Metropolis - Arts & Entertainment

Marco Latrach

daviatrix — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:00:58 +0000

Courtesy of Patagonica

In addition to producing some of the planet’s most noted DJs, Chile is home to the threatened peaks of Patagonia. A few years back, American Emilie McGlone of Japanese NGO Peace Boat had the idea to combine her twin loves of dance music and Patagonia in a fundraising DJ contest.

“Since Patagonica was founded in 2008, we have adapted to new challenges,” she tells Metropolis. “Our first year, we fundraised to support the international campaign by Peace Boat and the National Committee to protect the flora and fauna of Chile. During our second tour, we found ourselves in the country during one of the largest earthquakes in Chile’s history, and quickly refocused to support the affected people.”

McGlone recently formed the Patagonica Collective, which brings artists and activists together to campaign for the UNESCO listing of Patagonia. “In Chile, our Patagonica DJ Contest has spread to various regions,” she explains, “holding local DJ contests in three major cities before deciding the final artist at the National Contest held in the capital, Santiago.”

Contacted in Chile before he heads to Japan to help choose the local champion, the winner of last year’s contest Marcos Latrach says it’s natural for him to combine music and environmental work.

“Between 1990 and 1994 I had a radio program called Mundo Ecológico,” he relates. “We promoted environmental awareness, accompanied by literature and good music. Patagonica in a way continues the work we did, because we can reach more people to say, ‘Hey, listen, this is our world and we have to take care of it.’”

Latrach was exposed to music at a very early age by his cousin—who sang with some of Latin America’s top bands. Electronic sounds came later in the ’90s, but Latrach has been DJing since his teens. “My first parties were at friends’ houses in the small city where I lived in the sixth region of Chile,” he recalls, “and at one disco where they let me play until midnight. I was only 14 years old and didn’t have permission to be out late.”

A course in DJing introduced Latrach to the technical side of the craft, and by 17 he had his first residency at a club called Ad-hoc. Moving to Santiago to study production, he turned on to techno at the capital’s clubs and hasn’t looked back.

“The common denominator is the music and a natural inspiration—I wonder if it’s a product of the political processes we lived through in Chile,” he says about the Santiago’s experience of repression. “A great amount of artistic expressions were generated, and by necessity the expressions were slanted. I also believe that our music is enriched by our origins in the native cultures that once lived here and unfortunately were devastated.”

In Tokyo, where Latrach will guest DJ at the event to decide the Japanese Patagonica contest winner, punters can look forward to a hypnotic blend of minimal and tech-house, juiced with Latin percussion and melodies.

“This opportunity touches me in a special way, because music has given me this experience,” Latrach concludes. “I hope to be with special people and a culture unknown to me—to show what I do and feel. I want to share magical days filled with dancing, positive energy and musical journeys.”

M Event Space, Jun 8 (listing). www.parties4peace.com

John Digweed

daviatrix — Wed, 23 May 2012 01:32:07 +0000

Courtesy of Get In! PR

Titan of UK house, John Digweed had time for a quick Q&A ahead of his appearance alongside the likes of the Chemical Brothers at this weekend’s Big Beach fest on a gritty slab of sand by Tokyo Bay. The event is the brainchild of Fatboy Slim, who will be helming the festivities at a simultaneous leg-up back in Brighton where the whole shebang began in 2001.

Tell us about when you realized your life’s work would be DJing.

I always loved music from an early age. Around 11 or 12 I knew that I wanted to be a DJ. So I guess that having a passion for something when I was so young made it easier for me to figure out what I needed to do and spend hours and hours practicing and learning and listening how to be a great DJ.

What was your first impression of Sasha, and what is the most important legacy of the Sasha & Digweed partnership?

Sasha has always been a great ambassador for the scene and I think some of our compilation CDs such as The Mix collection and Northern Exposure raised the bar in terms of how a mix album could be presented.

Tell us how you created the Bedrock parties and why you decided to relaunch them this year.

Bedrock means a strong foundation so it was always a great name to build parties and a record label on. We have been doing Bedrock parties all over the world—we just felt it was time to start doing a few regular parties in London again. XOYO is a great venue and the parties have all been amazing so far.

Tell us how your sound has evolved over a decade of Bedrock releases.

I think it’s important not only as a DJ but as a record label to move with the times and push new and exciting music forward. As a label I think Bedrock has managed to keep moving forward as a label as well as keeping a great musical identity.

What is right and what is wrong with electronic music today?

I always try to look at the positives with what I do and I think that some of the best electronic music is being made in this period of time. The only negative is there is never enough time to play it all.

Tell us about your connection with Japan.

I love Japan. The people are amazing and they have great taste in quality sound and lighting systems along with fantastic nightclubs. I am always very excited to come to japan and the food is also the best in the world.

Describe a new remix or production.

I work in the studio with Nick Muir. The last remix we did was for the Slam Classic “Eterna” which features on my new Live in Cordoba CD, just out on my label. We have also done a remix of “Electric Rescue—Dope” which is also due out soon.

How do you approach DJing a large outdoor event like Big Beach?

I am lucky that I get to play not only club shows but large events and outdoor shows. Each gig is different in its own way. Usually with the big outdoor shows you have to play slightly “bigger” records.

Vinyl, CDs or laptop. Which and why?

At the moment I use 3 x CDJ 2000s and an Allen and Heath DB4 mixer. I love the CDJ’s and the new DB4 mixer has some amazing EFX on it.

How does Digweed wind down?

In Japan I usually have bad jetlag so I’ll try and go for something to eat and drink some sake.

Big Beach Festival ’12@Makuhari Seaside Park, Jun 2 (listing).

Moja

daviatrix — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:00:53 +0000

Photos by Tetsuya Sugiyama

You might not guess it now with all the powerful Japanese riot grrrl rock groups about these days, but drummer Masumi Sakurai of Tokyo noise rock duo Moja is something of a pioneer. When she went to famed music college Berklee in Boston, she was the only woman drummer among dozens of Japanese.

“In the past, there wasn’t as much of an underground and a higher level of performance was expected from professional recording artists,” she says at a Shibuya café. “The explosion of the underground has opened up the field to anyone, including women who may have been put off by the image of drums as a man’s instrument. People feel freer to express themselves even if they’re not experts.”

“Women are stronger in general, and Japanese women musicians are popular overseas,” shaggy bassist/vocalist Haru Higuchi chips in, pointing to tours by women-led indie rock bands like Bo-Peep and Detroit7. “Men don’t want to go abroad anymore,” he says.

Created in 2005 when their previous band Gorilla disintegrated leaving only Masumi and Haru, Moja have—beneath the radar of Japan’s conservative mainstream music industry—become one of the country’s more popular musical exports.

When Metropolis meets them they’ve just returned from their fourth tour of England. A quick junket to South Korea is to follow. “This tour was really good,” Haru says with an audible sense of contentment. “We rented a car and toured Wales and England, not just London. It was the first time we were really able to mix it up with local bands.”

“We got to experience the underground scene and get a sense of what is going on there at the moment,” Masumi adds. “Experiencing different ways of thinking prevents us from becoming set in our ways. Going abroad frequently keeps our music from going stale.”

To play and tour in such intimate circumstances, Haru and Masumi must be a couple, right? “If we were involved it would be difficult for us to get along as musicians,” Haru says, giving a practiced response. “We both have strong personalities and butt heads as a band—if we were a couple it would intrude onto our personal life. Since we’re not involved we can leave it at the studio.”

Listening to their new album Super Ultra Gold 79, you get the sense that all the stress that builds up in their busy Tokyo lives gets released in their music. From the chaotic opener “Introduction” through to the foreboding, machine-gun drum riffs of the closer “100 °C,” the album is a maelstrom of start-stop rhythms and scorching blasts of guitar, bass, synths and screamy vocals.

“More than the lyrics, the sound itself is the main point,” Masumi says, her well-coiffed appearance and mild manner belying Moja’s wild, visceral music. “That’s why we like to set up our instruments on the floor—so our audience can feel the vibrations in their guts.”
For Super Ultra Gold 79 Moja (the name has no particular significance they say) took the unusual strategy of issuing the album in mp3 and vinyl forms, but without a CD release.

“The mp3s are for the bulk of people who don’t have turntables,” explains Haru. “People don’t buy CDs anymore, and we want as many people as possible to hear our music, hence the free downloads. The vinyl is because we love analog. If people take different approaches to releasing music it will hopefully stimulate the imagination of buyers, and the market.”

Moja’s unorthodox approach to music seems to reflect a general nonconformist approach to life. And death. In his day job, Haru arranges flowers for funerals.

“I see death every day, so I understand the finality of life,” he concludes. “When people die they become simply material objects, so that gives me an appreciation of life. It makes me feel like I could die anytime so I want to do all I can while I’m alive. I don’t want to leave any regrets.”

Moja play Metropolis’ next Saiko live music showcase. Shibuya Milkyway, Jun 24 (more info).

Thomas Demand

daviatrix — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:00:55 +0000

Control Room, 2011. © Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn / APG-JAA, Tokyo

Is it real or fake? Should we care? At first glance, German artist Thomas Demand’s photographs of nuclear control rooms and presidential offices look real. On closer examination they yield small clues that they are in fact cardboard constructions of Demand’s making. In the conceptual artist’s first major exhibition in Japan, viewers are asked to question their perceptions of key places and events in recent history. Says New York Times art critic Michael Kimmelman: “The reconstructions were meant to be close to, but never perfectly, realistic so that the gap between truth and fiction would always subtly show.”

Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, until Jul 8 (listing).

Goya and Spanish Painting in the Louvre

daviatrix — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:00:52 +0000

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes Luis María de Cistué y Martínez 1791 Musée du Louvre, Paris (RF 2009-5). © Photo DNP / Philippe Fuzeau

Imagine if you could enjoy a famous artwork in solitude. Entered only with reservations, Gotanda’s Louvre DNP Museum Lab is a collaboration between the landmark Paris museum and Dai Nippon Printing that brings this dream to fruition. For its current show visitors get to examine at close reach one of Spanish master painter Goya’s finest works, The Boy in Blue. Viewers not only get to enjoy the painting in peace and quiet, they can also take in advanced multimedia materials explaining the canvas’s significance—including a life-size video introduction by Louvre curator Guillaume Kientz.

Louvre DNP Museum Lab, until Oct 28 (listing).

Taicoclub ’12

daviatrix — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:00:51 +0000

Photo By Taka Imamura

The outdoor festival season gets into high gear with Taicoclub. Each year since 2006 the event has “curated” a connoisseur’s selection of electronic and post-rock acts at a mountainside setting in Nagano. This year’s lineup is by far the most ambitious yet. With a new album rumored to be in the offing, New York’s Animal Collective [pictured] make their first Japan visit in three years. Japan’s own Boredoms and Sakanaction offer their own takes on post-rock, while Africa Hitech, Ricardo Villalobos and Josh Wink hold things down on the dance floor. Advance tickets are selling quickly and door tickets will not be available.

Kodama no Mori, Nagano Pref, Jun 2-3 (listing).

Bootsy Collins

daviatrix — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:00:40 +0000

Photo by Michael Weintrob

“Bootzilla” used to steal the show when he was the bassist for Parliament-Funkadelic, and proved he’s still a show stealer at last year’s Summer Sonic. Now those with a yen for funk can experience Collins up close when he settles into Tokyo’s poshest dinner club for a three-night engagement. Born in 1951, William Earl “Bootsy” Collins cut his teeth with James Brown before hooking up with George Clinton’s P-Funk in 1972. The bassist has had a storied solo career since parting ways with Clinton in 1980, and at Summer Sonic was one of three bassists on stage along with a pair of psychedelic soul go-go dancers.

Billboard Live, May 31-Jun 2 (listing).

Madchester Night 2012

daviatrix — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:00:39 +0000

Courtesy of Unit

In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s Japan’s year of Madchester. The Stone Roses are headlining Fuji Rock, and Peter Hook just performed Joy Division songs at the Hacienda Oiso festival. But Japan also responded to England’s late ’80s ecstasy-fueled, rock-meets-dance-music revolution with its own Second Summer of Love. For one night, nostalgic fans and the merely curious can witness two of those bands, Venus Peter [pictured] and Secret Goldfish, on stage together for the first time in 15 years. DJ Yoda and co. will be on hand to spin classic tunes of the era.

Unit, May 26 (listing).

Stand Alone Zone

daviatrix — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:00:06 +0000

French multimedia performance troupe Systeme Castafiore makes its debut in Japan to perform Stand Alone Zone, a fantastical mélange of computer graphics, dance and music. Garbed in bizarre alien costumes, dancers simultaneously on stage and screen enter an “unknown zone,” a kind of futuristic universe that leads the viewer befuddled as to where the stage ends and a digitally conjured cyberworld begins. Formed in 1990, Systeme Castafiore takes its inspiration from the music and stage direction of Karl Biscuit and choreography of Marcia Barcellos.

Saitama Art Theater, Jun 23 (listing).

Peverelist

daviatrix — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:00:56 +0000

Courtesy of Eleven
Long before Skrillex brought dubstep to the McDonald’s-quaffing American masses, the genre was born out of the underground melding of UK drum ‘n’ bass, garage and dub sound systems. Bristol record shop and label owner, producer and DJ Peverelist (Tom Ford) was part of it and returns to Tokyo next week to show punters how it’s really done.

Dubstep has blown up in North America. What are the pluses and minuses?

I don’t actually have any connection with that scene. I’ve never played in North America. I got asked to play there a couple of years ago but it was a corporate gig so I turned it down. There is a lot of talk in the mainstream media about dubstep now but when I listen to the music, I don’t recognize it as anything that I am involved in. What I do is completely different. I don’t really use that word anymore because it is misleading.

Tell us about a formative musical experience.

Hearing roots music on a sound system at St Paul’s Carnival in Bristol. Understanding the space and the bass and the treble.

What were the first events you spun at like?

I started out playing at house parties and little clubs and then moved on to second rooms at bigger clubs. When I started to take it more seriously I was playing as resident at club nights Context and Dubloaded and Subloaded in Bristol in 2004 and 2005. Always small events with mostly heads there to check out new music rather than parties if you know what I mean? Good sound systems and playing a lot of new music.

Tell us about the creation of Punch Drunk Records.

I started the label [Punch Drunk] in 2006. The roots of a dubstep scene in Bristol were planted by Pinch’s Context dances and they stimulated the imagination of a group of producers who were interested in doing something different and pursuing their own musical destiny, which was what we all saw dubstep as—not a sound, but an opportunity to do your own thing and be accepted for it. I started the label as a platform for those producers to promote their music to the wider world. It’s always been a grassroots thing. A Bristol thing. I have a new label now called Livity Sound, which is more focused on productions of myself, Kowton and Asusu.

What are the highs and lows of the current Bristol scene?

Highs: Idle Hands Records, lots of new vinyl only labels, Teachings in Dub (music in a club), Boundary Object (Music in a pub), Young Echo Radio, Livity Sound. Lows: The success of big events with bad music.

Tell us about a fresh production.

I am working on a remix of a producer called Alex Coulton who recently had a release on Idle Hands. It’s trippy, tribal, dark bass music I think?!?

What can punters expect at Eleven?

Listening to some quality underground UK music, new and old, doing a little dance and getting drunk.

Vinyl, CDs or laptop. Which and why?

Why would you play music off a laptop?! Madness. I play records because I always have and they sound good and I have thousands of them.

How will Peverelist be chilling in Tokyo?

I am coming to eat all the food and hang out with my Tokyo crew. I might get a chance to check some record shops, especially my friends Disc Shop Zero. Maybe I’ll stare at some synths too.

Eleven, May 25 (listing).

Japanese Crossing Borders

daviatrix — Wed, 16 May 2012 04:13:33 +0000

Ornament Travel over the Gobi Desert (1937), by Numata Ichiga; Courtesy of The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
The pan-Asian vision that fueled Japanese expansion in the early 20th century didn’t stop at militarism. Artists and craftsmen were also enthralled with the idea of a pan-Asian identity and often visited Asian countries to study artisanal traditions that were dying in rapidly industrializing Japan. This exhibition presents the results of their studies of nearby Korea, China and Taiwan, based on the ideas of writer and curator Tenshin Okakura (1862-1913), who criticized the westernization of Japan and sought to form a single Asian identity.

Crafts Gallery, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, until Jul 16 (listing).

Outlook Festival

daviatrix — Wed, 16 May 2012 04:07:07 +0000

Courtesy of Outlook Festival
Fast-rapping world record holder Daddy Freddy and roots Rasta singer Solo Banton from the UK are among the cast to perform at Japan’s first Outlook Festival, along with a slew of domestic bass music fanatics. The event started five years ago in Croatia and is now Europe’s largest bass music and sound system culture festival. Among the local talents in the lineup at the weekend-long shindig are hip-hop crate diggers Force of Nature, a duo consisting of DJs KZA and Kent, electro pacesetters Dex Pistols, and leftfield rap honey Rumi.

Tabloid, May 26-27 (listing).

Japan Blues & Soul Carnival

daviatrix — Wed, 16 May 2012 04:03:54 +0000

Courtesy of M&I Company
Fuji Rock is Japan’s longest running music festival right? Not. The Japan Blues & Soul Carnival had domestic rockers mixing it up with international stars more than a decade before Fuji came on the scene. Headlining this year’s edition is storied albino Texas bluesman Johnny Winter, best known for ’60s-’70s blues-rock albums like The Progressive Blues Experiment. Also on the bill are Louisiana slide guitar specialist Sony Landreth, local belter Fusanosuke Kondo and drummer Yuzo Goto’s big band.

Zepp DiverCity, May 25 and Hibiya Yagai Ongakudo, May 26.

Otomo Katsuhiro Genga

daviatrix — Wed, 16 May 2012 04:00:29 +0000

© MASH・ROOM 2012
Manga artist Katsuhiro Otomo debuted four decades ago. But, say the curators at 3331 Arts Chiyoda, the Akira creator’s influence is so great, “‘pre-Otomo and post-Otomo’ came to designate a turning point in manga history.” Otomo’s post-apocalyptic cyberpunk esthetic launched a worldwide anime boom that continues to reverberate around the planet, with a live action Hollywood remake of the original anime version currently in the making. This show follows Otomo from his emergence through to the present in the first full-scale display of his original drawings. Advance reservations required.

3331 Arts Chiyoda, until May 30 (listing).

Hokuo Music Night 2012

daviatrix — Wed, 16 May 2012 03:41:12 +0000

Courtesy of Creativeman
Cold Scandinavia has long been a hotbed of pop music. So who’ll follow a line of success stories from Bjork to Swedish House Mafia? For the last few years Hokuo (Japanese for “Northern Europe”) Night has tried to provide some answers. This year’s installment at Unit takes in everything from the glossy electro-pop of Finland’s Husky Rescue to Icelandic prankster Kira Kira’s experimental audiovisuals. Those who like their Scandinavian sounds heavier should head to Finland Fest 2012 the next night, where bands including Amoral and Profane Omen will be spearheading a “Metal Attack” that should shake Liquidroom to its core.

Unit, May 25 (listing).

Tomes for the Tots

daviatrix — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:00:28 +0000

Raising children can be either wonderful or hair-raising, depending on the occasion, and sometimes both things at the same time. If you happen to be living abroad, it becomes even more challenging and exciting. As such, many expats welcome any advice or practical help and are attracted to stories by those who share their experiences. Tuttle has recently published two such books.

Japanese Nursery Rhymes is a large-sized, colorful collection of 15 songs that author Danielle Wright began to gather in 2005, together with other worldwide tunes, for her son. Some of them are warabe uta rhymes that Japanese children traditionally learn from their moms or, in this age of busy parents, from the TV. The rest are modern doyo usually sung in primary schools. Each verse is presented in interlinear format, alternating Japanese text, its alphabetic pronunciation, and English translation. Since it’s a family book, I asked my tribe to help with the review.

They all liked Helen Acraman’s graphics, and the old-style feeling of her illustrations—though my wife found them a little un-Japanese. To be sure, they look more Pan-Asian: a mix of Japanese and Chinese, with a touch of South-East Asia thrown in for good measure. The songs, all very short and accessible, are first performed in Japanese, then in English. The Japanese versions sound a little strange, since a native English speaker sings them. A foreigner might not notice the difference, but my two children, who are more Japanese than gaijin, laughed all the way, and enjoyed picking on the girl’s accent. All in all, though, this book has the potential to appeal to children worldwide. Recommended for children 4–8 years old.

Japanese Nursery Rhymes: Carp Streamers, Falling Rain And Other Traditional Favorites, by Danielle Wright (illus. by Helen Acraman). (Tuttle Publishing, 2011, 34 pp., ¥1,600 hardcover, audio CD included). Buy here.

Getting Genki in Japan chronicles the culture shock experienced by American Karen Pond after moving to Tokyo with her husband and three sons. From the language barrier to everyday problems newcomers have while shopping or visiting the ward office, fellow expats can read about all the typical embarrassing situations experienced by new arrivals in Japan—or any other unfamiliar country, for that matter—and found funny only when they happen to someone else. The problem is, this kind of humor works best when based on plausible situations. This is where Pond’s jokes fall short more often than not.
To give just some examples, problems communicating with the pizza delivery boy in Japanese are understandable; but it’s harder to believe she could confuse ¥5,000 with $5,000. When hunting for meat in the supermarket, she wonders, “How many thin slices of Metric Meat do you need to be able to smoosh together to make a hamburger patty?” More enlightened readers might have noticed the minced meat which was surely less than a couple of meters away. In other words, the readers are asked to choose between two things: constantly suspending disbelief or just thinking that Pond is two verbs short of a phrasebook.

Stylistically, the titular genki characteristic of the book extends to Pond’s writing, and the chirpy enthusiasm and repetitive use of adjectives might be a little wearing.

Getting Genki In Japan: The Adventures And Misadventures Of An American Family In Tokyo, by Karen Pond (illus. by Akiko Saito). Tuttle Publishing, 2012, 192 pp., ¥1,700 (hardcover). Buy here.

Kat DeLuna

daviatrix — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:00:16 +0000

Courtesy of Global Music Brand
Metropolis has some free tickets to see the Latin bombshell—click here!

The creator of “Whine Up”—the febrile dance number that launched a thousand swiveling hips—returns to Japan. Metropolis caught up with Kat DeLuna for a quick chat about biculturalism and the long break since her last disc.

Give us a sneak peak at your new album Viva. How does it evolve the Kat DeLuna sound and when will it drop?

The sneak peak is that Viva is coming soon. If I gave it away then it wouldn’t be worth the wait.

 It’s been five years and three record labels since “Whine Up.” Tell us about some of the challenges, and what keeps you centered through all the changes.

My love for what I do is what keeps me centered, my “Lunatics” [fans] keep me centered, and most of all my family keeps me centered.  

You grew up in the Dominican Republic and US. How can you be a bridge between Latin and American cultures?

I am a bridge between Latin America and America because I am both. I became part of this new bilingual world of young people who speak and represent both sides, who are American but never lose their ancestry!

 Tell us what success in countries as far away as Finland and Romania has meant to your life.

Being successful in so many countries means the world to me! I’m very grateful and blessed for my fans around the globe.
 
How do you approach creating sexy songs and at the same time be a role model for young women?

To me music is fun and at many times is the voice of the heart. When I’m creating I just concentrate on speaking from my heart.
 
Tell us about your relationship with Japan so far.

I love Japanese culture. Although this will be my second time visiting I feel like I never left. A good memory of Japan was when I visited Shibuya and all the girls thought I was Japanese because my hair was blonde and long like theirs! In fact, people ask me if I’m Japanese all the time.
 
What kind of band and setlist will you bring to Tokyo?

I’m very excited about the shows I will be doing in Japan. This will be very fun and spontaneous. Can’t wait to see you Japan and reintroduce my love for you on stage!

Stellar Ball, May 24 and Yokohama Bay Hall, May 27.

Gruff Rhys

daviatrix — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:00:56 +0000

Courtesy of Creativeman
Taking time out from Super Furry Animals, Gruff Rhys takes a moment to talk to Metropolis from his home in Cardiff, Wales. Outside it is an overcast morning, with seagulls sweeping through the sky.

“We’ve got the second largest seagull population in the UK after Aberdeen,” he tells me, the sleepiness spacing out his words.

Gruff may be a few coffees short of his ideal running speed, but he still has plenty to say about his tour to Japan later this month to support the Manic Street Preachers and the Welsh left-wing tradition, of which he and the Manics are very much a part. But first what about that next SFA album? There hasn’t been one since 2009’s Dark Days/Light Years.

“Our next album is going to be our tenth so we’re taking it easy,” Gruff groggily replies. “We’ll make it eventually, but in the meantime, we’re all at the time of life when we’re sticking out solo records and looking after our families.”
At the gigs, Gruff will showcase material from three solo albums, including last year’s Hotel Shampoo, a title inspired by his collection of complimentary shampoos picked up from hotels over years of touring.

In addition to his solo work, he has been involved in various collaborations and side projects, not least of which was Separado, a documentary in which he went to Patagonia to search for distant relatives whose ancestors had emigrated to South America. One reason he is so drowsy is because he was up late last night editing material for a sequel.

Latin America has been a constant motif in Rhys’s career, usually with a radical twist. Back in 2006, his band made unusual headlines for rock stars—“Super Furry Animals Happy to Turn Down Coke Deal”—when they rejected a million pounds to use their song “Hello Sunshine” in advertising after hearing complaints about the company from Columbian trade unionists.

Latin America is also at the heart of his connection with the Manics. When they were planning their famous—some would say notorious—“Louder Than Bombs” concert in 2001 at the Karl Marx Theater in front of Fidel Castro, the band invited Gruff to join them to sing “Let Robeson Sing,” their paean to Paul Robeson, a black singer, actor, political activist, and supporter of the Soviet Union who was blacklisted during America’s McCarthy period.

“Paul Robeson has a particular resonance in Wales,” Gruff explains. “He came to Wales to make a film, Proud Valley, and he formed a deep bond with the coal mining trade unions and he was a kind of honorary Welshman.”
Gruff wasn’t able to perform the song in front of Castro, although he did perform it with the Manics last December in London.

“I can only imagine someone told them I wasn’t free or something, or that I had other gigs,” he explains. “2001 was a very busy year for the Super Furry Animals, but I can’t imagine turning that kind of offer down.”

Politicized lyrics may be a natural fit with the earnest style of Welsh rock epitomized by The Manics and The Alarm, another band that Gruff expresses admiration for. But with Gruff’s music, the synergy is less obvious. His latest album has a bucolic charm that evokes the lounge music of Burt Bacharach. Soapbox politics it ain’t. But on songs like “Christopher Columbus” a lilting melody shuffles along side-by-side with lyrics that hint at something more serious.

“I like to play with moods and have some basic psychological tension in the song,” he explains. “The greatest enemy for me in songwriting is sentimentality. If the melody is becoming sentimental, because some of my songs are extremely melodic, I’ll puncture it with a darker lyric and try to subvert a song that’s becoming too predictable.”

Studio Coast, May 17-18 (listing).

Buy Super Furry Animals’ last album, Dark Days/Light Years

Buy Gruff Rhys’ last solo album, Hotel Shampoo

Hip ’n’ Happy

daviatrix — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:00:01 +0000

Summerland

DisneyKids Summer Adventure

Disneyland and DisneySea are ready for Japan’s school vacation with plenty of special summer attractions. Among them are the Naminamina dance program, in which kids get to jump on stage and dance alongside Mickey, Minnie and all their friends.
Tokyo Disney Resort, Jul 9-Aug 31. Nearest stn: Maihama. www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp

Tokyo Toy Museum

More than a museum, the Tokyo Toy Museum is a giant, indoor-outdoor fun palace for the three-to-seven set. Stay all day for ¥1,000 and enjoy hands-on toy-making lessons from “teachers” in a three-floor building that used to be an elementary school.
Nearest stn: Yotsuya Sanchome. www.goodtoy.org/ttm

Kidzania

Kidzania Tokyo

Fireman, burger chef… banker? Kids get to try their hand at 90 different occupations at this brainchild of Mexican entrepreneur Xavier López Ancona. Entry times are divided into daytime and evening sessions—get there early as spaces fill up fast.
Nearest stn: Toyosu. www.kidzania.jp

Kiddyland Harajuku

For 50 years a pilgrimage spot attracting the likes of Michael Jackson, this temple of toys reopens its Harajuku flagship in summer 2012 after two years of rebuilding. The new structure is taking shape and looks to be glitzy enough to suit the razzle-dazzle that Omotesando has become in the last decade.
Nearest stn: Omotesando. www.kiddyland.co.jp

Kodomo no Shiro

Yes it’s crowded (if possible avoid rainy days) and a bit fusty, but in terms of sheer convenience and variety of activities, Children’s Castle remains a top draw. For a mere ¥400, kids can enjoy a wide range of arts and music workshops, not to mention a rooftop pool, giant jungle gym and ever-changing program of performances and demonstrations.
Nearest stn: Omotesando. www.kodomono-shiro.com

Summerland

Hot ‘n’ cranky? Get cool and happy at Tokyo’s largest water park. A spacious pool complete with sand beach and giant splash bucket inside a covered “Adventure Dome,” and a circulating outdoors “Adventure Lagoon” are just a few of the lures.
Nearest stn: Haijima. www.summerland.co.jp

Sumida River Fireworks Festival

Tokyo’s oldest and largest hanabi resumes where it left off after last year’s cancelation in the wake of 3/11. The fireworks started in 1733 following an official Shogun-sponsored event to pray for the victims of disease and famine.
Sumida River, July 28. Nearest stn: Asakusa. www.sumidagawa-hanabi.com

Tokyo Opera City Arts Shower

The music and arts spaces of Shinjuku’s Opera City complex boast a pretty rich kids’ program in the form of its annual Arts Shower. Kids can try their hand at playing a variety of classical music instruments and enjoy a concert by Japan’s popular Zoorasian Brass ensemble.
Tokyo Opera City, Jul 20-Aug 4. Nearest stn: Hatsudai. www.operacity.jp

Ultraman Festival 2012

Good old-fashioned live action figures are the big pull at the annual Urufesu. The 2012 edition celebrates the 45th birthday of Ultra Seven, the follow up to Ultraman that pits Ultra Seven against an unending stream of evilly inclined extraterrestrials.
Ikebukuro Sunshine City, July 27-Sep 2. Nearest stn: Ikebukuro. www.ulfes.com/2012

Legoland

Legoland Discovery Center

A 4D interactive cinema and classes with Lego master builders will be among the attractions when Legoland opens its 4,000m2 site at the Decks Tokyo Beach mall next month in Odaiba. If that weren’t enough, Legoland developer Merlin Entertainments is to launch a Madame Tussauds waxworks museum in the same building in spring 2013.
Nearest stn: Odaiba-Kaihin Kouenin. www.legolanddiscoverycenter.jp

Koenji Awaodori

Along with the Sumida River Fireworks, Koenji’s Awaodori—based on the original Tokushima event—is one of Tokyo’s largest traditional festivals. Thousands of dancers test their funky awa moves (think lots of hand waving and jumping about) over nine routes set up along the shotengai, while a million visitors gawk and gape.
Nearest stn: Koenji. Aug 25-26. www.koenji-awaodori.com

Nihon no Kawaii

daviatrix — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:00:41 +0000

© きいち/小学館
“Kawaii” is now so thoroughly associated with Japanese cuteness around the world, the word has its own English Wikipedia entry. But how did the kawaii esthetic arise? The cozy Yayoi Museum takes a look at the emergence of kawaii characters through so-called fancy goods—stationary, hand towels and the like—in the early and mid-20th century. Craftsmen and artists like Rune Naito began to decorate household products with big-eyed girls and adorable animals that in retrospect can be seen as the direct ancestors of Hello Kitty and Pokémon.

Yayoi Museum, until Jun 1 (listing).