Call And Response Records

January 29th: An Embarrassment of Riches

2012-01-28T01:14:00.007+09:00

There are three magnificent events going on this Sunday, all of which have Call And Response's firm seal of approval. Anyway, here they are in reverse order of cheapness and ascending order of opening time:

Firstly, I'm going to DJ at the event Style Band Tokyo are doing for Bo Ningen, who will be touring in Kyushu with Zibanchinka and Hyacca next month (details coming soon).

Place: Shibuya Club Asia

Time: 15:30

Cost: 3000/3500

Bands: Bo Ningen / Guitar Wolf / N'Shukugawa Boys / 6eyes / Psysalia Psysalsis Psyche / Tadzio / Moja

DJs: Tomo (Style Band Tokyo) / Taigen Kawabe (Bo Ningen) / Yamada (Knew Noise Recordings) / Sumire & Methyl (Twee Grrrls Club) / Soccreboy / Gypsy Badman (Control) / Le Champ (Control) / Sam & Mark (Tokyo Indie) / Tommy (Boy) / Tommi (Dancer Danger) / Yuta Sekiyama (from England to me!) / Kenta Hirano (Love Action) / Judy (Throw that beat!) / Ian Martin (Call And Response) / wizzjones / hahas disco / Full Circle / Black Neon Party / si oux (Vive Vagina) / Y Brando (Passione+) / Apu (Afterdark) / Sho (Plasticzooms) / Boys Get Hurt

Also, Hyacca will be playing at the Next Music from Tokyo tour finale, with all the bands they toured Canada with last October.

Place: Shindaita Fever

Time: 17:30:18:00

Cost: 2500/3000

Bands: Hyacca / Natsumen / Merpeoples / Akai Koen / Chiina

Finally, Anatopia will finish up their Japan tour in style at an excellent event The Mornings are putting on over the other side of town.

Place: Akihabara Club Goodman

Time: 18:00

Cost: 2000/2500

Bands: Anatopia / The Mornings / Ultra Bide / Emily loves Tennis / Umi no Te

Telephone Club New Year Party (Sunday, January 22nd)

2012-01-18T01:02:00.005+09:00

As I've already mentioned in my previous post, Dutch new wave duo Anatopia are currently in Japan and ready to kick off their tour at Shin-Koenji Club Liner tomorrow. Call And Response will hold an event of our own for Anatopia before they shoot off to Osaka and Kyushu next week.

Taking the form of a kind of mini-festival in the warehouse-like underground cavern that is Kichijoji GOK Sound, the event will also feature a raft of Tokyo postpunk, new wave, garage and indiepop bands, with DJ team Youth is Wasted playing tunes in between live performances.

There's no compulsory drink order and you're free to bring your own beer in with you, although we'll try to have cheap drinks available inside as well. It's going to be a blast!

Place: Kichijoji GOK Sound
Date: 22nd January (Sunday)
Time: 16:00-23:00
Cost: 2000yen

LIVE:
- Anatopia (from Amsterdam)
- tacobonds
- Tessendoriko
- Praha Depart
- Hysteric Picnic
- Girls Pancakes
- tantan to tantan

DJs:
- Youth Is Wasted: NAH & Sue / Tack Terror / Komlaski / Gosuke
VJ:
- Terada (HUH)

Anatopia (from Amsterdam) Japan tour 2012

2012-01-14T14:26:00.005+09:00

Dutch electro-punks Anatopia are a duo comprised of Klaus Plötzlich and Henrietta Morgenstern. They take the slick, electronic techno-fetishism of Kraftwerk, the spiky, irony-laced geek-punk of Devo and the grimy garage rock of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, turning it to the purpose of creating simple, catchy, minimalist pop art nuggets.

巧妙でかつ、エレクトロニック＆テクノ-フェティシズムのKraftwerkのような、するどく尖り、アイロニーで飾られた、ギーク-パンクのDevoのような、汚れたガレージロックのThe Yeah Yeah Yeahsのような要素を兼ね合わせている。Anatopiaはこれらの要素を捏ね合わせ、最終的にシンプルでキャッチー、そしてミニマリストなポップアートナゲッツを創り上げていく。

While their lyrics deal with the duo's obsession with and fear of technology, they contrast this with a live setup that brings a sense of theatre to the stage but also focusses on sounds they can generate themselves in the moment. Henrietta plays synth and attacks a crash cymbal in her spare moments, while Klaus operates a kick drum and hi-hat with his feet at the same time as playing guitar with his hands.

歌詞にはテクノロジーへの執着や恐れが歌われており、そのコントラストはライブセットアップを通しても見ることができる。Anatopiaのステージは舞台さながらの雰囲気だ。もちろんそれだけではなく、エレクトロといいながらも、ステージ上で彼ら自らがその場でサウンドを作り上げていく。Henriettaはシンセサイザーを弾き、その傍らでシンバルを鳴らす。その一方、Klausは足でキックドラムやハイハットを鳴らし、ギターを弾くというように。

2012年1月、日本来日公演決定！Anatopiaのライブパフォーマンスをぜひ生でご覧ください。

18th (Wed): Tokyo, Shin-Koenji, Club Liner

Open 18:00/Start 18:30, :Adv. 2,000/Door 2,300

w/ retolighter / wasted junks / フューチャー / Sputnik

19th (Thu): Tokyo, Aoyama, Tsukimiru/Moonromantic

Ope n18:00/Start 18:30, Adv. 2,000/Door 2,500

w/ Lieselotte / Lotsasignal / JUSTICE OF CANADA / RITOMO

20th (Fri): Tokyo, Shibuya, O-Nest

Open 18:30/Start 19:00, Adv. 2,000/Door 2,500

w/ ユナイテッドモンモンサン / MAHORAGA / H Mountains / PETA

22nd (Sun): Tokyo, Kichijoji, GOK Sound (Call And Response New Year Party!)

Open 16:00/Start16:30, Adv./Door 2,000

w/ Tacobonds / テッセンドリコ / プラハデパート / Hysteric Picnic / Girls Pancakes / tantan to tantan / Youth is Wasted DJs / VJ Terada (HUH)

25th (Wed): Osaka, Sengoku Daitouryou

Open 18:00/Start 18:30, Adv. 1,500/Door 2,000

w/ ヤーマンバンド / Boys of hongkong / 444CAPSULE

26th (Thu): Kumamoto, Navaro

Open/Start TBA, Adv./Door TBA

w/ DIA SYNDICATE / + more

27th (Fri): Fukuoka, Yakuin, Utero

Open 18:30/Start 19:00, Adv. 1,500/Door 2,000

w/ THE LIGHTNING DELIVERY's / AMORPHOUS / Fake doll Nott / Virtual Planets / gigandect

29th (Sun): Tokyo, Akihabara, Club Goodman

Open/Start TBA, Adv./Door TBA

w/ the mornings / ULTRA BIDE / Emily likes tennis / うみのて / + more

Connect And Receive, December 2011

2012-01-06T03:45:00.003+09:00

I skipped last month because I was too busy with various bands’ tours but I’ve made the December one into a sort of end-of-year review focussing on some of my favourite bands and releases of the year, as well as a couple of things from previous years that I either only discovered recently or came back to in a big way this year. Anyway, here’s the pod:

Or download it from Archive.org.

And here’s the track list:

1. cynicalsmileisyourfavorite: Crazy Disco (self-released 2011 CD/R)
2. Kobayashi Dorori: Pickles (Yarukoto Yattara Kaette yo, 2011)
3. Hakoiri Kibun: Hakuchuu Sosou (Fudoutoku Pops Kouza, 2010)
4. Bossston Cruizing Mania: Low Down (Loaded Lowdead Rawdead, 2011)
5. Extruders: Vertical Point (Neuter, 2007)
6. Lihappiness: Eikoku ni Tsutawaru Dance (Drums & Lihappiness, 2011)
7. Hysteric Picnic: Persona (Hysteric Picnic EP, 2011)
8. She Talks Silence: Dead Romance (Some Small Gifts, 2011)
9. Uhnellys: Subliminal Orchestra (To Too Two, 2011)
10. Mothercoat: No Music Yes Life (Egobag, 2011)
11. Sloppy Joe: Still Be a Little Roof (With Kisses Four, 2011)

Fashion Crisis (January 2012)

2012-01-06T02:52:00.005+09:00

Fashion Crisis has its first event of the year this Friday, with a menagerie of musical artists being cut up into a smorgasbord of sonic morsels for consumption by your ears. Live music comes from Mr. Fidel Villeneuve, late of that London, and the broken pop fragments of Living Astro, with vengeful noise spirit Dave McMahon a.k.a. Onryo joining as a guest DJ.

Date: January 6th (Friday)
Place: Koenji One
Time: 8:00pm-Last train
Price: FREE
Live:
- Fidel
- Living Astro
DJs:
- Dave McMahon (Onryo)
- James Hadfield
- Ian Martin

End-of-year DJ schedule:

2011-12-26T18:58:00.006+09:00

I've got a few appearances lined up, mostly just playing a few songs inbetween bands, but generally pretty good bands, so it's worth coming along.

Event: Vision Quest
Date: December 27th
Place: Higashi-Koenji UFO Club
Time: Midnight-5:00am
Cost: 1500yen adv./2000yen door

LIVE:

- moja
- New House
- thatta
- Friends
- Give Me Wallets
DJs:

- Yuchi

- Keiichi Misawa

- Timutaku

- Ian Martin

Event: YIW X'mas and new year party "Don't countdown"
Date: December 28th
Place: Koenji One
Time: 6:00pm-11:50pm
Cost: 1000yen

LIVE:

- Girls Pancakes

- Fidel

DJs:

- NAH&SUE (Youth Is Wasted)
- 510373 (WEEKEND NEVER DIES / Youth Is Wasted)
- Gosuke (Youth Is Wasted)
- komlasaki (CLUB iNBETWEENERS / Youth Is Wasted)
- Tack Terror (Youth Is Wasted)
- Ian Martin (Call and Response / Fashion Crisis)
- Yuta Sekiyama (ACCOMMO / from england to me!)
- EISUKE (les qwells)
- tantan to tantan
- ABE (Girls Pancakes / smilelove)
- Keiichi Misawa (Friends)
- Aik & Prince Ness
- Minna no Ototo Kikurin

Event: Switched On! Bonenkai
Date: December 29th
Place: Kichijoji Ichibee
Time: 6:00pm-11:00pm
Cost: 1000yen

LIVE:

- (M)otocompo

- V/order

- The Lady Spade

DJs:

- Ian Martin

- Kovacs

- Takayuki Tonegawa

- Kato Catherine

- Gachamuku (Choshinsei ver.)

- Shiroyamada Yo Orchestra

Trinitron: Subsidence -- Now online!

2011-12-23T22:13:00.002+09:00

Trinitron have finished recording their new mini-album, Subsidence. Why not go and have a listen to it on Soundcloud now?

Subsidence by trinitronjp

On the group's new Soundcloud page, you can also hear their new cover of Edge by electro-idols Perfume:

Edge by trinitronjp

Rummage around the page and you can hear their earlier More Real than News EP in its entirety and their first recording, a cover of the Candies' Heart no Ace ga Detekonai.

Christmas Presents from Canada

2011-12-23T22:02:00.004+09:00

According to their web site: "Poulet Neige takes Santa Claus' spot and offers more than 140 albums to the music lovers, of all kinds, and from about everywhere in the world. French, English, from Québec, USA, Canada, indie, folk, rock, metal, hip-hop, known bands, underground bands... But most of all, generous bands. So go make your choice!"

In return for sharing your email with the bands you're interested in, you get a choice of a huge range of free music. They seemed like lovely people and it feels good to be able to do something nice for Christmas, so Call And Response are lending Hyacca's "Hanazono" to their seasonal offer. There are more than a hundred albums on their page, so there's sure to be something to attract your interest. See the list HERE.

They also have a Facebook page and a they made a promotional video (below):

Fashion Crisis (December 2011)

2011-12-02T03:09:00.001+09:00

Merry Fucking Christmas, it's 2011's final Fashion Crisis!

Playing live this month, we have a new wave and postpunk double-feature of Lihappiness and Anisakis to ensure that 2011 goes out with a bang-bip-pop!-SKREE! rather than a whimper. Guest DJ will be Tahitian post-nudewave Krautgazer Gotal, along with the regular team.

Date: December 2nd (Friday)
Place: Koenji One
Time: 8:00pm-Last train
Price: FREE
Live:
- Anisakis
- Lihappiness
DJs:
- Gotal
- James Hadfield
- Ian Martin

Connect And Receive, October 2011

2011-11-18T02:44:00.002+09:00

Even later than before thanks to my busier-than-usual real world engagements, but I didn't forget my rapidly dwindling listeners, oh no. This month's podcast only features four tracks but is in fact almost ten minutes longer than usual due to the crazy lengths that Nisennenmondai tracks run to.

It can be downloaded from its host at Archive.org

1. The Warm: Flask (From the 2007 album Fantastic Something)

2. Mir: TV (Unreleased)

3. Kaki: Schokoladige Disko (Unreleased)

4. Nisennenmondai: Mirrorball (From the 2011 live double-album Nisennenmondai Live!!!)

Zibanchinka Kyushu Tour (November 18th-20th 2011)

2011-11-17T21:58:00.005+09:00

Zibanchinka are embarking on a three-day mini-tour of Kyushu from the 18th to the 20th of November, playing alongside a few Call And Response favourites, with me joining them as a DJ for the first couple of shows, and Nagoya's Sekaitekina Band will join us for the Fukuoka show.

Place: Fukuoka Utero

Date: 11/18 (Fri)

Time: 18:30

Cost: 1500yen (+drink)

LIVE:

- Hyacca

- 2907831

DJ:

- Ian Martin (Call And Response)

Place: Kumamoto Navaro

Date: 11/19 (Sat)

Time: 20:00

Cost: 1500yen (+drink)

LIVE:

- Zibanchinka

- Kobayashi Dorori

- z/nz

- cynicalsmileisyourfavorite

- Markets

DJ:

- Ian Martin (Call And Response)

Place: Kokura UN

Date: 11/20 (Sun)

Time: 17:30

Cost: 1500yen (+drink)

LIVE:

- Zibanchinka

- Youkina Wally

- Jonathan's Dramatic Tits

- Yogi

- The Mamalede

Electric Riot (November 16th)

2011-11-15T14:46:00.006+09:00

Youth is Wasted & Call And Response Special Free Party, in association with Chicks Riot:

Chicks Riot 2011 is hosting a series of art parties at Koenji Amp Cafe with artwork from a number of mostly female artists and different DJs and live acts curating each night's musical lineup.

ELECTRIC RIOT is a night of postpunk, new wave, 80s electronic, minimal wave, NDW, synthwave, technopop and krautrock, hosted by Tokyo DJ party Youth is Wasted and Koenji postpunk label Call And Response, and featuring the fantastic technopop/rap sounds of Ai Kobayashi.

Place: Koenji AMP Cafe
Date: 11/16 (Wed)
Time: 18:00-22:00 (maybe a bit later if we're allowed)
Cost: FREE
LIVE:
- Ai Kobayashi (ex.Miami)
DJs:
- NAH&SUE
- Tack Terror
- Komlaski
- Ian Martin

Full Chicks Riot details:

11/15 【Opening Party: Girls Pop Night!】FREE

-Band　V/ORDER
-DJ: SLF!! (The Lady Spade) / Tong-Chang (Cherry Times) / A-Yummy! / Katrine
-Start: 19:00

11/16 【Electric Riot Night!】FREE
-Band: Ai Kobayashi (ex.Miami)
-DJ: Ian Martin (Call And Response Records) / NAH & SUE / Tack Terror / Komlaski
-Start: 19:00

11/17 【Spade Night!】1000yen +1drink

-Band: The Lady Spade
-DJ: Uchiyama Yuniko / SLF!! / Katrine / and more

-Start: 17:00

11/18 【Riot Grrrl Night! 】FREE

-DJ　aki / Asucca (Watercloset) / A-Yummy!
-Talk
-Start: 19:00

11/19 【Cookie Cookie!】FREE
-Cookie Performance: steka and mjol
-DJ: aki / Helmet Underground&Riko

-Time: 14:00-15:30

11/19 Kichijoji Star Pine's Cafe【Chick's Riot 2011】
2,800yen adv/3,300yen door +1drink
-Band: The Girl / N'Shukugawa Boys / Kettles / The Let's Go's

-Fashion: Toko

-Live painting: Shibuya Girls Pop / Keiko Ogawa & Eimi

-Artwork: hipBORNtwin

-Cookies: steka and mjol

-Video: Slice Cheeze

-Open/Start: 16:30/17:00

11/20 【Closing Party: Indie Pop Night!】
1000円 +1drink
-Band: Girls Pancakes / Twinkle Twinkles
-DJ: Meganeth (Style Band Tokyo Tomo & Helmet Underground&Riko DJ team) / aki /A-Yummy!
-Start: 19:00

11/21 【R&R Night】FREE
-Band: Charlotte (Merpeoples)
-DJ: Cherry Bomb

-Talk

-Start: 19:00

Telephone Club presents: The Stingrays (November 11th)

2011-11-11T11:35:00.003+09:00

Postpunk/new wave party Telephone Club is back for its first event since January, this time playing host to Bristol new wavers The Stingrays, who will conclude their 2011 Japan tour here, backed up by electronic new wave eccentric Lihappiness, jittery postpunk trio Steiner, confrontational artpunk weirdniks Anisakis and no wave freakadelics LOVEBUYLOVE.

Guest DJs Satoko from Kichijoji garage rock/indie party Take Me Now and Kaname K of Trinitron/3TE1 will join me behind the decks to keep the beat between bands.

Place: Koenji Roots

Date: 11th November (Fri)

Time: 11:00pm-5:00am

Cost: 1500yen adv/2000yen door (+1 drink)

Live:

- The Stingrays (From Bristol, UK)

- LOVEBUYLOVE

- Steiner

- Anisakis

- Lihappiness

DJs:

- Satoko (Take Me Now)

- Kaname K

- Ian Martin (Call And Response)

Fashion Crisis (November 2011)

2011-11-03T03:32:00.004+09:00

Fashion Crisis strikes again, with the November edition featuring the handmade live stylings of the magnificent Samm Bennett, who may (or more likely may not) end up sounding something like this:

On the decks, the usual crew will be augmented by guest DJ antics from all-girl DJ team 3TE1 (featuring N'toko promo video stars Haru and Kaname). Also not to be confused with this:

Place: Koenji One

Date: 4th November (Friday)

Time: 8:00pm-last train

Cost: FREE

Live:

- Samm Bennett

DJs:

- 3TE1

- James Hadfield

- Ian Martin

[Updated] Praha Depart & N'toko in Europe (October 20th-November 8th)

2011-10-21T14:08:00.008+09:00

Tokyo's finest psychedelic postpunk Gypsies Praha Depart are on tour now in Europe with Slovenia's finest yacht-rap future sailor N'toko. If you're in the area, come and check them out at any of these dates:

Oct. 20 Menza, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Oct. 22 MC Pekarna, Maribor, Slovenia

Oct. 23 Le Kraspek, Lyon, France (with Zero Absolu)

Oct. 27 Moog, Barcelona, Spain (with Bardo Pond)

Oct. 28 La Boite Madrid, Spain (with Bardo Pond)

Oct. 29 Matadero Ekintzak Azkoitia, Guipuzkoa, Spain

Oct. 30 Gastiez, Vitoria, Spain

Nov. 5 De Onderbroek, Nijmegen, Netherlands

Nov. 6 Musikbunker, Aachen, Germany

Nov. 7 Hauptwache, Frankfurt, Germany

Nov. 8 West Germany, Berlin, Germany

[Extra Spain and Germany gigs now added.]

Praha Depart have a new EP/mini-album called Dot. available exclusively for fans on these European dates (Japan release is pencilled in for early next year). By way of a preview, here's the song Portrait Man:

Praha Depart: Portrait Man by callandresponse

N'toko: Superhuman PV

2011-10-14T18:35:00.004+09:00

Can't believe this slipped through the blognet, and this will be old news for anyone who follows me on Facebook or Twitter, but there's an N'toko promotional video out there now, directed by the magnificent Matt Schley and filmed at the wonderful Koenji One, home of our monthly Fashion Crisis parties.

Matt and I came up with the concept, and we crammed the thing full of self-indulgent Easter eggs. I'm in there, looking fatter than I would have liked, as the unimpressed DJ. Matt himself and my Fashion Crisis collaborator James Hadfield are playing an unusual version of Othello, Trinitron vocalists Kaname K and Zana make an appearance reading a series of books and smoking a series of cigarettes respectively. Also making a brief appearance is Tokyo ambient noise weirdnik Dr. Daddy, as well as disco commander Harumi Ito, so thanks to all of them for their help.

Also a reminder that from next week, N'toko will be on tour in Europe with the excellent Praha Depart. There are still lots of free dates thanks largely to the apparent impenetrability of the Berlin and Paris live scenes and the flakiness of one or two promoters, so any last minute booking offers in Western Europe are gratefully received.

Hyacca in Canada (Oct 13-18)

2011-10-14T18:16:00.004+09:00

Over the next few days, Fukuoka postpunk disco monsters Hyacca will be in Canada as part of Steven Tanaka's Next Music From Tokyo tour, along with Natsumen, Chiina, Merpeoples and Akai Ko-en. Details on the tour can be found on the NMFT web site:

Oct 13 Montreal @ Divan Orange (w/ Devil Eyes)
Oct 14 Montreal @ Club Lambi (w/ tonstartssbandht)
Oct 15 Toronto @ the Rivoli
Oct 16 Toronto @ the Velvet Underground (All Ages)
Oct 18 Vancouver @ the Biltmore Cabaret (w/ the SSRIs)

Connect And Receive, September 2011

2011-10-07T14:39:00.002+09:00

A week late, but here's Episode 3 of Call And Response's Japan music podcast:

It can be downloaded from its host at Archive.org

1. Nezishiki: Quatre Ans (From the 2008 CD/R EP 6 Songs)

2. Pop Office: 300 Castles (From the 2011 CD/R mini-album I Was Killed Here)

3. The Mornings: Mad Cheergirl (From the 2011 album Save The Mornings)

4. Her: Her no Mirror (From the 2007 CD/R mini-album Her no Music Phone In)

5. Pq: Channeling (From the 2011 CD/R mini-album Hausdorff)

6. Buddy Girl & Mechanic: UltraWitchCraftyFab (From the 2011 CD/R EP 4tracks Demo)

Fashion Crisis (October 2011)

2011-10-06T12:37:00.002+09:00

October's Fashion Crisis features the hard-riffing sounds of Harajuku butterfly catcher Ryotaro Aoki (of Kulu Kulu Garden fame) and Portuguese postpunk party sounds courtesy of the mysterious yet effervescent Poet & Fabric. The regular crew will be there with more of the usual rainy 80s Anglo-jangle (Ian) and post-dubcore Afro-grime (James).

Date: Friday 7th October
Place: Koenji One
Time: 8:00pm-last train
Price: FREE
DJs:
- Ryotaro Aoki
- Poet & Fabric
- James Hadfield
- Ian Martin

Koenji Pop Festival 2011 (September 24th)

2011-09-23T23:40:00.001+09:00

Place: Higashi-Koenji 20000V (den-atsu.com)
Date: 9/24 (Sat)
Time: 4:00-10:30
Cost: ¥2000adv/¥2300door (+drink)

Live:
プラハデパート
Friends
tacobonds
otori
New House
cottonioo
JEBIOTTO!
pq

DJs:
Wizzjones (Telepatia/Throw That Beat)
Ian Martin (Call And Response)

Connect And Receive, August 2011

2011-08-31T14:28:00.004+09:00

Episode 2 of Call And Response's Japanese music podcast is now up. Enjoy!

It can be downloaded from its host at Archive.org.

1. Ydestroyde: zzzzzMONSTERzzzzz (from the 2011 album Synzosizer)
2. Skyfisher: Zero Emission (from the 2005 album Eco-Side 21)
3. Umibachi: Body Conscious & Joystick (from the 2010 album Body Conscious & Joystick)
4. bctnx: Zombie D (from the 2011 CD/R mini-album Dareka no Karuma)
5. otori: Kaitai/Sai Kochiku (from the 2010 CD/R mini-album Seisei1)
6. Miila and The Geeks: New Age (from the 2011 album New Age)
7. cottonioo: Three Girl Rhumba (from the 2008 compilation Post Flag)

Bye bye Miha and Zana; hello new Trinitron EP

2011-08-19T18:29:00.005+09:00

We had a going away party at Koenji One last night for Miha (a.k.a. N'toko) and Zana (a.k.a. Kaki), with the Fashion Crisis crew and members of Trinitron on the decks. Kaki did a live guest appearance on N'toko's DJ set, and he then returned the favour on her set later. I played a trashed-up set of bubblegum electro, Japanese technopop and shrieking noise punk that veered between tracks like Perfume's Jenny wa Gokigen Naname and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's excellentPonponpon, and The Mornings' harsh, blood-and-sweat-drenched cover of The Dead Kennedys'Drug Me. Kaname K also made a rare DJ appearance playing an excellent set that took in Girls Generation, The Strokes, The Go! Team and sadly missed dystopian Tokyo indie-synth
shamblers Mir.

The night also featured the premiere of the rather fine new N'toko music video for Superhuman, which will be appearing on YouTube once final tweaking is complete. It's a fantastic achievement considering the entire thing was made for the cost of a single lightbulb, and director/editor Matt Schley has done a brilliant job recreating the late 70s/early 80s Suicide/DAF look we were shooting for.

And on the subject of Suicide and DAF, the tracks are all laid down for the new EP by Trinitron, the band henceforth known as "the coldwave ABBA". We have five new songs as well as a rather sweet sounding cover version of Edge by Perfume. The as-yet untitled EP will be out once Miha finishes mixing it, and it's already sounding rather fine. Think of it as a cloying, sycophantic love letter in musical form to Mute Records legends Daniel Miller and Vince Clarke. I was a bit worried that we'd taken the Clarke homage a bit far on at least one song, but then I listened to LCD Soundsystem again and was reassured. If you ever feel like you've been too shameless in ripping someone off, just crack open the LCD and you can be reassured that no matter how much you love someone, you don't love them as much as James Murphy loves Bowie, Eno, Kraftwerk and The Fall.

The EP ranges from avant-garde synth-noise to insanely catchy disco-pop via dirty electro EBM and some nice, scuzzy Kraut. We're still not sure whether the Perfume cover will make it onto the EP or whether we'll use it for something else. Miha and Zana are adamant that we include it, but I'm opposed. Lyrics-wise, it's a triumph of willful obscurity, fatuous nonsense and ambiguously worded critiques of pop cultural ephemera over, well, everything else really.

Anyway, keep your eyes on this space.

Connect And Receive, July 2011

2011-07-28T08:00:00.008+09:00

Call And Response now has its own internet radio station. Listen as we shamelessly promote our own releases and dig out other modern indie classics for your enjoyment:

It can be downloaded from its host at Archive.org.

This month's tracklisting is:

1. Hyacca: Hanazono (from the 2009 album Hanazono and the 2011 compilation Style Band Tokyo Vol. 1)

2. tacobonds: This Count (from the 2011 album No Fiction)

3. Praha Depart: Kyo no Nagare (from the 2009 album Uou Saou)

4. Zibanchinka: Nagisa no Hors D'oeuvres (from the 2011 album Hatsubai Chushi)

5. Puffyshoes: Anata ni Muchuu (from the 2010 compilation Valentine's Candies)

6. She Talks Silence: Fragment (from the 2011 album Some Small Gifts)

Zibanchinka, "Hatsubai Chushi" availability update:

2011-07-27T17:31:00.004+09:00

The distributors are still holding the Zibanchinka album back from a full release because of concerns over the band name in the wake of the March earthquake ("地盤沈下" means "subsidence"), but they've agreed to allow Tower Records in the band's home town of Kagoshima to stock it and they've responded with this lovely display:

Buyers in the rest of Japan can get hold of the album online from a few sources:

Hyacca > Tomomi Itano

2011-07-23T16:56:00.005+09:00

Courtesy of Style Band Tokyo, whose 15-second ad is currently running on one of the big screens at Shibuya's famous Hachiko crossing, here's proof, if any is still needed that Fukuoka spazz-punks Hyacca are better than the girl who came 8th in AKB48's latest senbatsu election (assuming "better than" is covalent with "positioned physically above").

Hyacca in Tokyo (August 2011)

2011-07-22T14:35:00.011+09:00

Hyacca will be back in Tokyo on August 6th and 7th, with a couple of very exciting shows.

The first is "Denko Mangetsu Matsuri", an all-night event that Call And Response are organising in collaboration with our friends Tessendoriko and DJ Rally from The Mornings.

Date: August 6th (Sat)

Time 23:00-Morning

Place: Kichijoji GOK Sound

Cost: 1500yen (adv.) / 2000 (door)

LIVE：
- N’toko (from Slovenia)
- Hyacca (from Fukuoka)
- Velocityut (from Nagasaki)
- pq
- Tessendoriko
- Dotsuitarunen
- DJ Puri Puri ［Real Kintaro]

DJ:

- Rally (The Mornings)

- Ponta (The Mornings/Dickerve)

- Ian Martin (Call And Response)

VJ:

- HUH

The second Hyacca show will be the release party for Style Band Tokyo's excellent compilation album at Club Asia.

Time 14:30-23:00

Date: August 7th (Sun)

Place: Shibuya Club Asia

Cost: 3000yen (adv.) / 3500 (door)

LIVE：

- Bo Ningen

- Lillies and Remains
- Plasticzooms
- 6eyes
- moja
- Hyacca

- Sekaitekinaband

- Pop-Office
- Purple

DJ:

- Tomo (Style Band Tokyo)

- Yamada (File-Under Records)

- Twee Grrrls Club

- Taigen Kawabe (Bo Ningen)

- Fujiwaramone & Minoruelvis (Cannabis/Lillies and Remains)

- Tommy (Boy)

- Wizz Jones

- Nites (CMP)

- Lotus & 373 (Weekend Never Dies)
- Gypsy Badman (Control)

- Black Neon Party

- si oux

- Yusaku Brando (Club Passione)

VJ:

- Maruty+

- Yuki Maeshima

Some differing views on K-Pop/J-Pop

2011-07-02T09:10:00.004+09:00

Was pointed towards this by a friend today and it seems like my last Japan Times column has provoked a lot of comment over on a a popular Livejournal group recently. They don't accept comments from non-members unfortunately, but I wouldn't want to come across like the kind of journalist who refuses to engage with people who dare to disagree with him online, and some of the criticisms on there are points that are worth responding to. Obviously the comments below are open to anyone who has anything to add.

First, my comments are of course a personal opinion. Strange Boutique is a monthly column and the purpose is for commentary. I'm lucky enough that there is someone at The Japan Times who thinks my subjective opinions are worthy of attention, but obviously not everyone's going to agree with me.

Secondly, while I get some leeway with my articles, they are published in both the paper and online editions of the paper, so I have to stick to a word limit, which means I can't discuss every aspect of a topic. I have to draw the line somewhere, which is why being able to continue the discussion online is such a boon.

As for the big point about the idea of Girls' Generation "saving J-Pop" or whatever, I think this is important. J-Pop has historically moved forward in big, juddering lunges about once every ten years, usually influenced by some behind the scenes realignment of the industry (Nabepro in the 60s, Star Tanjou in the early 70s, Dentsu and the "CM idol" in the 80s, and Avex in the 90s, among others) and usually these shifts have been accompanied by musical influences from outside (jazz, eleki, disco, new wave, Eurobeat, etc.) The reason some music commentators are focussing on Girls' Generation so much now is because it feels like one of these periodic realignments is overdue and Korea looks like it might be the staging ground for a new influence entering into the J-Pop mix.

If this does happen, I would guess that the result won't be Japanese pop that sounds exactly like American music. It'll be something new that fuses elements of both. As when 60s singers in Japan built early careers off covering Western pop hits, before local songwriters started creating their own original takes on these influences, I guess something like that might happen in the wake of Girls' Generation.

Yes, this is partly because I'm a music writer. I need constant change in music because I need new things to write about. As a music fan I want these things too though. Lots of people seem to like J-Pop as it is because it differs from American pop, but for people here in Japan where this is all we get, something with an American influenced sound getting as popular as Girls' Generation have is quite exciting.

As for some of the other smaller points, yeah, I debated with myself whether to call Immi an idol or not. I have a word limit and didn't want to drive myself up a new path trying to describe her so I went with a quick, easy descriptor. She's in a similar category to Meg though, which is often referred to as "oshare idol" in Japan, so I'm sticking by it. I understand why people might disagree though.

As for my label, I always try to keep it separate from my writing about music (apart from this post, natch -- my general music blog unfortunately can't handle comments at the moment). I'm certainly not jealous of AKB48 or someone for being more successful than Zibanchinka!

Fashion Crisis (July 2011)

2011-06-28T14:51:00.007+09:00

July's Fashion Crisis features live performances from friend of the event Kiyokazu Onozaki of the lovely Andersens and the hard-rocking Quick Explosion Scratch Hurricanes, and Slovenian electropop anti-idol Kaki, with guest DJ team Youth is Wasted joining regular DJs James Hadfield and I. Expect the usual mix of scratchy folk, technopop, postpunk, dub, Iranian tribal disco-funk, kosmische, indiepop and the rest.

Date: July 1st (Friday)
Time: 8:00pm - LAST TRAIN
Place: Koenji One
Cost: FREE

LIVE:

- Kiyokazu Onozaki (Andersens)

- Kaki

DJs:
- Youth is Wasted
- James Hadfield
- Ian Martin

Fashion Crisis (June 2011)

2011-06-03T02:22:00.005+09:00

The June edition of Fashion Crisis welcomes back friend of the event, the funktastic Ryan Erik Williams, and bids farewell to cinematic guerilla Matt Schley, who is currently immortalising Koenji One on film in the forthcoming N'toko promotional video.

Date: June 3rd (Friday)
Time: 8:00pm - LAST TRAIN
Place: Koenji One
Cost: FREE

DJs:
- Ryan Erik Williams
- Matt Schley
- James Hadfield
- Ian Martin

Praha Depart & N'toko in Europe (Sept. 2011 updated)

2011-05-18T14:34:00.010+09:00

This coming autumn, two of Call And Response Records' favourite acts will be taking on Europe with a three-week joint tour from Oct 21st to Nov 11th. Anyone interested in booking, please get in contact with Call And Response on carrecords [at] gmail [dot] com. For information and links, please see below:

Praha Depart:

Tokyo-based alternative/postpunk band Praha Depart ("Prague Department Store") formed in 2004 around guitarist Tsukasa and vocalist Mai, with drummer Junpei completing the lineup one year later. Starting out bassless, Mai eventually added bass guitar to her vocal duties, as the band honed their sound through non-stop gigging around Tokyo, in the process gaining a reputation as one of the city's hardest-working bands.

Described by The Japan Times newspaper as "irrepressibly danceable gypsy punk", Praha Depart made their first venture overseas in March 2011 with a U.S. East Coast tour, while solidifying their position in the domestic music scene where their swirling, almost psychedelic postpunk grooves have seen them playing alongside Japanese underground legends like DMBQ, performing together with Damo Suzuki, and sending local audiences into a frenzy at packed Tokyo live venues.

Praha Depart are eager to take their sound overseas and bring the same unstoppable energy to audiences the world over.

Praha Depart: Dot

Praha Depart on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/prahadepart

N'toko:

N'toko is an experimental hiphop artist from Slovenia. He first made a name for himself as frontman of a local funk/alternative/hiphop collective called Moveknowledgement. He became well known for his technical skills and speed as a rapper, winning two national freestyle championships in a row. Competitions scored him his first record deal as a solo artist, the result being his albums 'Cesarjeva nova podoba' and 'Dobrodelni koncert ob koncu sveta.' N'toko also released two EPs (Where's Waldo and Elixiryproslam). These records gained cult status among underground hiphop fans and alternative music lovers for their open aproach to rap and spoken word, blending influences from rock, free-jazz, electro, noise and psychedelia to name a few. At the same time, N'toko performed anywhere he could, from poetry slams to impro-sessions and drum n' bass parties, no longer just rapping, but also using his voice as an effect-processed instrument, playing other instruments and often screaming his brains out.

He continues his work with Moveknowledgement, which has morphed into an experimental dub, rock group and went on to record a very original album entitled 'Listen to Nebukadnezar' and its recently released follow-up 'Pump Down!!!'. He is currently on the move between Slovenia and Tokyo, doing solo concerts, playing with Moveknowledgement, a duo with drummer Seijiro Murayama, and DJ-ing in clubs. He firmly believes that it's OK to do anything in music and there should be no difference between musical genres, scenes or cultures.

In the past year, N'toko has been particularly prolific, releasing two albums, both of which featured in Slovenian alternative radio's top ten of 2010, including the English language Ex-Shanti / Future Shanti, on Tokyo label Call And Response Records. He is currently preparing for the release of a new Moveknowledgement album this summer.

N'toko: Fashion Crisis by callandresponse

Superhuman by n'toko

N'Toko Ne Obstaja by n'toko

N'toko on Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/ntoko/tracks

N'toko on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/ntoko

Kyushu Pop Festival 2011

2011-05-17T02:45:00.014+09:00

Hyacca

After the success of last year's Kyushu Pop Festival, Call And Response Records is very happy to present another evening of mentai-rock, kurobuta-punk and kabosu-pop, now with added basashi-disco.

All bands at this event are either travelling down from Kyushu for the show (the event features bands from Fukuoka, Kumamoto and Kagoshima), or they are Tokyo-based bands with key members hailing from Kyushu.

Date: May 21st (Sat)
Place: Shinjuku Motion
Time: 16:00-23:00Cost: 2000 adv/2300 door

Zibanchinka

Bands:

Zibanchinka (Kagoshima)
- Avant-garde garage-punk from the dark side of your imagination: video

Hyacca (Fukuoka)
- Dance-oriented post-punk/alternative. Metal bees attacking your brain: video

MacManaman (Fukuoka)

- Explosive post-rock instrumental quartet:video

cynicalsmileisyourfavorite (Kumamoto)
- Disco-hardcore scream freaks: video

bctnx (Fukuoka)
- Fukuoka's newest indie/alternative avant-pop stars: video

She Talks Silence

- Lo-fi indie fuzz-lullabies: video

Dotama-Kachi-World
- Picopico new wave techno-punks: video

Jebiotto
- New wave synth-punk: video

Fallopian Disco Force
- Improvisational avant-disco duo: video (dating from group's previous days as a trio)

Happy Birthday James!

2011-05-16T01:36:00.004+09:00

James Hadfield, my longstanding partner in the Koenji Fashion Crisis event, had his birthday party today, and I spun a few tunes. Here's my best recollection of the set I played. Crowd pleasers one and all:

Happy Birthday to Me - Puffyshoes
Gloria - Miguel Angel & Los Sharps
Why Don't You Smile Now - The Downliners Sect
Neon Rainbow - The Box Tops
Yellow Rainbow - The Move
Sunshine Superman - Donovan
Itchycoo Park - The Small Faces
Evil Hoodoo - The Seeds
Laissez Tomber Les Filles - France Gall
Comment Le Revoir - Chantal Goya
Well Respected Man - The Kinks
After the Lights Go Out - The Walker Brothers
The Seventh Seal - Scott Walker
Jesus Christ - Big Star
Rock'n'Roll Suicide - David Bowie

NEW RELEASE: "Hatsubai Chushi" by Zibanchinka

2011-05-08T01:15:00.007+09:00

Call And Response's latest release, the debut album by Kagoshima garage/postpunk quartet Zibanchinka, is now available in a limited release. Currently it can be bought from Enban in Koenji, and I'll be introducing it to other independent outlets over the next few weeks. A wider release will follow as soon as possible, but in the wake of the March 11th earthquake, the distributor is having an extended attack of jitters over a band name that means "subsidence".

The album is called "Hatsubai Chushi" ("Stop Sale") and features 15 tracks for 1,800 yen (plus tax). I'll post new details of stores where the CD is available as they come, and for those unable to get hold of it via Enban or its web site, here's the song "Watashi no Nakami wa Almond" to whet your appetite:

Zibanchinka: Watashi no Nakami wa Almond by callandresponse

And here's the song being performed live at a Call And Response event in Tokyo a couple of years ago:

Enjoy!

May 6th Fashion Crisis DJ set lists

2011-05-07T17:23:00.003+09:00

From what I can remember, here are the set lists for the three DJ sets I played at Fashion Crisis last night. The first one had a lot of pretty heavy Japanese underground noise punk, the second was more 80s electro, and the third was a bit more 60s and 70s influenced.

1st set:
Binocular Depth Inversion 1 - Squimaoto
Golden Ball - Stereolab
Ikkyokume - Nisennenmondai
3.2.1.0! Explosion - Ni-Hao!
Hikaru Mirai - Limited Express (Has Gone?)
Sess - Artless Note
Mad Cheergirl - The Mornings

2nd Set:
Coco Pino - DAF
Get Innocuous - LCD Soundsystem
The Robots - Kraftwerk
Los Ninos Del Parque - Liaisons Dangereuses
Ana - Videosex
Odbrana - Idoli
One After 909 - Laibach

3rd Set:
All Along the Watchtower - XTC
Sono Ki ni Sasenaide - Candies
Anata ni Muchuu - Puffyshoes
Nagisa no Hors d'œuvre - Zibanchinka
Yummy Yummy Yummy - 1910 Fruitgum Company
(I've got) Levitation - The 13th Floor Elevators
Dead Finks Don't Talk - Brian Eno
Mannequin - Mir
I Want More - Can

"May The Fourth Be With You" set list:

2011-05-05T13:46:00.002+09:00

Here's my SF-themed set list from last night's Star wars party at Shibuya Echo. Thanks to the lovely people who came along, and yeah, the ELO track was for you, Miha and Matt.

Video Trailer Mix - Sigue Sigue Sputnik
starship.6 - Plus-Tech Squeeze Box
The Force - The Droids
Fred Vom Jupiter - Andreas Dorau
Cosmic Surfin' - Yellow Magic Orchestra
Gingakei Made Tonde Yuke - Candies
Voices Green and Purple - The Bees
I Told Her on Alderaan - Neon Neon
Twlight - Electric Light Orchestra
Twilight - The Raveonettes
I Come from Another Planet, Baby - Julian Cope
Science Friction - XTC
Spooks in Space - Aural Exciters

Fashion Crisis (May 2011)

2011-05-04T01:28:00.004+09:00

May Fashion Crisis will be our last show with electro-hip-hop MC N'toko for a while, since he returns to Slovenia at the end of the month. However, as a send-off from the Fashion Crisis crowd, it looks like turning into a bit of a Balkan special, with fellow Slovene electropop idol Kaki making her live debut, and the usual DJ culprits no doubt digging further into the depths of Yugoslavian 80s new wave.

Place: Koenji One
Date: May 6th
Time: 8:00pm-last train
Cost: FREE

Live:
- N'toko
- Kaki

DJs:
- James Hadfield (Time Out Tokyo)
- Ian Martin (Call And Response Records)
- Rally (The Mornings)

2:46 - Aftershocks: Tales From the Japan Earthquake

2011-04-12T15:28:00.003+09:00

Available here, now.

Written in two days by people from all over the world, edited and put together in a week, and now on sale with Amazon donating all proceeds to the Japan Red Cross, the #quakebook project finally reaches fruition.

I'm in it, as are many, many others, including Famous People like Jake Adelstein, William Gibson and Yoko Ono. Read more about it here and here.

Kyushu Pop Festival 2011 lineup confirmed

2011-04-08T09:17:00.002+09:00

This year's Kyushu Pop Festival will once again be held at Shinjuku Motion, and will feature nine bands either from Kyushu directly or with roots in the area.

Place: Shinjuku Motion
Date: May 21st (Sat)
Time: 4:00pm-11:00pm
Cost: ¥2000 adv/¥2500 door
Bands:
- Zibanchinka (Kagoshima)
- Hyacca (Fukuoka)
- MacManaman (Fukuoka)
- cynicalsmileisyourfavorite (Kumamoto)
- bctnx (Fukuoka)
- She Talks Silence
- Dotama Kachi World
- Fallopian Disco Force
- Jebiotto

Zibanchinka "Hatsubai Chushi" Pre-Release Party

2011-04-07T13:34:00.002+09:00

Zibanchinka will be giving fans in their hometown of Kagoshima the first chance to get their hands on their debut album "Hatsubai Chushi" tomorrow (April 8th). Information is on the band's web site here. The album will be in shops next month, in time for Zibanchinka's next visit to Tokyo.

Fashion Crisis (March 2011 Fukuoka Special)

2011-03-19T05:20:00.002+09:00

Because of the earthquake last week, there's been too much going on lately to post event info, but here's the flyer for today's Fashion Crisis Fukuoka Special:

Radio Activity

2011-03-18T18:05:00.002+09:00

(Also posted on my other blog)

I'm in a small club in the Tokyo suburb of Koenji, drinking beer with a group of twenty or so young Japanese people. A man in a hard hat and face mask is conducting a mini orchestra of vintage 1980s synthesisers in a goofy cover version of the Korean pop group Girls Generation's recent hit "Gee". The audience rewards their set with a cascade of applause and whoops.

Beneath the cheer and good humour, however, these are people only too aware of the unsettling new situation that Japan finds itself in. The man’s getup is just one of the eerie reminders around the room of the tragedy that had struck northeastern Japan less than a week previously. His father was from Fukushima, close to the nuclear power plant that was dominating news headlines that day, and the band’s drummer also hails from the same area. There are smiles and laughs around the room when Kraftwerk’s 1975 song “Radioactivity” comes on in the background, but it’s a dark, ironic sort of humour on display – one that you would never normally expect from the kind of cheerful slapstick that dominates Japanese TV comedy.

A small TV in the corner remains tuned to NHK, Japan’s national broadcaster and most reliable source of news, and all eyes turn to the screen. An aftershock has been recorded near Tokyo. Here in our Koenji basement, no one felt a thing, but as numbers recording the strength of the tremor start appear on the onscreen map, a cheer goes up among some of the people present; the Koenji area scored 4, putting it in the level of most extreme shaking. There’s a sense of victory: we took the worst of that tremor and didn’t even feel it. The party goes on.

At the end of the evening, the audience and band members drift out, leaving money for the relief fund in a small tin in front of the DJ booth. People talk of music as an agent of healing, but for people in Tokyo, it’s also a weapon of defiance.

Fashion Crisis N'toko Release Special (March 2011)

2011-03-03T01:56:00.004+09:00

March Fashion Crisis is an irregular edition in aid of Slovenian electro/hip hop artist N'toko and his mini-album Ex Shanti / Future Shanti, released last October on Call And Response. It's his first gig in Japan since the release, so instead of the usual free Friday night party, we're doing a proper live event at a proper live venue, with a bunch of ace live bands, plus regular Fashion Crisis DJs me and James Hadfield.

Place: Higashi-Koenji 20000V
Date 3/5 (Sat)
Time: 6:00PM - 10:30PM
Cost: ¥1500 advance / ¥1800 door

Live:
- N'toko
- Quick Explosion Scratch Hurricanes
- Takashi Nakayama with LABSiCK Man-Machine ReMiX
- Fallopian Disco Force
- Steiner

DJs:
- Ian Martin
- James Hadfield

N'toko "Fashion is Danger" Japan Tour (March 2011)

2011-03-01T22:27:00.007+09:00

Those with memories that stretch all the back to last autumn might recall the release of Slovenian electro hip hop artist N'toko's excellent Ex Shanti / Future Shanti mini-album on Call And Response in October. We had to dash to get it out in time for his European tour and before the release of N'toko's Slovenian language album Parada Ljubezni, which came out the following month and caused a bit of a stir in the music scene over there.

Anyway, while things on the Japan front have been quiet of late, Ex Shanti / Future Shanti was voted 4th in Slovenian alternative radio station Radio Student's Best of 2010 (with Parada Ljubezni at No.1 making it two N'toko albums in that year's Top Five), as well as being chosen as one of International Hip Hop Market's best of the year.

With all the European and domestic commitments now behind him, however, N'toko is finally ready to take on Japan with a long overdue release party and tour.

Joining N'toko for the Kyushu dates will be Tokyo jazz/hip hop/psychedelic/whatever duo Uhnellys, whose vocalist Kim recorded the track Fashion Crisis with N'toko.

N'toko: Fashion Crisis by callandresponse

The song is named after the monthly party that Call And Response organises with journalist James Hadfield, and as a play on that name and this utterly awesome song by N'toko lookalike Bret McKenzie and Flight of the Conchords, we decided to christen the tour Fashion is Danger.

Anyway, the dates and info:

March 5th @ Tokyo, Higashi-Koenji 20000V
18:00 Open/Start
¥1800 advance / ¥2000 door
Live: N'toko / Quick Explosion Scratch Hurricanes / Takashi Nakayama with LABSiCK Man-Machine ReMiX / Fallopian Disco Force / Steiner
DJs: James Hadfield / Ian Martin

March 9th @ Nagoya KD Japon
19:00 Open / 19:30 Start
¥1500 advance / ¥2000 door
Live: N'toko / ZONZONO / Yuki Kaneko x Juzo / 「Manner Off」 "Unsilence" sound performance

March 13th @ Osaka Sengoku Daitoryo
17:30 Open / 18:00 Start
¥1500 advance / ¥2000 door
Live: N’toko / Acid Peacock / Rough Chord Rudies / Red Dolphins / Unchained Punk / Bashauma

March 19th @ Fukuoka, Yakuin UTERO
18:00 Open/Start
¥2000
Live: N'toko / Uhnellys / Hyacca / bctnx / men's relaxations / Fake doll Nott (electrify set) / Perchume ☆ Mix
DJs: Ian Martin / Miyagawa Electric 808

March 20th @ Kumamoto Navaro
20:00 Open / 20:30 Start
¥1500yen
Live: N'toko / MacArthur A Contti/ Uhnellys / 101nZ / Fuckin'Shits + more
DJs: Esuda / Noizima/ Ito (ex. Jabberwocky)

The Tokyo and Fukuoka shows are both Fashion Crisis events, so I'll be posting individual info about them in the lead-up to the gigs. Also, yes, Perchume is a Fukuoka-based Perfume tribute act. And no, I have no excuse.

Fashion Crisis (Februrary 2011)

2011-02-04T14:36:00.004+09:00

Fashion Crisis' February edition is today, with a live double header featuring the cucumber-cool no wave stylings of Miila And The Geeks as they warm up for this year's SXSW and the stream-of-consciousness mutant lounge blues of Issei Kuramoto. This month's special guest DJ will be indie sweetheart Yuppa of Hazel Nuts Chocolate (HNC), Love And Hates, and Twee Grrrls Club fame.

Place: Koenji Bar One
Date 2/4 (Fri)
Time: 8:00PM - Late
Cost: FREE

Live:
- Miila & The Geeks
- Issei Kuramoto

DJs:
- Yuppa (Hazel Nuts Chocolate/HNC & Love And Hates)
- James Hadfield
- Ian Martin

Telephone Club (January 22nd 2011)

2011-01-11T15:29:00.006+09:00

Call And Response's first live showcase of the year, rocking those screechy, distortion-loving no wave sounds. It's damn good stuff, but then I would say that.

Place: Koenji Penguin House
Date: 1/22 (Sat)
Time: 7:00PM Open / 7:30PM Start
Tickets: 1800yen + drink (adv) / 2000yen + drink (door)

LIVE:
- otori - Indecently young and talented post-punk/no wave shrieksters.
- Mir - Synth-based merchants of new wave bleakness.
- tacobonds - Leading lights of stop-start Tokyo avant-power-prog.
- Uruseeyo - Poetic minor chord distortion addicts.
- Saba - Another of Tokyo's youngest and most virile noisemeisters.

Fashion Crisis (December 2010)

2010-12-02T23:20:00.004+09:00

The last Fashion Crisis of 2010 with this month's guest DJ the incomparable Clay Jarvis, and an acoustic live performance by candy-punk duo Puffyshoes.

Place: Koenji Bar One
Date: 12/4 (Sat)
Time: 7:00p.m.~11:00p.m.
Cost: FREE

LIVE
- Puffyshoes (acoustic set): Honey-sweet, lo-fi 60s girl group melodies in a stripped down, acoustic form.

DJs
- Clay Jarvis (Teenage Desires/Vee Dee)
- James Hadfield (Metropolis)
- Ian Martin (Call And Response Records)

Telephone Club in Fukuoka (November 20th 2010)

2010-11-19T11:31:00.003+09:00

A quick note on tomorrow's Telephone Club event in Fukuoka, just to say there are six fantastic bands, including several CAR favourites and that anyone in town on that day should definitely make it down.

Place: Yakuin Utero
Date: November 20th (Sat)
Time: 6:30/7:00
Cost: 1800yen + drink

Bands:
- Nontroppo
- Hyacca
- MacManaman
- Zibanchinka (from Kagoshima)
- The Mornings (from Tokyo)
- Cynical Smile is Your Favorite (from Kumamoto)

DJs:
- DRGN
- Ian Martin (Call And Response Records)

Switched On! + Japan Music Week: Post-Punk Festival

2010-11-09T10:23:00.004+09:00

The first part of Switched On!'s contribution to Japan Music Week 2010 is this post-punk and new wave event, featuring some of the finest new bands in Tokyo, as well as international guests The Stingrays, who were among the founding members of the Bristol punk and new wave scene in 1977.

Japan Music Week wristband holders can get in for half price (1000yen) by showing their wristband at the door.

Place: Shibuya Star Lounge
Date: 11/9 (Tue)
Time: 18:00 Open/Start
Price: 2000yen (adv) / 2500yen (door) + 1 drink (1000yen with JMW wristband)

Bands:
- The Stingrays: Leading figures in the first generation of Bristol punk and new wave through their work on the Heartbeat and Fried Egg labels, The Stingrays are often described as Bristol's Ramones, although their sense of humour and less rigidly punk style makes perhaps The Rezillos a more apt comparison.

- She Talks Silence: Gorgeous, lo-fi post-punk, with sweet, whisper-voiced melodies drenched in feedback, recalling elements of The Jesus & Mary Chain and The Vaselines.

- The New House: Wide-ranging, psychedelic tinged indie music from Tokyo, as well as being veterans of SXSW and touring partners of the Vivian Girls (http://www.myspace.com/thenewhousetokyo).

- Anisakis: Garage rock influenced post-punk, reminiscent of classic psychedelic era bands like The Monks, as well as the kind of edgy, post-Wilko Johnson guitar style of the British post-punk era.

- Umibachi: Born out of the ashes of Tokyo's late 90s new wave revival, Umibachi retain that generation's B-52's and Devo influence, wedding it to psychedelic and dance influences.

- The Bitchs: Totally unreconstructed, none-more-Ramones, Japanese punk rockers.

DJs:
- Sumire (Twee Grrrls Club/Violet & Claire): As well as being the founder of Tokyo's premier all-girl DJ team, her unerring, under-the-radar instinct for great music means Violet & Claire label was the first place to discover both The New House and She Talks Silence.

- Wizz Jones: Music geek extraordinaire and 80s indie/post-punk encyclopaedia.

- Ian Martin (Call And Response Records): Retro post-punk and new wave.

The Stingrays (From Bristol) Japan Tour

2010-11-05T03:03:00.007+09:00

One of the classic first generation punk bands from my lovely home town of Bristol, The Stingrays, are in Japan from today (November 5th). The Stingrays were one of the key bands on Heartbeat Records' Avon Calling compilation, which remains to this day the classic document of Bristol punk and new wave, as well as being a notable local band in their own right through their association with Fried Egg Records.

Call And Response, along with the brilliant Hide from Ultra Bide and Kevin from Big Jugs Experience, has been helping book their current Japan tour, so please come along to any of these shows that you have a chance to.

・11/5 Kobe Helluva Lounge
w/ après-guerre napoto, The Young Pennsylvanians, Ittanbu
Open 18:00/Start 18:30 1,500yen adv./18,00yen door

・11/6 Osaka The Cellar
Big Jugs Experience event:
w/Boys of Hong Kong, Penumbra, DJ Clever Dan
Open 13:00/Start 13:30 1,100yen (Including 2 drinks)

・11/7 Osaka Socio
w/Juggling Dubs, Cockney Cocks, H.O.G, Niwatori Obake, Jump and Fall, Cannonball (Tokyo), Explosion Sack, wooOrmz, Minerals, Animal Video, Shiraiwa Hiraz
Open/Start ?

・11/8 Kyoto Socrates
A Seed Night (Ultra Bide event):
w/Ultra Bide, Psychedelic Desert, Whales, DJ AFRIphonicAAA (UK)
Open 18:00/Start 18:30 1,500yen adv./18,00yen door

・11/9 Shibuya Star Lounge
Switched On! Post Punk Night (with Japan Music Week)
w/The New House, Umibachi, The Bitchs, She Talks Silence, Anisakis, DJ Sumire (Twee Grrrls Club/Violet & Claire), DJ Wizz Jones, DJ Ian Martin (Call And Response Records)
Open/Start 18:00 2,000yen adv./2,500yen door (1,000yen with JMW wristband)

・11/11 Shibuya Hobgoblin
Japan Music Week - Wales Night: Russ Mainwaring DJ set
Open/Start 19:00 1,000yen adv./1,500yen door (FREE with JMW wristband)

・11/13 Shibuya Rock West
Japan Music Week - Bristol Night (trip hop, drum'n'bass, Sarah Records, punk & new wave):
w/DJ Sumire (Twee Grrrls Club/Violet & Claire), DJ Carbon, DJ Alex Cox, DJ Ian Martin (Call And Response Records)
Open/Start 17:00 1,000yen adv./1,500yen door (FREE with JMW wristband)

NEW RELEASE: "Ex Shanti / Future Shanti" by N'toko

2010-10-08T13:22:00.009+09:00

Call And Response released the new English-language album by Slovenian rapper N'toko this Wednesday (October 6th). Writing about the album on his blog, N'toko describes his aim to create:

"...music that draws from electropop, Bollywood, and French house while keeping the darker, more aggressive and underground attitude of old school hiphop (I'm talking about guys like Public Enemy, Erik B and Rakim), EBM, industrial, goth."

Ex Shanti / Future Shanti (CAR-88)
1. Superhuman
2. Astroboy and Catwoman
3. Masterplan Intro
4. Masterplan
5. Posing
6. Pillow Fight
7. Fashion Crisis
8. Ex Shanti / Future Shanti
9. Masterplan (BeatMyth Remix)

The result is a sometimes dark, always playful, mini-album that fuses hip hop with 1980s electro and technopop sounds, and a post-punk attitude.

Partly recorded in Japan during his stay in the country through late 2009 and early 2010, Ex Shanti / Future Shanti also features the track Fashion Crisis, named after the Call And Response event, and recorded with guest vocals by Kim from Uhnellys.

N'toko is on tour in Europe at the moment, and will be touring Japan starting on March 5th next year.

Available at:
Bridge Inc.
Tower Records
HMV
Amazon

Fashion Crisis (October 2010)

2010-10-01T20:10:00.003+09:00

The next monthly Fashion Crisis at Koenji Bar One is this Saturday. With regular DJ James Hadfield off touring Europe's fashion capitals, taking his savoir faire in search of the finest haute couture, and no doubt sampling cordon bleu, displaying sangfroid, and dabbling in je ne sais quoi (or else just getting wet somewhere in England), there will be a fresh roster of guest DJs joining me for your enjoyment.

Place: Koenji Bar One
Date: October 2nd (Sat)
Time: 7:00pm~11:00pm
Cost: FREE

DJs:

- Lotus: not only the geek-chic fanzine goddess of Weekend Never Dies fame, but also an October 2nd Birthday Girl.

- Wizz Jones: after his awe inspiring set at September's event, there was no choice but to invite him back for a reprise.

- Evil Penguin: the mysterious, evil moustachioed Tasmanian deck wizard from Super Deluxe's Test Tone events promises a selection of deep, dark new wave.

- Ian Martin: fresh from scandalising the music world in the pages of the Japanese press, I'll be back to my old self, playing the usual mix of David Bowie, various stuff, David Bowie, and more Bowie.

Koenji Pop Festival 2010 Timetable

2010-09-17T23:27:00.004+09:00

The timetable for the 2010 Koenji Pop Festival on September 18th (Sat) is sorted now, and if things go according to plan, should run like this (note: things almost never go according to plan).

4:00 open
4:10-4:25 Natasha Forrest
4:40-5:05 Owllights
5:20-5:45 Issei Kuramoto
6:00-6:25 Yamaco
6:40-7:05 Quick Explosion Scratch Hurricanes (Ex. Andersens)
7:20-7:45 Praha Depart
8:00-8:25 The Students
8:40-9:05 Creepy Pop
9:20-9:45 The Mornings
10:00-Finish Zibanchinka

Koenji Pop Festival 2010

2010-09-10T01:20:00.006+09:00

This year is the sixth annual edition of the somewhat ambitiously named Koenji Pop Festival and the third at Koenji's venerable and, erm, "intimate" Penguin House. As usual, there will be a cornucopia of musical fucked-uppery, with the messed-up all-girl garage punk of Kagoshima's Zibanchinka, the explosive post-punk of The Mornings, the delicately-formed new wave pop of Yamaco, the quirky alt-rock of Owllights, and various happenings inbetween.

As usual I'll be doing that thing with the horrible wine.

To accommodate all the bands, the event starts pretty early (4:00PM), with my never knowingly over-rehearsed band Natasha Forrest kicking things off, so if you don't want us to be lonely, come by for the start.

Place: Koenji Penguin House
Date: 9/18 (Sat)
Time: 4:00PM
Price: 2000yen (adv) / 2300yen (door)

Bands:
- Zibanchinka (from Kagoshima)
- The Mornings
- Creepy Pop
- The Students
- Praha Depart
- Quick Explosion Scratch Hurricanes (Ex. Andersens)
- Yamaco
- Issei Kuramoto
- Owllights
- Natasha Forrest

Fashion Crisis (August 2010)

2010-08-06T13:28:00.000+09:00

With this year's Summer Sonic plumbing comically abysmal new depths of sickening atrociousness, August's Fashion Crisis is here to rescue great music with a selection of offbeat electronic and technopop live sounds plus the usual mix of new wave, post-punk, dub, electro, indiepop, krautrock, 60s pop, 'pataphysic rock and more from behind the decks.

Place: Koenji Bar One
Date: 8/7 (Sat)
Time: 7:00 P.M. - 11:00 P.M.
Price: FREE

LIVE:
-cottonioo
Fashion Crisis' favourite all-girl bass-guitar-rhythm machine duo are back, with more musical confectionery from their lo-fi new wave sweet shop.

-Living Astro
This electronic duo specialise in sending short, sharp, intense blasts of musical information directly into your brain. Mysterious combinations of unexpected sounds, like a smaller, more intimate Der Plan.

DJs:
-Chihiro (Twee Grrrls Club/Full Circle)
-James Hadfield (Metropolis, Ecchi Shoushin)
-Ian Martin (Call And Response Records)

Telephone Club (July 17th 2010)

2010-07-14T23:58:00.003+09:00

Live music and pre-recorded sounds transmitted via the medium of compact disc to your ears, courtesy of some of the finest musical brains in the metropolis of Tokyo, this Saturday in Koenji.

Place: Koenji Penguin House
Date: 7/17 (Sat)
Open/Start: 6:30/7:00 P.M.
Tickets: 1,800 adv/2,000 door

Live:

tacobonds - Explosive post-punk band, who have been tearing up live spaces in Tokyo and beyond for years. The sound of rock & roll being broken on the wheel.

Puffyshoes - Dirty garage punk poison delivered in the form of honey-sweet 60s girl group melodies. The best tunes, played on instruments wielded like weapons of mass destruction.

Steiner - Sharp-edged, 80s-influenced post-punk, recalling Gang of Four, Einsturzende Neubauten, and The Pop Group, like a disco under the shadow of nuclear war.

Uruseeyo - Losing themselves, like a punk rock Dylan, Uruseeyo are raw power, spat out in a machine gun rattle of sprawling, poetic fury.

DJs:

Fresh from Koenji's regular Fashion Crisis events, James Hadfield of Metropolis fame and Ian Martin of Call And Response Records will spin tunes from the darkest recesses of their record collections, but better than that sounds.

Track list from last Saturday's Fashion Crisis

2010-07-05T17:41:00.005+09:00

Since this was one of those rare events where I basically remember what I played, I'm taking the step of posting up the playlist from my DJ set at Bar One last Saturday. Guest DJ Sumire has already posted her sets on the Twee Grrrls Club blog.

It was also a rare set for me in that I dusted off some of my vinyl (mostly for the first set when I could count on being sober enough to deal with it). I don't really like the fiddlyness of playing vinyl, but there are some songs that I only have in that format. If anyone ever wondered (God knows why you would, mind) why I play so many songs off XTC's second album and hardly anything off the rather better first and third albums, it's because the second is the only one of their early releases I have on CD.

I also managed to squeeze in a couple of tracks that bands have sent me over the past few months that I've really liked. The first is the track "Harmony" by Bristol punk/power pop band The Stingrays, who are planning to visit Japan in November; the second is the track "Gesa" by Berlin post-punks Krysmopompas.

Anyway, here it is, to the best of my recollection.

1st set:
Puyo Puyo - Hikashu
Spinning Top - XTC
One After 909 - Laibach
Trouble - The Music Machine
Tout Ce Qu' On Dit - Francoise Hardy
Oo Chang a Lang - The Blue Orchids (60s girl group)
Work - The Blue Orchids (80s post-punks)

2nd set:
Spring Rain - The Go-Betweens
Living a Lie - The DBs
Keep an Open Mind (Or Else) - McCarthy
Original Love - The Feelies
Heads Watch - Josef K
The Lighter Side of Dating - The Monochrome Set
Motorbike Girl - The Would Be Goods
You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It?) - The Undertones
Harmony - The Stingrays
Mannequin - Wire
Brave Boys Keep Their Promises - The Teardrop Explodes
Your Turn to Run - Malaria
Thirty Frames a Second - Simple Minds
The Baby Screams - The Cure
Gesa - Krysmopompas

As a bonus, here's Francoise Hardy freezing her arse off in front of Tower Bridge in 1965:

And here's the The Go-Betweens camping it up shamelessly:

Fashion Crisis (July 2010)

2010-06-29T05:57:00.004+09:00

Fashion Crisis is in indiepop mode this weekend, with a trip through our magic time travelling mirror to a dirty, fuzz-drenched 1986 populated by whisper-voiced post-punk musical scientists and their unwitting experimental subjects.

Place: Koenji Bar One
Date: 7/3 (Sat)
Time: 7:00 P.M. - 11:00 P.M.
Price: FREE

LIVE:
- She Talks Silence
Stripped-down musical heartache in the mould of Josef K or The Vaselines; like getting stood up for a date with the class sweetheart, only to stumble, drunken, into the bar that all the cool kids hang out at, where you meet the girl of your dreams.

- Yamaco
Fashion Crisis' melodic indie princess Yamaco returns for the second successive month, with her increasingly fearsome arsenal of leftfield pop harmonics set to grow only more insidious the more access to your brain your ears allow her.

DJs:
- Sumire (Twee Grrrls Club/Violet & Claire)
A deceptively small package, within which beats a giant brain full of every lost classic 7-inch ever made by humans, plus many made by the Scottish.

-James Hadfield (Metropolis, Ecchi Shoushin)
Taking a break from last month's saxophone-bothering live excesses, Mr. James returns to his lair behind the decks -- the place he does the most damage.

-Ian Martin (Call And Response Records)
As usual, just happy to be there.

Kyushu Pop Festival (June 12th 2010)

2010-06-04T21:13:00.003+09:00

Special Call And Response event with the focus on bands from Kyushu, in a wild parade of Mentai-Rock, Kabosu-Pop, and Kurobuta-Punk.

Most of the bands on the lineup for this show are either travelling from Kyushu to take part or musicians with roots in the area, with able assistance from some of the hottest sounds from the Tokyo underground scene.

Place: Shinjuku Motion
Date: Saturday June 12th
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Cost: 2000 adv / 2300 door (+ 1 drink)

-Hyacca (百蚊): Gloriously fucked up yet undeniably accessible post-punk band from Fukuoka, with great songs, a wicked sense of humour, and fearsome energy to spare.

-Zibanchinka (地盤沈下): Eccentric garage punk quartet from Kagoshima, with one of the fiercest all-girl front lines in music.

-Bo-Peep: Originally from Fukuoka, Bo-Peep have carved a place for themselves as Tokyo's leading exponents of heavy garage punk, with successful tours all over the US and Europe to back them up.

-Me I Sashimi (ミー愛さしみ): Sharp edged Fukuoka instrumental post-rock trio.

-ruruxu/sinn: Pronounced "lulue-shin", experimental indie popsters ruruxu/sinn are one of the hottest young bands out of Fukuoka now, with last year's excellent album "Picnic" one of the finest Japanese indie debuts in recent memory.

-Puffy Shoes: Representing the Tokyo area, and formed only last year, Puffy Shoes are the perfect collision of chaotic lo-fi scuzz-punk discord and sweeter than honey 1960s girl group melodies.

-FUN☆ANA: Featuring guitarist Yoshida Hajime from Fukuoka/Tokyo experimental Beefheart-punk legends Panicsmile, FUN☆ANA are a psychedelic kaleidoscope of post-punk guitar, vintage 70s Japanese hairy alt-rock, and pure, unreconstructed hard rock.

-Chewz: At the forefront of Tokyo's current new wave of no wave, Chewz are angular post-punk sex at its fizziest, fuzziest and funkiest.

-DJ Hiropo: Originally from Oita Prefecture, formerly of new wave "Nintendo-Punk" outfit Binary Kidd, and currently of new project Dotama Kachi World, DJ Hiropo promises "Humour and pathos comedy DJ". Be afraid...

Fashion Crisis (June 2010)

2010-06-04T00:57:00.002+09:00

To get us in the mood for the summer, Fashion Crisis takes a dark electronic twist this month, with the dystopian industrial factory sounds of Koenji's own Darklaw, and regular DJ James Hadfield's newly spawned Ecchi Shoushin battling it out against the sweetness and light of Yamaco and DJ Noriko.

Place: Koenji Bar One
Date: Saturday June 5th
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Cost: FREE

Live:
Darklaw
Ecchi Shoushin
Yamaco (ex. Her)

DJs:
Noriko
Ian Martin
James Hadfield

Fashion Crisis (May 2010)

2010-04-28T00:29:00.002+09:00

Regular headliners Candles will be away in Osaka for this month's International Workers' Day edition of Fashion Crisis, but with legendary picopico maestra Hosaka Akane and the wonderful Students, whose off-kilter new wave guitar pop has been thrilling Call And Response since they opened the first ever C.A.R. event in 2004, coming instead, it will no doubt be every bit as charming an experience.

Elsewhere, another old friend Grant McGaheran of Abikyokan joins on decks, while myself and Metropolis' own James Hadfield will be rocking a musical parade of our own up for the proletariat.

Date: May 1st (Sat)
Place: Koenji Bar One
Time: 7:30 P.M. till 11:00 P.M.
Price: FREE

Live:
-Hosaka Akane
-The Students

DJs:
-Grant McGaheran (Abikyokan)
-James Hadfield
-Ian Martin

Fashion Crisis Anniversary Party (April 2010)

2010-04-01T02:50:00.005+09:00

Fashion Crisis is one year old this week, hence another mega-celebration and another change of day, this time to Friday 2nd April. This time we're going to party hard, like Andrew WK, deep into the morning, to an embarrassment of cool sounds, unlike Andrew WK.

For this live and DJ extravaganza, we've gathered a bumper collection of some of our favourite acts from the last year with more DJs and live acts than you can count on the fingers of two hands (i.e. more than ten, just).

Date: April 2nd (Fri)
Place: Koenji Bar One
Time: 8:00 P.M. till 5:00 A.M.
Price: FREE

Live:
-Candles
-N'toko
-Back in Tokyo
-cottonioo
-Kiyokazu Onozaki (Andersens)
-Umbrella-X (acoustic set)

DJs:
-Beau Brummell & the Wheels of Steel
-Kaname K
-DJ Petit
-James Hadfield
-Ian Martin

Fashion Crisis (March 2010)

2010-03-02T00:20:00.004+09:00

Still resolutely refusing to settle on any one particular day, Fashion Crisis is back to Saturday again, with the usual aggregation of pop scientists and amateur indie miscreants. Special live guest Yamaco, a.k.a. Yamada Noriko, formerly of indiepop duo and longtime Call And Response friends Her will be playing for the second time, and post-punk heart-throb Urano from Creepy Pop will DJ. Also spinning discs will be Slovenia's sexiest Bret-from-Flight-of-the-Conchords lookalike N'toko and his lovely wife Caroline from Paradise Kiss, as well as regular Koenji ne'r-do-wells James Hadfield and myself.

Date: March 6th (Sat)
Place: Koenji Bar One
Time: 7:30 P.M. till late
Price: FREE

Live:
-Candles
-Yamaco (ex. Her)
DJs:
-Urano (from Creepy Pop)
-N'toko & Zana
-James Hadfield
-Ian Martin

NEW RELEASES: "Valentine's Candies" V/A and "Live at Koenji Pop Festival '09" by Mir

2010-02-23T04:18:00.006+09:00

New release time from C.A.R. and there's one belated piece of news plus confirmation of the results of the last couple of posts' Candies fixation.

First up, the new Mir live DVD/R was actually put together by the band themselves back in November last year, but since it's only been available to customers of Mir's own gigs, it's languished rather on the back burner. Nevertheless, it's a rather nice video in an attractive, if retina-damaging, fluorescent yellow case, with five excellent performances for a perfectly reasonable 500 of your Japanese yen.

Live at Koenji Pop Festival '09 (CAR-92)
1. 時代と個人
2. 愛の小舟は打ち砕かれない
3. 待ち合わせ場所を決めておこう
4. 世の中みんな批評家
5. ダンス

In the continuing absence of a Call And Response online store, anyone wanting to get hold of this DVD can either ask the band directly at one of their shows, or mail me here and arrange some kind of PayPal-based web sorcery.

Secondly, Call And Response's CD/R cover album of glorious 1970s pop trio the Candies is available via Koenji's finest purveyor of weird underground musical discs, Enban. Of course I still have a few copies and I can always make more, so if you see me around, feel free to enquire. The cost is 800 of those yens of yours for the full 14-song extravaganza.

Valentine's Candies (CAR-91)
01. その気にさせないで / Yamaco
02. 春一番 / TE☆SY (From Cand☆es)
03. ハートのエースが出てこない / Umbrella-X
04. 春一番 / 春風堂
05. 年下の男の子 / cottonioo
06. ハートのエースが出てこない / Trinitron (N'toko+Ian Martin+friends)
07. あなたに夢中 / Puffy Shoes
08. 危い土曜日 / 地盤沈下
09. 二人だけの夜明け / うるせぇよ
10. 春９０００（「春一番」のカバー） / やまのいゆずる
11. A muk aihsa say (plaque translation therapy) （「やさしい悪魔」のカバー） - snip n` zener
12. 年下の男の子 / Jahiliyyah
13. 暑中お見舞い申し上げます / ruruxu/sinn
14. 微笑がえし / Killer Condors

As before, if anyone is unable to get the CD directly or from Enban, drop us a mail and we should be able to arrange something.

The Candies and why no Japanese pop group will ever be as good as them again

2010-02-12T04:42:00.004+09:00

(Cross-posted from my Myspace)

Looking at the Japanese pop charts nowadays, with the ugly, airbrushed tedium of Avex Trax and the waxy creepiness of Johnny's Jimusho, it might seem hard to believe, but for a brief period in the 1970s Japan was home to some of the greatest pop music ever made. With its roots in the 60s Showa Pop scene, the 1970s was dominated by a succession of brilliant female idols, from the ambiguous charm of the glorious Yamaguchi Momoe to the spicy, saucy, and outright sexy Yamamoto Linda.

It wasn't just solo stars though. Before the embarrassment of their early 80s U.S. TV series, Pink Lady were laying waste to the Japanese pop charts of the late 70s using a combination of eye-mounted laser beams and goofy yet insanely catchy pop music, and for a period of five short years the Candies were releasing a string of the most extraordinary pop singles Japan has ever seen.

Back in those days the ideal size for an all-girl pop group was two or three members rather than the absurd idol inflation that came to characterise the industry from the late 80s when Onyanko Club went through more than 50 members in the space of about two years, and now leaves us in the dizzying position of seeing behemoth clone armies like the slick, horrifying AKB48 with their cold, dead, fishlike eyes battle it out with the forthcoming, and frankly terrifying sounding, HRJK96. Where nowadays you need a degree in advanced life-avoidance to memorise the names of every member of an idol group, back in the 70s everybody in Japan could name Ran (the romantic one), Miki (a little bit boyish) and Sue (slightly sentimental). Not only that, but every member of your family, from baby sister who's just learned to speak to grandma who's rapidly going deaf, could sing along to songs like Haru Ichiban and Shochū Omimai Mōshiagemasu.

The 1970s was a strange time in Japanese postwar cultural history. The excesses of left wing radical group the United Red Army culminating in the 1972 Asama-Sansō Incident marked the end of ideological student radicalism in Japan, and the initial airing of Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979 helped kick off the explosion of otaku culture that in many ways replaced the unifying narrative and lifestyle offered by radical politics with a safer, fictional narrative and associated lifestyle among awkward, alienated youth. Into the hole dividing these two social movements came the explosion of 1970s pop culture, filling the ideological void with superficialities, confections, and, most importantly, Candies.

With a career lasting from 1973 to 1978 the Candies could almost have been designed to ford this particular Rubicon on Japan's journey into postmodernity, and their combination of innocent charm, simple yet affecting lyrics, and sweet, sweet melodies was the perfect antidote to the turmoil of the dying days of the student movement. They were also the product of an era before pop culture became the Balkanised mishmash of subcultures that we have today, all hiding in their niches, eyeing each other suspiciously, communicating only to shout over the Web at the aliens in the cave next door. This was an age where pop music was a uniting cultural force, not a divisive one.

The group released 18 singles including the posthumous Tsubasa, although only the farewell hit Hohoemi Gaeshi reached number one in the charts. Nevertheless, every one of them is a stark naked, face-melting classic. A few highlights of the highlights (and I can't express strongly enough, every song is a highlight):

Debut single Anata ni Muchū (above).

Sono Ki ni Sasenaide (above)

Heart no Ace ga Detekonai complete with extended intro (above).

Through my label, Call And Response Records, I've been gradually over the last couple of months collecting a number of cover versions of Candies songs by Japanese underground musicians for release on a limited edition compilation CD/R. The results have been fascinating, with fourteen songs now in, from technopop to garage rock to avant-garde electronic music to guitar pop to noise, reflecting the fractured musical times we live in, but also joined in a fierce appreciation of the frivolous-yet-unifying power of pure pop.

V/A 「Valentine's Candies」 Call And Response Records (CAR-91)

01. その気にさせないで / Yamaco
02. 春一番 / TE☆SY (From Cand☆es)
03. ハートのエースが出てこない / Umbrella-X
04. 春一番 / 春風堂
05. 年下の男の子 / cottonioo
06. ハートのエースが出てこない / Trinitron (N'toko+Ian Martin+friends)
07. あなたに夢中 / Puffy Shoes
08. 危い土曜日 / 地盤沈下
09. 二人だけの夜明け / うるせぇよ
10. 春９０００（「春一番」のカバー） / やまのいゆずる
11. A muk aihsa say (plaque translation therapy) （「やさしい悪魔」のカバー） - snip n` zener
12. 年下の男の子 / Jahiliyyah
13. 暑中お見舞い申し上げます / ruruxu/sinn
14. 微笑がえし / Killer Condors

A release party will be held at Koenji Roots today (February 12th) from 6:00 P.M. until 10:00 P.M.

Fashion Crisis: Valentine's Candies Live Special (Friday Feb 12th)

2010-02-09T01:25:00.006+09:00

Valentine's Candies is Fashion Crisis' first ever event at a "proper" live house (one with a PA, a stage and all the gear), as well as functioning as a release party for Call And Response's first new release of the year: an album of Japanese indie and underground bands covering the legendary 1970s idol trio The Candies.

A number of Fashion crisis favourites have contributed songs to the CD, including Yamaco (formerly of Her), Umbrella-X, and Candies' near-namesakes Candles. Fashion Crisis/Switched On's regular Slovenian collaborator N'toko and Call And Response's Ian Martin both feature as members of the band Trinitron.

Other bands contributing songs to the CD include eccentric pop duo cottonioo, Fukuoka's ruruxu/sinn, noise trio Jahiliyyah, experimental something or other snip n` zener, post-punk band Uruseeyo, up and coming girly garage punk duo Puffy Shoes, electronic genius Yamanoi Yuzuru, electro rock band Killer Condors, and more super musical things.

The release event will be this coming Friday, featuring some of the musicians who contributed to the CD and all the regular Fashion Crisis people in a broad celebration of the ordinary girls of The Candies.

Date: February 12th 2010
Time: 6:00 P.M.
Place: Koenji Roots
Cost: 1800yen adv / 2000yen door
Live: Candles / Puffy Shoes / Yamanoi Yuzuru / N'toko
DJs: d.o.o.t. (from Jahilliyah + snip n` zener) / James Hadfield / Ian Martin

Fashion Crisis (February 2010)

2010-01-31T14:08:00.003+09:00

Fans of fluffy-haired Englishmen can rest easy knowing that in tomorrow's Fashion Crisis regular DJ James Hadfield returns from his Kansai-bothering taiko trip with presumably more of his exciting world sounds. As usual he will be faithfully supported by all the usual suspects. Guest live is electronic pop person yu-tamitsu and DJ Ryan Erik Williams.

Date: February 1sth 2010
Time: 7:30 P.M.
Place: Koenji Bar One
Cost: FREE
Live: Candles / yu-tamitsu
DJs: Ryan Erik Williams / James Hadfield / Ian Martin

Motocompo + Switched On! Double Feature

2010-01-28T23:58:00.003+09:00

Switched On! is busy this past month or so, with yet another party in yet another part of Tokyo. This time there's a funny sort of double-feature event at Shibuya Home, starting with a one-man live from event founders Motocompo, and continuing with an all-night DJ party at the same venue, featuring all the usual team, plus guest DJ, the impossibly arty/designy Yuri Suzuki.

Date: 1/29 (Fri) Shibuya Home

--PART 1--
Back to the Border: Motocompo One-man Live
Open: 8:00PM
Ticket: 2500yen + drink (adv) / 3000yen + drink (door)
LIVE: MOTOCOMPO / Candles (Opening Act)
DJs: Mince (The Frap Frap Fraps) / Ian Martin (Call And Response Records)

--PART 2--
Switched On!: Motocompo After-Party
Open: 11:00PM
Ticket: 1000yen + 2 drinks (2000yen total)
DJs: Yuri Suzuki / Kovacs (Petit Mit) / Katsumi Suzuki / Tonegawa (Wicky Records) / Mince (The Frap Frap Fraps) / Ian Martin (Call And Response Records)

Switched On! Side B (January 17th)

2010-01-17T15:31:00.003+09:00

After all the amazing fun of last night's Bar One event, there's more. Switched On! has one of its occasional "Side B" events, this time at Shimo-Kitazawa Three, featuring a more rock and electro orientated sound than the usual new wave and technopop experience.

1/17 (Sun) Shimo-Kitazawa Three
5:30 P.M. - 11:30 P.M.

2000yen adv. / 2500yen door

DJs
Ian Martin (Call And Response Records)
Mince (The Frap Frap Fraps)

LIVE
Yamaco (ex. Her)
The Bitchs
Creepy Pop
Diskow & give.me.wallets
N'toko (from Slovenia)
Dr. Usui

Fashion Crisis (January 2010 - New Year Party!)

2010-01-15T09:57:00.007+09:00

An extra special Fashion Crisis new year party tomorrow (Saturday 16th) with an expanded lineup, some super guests and some old friends. Hot on the heels of his ace DJ set at December's event, Slovenian electro/hip hop sensation N'toko will play a live set. Guest DJs abound with sets by DJ Petit of electro disco group Frap Frap Fraps, Nakayama Takashi, formerly of Skyfisher and currently playing with his group LABSiCK Man-Machine ReMiX, and a debut DJ performance by Kim from prog/jazz/hip hop duo Uhnellys. Regular DJ James Hadfield is off in terrorising Kansai people with his taiko group, but DJ Ian Martin and house band Candles will be there as usual, along with frequent guest live act Back in Tokyo.

Date: January 16th 2010
Time: 6:00 P.M.
Place: Koenji Bar One
Cost: FREE
Live: Candles / N'toko / Back in Tokyo
DJs: Nakayama Takashi (LABSiCK Man-Machine ReMiX, ex. Skyfisher) / DJ Petit (Frap Frap Fraps) / Kim (Uhnellys) Ian Martin (Call And Response)

Switched On! Christmas Party (December 26th)

2009-12-26T12:49:00.003+09:00

Tokyo's finest new wave/electro/technopop party Switched On! has its annual Christmas party again tonight back at its original venue, the old Bar Drop. Although the venue officially closed last year, the place is still there and the owners invited us back to do a show, so it should be a homecoming spectacular for all concerned. For all, that is, except our special guests Tika Tika from Nagoya, and N'toko from Slovenia, both of whom will be adding some of their own spice and glamour to procedings.

12/26 (Sat) Kichijoji ex.Bar Drop

5:00 P.M. - 11:00 P.M.
2000yen adv. / 2300yen door

DJs
Ian Martin (Call And Response Records)
Katsumi Suzuki
Takayuki Tonegawa (Wicky Records)
Kovacs (Petit Mit)
Mince (The Frap Frap Fraps)

LIVE
Candles
Motocompo
Tika Tika (from Nagoya)
N'toko (from Slovenia)

C.A.R. stuff on teh Internets Part 3

2009-12-15T04:13:00.003+09:00

Nippon Rock has an interview with me on their web site now, augmented by a gloriously fuzzy photo that I took of myself in a mirror at Akihabara Club Goodman using my iPhone. Go there and marvel at what I look like when I'm dangerously drunk and mirror-reversed (also check out the 90s retro Aston Villa away shirt I'm hiding under my jacket in anticipation of the Villans' historic win over Manchester United later that same evening!)

Fashion Crisis (December 2009)

2009-12-03T00:01:00.005+09:00

The last Fashion Crisis of 2009 is coming up next Monday, so be sure to cancel all appointments and get on down to Koenji for the undoubted extravaganza that the event will surely be. Along with the familiar faces of Candles will be special live guest Kiyokazu Onozaki from indie/folk/neo-acoustic tunesmiths the Andersens. Also, making regular DJs Ian and James look like the hopeless amateurs they are, will be Slovenian electro/hip hop/experimental superstar N'toko.

Date: December 7th 2009
Time: 7:30 P.M.
Place: Koenji Bar One
Cost: FREE
Live: Candles / Kiyokazu Onozaki (from the Andersens)
DJs: N'toko / James Hadfield / Ian Martin

Fire in Koenji

2009-11-30T14:12:00.010+09:00

Some people might over the last week have read about the fire in an izakaya in the Tokyo suburb of Koenji that claimed four lives last Sunday morning. Certainly for those of us who live in and around Koenji this has been enormous news and of more than a little importance in the music scene.

Koenji is famous as a music district, with way more than its fair share of live venues, as well as record shops catering to pretty much all tastes, from hardcore punk, to reggae, to fucked up experimental improvised music to old 1950s and 60s singers. Many of the residents are musicians or otherwise involved in the music scene, and Ishikaritei, the izakaya where the fire happened, was a central place in Koenji's music scene, as much part of the scene's fabric as venues like 20000V or shops like Enban.

Positioned on the second floor of the building that also includes the punk venues Gear and 20000V, Ishikaritei was a regular venue for the after-gig drinking that often followed gigs. The food was cheap, the staff were friendly, easygoing people, and it always had good music playing, usually a mixture of 60s and 70s rock and pop. The staff there clearly liked music and were always accommodating to musicians with their cumbersome bags full of equipment and frequently drunken behaviour.

Over the past week wherever I've gone, any time I've met music scene people, the conversation has invariably come down to the fire. All that has been published about the two staff members who died is that they were a man in his sixties and a man in his forties, but in any case it's clear that the people killed included people we knew, at least tangentially. These were people you would walk past in the street and recognise. Possibly people you'd smile and nod your head to them.

The fire occurred at about 9 A.M. on Sunday morning, and one of the most sickening things about the past week was hearing the tutting, clucking insinuations of the media talking heads as they ask what people were doing out drinking at such a time. There is something decadent, seedy, morally bankrupt about it, they imply. Those four people who died had somehow brought this on themselves.

Ishikaritei's customers weren't just musicians though. In the evening, it was just like any normal izakaya, with couples, people having a post-work drink, groups of friends. From ten or eleven o'clock the musicians started pouring in, and then from about 3:00 or 4:00 A.M., like any other izakaya, it would become quiet. After 5:00, however, it would get busier again as the workers on night shifts came by for an after-work drink. These were the workers from other izakayas, the girls from the hostess bars, the people who keep the town running until morning for everyone else.

This urge to seize on any aspect of the abnormal is perhaps understandable when trying to deal with a senseless tragedy like this. After all, none of the normal 5:00 A.M. izakayas burned down, just the freaky 10:00 A.M. one. It still fills me with anger though. The building, like many in Koenji, is an old one, and fire is an ever-present danger for an izakaya specialising in yakitori (grilled chicken), and something should be done to ensure that these old buildings are made safer, but it's hard not to feel that the culture as a whole is being victimised by these insinuations.

In Japan there is a tradition after an incident like this for people to leave offerings at the site. Flowers, of course, but also other small gifts. There's a kind of pathetic irony in the contrast between the magnitude of the event and the commonplace nature of the offerings, but within that is something deeply moving.

Hyacca on the Internets

2009-11-28T03:08:00.003+09:00

There's a review of Hyacca's new album Hanazono on Nippon Rock. If you don't trust me, as the owner of Hyacca's label, that it's ace, please trust this neutral observer.

For potential buyers, C.A.R.'s own release info is here.

Fashion Crisis (November 2009)

2009-11-02T00:00:00.002+09:00

Fashion Crisis is back with all the usual favourites as well as special guest DJ Shingo Nakagawa, infamous as the bass player in Tokyo's most fearsome no wave noiseniks The Mornings. Tuesday is a national holiday, so there's no excuse not to let loose and disco down.

Date: November 2nd 2009
Time: 7:30 P.M.
Place: Koenji Bar One
Cost: FREE
Live: Candles / Back in Tokio
DJs: Shingo Nakagawa (The Mornings) / James Hadfield / Ian Martin

More C.A.R. stuff on teh Internets

2009-10-15T02:45:00.005+09:00

British newspaper The Guardian has an article on its web site based on an e-mail interview with me about five or six months ago. Naturally, considering how long winded my response was, the finished item has been edited somewhat, although unfortunately this leaves some points unclear and others nonsensical. To prove I'm not stupid (or at least that I'm stupid in the right way) I posted the full interview including questions and my own unedited responses on the Clear And Refreshing web site for comparison purposes.

The line about "Shibuya-kei is the only scene anyone really speaks about here" makes me cringe and is something the writer pulled out of their arse.

Update: Oct.15 11:31
Zac Bentz has posted his thoughts at Japanator. He's not happy with the tone of the series of articles that my interview was part of.

Fashion Crisis (October 2009)

2009-10-05T01:35:00.003+09:00

This month's Fashion Crisis provides a reprise of September's guest, Koenji electro scientist Back in Tokio, with a hopefully fit and healthy Candles returning after Tessy's frankly astonishing Akiba-metal solo performance last time. If that isn't enough to make you wet with anticipation, Tokyo's favourite fake Brazilian DJ extraordinaire Antonio Yodobashi will be spinning all manner of fabulous tunes in honour of the fantastic victory of Rio in winning the 2016 Olympics.

Date: October 5th 2009
Time: 7:30 P.M.
Place: Koenji Bar One
Cost: FREE
Live: Candles / Back in Tokio
DJs: Antonio Yodobashi / James Hadfield / Ian Martin

Fuck Perfume...

2009-10-02T02:06:00.002+09:00

...these three girls really knew where it's at. All mainstream Japanese music since 1978 has been toiling in the long shadow cast by this trio's five years of perfect pop.

Koenji Pop Festival (October 10th 2009)

2009-09-28T22:38:00.006+09:00

It's anniversary time again for C.A.R. with the fourth annual Koenji Pop Festival, as usual featuring a wealth of musical debauchery amid fountains of low quality alcohol. In total there will be ten bands performing, including three from the southern rock and roll Eden that is Kyushu, augmented by a wealth of local talent.

Along with a number of familiar faces like MIR, tacobonds, The Mornings, ruruxu/sinn (pronounced "lulue-shin"), Grouncover. and Zibanchinka (地盤沈下), the event will also feature Fukuoka instrumental trio Me I Sashimi (ミー愛さしみ), the fierce and sexy Hemay (悲鳴), the glam rock/kayoukyoku stylings of Momoiro Ageha (桃色アゲハ), not to mention old co-conspirators Abikyokan, who return to C.A.R. to dazzle you with their science.

Info and artist links below:

Place: Koenji 20000V
Date: October 10th 2009
Open: 16:00　Start: 16:20
Cost: 2,000 yen + 1 drink adv. / 2,300 + 1 drink door

Live:
■MIR
■The Mornings
■Hemay (悲鳴)
■Zibanchinka (地盤沈下 -- From Kagoshima)
■ruruxu/sinn (From Fukuoka)
■Abikyokan
■Groundcover.
■Me I Sashimi (ミー愛さしみ -- From Fukuoka)
■Momoiro Ageha (桃色アゲハ)
■tacobonds

Spoon Market (September 18th 2009)

2009-09-18T12:41:00.005+09:00

All-girl indie synth thing Tokyo Pinsalocks are holding the latest of their Spoon Market events tonight, gathering together all manner of girly music, arts and crafts at the unlikely venue of the Sasazuka Bowl (as in a bowling place, rather than something like the Hollywood Bowl). Call And Response are represented by myself, who will be DJing the more ambient end of Krautrock and NDW, plus whatever else comes to mind upstairs in the lounge area, and by Fukuoka indie supergroup Miu Mau, featuring Hyacca's very own Kajiwara Hiromi on guitar. In addition, regular C.A.R. collaborators Motocompo will perform live, as will former Fashion Crisis DJ Noriko. Frap Frap Fraps and Sweet Vacation, who Switched On! partygoers may remember from past events, will also be performing in various capacities.

Date: September 18th 2009
Time: 7:00 P.M. - 5:00 A.M.
Place: Sasazuka Bowl
Cost: 3,000 yen (advance) / 3,500 yen (door)

All information is on the Spoon Market web site where you can find a full list of artists, a detailed timetable, and a floor map.

NEW RELEASE: "Hanazono" by Hyacca

2009-09-17T04:13:00.006+09:00

Call And Response Records have a new mini-album out this month. The long-awaited second by Fukuoka's finest, Hyacca (百蚊). Going by the title of Hanazono (花園), it's tighter, faster, more aggressive, and every bit as awesome as their debut, also on Call And Response, Sashitai (刺したい).

Hanazono (CAR-93)
1. 34 DANCE
2. Olympic
3. AFLAC
4. Hair Nude
5. Charlie
6. YA SU KU NI
7. HANAZONO
8. Stress

Currently available at selected independent record shops:
Enban (Koenji)
Sunrain Records (Koenji)

Available nationwide October 1st either direct from our distributor Bridge inc. or through mainstream stores:
Tower Records
HMV
Amazon

Fashion Crisis (September 2009)

2009-09-07T02:27:00.003+09:00

It's that time of the month again and tonight (September 7th) sees the latest Fashion Crisis swing into view. Joining the usual crew will be Noriko behind the decks, and Koenji local Back in Tokyo on vocoder and electropop. The fun starts at the usual time and ends when it ends.

Date: September 7th 2009
Time: 7:30 P.M.
Place: Koenji Bar One
Cost: FREE
Live: Candles / Back in Tokio
DJs: Noriko / James Hadfield / Ian Martin

Edit (3:20 P.M.) : Just heard that Pepe from Candles is out of action with the lurgee, so Tessy is going to play a one-off set without her today.

Switched On! 2nd Anniversary (August 28th 2009)

2009-08-26T01:04:00.005+09:00

The bimonthly Tokyo electro, new wave and dance music party Switched On! will have its second anniversary event at Kichijoji Fourth Floor on the 28th of August. As always, Call And Response's very own me will be there as a DJ, as will all manner of other, better, DJs and a handful of live acts.

Full event details here:

8/28 (Fri) Kichijoji Fourth Floor
8:00 P.M. - 5:00 A.M.
2000yen (including 1 drink)
* Members of the Switched On! mixi community can get in for 2000yen (including 2 drinks)

DJs
Ian Martin (Call And Response Records)
Grant McGaheran (Abikyokan)
Katsumi Suzuki
Takayuki Tonegawa (Wicky Records)
Kovacs (Petit Mit)
higuma (bluebadge label, Free Design
Kitt
Yajima (Coconuts Disk)
Mince (The Frap Frap Fraps)

VJ
TDKKKM
waterblue
analogy and digitalian

FOOD
Shimanekoken

LIVE
V/order
Candles
The Frap Frap Fraps
Motocompo
Momokomotion

This event goes on for nine whole hours, so come prepared to dance your poor little feet off. Alternatively, just arrive late or leave early. It's all up to yourself.

Fashion Crisis (August 2009)

2009-08-03T02:33:00.004+09:00

This month's Fashion Crisis is tonight (August 3rd), with the usual behind-the-scenes chaos and disorder. As usual, myself and Metropolis' own James Hadfield will DJ, and of course Candles will perform.

However, the lovely Puffy Shoes were forced into cancelling last week for certain reasons (get well soon, Azumi!) and a bit of a palaver ensued. Fortunately Fujiko More has agreed to step in at the last minute and perform in their place. One crisis over, another to begin, er, as it were. Then lastly, we have DJ extraordinaire Evil Penguin joining us to pound our listeners into submission with his genre-busting party tunes or whatever he's planning to play. In any case, it'll be worth it.

Date: August 3rd 2009
Time: 7:30 P.M.
Place: Koenji Bar One
Cost: FREE
Live: Candles / Fujiko More
DJs: Evil Penguin / James Hadfield / Ian Martin

C.A.R. stuff reviewed on the Internets

2009-08-02T04:53:00.005+09:00

On some random 5 A.M. Internet rambling I ran into some stuff about Hyacca (百蚊) on ZB's A-Z of J-Music, which compares them to Midori (ミドリ)and Toddle, neither of which are bands I'm sure I deem worthy to shine Hyacca's boots, but it would be churlish to suggest that there are absolutely no similarities.

Roam in Octave gushes about Hyacca as well, and also takes in Mir in an earlier post. To top things off, they describe C.A.R. as "a totally awesome record label that you should all support monetarily" (bold text mine), which just makes it all the more tragic that the site seems to have drifted into oblivion since January. Come back!

Telephone Club in Koenji (July 18th 2009)

2009-07-17T15:06:00.006+09:00

After last weekend's show in Fukuoka, Call And Response's live showcase returns to Tokyo and its regular venue of Koenji Roots tomorrow. Hyacca (百蚊) will come over from Fukuoka and Mir will once again be playing alongside them. Also joining the bill at a C.A.R. event for the first time will be The Mornings, bringing their usual burst of unhinged energy, along with quirky indie four-piece Owllights, who first played at Telephone Club this February. Completing the live lineup will be cottonioo, an all-girl pop duo with a kind of eccentric new wave sound and a neat line in sweet melodies and fragile arrangements.

DJs will be myself, as usual, and James Hadfield of Metropolis.

Place: Koenji Roots
Date: July 18th 2009
Open: 18:00　Start: 18:30
Cost: 1,800 yen + 1 drink adv. / 2,300 + 1 drink door

Live:
■MIR
■The Mornings
■Owllights
■cottonioo
■Hyacca (百蚊)

DJ
■Ian Martin (Call And Response)
■James Hadfield

Telephone Club in Fukuoka (July 11th 2009)

2009-07-10T13:29:00.000+09:00

Call And Response's live showcase event Telephone Club is taking its yearly trip to Fukuoka tomorrow to continue our association with this amazing punk rock city. Coming with us from Tokyo will be the dark and fragile Mir, and helping us sort things out at the Fukuoka end are the amazing Hyacca (百蚊).

Also on the bill are ruruxu/sinn (pronounced "luluu-shin" for reasons only they are party to), who played at the last Telephone Club at Koenji Roots in March; Chow Chow (蝶丁), a psychedelic/dub band featuring Ruu from Masadayomasa; and Meats, who are apparently a "Vietnamese music band from Fukuoka".

DJs will be my good self and Miyagawa Electric 808, and Game Centers will provide their VJ experience.

Place: Fukuoka Public Space Yojigen
Date: July 11th 2009
Open: 18:30　Start: 19:00
Cost: 1,800 yen + 1 drink
(500 yen student discount)

Live:
■MIR
■meats
■ruruxu/sinn
■Chow Chow (蝶丁)
■Hyacca (百蚊)

DJ
■Ian Martin (Call And Response)
■Miyagawa Electric 808

VJ:
■Game Centers

Last Night's Fashion Crisis

2009-07-07T15:42:00.000+09:00

A brief autopsy of the party last night:

Candles were charming and elegant as usual, but Mana's sound was desperately low, so their 1990s J-Pop-ish singing came over like someone singing karaoke in their bedroom. Without having time for a soundcheck, there wasn't much that could be done about it though. Eiichi Kawai's DJ set seemed to include an inordinate amount of XTC and/or Andy Partridge solo stuff, and James Hadfield's set included the usual mix of absolutely everything in the known universe.

My own sets were pathetically predictable for anyone who knows what I'm like.

First set (7:30-7:55)
Hot Hot Hot!!! - The Cure
New Feeling - Talking Heads
The Modern Dance - Pere Ubu
Friction - Television
The Bridge - Clinic
French Disco - Stereolab

Second Set (10:05-10:30)
Ricky's Hand - Fad Gadget
Switch on Bach - Moderne
A Complete History Of Sexual Jealousy (Parts 17-24) - Momus
One More Chance - Pet Shop Boys
Kino - The Knife
Electricity - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

Third Set (Midnight-ish)
We Like Guys Named Luke - Mu
Ca Plane Pour Moi (Plastic Bertrand cover) - Sonic Youth
That's How I Escaped my Certain Fate - Mission of Burma
Surgeon's Girl - Wire
Map Ref 41°N 93°W (Wire cover) - My Bloody Valentine
Definitive Gaze - Magazine
So What - The Cure
Lachleute Nettmenschen - S.Y.P.H.
Getting Nowhere Fast - Girls at our Best
White Overalls - La Dusseldorf
Hero - Neu!
I Want More - Can

Fashion Crisis (July 2009)

2009-07-06T07:55:00.000+09:00

Call And Response, in collaboration with technopop duo Candles and James Hadfield from Metropolis, has started a free monthly live and DJ party on the first Monday of every month, taking place at Koenji Bar One.

Today, July 6th, is the third such event, and the regular team will be joined by DJ Eiichi Kawai and by the electropop group Mana:

Date: July 6th 2009
Time: 7:30 P.M.
Place: Koenji Bar One
Cost: FREE
Live: Candles / Mana
DJs: Eiichi Kawai / James Hadfield / Ian Martin

Welcome to Call And Response Records

2009-07-03T18:46:00.000+09:00

This is the first post on the new Call And Response Records blog. More information on our releases and events will be coming up soon. In the meantime, please check the Clear And Refreshing blog and the Call And Response Myspace for up to date information.

-Ian