July 27, 2007

News | New Japanese Oldies Blog Showa OK! |

Music writer Nakore recently got in touch with me to spread the word about his new audio/video blog, Showa OK! , which is "devoted to archiving rare and forgotten Japanese pop gems of the Shōwa period (1926-1989)." The first entry includes an early music video of what I suppose is still the most famous Japanese song in the United States, "Ue O Muite Arukō" (aka "Sukiyaki"). It is interesting to me that in the four decades since that song's 1961 release, Japan's enormous international cultural influence (Walkman, anime, manga, Nintendo, Speed Racer, fashion, karaoke, etc.) has not extended to mainstream popular music. The closest thing I can come up with of is the work of Ryuichi Sakamoto, but the cultural influence of his genius has been largely subliminal, I think. In any case, check out this strangely existential black-and-white film of Kyū Sakamoto (no relation) performing his pop classic.

Speaking of Ryuichi Sakamoto, Nakore's second music post discusses the life and work of his ex-wife, Akiko Yano, singling out a sweet track from her 1976 debut album. Yano's voice here reminds me of her contemporary, Kate Bush, in its quick, breathy assuredness. The backing band, Nakore tells us, is made up of members of Little Feat, Happy End and Haruomi Hosono--talk about a supergroup!

Informative, musically astute and a pleasure to read, Showa OK! already looks like a must-read blog.

July 22, 2007

News | SambaSunda in Chicago Monday |

My fellow Chicagoans have a rare opportunity to hear the sophisticated Indonesian pop of SambaSunda, who perform at Millennium Park Monday. Describing a sampler of the group released by Far Side Music in 2005, one reviewer (okay, it was me) likened it to "a batik woven from the sounds of the Middle East, the Indonesian archipelago and perhaps (in the vocal of one track) a hint of Indian film music." The 17-piece group is led by Ismet Ruchimat, who got his start performing with the Jugala Orchestra in 1989 and later led the Jugala All Stars on Sabah Habas Mustapha's world music hit Jalan Kopo.

Aside from Ismet's skills as a composer and singer Rita Tila's gorgeous voice I'm most anticipating the feast of diverse timbres that emanate from instruments such as the metal Sundanese gamelan degung and bamboo angklung.

The performance begins on Monday, July 23, 6:30 pm.

July 11, 2007

News | Red Chamber Rocks Pitchfork Lunchbreak Series, Releases Downloads |

Masked marauders Red Chamber thrilled a daytime audience at the Chicago Cultural Center on Monday, performing as Part of the Pitchfork/Cultural Center Lunchbreak Series. Performing sans their video spectacle, the group still provided more than enough music, costumes and dance to satisfy attending hipsters, toddlers and senior citizens alike. Fan videos have already surfaced on YouTube.

Live tracks from the band's performance in the studio of Chicago's WIUX radio (previously released on CD as Red Chamber Brings You the Mao Sound) are now available for download..