Blog - November 2019 Archives

November 2019 Archives

Index

.25 Weekly revue: 2019 week #47 (November 16 to 22)
.17 Weekly revue: 2019 week #46 (November 9 to 15)
.10 Weekly revue: 2019 week #45 (November 2 to 8)
.04 Weekly revue: 2019 week #44 (October 26 to November 1)

November 25, 2019

Weekly revue: 2019 week #47 (November 16 to 22)

Food: - Salmon curry at Shake Stand, Daitabashi

Music events: - On Sunday November 17 was afternoon event "Vivid Sound Revue 'Tokyo Heat Wave'" at clubasia in Shibuya, a release party for The Shaolin Brothers' latest single "koi no Dial 6700". The event also featured The Scooters, 3-piece girl band The Highmarts, and DJ Konishi Yasuharu (and more DJs)!

First on stage was The Highmarts, who I had seen two months ago for the first time, but that was also their last show with bassist Shiori (report). This time they played with their new bassist Haruna, and it felt that she already fits very well! I bought their latest 7" single "Hey Boy" which was released on German label Sound Flat.

Next up was The Scooters! They did an excellent set with many favorites, old and new covers and originals. Leader Shindō Mitsuo was absent and replaced by a panel that was used to deliver an audio message from him. The set included "kanashii uwasa" written by Konishi Yasuharu, who was watching from the DJ booth as he was next to play. The set then ended with their classic "Tokyo Disco Night".

DJ Konishi Yasuharu did a fun and rocking high-paced set, during which some rock'n'rollers took over the dance floor. That prepared the mood for the next band, The Shaolin Brothers! It was my first time seeing them. The show opened with a panda who came to warm up the audience, and then it was song after song of mostly covers arranged in their style, often with some words changed to match their theme. That included recent singles "Pandafull World", "koi no Dial 6700" and "tasogare Wo Ai Ni" (which in recording features Nomiya Maki!). For the encore, they played "Tokyo Kung-Fu Night" (their cover of The Scooters' "Tokyo Disco Night") with all singers from The Scooters on stage!

The Scooters' set list: I Believe In Miracles / Heat Wave / Break-a-way / Young Americans / kanashii uwasa / Hey Girl / Key to her Ferrari / Shout!! / Tokyo Disco Night

- Then on Tuesday was Tokyo Panorama Mambo Boys' "Panorama Dance tengoku" event at The Room in Shibuya! The opening act was mood kayō singer Tablet Jun, who I hadn't seen in a while. The Mambo Boys then did an excellent show of two energetic sets. Actually percussionists Gonzalez and Paradise were at their drums for most of the show, even playing along with the other DJs. I was impressed by DJ Osada Sadao who did a very mambo selection! The show ended with a chill out set by Sunaga Tatsuo.

- On Wednesday was a special event at Billboard café & dining in Tokyo Midtown Hibiya, celebrating Hoshino Michiru's 34th birthday (which was the day before)! The event was titled "Michiru Best 1985-2019" and it was a mix of talk and live, doing a retrospective of her whole career, starting with her early AKB48 days and up to her latest works as a singer-songwriter. She was also joined by current producer Sally Kubota and arranger Okada Yumi to talk about her excellent latest album "Moonlight Confessions"! There were also appearances by Nakamura Ai, Nishi Erika and Smooth Ace, and interviewer Yoshida Gō. That was a memorable evening!

Set list (I might have missed one or two): Skirt hirari (AKB48) / ganbare / I love you / watashi wa Schedy / seikan renrakusen / koshinuke danshi ni I Love You / Discotheque ni tsuretette (feat. Nishi Erika) / Rock'n'Roll Apple Pie / amatsubu no Waltz (Umbrella Waltz) / sayonara Blue Bird (feat. Smooth Ace)
Encore: gyakkō

Music video: Eye Röller "Feel It Roar"

November 17, 2019

Weekly revue: 2019 week #46 (November 9 to 15)

Food: - Curry & mont blanc at Zero One Curry A.o.D (Aromas of Dakshin), Mita
- Tonkatsu at Maruyama Kippei, Kanda
- Curry at Have More Curry, Omotesandō
- Apple Cheeks sandwich at Buy Me Stand, Shibuya

Music event: On Friday November 15 was SOLEIL's 3rd & last monthly show of the "Ready Soleil Go" series, with costumes produced by Starblinc! The show also featured band Tweedees (of bassist Okii Reiji, ex-Cymbals) who I saw for the first time. Of course I knew their songs were great, but they were also a lot of fun to watch live. Okii Reiji's bass skills were a delight! They played as a 5-piece band, including support keyboardist was Blue Peppers' Inoue Kaoru, and guitar and drums. The last song they played was a medley that includes a cover of Pizzicato Five's "Tokyo wa yoru no 7ji (the night is still young)", the song however only uses the catchy chorus part repeatedly. Konishi Yasuharu had apparently commented that their cover had no love, but Okii Reiji replied on stage that it's a loaf of love ("ai no katamari").

Next up were SOLEIL, who once again impressed me instantly with their clean and gentle sound, that even compared with Tweedees it felt like a breeze of fresh air. This time again they were accompanied by support musicians Hirakawa Yūichi (The Pen Friend Club) on guitar, Shirane Kenichi (GREAT3) on drums and Moeka (Machida Girls Choir) on chorus. Starting with "5-4-3-2-1" (a song that sends a direct wink to Sally Kubota's 90's band Les 5-4-3-2-1), the generous set list was full of favorites, and also contained for the first time "Soleil's Kanon" (also written by Sally, from latest album "Lollipop Sixteen"), and brand new Christmas song "Twinkle Heart" (to be released on 7" this week). I love "Soleil's Kanon", so I had been hoping for this to happen!

There was talk of the stereo remix album that will be released in December, "SOLEIL in STEREO", said to mimic Beatles stereo releases from 1964 to 1966 that took mono audio and split it into two channels sometimes in a crazy way (like vocals or an instrument completely on one side). All of SOLEIL's releases so far were recorded and released in mono, so it will be a first.

Also it was announced that it was the last show with support guitarist Hirakawa Yūichi, who had been playing all shows with them since Nakamori Yasuhiro (Hicksville) officially quit the band before the release of "Lollipop Sixteen". The very last show on Sunday December 22 will be with the original guitarist!

That was a really great show, and full of Rickenbackers!

SOLEIL set list: 5-4-3-2-1 / Sweet Boy / Anachronic Girl / High School Lullaby (Imo-kin Trio cover) / Soleil's Kanon / Zozoi (France Gall cover) / Twinkle Heart / Bittersweet Graduation / Captain Scarlet theme song / Do You Believe in Magic? / School's Out / Cœur Qui Fuzz (w/ Tweedees)
Encore: Session / Apple Princess Go Go! / Pinky Fluffy

Exhibition: Dropped by the "Glue Scissors" exhibition at hpgrp gallery in Omotesandō, featuring mainly collage works by Towa Tei and Tomoo Gokita. There are many of these works on display, and also two large photos and a painting of Towa Tei from the "Future Listening!" days. There's also a TV playing his music videos in loop, without the sound, themselves looking like art pieces.

I bought the exhibition book which comes with a flexidisc of the "Glue Scissors" theme song, and stamped the back of the book with one of the large stamps provided there. The exhibition goes on until November 30 (details).

Music release news: Ozawa Kenji, Sheena Ringo, Hasegawa Hakushi, Scha Dara Parr (feat. Robochu & Kaseki Cider), 80KIDZ, Emiri Kanou, Konishi Yasuharu & Playboys

This week's video: Ozawa Kenji "So kakkoii Uchu"

November 10, 2019

Weekly revue: 2019 week #45 (November 2 to 8)

Food: - Cold-brew green tea at No Rails, Shibuya

Music events: - Monday November 4 was a national holiday, and I went to see YMCK's "Family Circus Show" at Daikanyama Space Odd! The show was to accompany their new album "Family Circus" released on the same day. Featuring all songs from the album (all heard for the first time) and then some more favorites and reworked versions (including mashups with games "Circus Charlie" and "Castlevania"), and also some original games for which people in the audience were called on stage to play, as always it was a wonderful and fun show! Whenever I watch their shows I always feel some moments of pure glee, caused by a mix of great nostalgic game visuals and sounds, and maybe some form of illusionist magic like they're so good at.

The new album is also excellent! It's now available on iTunes, Spotify, etc., and also as a very nicely designed CD via Amazon Japan. Check it out!

- Also, there was Record Day 2019 held on Sunday November 3, and in the evening I dropped by an in-store event at Union Record (Disk Union's vinyl-only shop in Shinjuku) for a mini live show by The Pen Friend Club! Despite not being a very big shop, they had moved the record shelves to make enough space for the 8 members and their instruments. For Record Day, the band had their Christmas album from last year released on vinyl, so they played a set that included some Christmas songs and also more from their regular repertory. After the show they signed autographs so I could get the record signed by all of them. :) I think Christmas songs might be more enjoyable when played on vinyl than in other forms, so I look forward to listening to this a lot in the coming holiday season.

By the way for Record Day I also got Towa Tei's "On Air EP", which features previously unreleased collaborations with Nomiya Maki and Non, and of course I also got Pizzicato Five's boxed set of sixteen 7"'s! The boxed set looks awesome with completely newly designed sleeves for each record by art director Shindō Mitsuo. Plus it includes a photo autographed by Nomiya Maki and Konishi Yasuharu, and also the box is numbered by the art director! They all had to sign a total of 1300 pieces... what a feat! Definitely a priceless collectible for any fan.

Exhibition: I dropped by the solo exhibition of illustrator Moto Hideyasu at Gallery Void in Asagaya, titled "MOTO JAM". Maybe best known for his character Recosuke and Recogirl (often seen at Disk Union), several of his music-related illustrations are on display. I had the chance to meet Moto-san when we spent a fun day acting as zombie extras in SOLEIL's "Mellotron Girl" music video. :) I got his comic book "Agemono Blues". The exhibition is on until November 17.

Music release news: Towa Tei, Omodaka, Wack Wack Rhythm Band, Maika Loubté

This week's video: Maika Loubté "Snappp feat. New Optimism"

November 4, 2019

Weekly revue: 2019 week #44 (October 26 to November 1)

Music event: - Band SOLEIL having only a few shows left, I went on a little day trip to the Iwashita New Ginger Museum in Tochigi Prefecture to see a free event titled "SOLEIL Halloween Party Party". The museum, located about 15 minutes from Tochigi station, is quite an attraction in itself, having many rooms all decorated in pink with various ginger-like objects and characters. With a play area for kids, it seemed popular with local families too.

SOLEIL was to play a show in the hall area, where many chairs were laid out for the audience. I was late to reserve and my number turned out to be 133 so I knew there were going to be a lot of people. Indeed the place got very packed. This time the two of SOLEIL, singer Soleil and bassist Sally Kubota, were backed by guitarist Hirakawa Yūichi (of The Pen Friend Club), drummer Tanabe Monaka and chorist Moeka (of Machida Girls Choir). Despite it being a free event, they played a full show of 20 songs! Also, since it was seated, I could see the whole stage and Soleil's glockenspiel and drum skills better than ever. The entire show was excellent! I think I hadn't heard "Sweet Boy", "Baby Boo" and "Mellotron Girl" in a little while, and I got to hear "Zozoi" again! The encore was also great, with "Apple Princess Go Go!" played with Soleil on drums for the first time I think, and the show ended with debut single "Pinky Fluffy".

Set list: My Sweet Fifteen / Sweet Boy / Anachronic Girl / My Emo-Coloured Corazon / Pieces of Candy / Baby Boo / koi no Happy Date (Gotta Pull Myself Together) (Ishino Maki cover) / Zozoi (France Gall cover) / Captain Scarlet theme song / Mellotron Girl / High School Lullaby (Imo-kin Trio cover) / Marine I Love You / Do You Believe in Magic? / 5-4-3-2-1 / School's Out / Le Cœur qui Fuzz
Encore: Session / Apple Princess Go Go! / Guitar in Love / Pinky Fluffy

Music release news: The Shaolin Brothers, Billy Strange / Frank Chacksfield, Record Day 2019, Negicco, WHY@DOLL

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