Thursday, March 08, 2007
kawaii
All the settings on blogger are in Japanese! I wish I could have posted last night after I had been up for over 24 hours because that would have been funny. We went from the flight to the Bananas show in Akihubara (electronic city I probably spelled it wrong). It was so rad to see 40 Japanese kids singing along like crazy to the songs. And now Mike R. Mike is making jokes in two languages! Of course all the food is delicious, even from the convenience store. This morning I ate green tea flavored bread and cherry blossom/mochi bun. L and A are such wonderful hosts. We are about to leave for Harajuku. Dogs wearing clothes! Kawaii!! And all the ladies are so well dressed and ladylike. Trench coats and vintagey wool coats with fur coats seem to be the style. With high heels always.
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3 comments:
that sounds so awesome!
here's the review of Myth Takes at othermusic:
It's been more than a few years since' the dance (post)-punk explosion initially swept over Gotham. And while these days, beardos seem to outnumber angular haircuts by 3-to-1, it's interesting to see who's left standing and who's down for the count. For those of you not keeping score: the Rapture have since released a couple of decent albums, though they still haven't come anywhere close to touching the cowbell-glory of "House of Jealous Lovers;" Radio 4 seemed to have danced themselves into an underground hole; and LCD Soundsystem, whose 2005 full-length out-funked Daft Punk's Human After All , are about to unleash the best album of their career (not to mention a strong contender for a top spot in 2007). However, of the aforementioned, !!! might be the biggest anomaly. Like LCD, these Brooklyn by way of San Diego disco-punks are well informed by dance music (check Maurice Fulton's co-production credit on their last album). But for !!!, the song often takes a backseat to the groove, with Nic Offer's half-spoken, percussive vocals sitting in the same pocket as the fluid guitar lines and slippery bass and drums. Still, it makes for a great, energetic live show that actually feels more like a dance party.
So with nu-rave having spread like an infectious disease across the UK, and space disco revivalists like Norway's Lindstrom heating up party sound systems in the States, the timing couldn't be better for !!! to make their breakthrough. On Myth Takes , you definitely find the band taking many those steps: the production is fuller, the beats are heavier, and the melodies are more upfront with the lyrical content being less political than before. The only thing missing here, however, is THAT SONG. That's not to insinuate that !!! have taken a step backwards; the title track manages to merge spooky, spaghetti western atmosphere with a propulsive Kraut groove as Offer's rhythmic vocal inflections bring to mind the staccato melody of Yellow''s "Bostich," while "Must Be the Moon" sees the band channeling the dancefloor stomp of Happy Monday's "24 Hour Party People" through a darker, funkier filter. And there's no doubt that cuts like the Can-goes-disco "A New Name," the dubby "Break in Case of Anything" and "Me and Giuliani" sequel "Bend Over Beethoven" will get people shaking at their live shows. But being the dance music aficionados that they are, I'm still waiting for !!! to rein in just a little of the sprawl, and focus on delivering that four-minute "White Horse" / "Music Sounds Better with You" floor filler that I know they've got in 'em. (For a limited time: includes a bonus disc featuring alternate versions of "Myth Takes" and "Bend Over Beethoven," plus a Brothers remix of "Heart of Hearts.") [GH]
San Diego's own Nic Offer?!
OUCH!
Love,
Sacramento
All your base are belong to us, Beckler.
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