日本の音楽 Week 9: 五人一首

Ahh - the weekend, the second day of spring and I'm feelin' like a new man. Could there possibly be a better time and place for some Japanese progressive death metal? That's right.

They just don't make too many bands like 五人一首(ごにんいっしゅ, commonly romanized as Gonin-ish). Forced to draw a comparison between 五人一首 and any other band, in a situation of life and death, I'd have no choice but to take a bullet between the eyes. (Cynic or Unexpect would be a stretch, but the closest comparisons I can think of)

Best described as progressive death metal, 五人一首 plays a chaotic, yet melodic and poetic form of music that takes inspiration from a plethora of sources, including progressive rock and metal, death metal and even anime soundtracks. Anoji, the adorably terrifying bleached-blonde frontwoman whose cryptic lyrics are heavily inspired by classical Japanese literature, switches up between a traditional Japanese vocal style to a raspy death scream at the drop of a hat. Due to the nature of the band's lyrics, archaic language is quite common, making 五人一首 a challengingly difficult band to interpret - but that's part of the fun, isn't it?

Man, I love this band.

五人一首 - 無碍の人

Recommended albums:

• 内視鏡世界 (Naishikyou-sekai)
• 五人一首 (Gonin-Ish)

日本の音楽 Week 8: ROVO

It's that time again! This week, I'd like to introduce to you an unusual band known as ROVO, which is best described as an instrumental psychedelic jazz/chillout band with an almost middle-eastern flavor - something like the bastard child of Shpongle and The Boredoms.

In fact, Seiichi Yamamoto of The Boredoms is one of the band's founders, so the influence ain't exactly a coincidence. ROVO features a slew of talented musicians, often combining the skillful blend of guitar, bass, synth, multiple percussion and the band's distinctive electric violin in many of their songs for nothing short of mindblowing results.

ROVO - Condor


ROVO - Nuou

Recommended albums:

• Mon
  
• Imago
• Nuou
• Flage

日本の音楽 Week 7: Church of Misery

Hope you like your music heavy, because Church of Misery is thicker than an anvil to the face.

Inspired heavily by the likes of early Black Sabbath and many other 70s psychedelic, stoner and doom metal bands, Church of Misery isn't exactly the kind of underground band from Japan you'd expect to find, but my experiences have long since taught me not to expect anything in particular when it comes to the Japanese underground.

The vast majority of Church of Misery's songs are named after, and written about, heinous serial killers of the not-so-distant past such as Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Aileen Wuornos and Ed Kemper, to name but a few. It's somewhat of an odd theme for a band, especially one from Tokyo, but it works. The band isn't necessarily glorifying the actions of these individuals, but rather invoking a sinister atmosphere that blends so naturally with their psychedelic, groovy offerings.

Notice the above image of the band, specifically the band shirts they're wearing - you got Nebula, The Stooges, Burzum and Corrupted - four dramatically different inspirations that nonetheless all come through in Church of Misery's music.

They sure ain't for everyone, but Church of Misery personally remains one of my very favorites. I think it's safe to say that most fans of Black Sabbath and ultra-heavy music will find plenty to like in these guys.

Church of Misery - Filth Bitch Boogie (Aileen Wuornos)

Recommended Albums:

• The Second Coming
• Master of Brutality

日本の音楽 Week 6: Coaltar of the Deepers

Coaltar of the Deepers is a truly unique band that doesn't particularly fit in any one genre of music. While certainly covering the bases of shoegaze, alternative and indie stylings, CotD has been known to delve into electronic and even extreme metal at times, making for an unpredictable and always exciting band to listen to.

Can't say I'm a huge fan of the lead singer's voice, but his death metal gutturals sure are awesome!


Coaltar of the Deepers - C/O/T/D


Coaltar of the Deepers - Dead by Dawn


Coaltar of the Deepers - Unlimber

Recommended albums:

• Yukari Telepath
• Newave
• Come Over to the Deepend

日本の音楽 Week 4: Sigh

All right, enough of the mellow stuff. This week, I present to you one of Japan's most creative, most innovative metal bands ever - Sigh. A name which can express a wide range of emotions, from relief, to disappointment, to anxiety, to ecstasy, and so on.

Sigh began as a straight-up black metal band in the early 90s, heavily inspired by the likes of Venom and Celtic Frost, and other first generation black metal bands of olde. Sigh's first album, Scorn Defeat, was released in 1993 and garnered a great deal of international attention from the black metal underground, thanks in no small part to brilliant frontman Mirai Kawashima's exceptional talent, and experimentation with keyboards - something which had never really been done in black metal, at least not in the virtuosic manner in which Mirai introduced it. In fact, the band was signed to Deathlike Silence Productions, notorious Norwegian band Mayhem's record label, shortly before and after the murder of founder and Mayhem guitarist Euronymous.

Sigh has evolved their sound over time, progressing from traditional black metal to a more avant-garde, experimental approach, with each album sounding quite different from one another (though perhaps not on a scale similar to that of Boris), but always extreme black metal in essence. The band's latest album, titled Hangman's Hymn - Musikalische Exequien, is something of a return to the band's roots, a decidedly diabolically themed album following the power hungry temptation and subsequent damnation of a poor soul, featuring the band's most bombastic, intense, dynamic sound yet along with a powerful backing orchestra and choir (in fact, most of which were courtesy of volunteers from the band's forum).

Again, it should be noted that you'll learn little Japanese from Sigh - Mirai himself is fluent in English, and as such, 99% of the band's songs are in English (he claims that Japanese just doesn't sound right in metal). Certainly not a band for everyone's tastes (nor for the faint of heart), but those with an appreciation for the extreme and the avant-garde may find Sigh to be one of the most sexy, exciting bands in Japanese music today. You can check out a huge chunk of their work on their Myspace page, because Sigh is baller like that.

Unfortunately, the following videos aren't very indicative of Sigh's more intense side (both PVs from their more chilled Gallows Gallery), but that's what their Myspace is for.

Sigh - Midnight Sun


Sigh - Messiahplan

Recommended Albums:

• Hangman's Hymn
• Imaginary Sonicscape
• Scorn Defeat
• Gallows Gallery

日本の音楽 Week 3: Mono

This week's band is a bit special, in that it really wouldn't matter which country they came from. For you see, Mono is a band of few words, focusing instead entirely on instrumental and stage presence to captivate listeners from all across the globe.

Personally, I often have a hard time getting into instrumental bands. Unless they offer something absolutely astounding, I find myself getting bored and losing interest. It's become something of a trend in the past decade for so-called post-rock bands to follow a path of vocal-less, completely instrumental composition, and the collective result has left somewhat of a bitter taste in my mouth. Vocals make up perhaps the most important aspect of a band, in my mind, and the complete omission of vocals simply makes most instrumental bands feel bland and unexciting to me. An exceptional singer, after all, can easily turn a boring band into something special and noteworthy. Even putting lyrics aside, the human voice as an instrument in itself is an element I often wish was present in many of these aforementioned instrumental post-rock bands.

Mono, on the other hand, truly has no need for vocals. None. Such is the beauty and power of their compositions, I find myself spellbound and entranced within minutes from their waves of melody alone.

It should be noted that their new album, titled Hymn to the Immortal Wind, is pending release, and from what I've heard of it so far... WOW. Mono's powerful instrumentals, plus a backing orchestra and some of the band's finest composition ever makes for some hair raising listening. (It should also be noted that said album has leaked ahead of release, so...)

You can hear "Ashes in the Snow", the phenomenal, nearly 12 minute intro track on the band's Myspace page.

You only downside is that you won't learn a word of Japanese listening to Mono. Even their track titles are in English. But uh... that's only a small drawback, right? [I've concluded that music is one of the least effective ways to acquire Japanese, but that's a post for another day]

One must witness their commanding stage presense in order to fully appreciate the band, so by all means, check out these videos.

Mono - Yearning (plus interview)

Mono - The Flames Beyond the Cold Mountain

Recommended Albums:

• Hymn to the Immortal Wind
• You Are There
  
• Palmless Prayer / Mass Murder Refrain [with World's End Girlfriend]

日本の音楽 Week 2: Cruyff In The Bedroom

Now for something a little more mellow. 

Cruyff In The Bedroom would best be described as "shoegaze", an alternative rock band characterized by thick walls of guitar, tons of effects pedals (especially feedback and distortion) and lyrical subject matter that is most often sentimental, reflective and/or nostalgic in nature. 

CitB has become one of Japan's best known modern shoegazers, but that's not exactly saying much, considering shoegaze met its prime in the early 90s UK underground and never made much of a mainstream impact outside of My Bloody Valentine and a handful of other innovators. With that having been said, the influence of shoegaze rears its head quite frequently in underground rock, and a number of Japanese bands such as CitB have taken the proverbial torch and run with it.

Cruyff In The Bedroom - Clear Light, White Cloud

Recommended albums:

• Saudargia
• Hikarihimawari
• Perfect Silence

日本の音楽 Week 1: Boris

Beginning with not only one of my very favorite bands, but also a very internationally popular independent Japanese band, Boris has been at the forefront of the Japanese underground for the past several years, and for good friggin' reason. 

Quite possibly the hardest working band I know of, the amount of material (not to mention frequent international touring) this trio has output since their 1996 debut is staggering (just check out their discography listing on Metal Archives). One album often sounds completely different from the next, shifting from monolithic walls of droning guitars, to more garage punk oriented styles, to acidic flavors of Melvins-inspired stoner rock, to fierce, noise-laden bombardments, and even the occasional delicate piece of chill-out for good measure.

BUT DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT! Here's a slew of Boris videos. The first two are from their latest album, "Smile", which is entirely awesome.

Boris - Statement

Boris - My Neighbor Satan

Boris - Furi

Boris - Ibitsu

Boris with Michio Kurihara - Rainbow

Recommended albums:

• Smile [note: the Japanese and American versions sound quite different from one another; both are awesome, however]
• Pink
• Rainbow (with Michio Kurihara, psychedelic guitarist extraordinaire) 
• Heavy Rocks [a good introduction to Boris]
• Akuma no Uta
• Amplifier Worship [very experimental drone]
• Flood [again, very experimental drone]
• Altar (with Sunn O))), American subsonic soundsmiths)

ファッキング日本語 weekly feature: 日本の音楽

Noticed something a little bizarre about my post titles? If you're curious enough to exercise your Googlefu, you'll quickly discover that they all share something in common.

Simply put, I'm a music freak. I enjoy music of almost all varieties, from all corners of the Earth. More often than not, I'm listening to something while I'm working, studying, reading or otherwise at my computer or able to go about my business with my MP3 player. As I've stated earlier, I'm not using a truly full immersion environment, so not all of my music is in Japanese... but a good chunk of it is, and those bands and musicians, my friends, are the ones I plan to tell you all about.

Every week - tentatively Friday, more likely to shift over to Saturday or Sunday - I'm going to blog about one of my favorite Japanese bands. Not only will this help many great bands gain a little bit of exposure, but it also sorta forces me to explore more Japanese bands, in the event that I ever run out of bands to blog about. We'll see how it goes.

I certainly don't expect my music tastes to be everyone's cup of tea, but if you have an appreciation for the unusual, the extreme, the melodic, the sentimental or the melancholic, you'll probably find at least a few enjoyable bands here in the coming months.

Without further ado, let's rock.