OKI DUB AINU BAND
What do you think traditional Ainu music would sound like? you wouldn't be far wrong if you assumed it to be a shamanistic caterwauling kind of thing, made up of chants and hypnotic ethereal sounds, more suited to mysterious goings-on in bear-haunted Northern glades than a concert situation. This is where OKI DUB AINU BAND come in with their agenda of beefing up this sylvian strain with a bit of dub, reggae, rock, and Afrobeat. Now celebrating their 20th year, the band features two "half-Ainus" (the 100% variety are increasingly rare) and some "Ainu-appreciative" Japanese. The band jams the kind of groove that would have happened if Hokkaido had been a lot nearer the Atlantic slave routes, in the process creating an otherworldly but soulful sound that is driven by cyclical rhythms and highlighted by the ghostly plucking of the tonkori, a traditional five-stringed Ainu lyre. The only real drawback is that this kind of "roots" music is sure to pull in the New Age and Hippie brigades, so get your love beads, ganja, and rasta wigs ready.
16th May. Club Quattro, Shibuya. Price: ¥5000 (Ticket info).
NO EDITS
The key to getting a good gig in Tokyo is to not to go for the jaded big names that have been dragging their brands around for several decades, getting you to fork out 20-30,000 yen for a seat 500 rows from the front just so you can boast about it on your social media (yeh, fuck off SPARKS and KRAFTWERK). It is instead to spend a few thousand yen to see great bands with shit publicists who may never escape the underground, like Seattlite "math rockers" NO EDITS. You can tell they have a shit publicist because a couple of years back, just as their chunky, melodic sound was gaining traction, they...erm..."reinvented" themselves and ditched their uberkool name as "The Fixtures." Their melodic, careening, off-kilter, "angular" riffing may not be to everyone's tastes, but, in my view, this is that gem on the Tokyo gig circuit, namely a relatively underappreciated band that it's not too expensive to appreciate. Support from BARICAN, MIRROR, and JESUS WOUND. Part of a four-date Japan tour.
2nd and 5th May. Spread, Shimokitazawa & 9Spices, Shinjuku. Price: ¥4000 (Ticket info).
THE GEMBAKU ONANIES
Since 1982, the GENBAKU ONANIES (rough translation: "The Atomic Pussies") have been carrying the flame of J-punk, bouncing short, explosive songs off the walls of minor venues like Earthdom. You'd think they'd have had so many line-up changes they would be unrecognizable by now. Not so. Despite the pummelling sonic assault course, they've been on the Onanies are remarkably unchanged. Vocalist Taylow and bassist Eddie are original members and drummer Johnny joined in 1986, proof positive that punk can keep you young if it doesn't kill you. Support from FORWARD and THE SLOMOTIONS.
14th Feb. Earthdom, Shin-Okubo. Price: ¥2,900 - 9,800 (Ticket info).
The key to getting a good gig in Tokyo is to not to go for the jaded big names that have been dragging their brands around for several decades, getting you to fork out 20-30,000 yen for a seat 500 rows from the front just so you can boast about it on your social media (yeh, fuck off SPARKS and KRAFTWERK). It is instead to spend a few thousand yen to see great bands with shit publicists who may never escape the underground, like Seattlite "math rockers" NO EDITS. You can tell they have a shit publicist because a couple of years back, just as their chunky, melodic sound was gaining traction, they...erm..."reinvented" themselves and ditched their uberkool name as "The Fixtures." Their melodic, careening, off-kilter, "angular" riffing may not be to everyone's tastes, but, in my view, this is that gem on the Tokyo gig circuit, namely a relatively underappreciated band that it's not too expensive to appreciate. Support from BARICAN, MIRROR, and JESUS WOUND. Part of a four-date Japan tour.
2nd and 5th May. Spread, Shimokitazawa & 9Spices, Shinjuku. Price: ¥4000 (Ticket info).
THE GEMBAKU ONANIES
Since 1982, the GENBAKU ONANIES (rough translation: "The Atomic Pussies") have been carrying the flame of J-punk, bouncing short, explosive songs off the walls of minor venues like Earthdom. You'd think they'd have had so many line-up changes they would be unrecognizable by now. Not so. Despite the pummelling sonic assault course, they've been on the Onanies are remarkably unchanged. Vocalist Taylow and bassist Eddie are original members and drummer Johnny joined in 1986, proof positive that punk can keep you young if it doesn't kill you. Support from FORWARD and THE SLOMOTIONS.
14th Feb. Earthdom, Shin-Okubo. Price: ¥2,900 - 9,800 (Ticket info).
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