKB48 top spot!

I mean, that's real news!  That's not like that politics slop!

October Is Still Spookey Month: Happy Halloween!

Here are a few more of those delightful Tales of Terror videos. First up: a spooky sleep-over!



Looks like another of those ubiquitous school trips. Japanese students go on these excursions each year. Some stay within Japan, like these unfortunate girls, and others go abroad. Do you think this experience will cure Yuki of her school trip insomnia?

Here's yet another school trip.



Most school trips are meant to be educational experiences. From this one, I learned that if I leave my lip cream in the bathroom, I should just wait until morning to retrieve it.

Of course, terror doesn't confine itself to creepy old ryokan in the middle of the night. Sometimes it sneaks up on you around lunchtime in ordinary city apartments.



That was a lovely little flat. Didn't the sister decorate it nicely? Love the dot motif, but it's too bad about the visitor problem.

Well, there are dozens of those Tales of Terror on YouTube. But there are very few Spookey ones. Here's a favorite of mine:



Happy Halloween!

October Is Still Spookey Month: Halloween cosplay in Ikebukuro!

I didn't get to go to this, but Sakura Cafe (part of the hotel) in Ikebukuro held a Halloween cosplay party and it looks like everyone had a lot of fun.  Black cats, witches, zombies... characters whose identities I couldn't discern...  I always enjoyed my stays at the Ikebukuro branch of this hotel chain.  It's not that far from the station, features both hostel and "business hotel" accommodations, and -- like all the Sakura Hotels-- has a young, energetic staff that really go all out to make you feel welcome.

When I decided I was too boring to stay in Kabuki-cho in Shinjuku (and too cheap), I switched to the Sakura Hotels and made them my home-away-from home for my annual New Year's junket to Tokyo and the various Melt-Banana shows I attended.  I spent my last 5 nights in Japan at the Hatagaya branch, just a quick subway ride from Shinjuku Station and watched a really lousy American League baseball game in the cafe there waiting for my departure time.  Lousy in that the last couple of innings were interminable, one of those games where one team looks as though it's playing in slow motion and the other team just keeps hitting away.

Not a fun game.  Not a fun day.  But Halloween parties can be a blast.  I always handed out candy on Halloween at my old school, and we talked about the holiday's history and popular costume choices.  The classics proved popular, just like you'll see if you check out the photos in the link above.  You know what else is fun?

Spookey doing "The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)" from the old The Banana Splits Adventure Hour TV show!

October Is Still Spookey Month: "Three People Are Coming" and a couple more Japanese horror shorts...

That's a pretty lousy elevator. I don't think I'd enjoy riding that one, either. I rode some creepy elevators during my time in Japan, but I was lucky in that I never had that poor girl's experience. Nice job with those English subtitles by "montecristo73returns," though. What else can we find? How about this one?




Lesson learned? Cram school sucks! Again, great job on the subtitles. But if you stay out of elevators and cram schools, you're completely safe, right?



Yikes! That looks a lot like my old apartment! Nice job, KuljeetChauhan. I have no idea where these short films come from. Shown on television? From a DVD? They're pretty cool and there seem to be dozens of them. Now... here's a movie I made. You may have seen it before!

October Is Still Spookey Month: At last-- Tsukiko versus Tomie in the new movie!

While we're on the subject of Japanese horror, the Tomie film series is apparently as unkillable as their eponymous villain. Tomie Unlimited is the newest offering from Toei Company, LTD. and it seems to be at least loosely based on the "Tsukiko" stories from Junji Ito's manga. This makes me happy, because I'm a big fan of those particular Tomie stories and of the character Tsukiko, the cheerfully amoral purveyor of candid photos of cute guys she sells to the girls who have crushes on them.

While the movie Tsukiko eschews her comic book counterpart's pixie cut and happy-go-lucky capitalist demeanor, Miu Nakamura makes quite a convincing Tomie.  Several of the scenes from the trailer look astoundingly like panels from Ito's stories.  It would be too much to ask for a completely faithful adaptation-- here, Tsukiko is Tomie's little sister rather than simply a classmate.  However, the publicity materials promising a Tomie who "reveals her true face only when she is with Tsukiko" make this the most intriguing series entry in quite some time.

In the comic, Tsukiko makes a fun and vivacious enemy for Tomie, and Tomie's position as the head of her school's Public Morality Committee provides a bit of ironic counterpoint to Tsukiko's scheme.  Just as Tsukiko abuses the privileges that come with being a member of the photography club-- access to a dark room and materials to make her illicit yet lucrative prints-- Tomie soon has her own club lackeys pursuing her unfortunate enemy.  And it becomes apparent that Tsukiko's crimes pale in the face of Tomie's monstrous true self and the bloody murders she causes during their personal war.

The stories also benefit from a unity of setting, unlike the other Tomie tales which are only loosely connected.  The idea of a beautiful yet thoroughly evil young woman who drives her lovers to madness and murder-- and yet cannot be killed herself, no matter how hard everyone tries-- is good for a few chills here and there, and benefit from Ito's trademark gross out scenes.  But by grounding her in a specific locale and taking some time to develop her victims Ito creates a cycle of stories that have no problem standing alone.  If character development is Ito's weak point as a writer, with the introduction of Tsukiko he solves this problem, and it helps bring Tomie herself into focus.

Even if you probably won't want to see what develops as a result.  Isn't that right, Tsukiko?  Tsukiko?  Oh yeah, the school officials suspended her.  Oh well.  That gives her plenty of time to get to know her new best friend, Tomie.  Here's Toy Missile, one of my favorite Japanese bands!