tokyographers

I’ve mentioned Pistol Valve on this blog before - I saw them perform when they played on the SXSW Japan Nite tour in March. For those who don’t know, the group is a relatively new 10-member, all-girl horn rock band with some hip-hop influence. They play mostly brass instruments, and then there’s a violin and a DJ. Definitely not your typical fare.

I have to admit that when I saw them, I wasn’t particularly impressed (especially not after just watching Asakusa Jinta, The 50 Kaitenz, ORESKABAND, and GO!GO!7188), but I felt the concept was cool and they had a really unique sound. I ended up buying their CD so I could listen to it later. As I suspected, they sounded a lot better than what I heard - it really seemed like the sound setup at Japan Nite wasn’t quite right for them.

The group has gained quite a following in Japan, initially through street lives around Tokyo. After an initial TV appearance, they began gaining more attention in the mainstream market and have built a name for themselves. They released their first major label single, “TREASURES ~Sekai ga Owattemo~,” on April 25, and it debuted in 28th place on the Oricon charts.

After they toured with Japan Nite, they also caught the attention of a U.S. label, and now they’re about to release an 8-song album here! It’s titled Tsunamic Girls from Tokyo, and goes on sale already next Tuesday (July 24).

Here’s the tracklist:

1. Western Girls
2. Pull The TRIGGER!
3. Flap Up Elephant
4. Fo-Fo
5. Tube Tune
6. My Generation
7. Sit At Cow Char Nail
8. The Best House

Tracks 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8 are all on the mini-album I picked up (though I think it’s a slightly different mix of “The Best House”). I definitely like their poppier stuff better, like “Fo-Fo” and “The Best House,” but I dig their other tunes as well. There are very few artists out there with similar music, which means they get points for novelty, and they’re worth checking out just to see what it’s like. I imagine they’ll mainly be hit-or-miss with most listeners, though. I like them enough that I’m hoping to pick up a copy of their U.S. album (if it’s not too expensive, since I’m really only buying 3 new songs).

You can sample some of the tracks at their official MySpace, and if you’re interested in seeing another video, someone posted “TREASURES” on YouTube.

Time for a new column: Audio Japan.

This is a chance for me to help give exposure to bands and artists you probably don’t know. I like sharing good music with everyone, but I’ll warn you now - I have a wide range in my musical tastes, so if you only listen to one type of music, you most likely won’t enjoy all the music I feature here. But I hope you’ll at least keep your mind (and ears!) open, and give everything a try.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about music.

Some of you already know that we’re on MySpace. And if you know MySpace, you know there are tons of bands and artists on there. I’ve been trying to connect with Japanese artists to check out their music and hopefully help promote through them through this site.

A couple days ago, I got a friend request from an electro/french pop/bossa nova group called Sucrette. I really like their stuff - cute, rhythmic, bouncy, and overall, very reminiscent of some Shibuya-kei bands I enjoy. I’ve been out of the loop on that kind of music, so I was happy to have been drawn back in.

I’m not talking about Sucrette today, since I don’t know much yet about them other than the two songs they have up on MySpace (though I’m definitely looking to pick up one of their albums, and I expect it’ll be awesome). But they did become a launching point for me, and I started checking out other related groups. And I eventually came across Perfume.

Perfume is a 3-member idol unit connected with talent agency Amuse, consisting of A-chan, Kashiyuka, and Nocchi. They’re not completely obscure - they’ve been releasing music on an indie label since 2002, but only made the transition to a major label in 2005. There are a couple unofficial fansites for them out on the ‘net, so they certainly have some following. But they’re still pretty far from widely known (at least among people outside Japan).

I’ll admit that when I first heard about Perfume a few months ago, I was mistakenly under the impression they were just another idol pop group - the kind that focuses on the idols themselves and not the music, releasing mostly mediocre music, even if it is catchy (think along the lines of Hello! Project).

But I finally listened to Perfume last week, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that they’re really electropop/techno, with some Shibuya-kei influence. And I’m really enjoying them.

From only hearing some of their songs, I would have had no idea they were actually an idol unit. While Japanese idol groups do incorporate electronic and synth elements, I don’t think I’ve come across one before that would primarily be classified under electropop/techno/Shibuya-kei. Especially since typical pop groups tend to mostly leave the vocals alone rather than running them through a synthesizer. The only real indication that they’re an idol group is if you watch their music videos (and then it becomes really obvious).

Some of their songs are definitely more like commercial J-pop fare (such as “Akihabalove”), but I find a lot of their music (especially from their indie releases) to just be genuinely good technopop. Very energetic and fun, with a great sense of sound.

You can check out a MySpace page for the group, though I don’t think it’s an official one (it could be, but I’m not sure). Four of their songs can be heard on the page, and there are also links to some of their videos on Youtube.

I’m planning on buying their “Complete Best” album, which went on sale was re-released on Valentine’s Day this year. It has a mix of their indie singles and more recent releases, and even though I’m more interested in their earlier stuff, I’m pretty sure it’s a great overall album to listen to.