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Mr. Bungle at Toyosu Pit, February 28th 2024

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  I think I already mentioned that I used to host a couple of radio shows more than twenty years ago when I lived in Los Angeles. They were on KXLU, a station that broadcasts from the campus of Loyola Marymount University, my alma mater. One of them was a jazz show that went on the air on a weekday, I think Wednesday or Thursday. My co-host Joseph came up with the title ’The Gift of Jazz”. It followed an instrumental show that was hosted by DJ Ned. Ned’s show was one of my favorites, he introduced me to a ton of music. Two releases in particular, that he personally recommended while music played between the end of his slot and the beginning of mine, ended up being among my favorite albums of all time. One was the Ethiopiques 4 compilation with music from Mulatu Astatke -we’re talking years before the movie Broken Flower exposed these songs to the world. The other was a new release at the time, the album The Director’s Cut by Fantomas. That album, a four-piece rock band reinterpretat
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Merzbow / Stephen O'Malley at WWW, June 1st 2023

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  Back in 2008 I saw Ween in Paris. I haven’t seen them since and I think they haven’t toured Europe since then either. The show was a three hour tour de force at the tiny La Maroquinerie in the 20th. I was lucky to see the not so often played Fluffy as the concert closer, one of those epic 15 minutes plus renditions. I still remember it as one of the most jaw-dropping, goosebumps inducing moments I’ve seen in a concert. The reason I’m bringing this up at the beginning of this review is because before the show I bumped into Gene Ween at a cafe and something similar happened to me at this show you’re about to read about. Gene was chilling by himself having coffee at the most inconspicuous Parisian cafe you can think about. It was not far from the venue, my sister and I were killing time when we spotted him. We approached him and told him we were on the way to the show. He was very nice and laid-back. Told us thank you and to enjoy the show. 15 years later I’m on my way to WWW. Got ther
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Beatrice Dillon / Lucy Railton at Wall & Wall, May 30th 2023

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  This year’s Mode Festival ran for about a week at the end of May and the beginning of June. The first edition was held in London in 2018, curated by Ryuichi Sakamoto, who also performed. This year the festival is dedicated to his memory and gathered some big names from the electronic underground scene.  I went to two shows. The first one was at a venue I was not familiar with, Wall & Wall in Omotesando, an upscale area of Tokyo. Once inside my suspicions were confirmed, this place didn’t feel like the kind of joint you’ll see some music experimenting going down. The vibe felt more like a kind of a fancy club. I thought it was weird. Feeling already out of place as the only ojisan with cool-biz clothes in the building, I decided to go right to the front and focus on the performers on stage. The first one of the evening was Lucy Railton . She started her fifty-minute set creating percussive sounds with small mallets lying on her table next to her electronic rig. The whole set was
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Colin Currie Group plays Steve Reich at Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, April 21st 2023

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  Music for 18 Musicians is quite possibly the most accessible avant-garde piece of music ever. That doesn’t diminish its impact nor its complexity. It’s not accessible because it’s simple, it’s accessible because it connects with the listener on a primal level. The comings and goings of the bass clarinets and voices are like breathing, while the rhythmical throbs of the marimbas feel like the pacing of movement. This Pulses , as each of the sections are called, paint a complete and fascinating picture of human movement. It never ceases to engage through its one hour length. The ECM premiere recording, with the participation of the composer Steve Reich himself among the 18 musicians, is a classic. It’s perfect for relaxing, studying, as background music or for deep listening. I’ve been a fan of that recording for many years but I’ve only seen it performed live once. It was as a contemporary dance production. Rain , choreographed by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker at Palais Garnier in Pari
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Emperor at Ex Theater Roppongi, March 2nd 2023

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  When I first saw Emperor in 2019, just a few months before the pandemic started, it was definitely a memorable experience, my favorite concert of that year. When I saw the announcement of their return in March this year it was a no-brainer, I needed to get that ticket. They upgraded the venue to the somewhat posh Roppongi Ex-Theater which made it an even more attractive option. I got there early on the day of the show and I had the number two printed on my ticket, which it meant I was going to be the second person to get inside the venue. In Japan concert tickets at all-standing shows are numbered, apparently in the order they were bought . It means that the earlier you bought your ticket the lower your number you got. At the venue a staff member calls the numbers in order and people get inside. It didn’t work out this way for this show. They sold two categories at the same price alleging standing and seated areas. Besides a small balcony with probably a hundred seats, the show was
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Pavement at Tokyo Dome City Hall, February 16th 2023

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  I’ve heard a lots of people saying that a piece of music stopped them in their tracks. I remember that happening to me a couple of times. Once was at the Ochanomizu Disk Union Jazz store, listening to Free For All by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. The other one was in my car, while driving on my way to class more than twenty years ago. I was driving my beat up 1993 Hyundai Scoupe, going to an afternoon class, when a tune on KXLU made me literally stop and park by the curb to wait until the DJ announced the title. It started with a piercing high pitched distorted sound, almost like an alarm. Then it transitioned to an ascending unending melody line, no chorus or bridge, with layers of guitars over it. Culminating in a more traditional but also infectious guitar-bass instrumental break. The song was Texas Never Whispers , a non-album cut only to be found on the Watery Domestic EP. This was my introduction to Pavement . I discovered them a year after they disbanded this way. I en
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Mayhem at Club Quattro, January 31st 2023

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  For Mayhem the adjective “infamous” is kind of an euphemism. It is well known that murder, suicide, all kinds of illegal activity and practices of the occult have been part of its history. But even me, someone who doesn’t believe in the separation between art and artist, can’t deny their contribution to music. Black metal owns a debt to Mayhem like no other genre owns to any other artist. They set the framework of it around forty years ago and rarely the genre has deviated from it. On top of that they haven’t been afraid of experimenting adding references to punk, industrial among other genres, throughout their discography. They really are a fascinating group of musicians. This show was sort of a celebration of their evolution and contributions to the black metal imagery. The main reason for me going was the metal shows drought Tokyo have experienced since the pandemic. I don’t know, maybe most of this extreme band members are not too concerned with Covid restrictions and that’s why
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