Blog - July 2019 Archives

July 2019 Archives

Index

.28 Weekly revue: 2019 week #30 (July 20 to 26)
.21 Weekly revue: 2019 week #29 (July 13 to 19)
.15 Weekly revue: 2019 week #28 (July 6 to 12)
.07 Weekly revue: 2019 week #27 (June 29 to July 5)

July 28, 2019

Weekly revue: 2019 week #30 (July 20 to 26)

Food: - Lamb meatball curry at World Meatball Classic, Shinjuku-Gyoenmae
- Fried rice and gyōza at Sen Yō (圳陽), Higashi-Kōenji

Music events: - On Saturday July 20 was the Tokyo finale of SOLEIL's "Lollipop Sixteen Tour", just 3 days after the release of 3rd album "Lollipop Sixteen"! The show was held at WWW X, and the place was quite packed. This time the band was accompanied by drummer Shirane Kenichi (Great 3), guitarist Hirakawa Yūichi (The Pen Friend Club) and chorist Moeka (Machida Girls' Choir). The show had a great setlist of over 20 songs, with 8 from the latest album(!) and also plenty of favorites from their growing repertory.

The new songs sounded excellent! The first to show up was "Anachronic Girl", written by Frenesi, during which Soleil showed ribbon gymnastics skills while singing! "5-4-3-2-1" was also awesome, it's one of my favorites as it has references of Sally Kubota's 90's band Les 5-4-3-2-1 (starting with the "5, 4, 3, 2, 1" typical phrase). For "Red Balloon", Soleil performed a solo on Andes pianica, and for "School's Out" she faked a guitar solo on her cardboard guitar. Album opening track "Le Cœur Qui Fuzz" (written by Tweedees) was also a definite highlight.

Another nice addition to the set was a Batman/Wipe Out instrumental cover, played while the singer went to change into the "Mellotron Girl" outfit as seen in the video. Until then she wore a 60's style dress by starblinc (the brand that made almost all of Vanilla Beans' stage outfits). For the encore, Soleil played drums as she always does. Every time her drum skills are brushed up a bit. The show ended with "Summer of 2019", a melancholic and moving song despite being instrumental, written by former guitarist Nakamori Yasuhiro who quit the band with the completion of the album. There was a birthday cake surprise, as it was her 16th birthday that very day!

Also, I finally got to see the full version of the "Mellotron Girl" music video, which is included on DVD in the new photobook that was photographed by Shindō Mitsuo. The full video is even better, as it also shows the band "before" and also the rise of the zombies. Haha!

Upcoming shows were announced, three of which will be in collaboration with starblinc and held at Shibuya O-Crest, on September 15, October 13 and November 15, and also a Christmas show on December 22 at label Victor's new venue Shibuya Veats. Another show with The Pen Friend Club will be held on December 28.

Set list: Do You Believe in Magic? / Sweet Boy / Apple Princess Go Go! / Baby Boo / Anachronic Girl / Bittersweet Graduation / High School Lullaby / Pieces of Candy / Captain Scarlet theme song / 5-4-3-2-1 / koi no Happy Date (Gotta Pull Myself Together) / Batman/Wipe Out / Mellotron Girl / Red Balloon / Sweet Fifteen / School's Out / Le Cœur Qui Fuzz / Are You Happy? / Theme of SOLEIL
Encore: Session / Guitar in Love / Pinky Fluffy / Summer of 2019

- I dropped by Tower Records Shinjuku for an in-store event by Maika Loubté, who played a generous set in minimal solo style, mainly with just a beatbox and a keyboard, but with also some mixers and other gear. She sang 5 songs from new album "Closer", though the version of "Skydiver" was yet a bit different so she called it "Skydiver III", plus the B-side of CD single "Nobara" (sold only at Tower Records Shinjuku and Online), which the event promoted. That was a very fun set, also feeling kind of close-and-personal as goes the theme of her album. I got her autograph after the show! Maika will play a solo show on Wednesday August 21 at WWW in Shibuya.

Set list: Mountaintop / Runaway / Skydiver III / Tout en rose / Niet / Nobara

- And on Friday I went to Ginza Sony Park for a free show of the "Park Live" series, this time featuring Kaji Hideki! He and guitarist Ushio Kenta (of Otogivanashi) played a generous one-hour set. That included 4 songs from his excellent new album "Goth Romance" which is produced by Horie Hirohisa. On the third song Kaji-kun had a string break, and support guitarist went to change it backstage while lending his guitar so that the show could go on. He then played a bit of Ohtaki Eiichi's "FUN×4", and then the intro of SOLEIL's "Are You Happy?" requested by a fan sitting front row!

Set list: Ivy Ivory Ivy / Cecil Cut (of the Summer End) / anettai Girl / bits of "FUN×4" (Ohtaki Eiichi) and "Are You Happy?" (SOLEIL) / French Cinema! / amai koibito / My Favorite Tofflor (atarashii Sabot) / kimi wa chikara / Spray and Fanfare / Sunday Baby / My Boom Is Me
Encore: Siesta (kimi no Heart no Natural)

Music release news: VIDEOTAPEMUSIC, Wakita Monari, Cornelius, The Shaolin Brothers

This week's videos: Wakita Monari "Espadrille de tsukamaete"

VIDEOTAPEMUSIC "Summer We Know (feat. mmm)"

July 21, 2019

Weekly revue: 2019 week #29 (July 13 to 19)

Last weekend I did some helping out at Tokyo Art Book Fair at the Nieves booth (Switzerland)! That was fun!! :)

Food: - Fish biriyani at Nandhini, Kiyosumi-Shirakawa
- Bacon burger at Brozers, Shintomichō
- Lamb burger at The Great Burger, Shibuya Stream

Music events: - On Wednesday I dropped by Soleil Lollipop Shop, a temporary shop-in-shop at Onkyo Base in mAAch ecute, Akihabara. It was opening day! The shop is actually also a small exhibition of some stage outfits and props, including the cardboard Mellotron seen in the "Mellotron Girl" music video, as well as drawings by singer Soleil. The music video and also some rare footage is also shown there. Tour goods and CDs are now being sold at the shop until August 18. Drop by and see if you have a chance!

The new album "Lollipop Sixteen" was released on July 17, also the shop's opening day. I got it the day before at Tower Records in Shinjuku (as CDs are usually sold a day early) where there was a large display.

- On Friday, at Tower Records Shinjuku, there as an in-store live by Coastlines, the chill out unit of Ikeda Masanori (ex-Mansfield) and keyboardist Kaneko Takumi (of cro-magnon). I've been listening to their first album "Coastlines" a lot since its release last month, so I was looking forward to seeing them. Ikeda mixed beats and also wave sounds on his computer, on which Kaneko added live keyboards and solos. That was a very nice set! I was happy to have the chance to get their autograph, and also shake hands with Ikeda-san who I've been a fan of since his Mansfield days. Nevermind that his music style has changed a lot since then, I can always relate and enjoy the great new music he makes. Coastlines announced that they will play at the lobby of Hotel Koé on Friday August 9. Check out the video below.

Set list: Sunset Reflection / Easy Dry River / Half Moon Shadow / Maracas Bay / Down Town
(Hopefully I got these instrumentals right..!)

- Right after seeing Coastlines, I went down to the 7th floor to catch another in-store event, although completely different stuff. I had seen xiangyu twice at Batica in Ebisu: the first time at Nakatsuka Takeshi's "Delica Lab", and then again at Kenmochi Hidefumi's release party. Her music is produced by Wednesday Campanella's Kenmochi, and it takes elements from a techno genre called Gqom (originated from South Africa). Her first mini-album "The First ○○ Picture Book" was released just about half a year since she started performing, with lyrics speak mostly about daily life such as different food (poo pad pong curry, gyōza, Baskin Robbins' "Popping Shower" ice cream) or missing the garbage truck.

I had listened to her songs on YouTube and digital streaming but I got the CD anyway, and turns out that it has a very nicely designed package like a mini-encyclopedia of the various things that appear in the lyrics. Despite being in-store, she finished her set like the ones I saw before crowd-surfing in a pool with the help of some devoted fans. At the autograph session that followed there was a rock-paper-scissors game with her, and I got a demo CD-R of "Hamaege" and a poster of label Kujaku Club. Cool! :)

Set list: Hamaege / Human Evolution / Go Mistake / Poo Pad Pong Curry / mycorrhizal fungi / I went to sleep without taking a bath

Music release news: WabiSabi with Izumi Ookawara, Natsu Summer

This week's video: Maika Loubté "Prismé"

Coastlines "Last Summer In Rio"

xiangyu "Go Mistake"

July 15, 2019

Weekly revue: 2019 week #28 (July 6 to 12)

Music events: - This week was the release of Wakita Monari's new single "Espadrille de tsukamaete", of which the title song was written and produced by Dorian (with lyrics by Hitomitoi) and the B-side by Arai Toshiya. I went to an in-store event at HMV&BOOKS Shibuya. Monari sang 5 songs, and after the show I got her autograph! I was first in line and she let me choose the pen color (silver)! :)

Monari is known for writing very large autographs, and this time the jacket (designed by Sally Kubota) has plenty of space for it. Being the day before the official release day (CD releases are always in store one day early) she also wrote "ヒラゲの日" ("hirage Day") as she always does on that day. Normally called "フラゲ" ("furage" for "Flying Get"), she once made a mistake in her early Especia days and her fans and herself always kept saying "hirage" since, only regarding her releases. I like that story. :)

Set list: In the City / Peppermint Rainbow (Swingin' Bigband Ver.) / ai no Decadence / Friend In Need / Espadrille de tsukamaete

- The next day was Hitomitoi's annual show at Billboard Live Tokyo. Always with a full band of guitar, bass, keyboards, drums and sax/flute (including two members of Nona Reaves), this time she was also accompanied by special guests Dorian and Kashif! Both of them were on stage for about 4 songs. Aside from a selection from her repertory, there was a self-cover of Dorian's "summer rich" (her first collaboration with Dorian), and also covers of Ōnuki Taeko and Rah Band. Excellent show!

Set list: Glass no Summer Holiday / Dive / Lonely Woman / toki o tomete koi wa odoru (w/ Dorian) / Flash of Light (w/ Dorian) / natsu ni koi suru onnatachi (Ōnuki Taeko cover) / Rainbow / Summer Breeze '86 (w/ Kashif) / natsu kōsen, kira. (w/ Kashif) / summer rich (w/ Kashif & Dorian)
Encore: Perfumed Garden (The Rah Band cover) / koi wa omoi no mama (w/ Dorian & Kashif)

- Then two days later I suddenly learnt that Hitomitoi was playing a club set at a free event by fashion brand Jun, titled "Jun no ennichi" at EBiS 303. The time and place were just right so I ran to check it out! It was also the first time that I saw her club set backed by Dorian and Kashif! Two of the songs she sang weren't part of her Billboard show, so it was the perfect dessert. :)

Set list: Dive / Dolphin / Flash of Light / Let it Out / koi wa omoi no mama

Music release news: Negicco, TRI4TH, DYGL, Nakano Aya to Central, Maika Loubté, Ultra-Vybe Japanese hit release re-issues, SOLEIL

This week's video: Maika Loubté "Closer" Preview live on DOMMUNE (1-hour set!)

July 7, 2019

Weekly revue: 2019 week #27 (June 29 to July 5)

Food: - Tapir's spicy hiyajiru (cold soup) at Snark Liquidworks, Nishi-Ikebukuro

Music event: - On Friday July 5 I DJ'd part of event "POLY810 feat. Kishimix & 8mm VJ koss" at Koenji Connection! DJs were Polymoog (Elektel, CTO LAB.), Kishimix (Faction Bleu) and DJ 810 (= DJ Pato = me), and there was also VJ koss who projected 8mm film! Polymoog ended up selecting music to go along with the projected anime or space-themed movies, and that was the best part of the show!

In my two sets I played only 7" records, mostly of recent music that I like, as there have been many 7"'s released these recent years so this time I wanted to play many of those. I had also brought the electronic tabla machine by Radel that I bought in Chennai, India, and played it a few times setting the BPM to match the song that was playing (difficult but it kind of works).

Thanks to Polymoog, Kishimix and VJ koss for this fun evening!

Credit: 2nd photo by Polymoog

My set lists:

- Cornelius / yume no naka de
- Especia / Abyss
- Her Serves & Her Receive / Racket Love
- Bakubaku Dokin / Good Night Baby
- Madame Croissant / Salut!
- ya-to-i / tonaeru yo
- Jintana & Emeralds / There She Goes
- Hoshino Michiru / watashi wa Schedy
- Natsu Summer / TA・RI・NA・I -Urban City Mix-
- Parkgolf / 100nen feat. Hitomitoi
- MANON / xxFANCYPOOLxx
- cubismo grafico / Jour de Vanves
- WabiSabi with Izumi Ookawara / Je t'aime... moi non plus
- Yasuda Narumi / Ex Fan des Sixties
- Maika Leboutet (Maika Loubté) / Universal Metro
- Michel Polnareff / Polnarêve
- Coastlines / Half Moon Shadow

- Yellow Magic Orchestra / Cosmic Surfin
- Cosmic Invention / Cosmic Surfin
- SOLEIL / High School Lullaby
- les 5-4-3-2-1 / un garçon et une fille
- Enoshima Bakusō Gals / Surume Boy -Tetto Mix-
- WAKITA Monari / Est! Est!! Est!!!
- Hitomitoi / Night Flight Telephone Call feat. Punpee (Beef Remix)
- Vanilla Beans / Sweet Soul Revue
- Negicco / Jolly Bubbly Lovely
- La Veuve Moustachue / zettai renai! Count Down
- Chikada Haruo / konya mo tenteten
- Hoshino Michiru / Take Me To The Discotheque (Single Version)
- Kanou Emiri / gomenne
- Motocompo / Tiny Luck'N'Roll
- Hikashu / Pike (English Version)
- Nomiya Maki / onna tomodachi
- The Scooters / Kaiso-Rasputin
- Men Without Hats / Safety Dance

Movie: - Film québécois "La disparition des lucioles" à Shinjuku Musashinokan. It was great! I'm happy that more movies from Québec seem to be gaining attention internationally, even making their way to Japan.
Official Japanese site (Japanese title "sayonara taikutsu na Léonie")

Japan trailer:

Music release news: Wakita Monari

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