Blog - May 2018 Archives

May 2018 Archives

Index

.26 Weekly revue: 2018 week #21 (May 19 to 25)
.20 Weekly revue: 2018 week #20 (May 12 to 18)
.13 Weekly revue: 2018 week #19 (May 5 to 11)
.05 Weekly revue: 2018 week #18 (April 28 to May 4)

May 26, 2018

Weekly revue: 2018 week #21 (May 19 to 25)

Food: - Dinner at Bespoque, Higashi-Nakano

Exhibition: I dropped by HB Gallery in Omotesando to see a solo exhibition by Yoshioka Rina, titled 「人生はお祭りダァ！」 ("jinsei wa omatsuri da!" = "LIFE is PARTY"). As always her impressive paintings have a realistic Shōwa style with a touch of humour, and often with a sexy theme. This time there were many paintings of imaginary adult magazines and "telephone club" ads. I always enjoy her food-themed artworks that depict people who look like they might really exist.

Music release news: Lucky Tapes, Sawagi, Avandoned, Ellie

Playlist: Inoue Mutsumi, Okui Kaori, Girl Girl Girl, Sweet Robots Against The Machine, Iwamura Manabu, Criola

This week's videos:

Ellie "So I"

Avandoned "After School"

Lucky Tapes "22"

May 20, 2018

Weekly revue: 2018 week #20 (May 12 to 18)

Food: - Katsuo (skipjack tuna) curry at Honkatori, Ochanomizu
- Fried potato, omlet and pudding at The Blind Donkey, Kanda

Music events: - On Sunday May 13 was event "Let's Go Young!! 2018" at Super Deluxe (Roppongi), presented by La Veuve Moustachue and also featuring SOLEIL and Machi Akari, and DJ Yoshida Tetsuto! First on stage was SOLEIL who played a fun set with just guitar and bass and glockenspiel (and a backtrack with drums, chorus, etc.), with many songs from the album, and also single "Pinky Fluffy". I couldn't resist getting one of the new T-shirts. :)

SOLEIL set list: Pinky Fluffy / Do You Believe in Magic? / Guitar in Love / koi no Happy Date (Gotta Pull Myself Together) (Ishino Maki cover (original by The Nolans)) / Captain Scarlet theme song / Love Letter in Blue Ink / Apple Princess Go Go! / Good Bye My Fourteen / Marine I Love You / Are you happy?

SOLEIL (Sally Kubota, Soleil, Nakamori Yasuhiro)

Next on stage was singer-songwriter Machi Akari who I saw for the first time. She sings Showa-kayō style songs, sometimes with a picopico/Techno-pop taste. Her lyrics are all about everyday situations and feelings that everyone can relate to, and she sings them with great enthusiasm. Fun show!

Machi Akari set list: mogura tataki no yō na hito / accha~ / omutsu wa orusu nanokana? / wakuwaku Influenza / anata futsū no Salaryman desho? / yūsenseki ni suwaritai / jiritsu shinkei midarebushi / ano ko wa kōgashitsu / kotenpan / mogura tataki no yō na hito (Reprise)

Up last was La Veuve Moustachue (singer Kishino You-ichi, pianist Gary Ashiya and VJ ALi). It had been several years (five!?) since I saw a full show of theirs! It's always a lot of fun, a sort of one-man musical with live piano and sync'd video.

La Veuve Moustachue partial set list (a few songs missing): otomodachi de imashō yo / misoji no komusume / shiawase no Apron / I Married Myself (Sparks cover) / sayonara ga ienakute / God is a sadist / hige no mibōjin no kyūjitsu
Encore: zettai renai! Countdown

Machi Akari, La Veuve Moustachue, DJ Yoshida Tetsuto

- I went to another show titled "ai to ensō no Fascism", part of a monthly series organized by Sunny Kubota & Old Lucky Boys and held at Harajuku Crocodile. It was my first time at this classic "modern music restaurant" that opened in 1976. It has very nice interior that seems to be nicely stuck in time, and feels like it's out of a movie. The show also featured bands Love Jones and Elohim. I was looking forward to all three bands, who even shared connections with recent movie "The Brand New Legend of the Stardust Brothers".

Love Jones was formed not long ago and played their first show in January. Their singer is Itō Eriko, who is also a member of Old Lucky Boys, used to sing chorus in Pizzicato Five! Love Jones has a good sound, sometimes funky or jazzy or rocking, brought together by Eriko's nice vocals and cute MC. I look forward to hearing more of their songs! :)

Next up was Elohim, the current band of singer Arichika Masumi (ex-T.V. Jesus!) and also featuring guitarist Kubota Haruo (Pearl Brothers, ex-Girl Girl Girl). I had last seen Elohim in 2009, and I was glad to see them again! Of course the show was great! It started with an impressive cover of David Bowie's "Let's Dance". I also found out that they have released three mini-albums in the last few years, titled "Night Safari issue 1" (2014), "Night Safari issue 2" (2016) and "Night Safari issue 3" (2017). Check these out on iTunes or Spotify.

Elohim set list: Let's Dance / ? / totte totte torimakure / La Vita / hoseki o mitsumeru onna / The Night Safari / Screamin' Peanut Vendor / Science Fiction/Double Feature

Harajuku Crocodile, Love Jones

Last on stage was Sunny Kubota & Old Lucky Boys. The large band's line-up tends to differ at every show, and this time they were 8 members (without Eriko despite that she was there). Many great songs were heard, with a sound that made me feel like being at an outdoor festival. Two songs from the Stardust Brothers were played: "omoi togeta otoko" as heard in the new movie, and "Akasaka atari" (sung "Harajuku atari" for this show) which was featured in the previous ("The Legend of the Stardust Brothers", 1985).

Sunny Kubota & Old Lucky Boys set list:
Adam to Eve no kaori / Bubblegum Lovers / hi wa mata noboru / omoi togeta otoko / tsuki no kagayaku yoru ni / shiroi Dress no onna / yorokobi ni tsutsumarete / kimi to boku no uta / Chiba on my mind / Harajuku atari (Akasaka atari) / Palette ni kuchizuke / Falsetto Corset / ashita o shinjite

Elohim, Sunny Kubota & Old Lucky Boys

Exhibition: - I dropped by Bunkamura to check out painter Manabe Taro (aka Picaro Taro)'s solo exhibition "With Dog, Meet Love". Dogs are always one of Taro's main themes, but this time the focus was even more on dogs than usual, perhaps because 2018 is dog year? :) There were a lot of his new artworks featuring many previously unseen dogs too. All were very nice! I did notice a "manekineko" lucky cat near the entrance. :)

Music release news: JiLL-Decoy association, RYUTist, cero

Playlist: Elohim, Sunny Kubota & Old Lucky Boys, Robochu & more

This week's videos: Love Jones "Vibration" (live at Yoyogi Barbara on January 20)

Sunny Kubota & Old Lucky Boys live at Harajuku Crocodile on May 14, 2018 (entire show!)

Machi Akari "mogura takari no yō na hito"

May 13, 2018

Weekly revue: 2018 week #19 (May 5 to 11)

Food: - Tendon (tempura on rice) at Ichū, Ōarai (Ibaraki)
- Dinner at Shanghai restaurant Saisai Shokudō, Nakano
- Mutton biriyani lunch at Tapir, Shin-Ōkubo
- Cheeseburger at Fatburger, Shibuya

Playlist: Soleil, YMCK, La Veuve Moustachue, Nosa Reina, Especia, Pizzicato One, Neil and Iraiza, The Aprils

This week's video: The Beatniks "Xie Xie Xie DA DA DA Yeah Yeah Yeah Ya Ya Ya"

May 5, 2018

Weekly revue: 2018 week #18 (April 28 to May 4)

Food: - Dinner at Good Luck Curry, Ebisu
- Curry and kakigōri (shaved ice) at Hachi, Toshimaen
- Sakura & white chocolate cake (last of the season) at Kies, Nishi-Ogikubo
- Tendon (tenpura rice bowl) at Ichū, Ōarai (Ibaraki)

Exhibition: Randomly dropped by a retrospective exhibition by Ikeda Tatsuo, an avant-garde artist born in 1928. It was very large with lots of artwork from the many phases of his long career until now. That was quite interesting. Titled "IKEDA Tatsuo: An Elliptical Visionary — The Present Tense of Postwar Art" is on until June 17 at the Nerima Art Museum (Info).

Music event: - I went to an in-store event by Wakita Monari at HMV record shop Shinjuku Alta, in promotion of her latest single "Take It Lucky!!!!". She sang 5 songs, from the single and her album "I am ONLY". That was a nice show! I also got a copy of the single which she autographed. :) Thanks!!

Set list: Irony / akai Skirt / Dippin' / Peppermint Rainbow / Take It Lucky!!!!

Music release news: The Beatniks, Non, Crazy Ken Band, Pizzicato Five

Playlist: Wakita Monari (and more... I finally fixed this)

This week's video: Kit Cat "Lily Lies"

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