Japan Jukebox

October 8th was the beginning of the pillows' latest tour; the next in their series revisiting past albums, performing them in their entirety, "Return to third movement! Vol 4". Vol.4 features the albums Penalty Life and Good Dreams, which are both nearing 20 years old. About 20 years ago, I pre-ordered both of these albums and going to the tours was only a dream. I'm thrilled to have been able to attend the reproduction tour.  duo MUSIC EXCHANGE is among a cluster of live venues in Shibuya. Before the show started, the music playing in the venue was from the album "America Give Up" by Howler. The original Penalty Life tour had special BGM of covers made by each member of the pillows. I wished they had played these again for the reproduction tour, but I knew it was unlikely. Those were, by the way: Mister Popcorn by Glay (covered by Sawao Yamanaka) Road Movie by Mr.Children (covered by Sawao Yamanaka) Oyasuminasai by Aiko (covered by Sawao Yamanaka) Not Sati...

I came across an interesting vending machine while in Haneda Airport. This machine dispensed instant ramen from various regions of Japan. What caught my eye was the one on the upper left... Zombear Livingdead Hokkaido exclusive "Zomramen". Of course, I had to get it. (This better not stain my pillows donburi.) Inside the package includes... ...zombie brain-looking blue ramen noodles, a pack of "zombear ramen soup" and a little comic. Cooking instructions were simple and suggested adding additional ingredients. Mine ending up looking like this:   I added the chashu, menma, nori, and egg. I couldn't be bothered to marinate or paint the egg to resemble an eye, like as seen on the package. The taste wasn't very unique from other instant ramen, but that's not why we're here. We're here for the experience. 🧟‍♂️

Gachapon (or "gashapon") is one of my not-so-guilty pleasures here in Japan. They are coin-operated machines that randomly dispense from a selection of... anything, really. The endless variety is what keeps me addicted and checking them every time I find one. I came across one that caught my eye the other day. This series is called "Inutori", which means "Dogbird". The breeds in this series include (from right to left): The cover-boy, "Shibird". "Terrierbird". The masterfully named Bichon frise/pidgeon hybrid, "bigeon". "Huskeybird". "Retriebird". "Pendog". Each one comes with a nest and two small eggs. The machine will cost you 300 yen for each try. Well, I just had to have a "pendog", so I tried several times. This was my haul in the end: Not pictured are the two other shibirds and an extra Spuds MacKenzie, but in the end, down to my last couple 100 yen coins... I got the pendog. 4 out...

 Although I have seen the pillows live in concert many times, I have never been to a concert of Sawao Yamanaka's solo band.  He started touring solo without the pillows again in 2020 after a seven year hiatus, though his planned "Elpis tour" was canceled due to covid-19. Through the end of 2020 into early 2021, he would successfully hold his "Nonocular violet tour", although under strict COVID restrictions. I couldn't make it. However... In March of 2022, Sawao Yamanaka would release his latest album "Muddy comedy", and would start touring in May. My chance would finally arrive. The tour would start on May 6th at "duo Music Exchange" in Shibuya, about a ten minute walk from the famous Hachiko statue outside Shibuya Station. I would get to the venue about one hour before the doors opened and meet up with my friend. I was a bit taken aback at first, because there were only a few other people in front of the venue. A small merchandise area w...

2021 was another busy year for me. Well… 2022 has been busy as well. That’s why this post is so late. But anyway, this time, I decided to choose the albums that I listened to the most rather than exclusively choosing material that was released within the year. This list will include a mixture of the familiar, the new, and the obscure. Eleven Plus Two/Twelve Plus One by Helsinki Lambda Club (2020) Helsinki Lambda Club is a band that has been on my radar, but I had never given any of their albums a proper listen until Eleven Plus Two/Twelve Plus One. This album is quite dynamic and ranges from energetic alt.rock tracks like Mitsubishi Macchiato to psychedelic and funky with tracks like IKEA. It’s a really fun listen. Killing Pop by The Chewinggum Weekend (1998) While I have always highly enjoyed this album, 2021 was the year that I’d finally track down my own copy to add to my physical collection. It’s quite rare and obscure, and The Chewinggum Weekend in general is a band that has s...

  Recently, I have been going back to complete my discography for Sawao Yamanaka’s (best known from “the pillows”) solo works. I was happy enough to find a used copy online for a bit over 500 yen, but when it arrived and I flipped through the booklet… …that’s Sawao’s signature! Whoever previously owned this CD had it signed by not only Sawao, but also Jun Suzuki (the bassist for the pillows at the time who also performed on this solo album). It’s a pretty crazy coincidence. Out of the hundreds of used CDs that I have collected, this is only the second time I have stumbled across one that had been autographed. And as fate would have it, it’s by my absolute favorite musician in the world. (The first signed CD that I randomly came across? That was the album “Goodbye” by Takeo Ebisawa.) I bought a few other CDs along with it: First one is “Disruptive Innovation” by Sawao Yamanaka (the one with the autograph inside). Next to it is “Rock’n’roll pandemic” by The Predators. Sawao is also a...

July 16th was the final Tokyo date for the pillows’ “Return to Third Movement! Vol.3 tour”.  The “Return to Third Movement!” series of tours are “reproduction tours” for their earlier albums. Vol.1 was held during the end of 2017 and covered the albums “Please Mr. Lostman” and “Little Busters”. Vol.2 was held in May and June of 2018 and covered the albums “Runners High” and “Happy Bivouac”. Finally, after the pillows’ “long vacation” following their 30th anniversary in October of 2019, they returned in 2021 for Vol.3, which covers “Smile” and “Thank you, my twilight”. Each tour corresponds roughly with the albums’ 20th anniversary. Around 20 years ago when Smile and Thank you, my twilight were released, I was just a teenager in America who could only dream of attending the album tours. So, some 20 years later, being able to attend the “reproduction tour” was an incredible experience and felt like fulfilling a childhood dream. The most unique thing about these series of reproduction...