Shinjuku Pit Inn

10th July 2010: Jazz has been huge in Japan since whenever, but unless you go searching, it's easy to miss the fact that Tokyo has a thumping great live scene. Sites like tokyojazzsite.com are great for getting around the language barrier.

So, it's Saturday afternoon and we're looking for a place to chill so we jump on a train to Shinjuku sanchōme and by my very rough guide we manage to find the Shinjuku Pit Inn. As is always the case with food and music, it's a basement venue.

I had no idea who we might get to see, but we were very lucky to catch a 5 piece outfit who played a 3 hour set through the afternoon (sunglasses definitely required when we emerged back onto the street in the early evening).


This was trad jazz at it's most enthusiastic and dedicated best. Who else would be playing in a dingy, smoke-filled basement on a Saturday afternoon instead of out shopping or lazing the weekend away?

And being in the audience is a serious business - the rows of desks are at once a reminder of a stricter scholastic past and yet a wonderful setting to prop up you G&T, smoke if you please, and just get lost in the music.

The ¥2500 cover charge (including drink) is not bad. I only wish I had discovered this place when I was working in Japan. I can't think of a better way of relaxing on a Saturday afternoon.

Blogarhythm: Relax, take it easy - Mika: Live In Cartoon Motion

NB: I am retro-blogging Tokyo which is why this post is a little delayed

Paragraph -節- Live Stage! House of Rocks Yotsuya

8th July 2010: First night in Tokyo and we took a chance on a random live stage to see what's up. Joe bargained our way in at a small basement stage in Yotsuya (House of Rocks - Outbreak!) but really had no idea what we would discover.

Turned out we stumbled upon the 国吉亜耶子and西川真吾Duo, and one of the most inspiring performances I've seen in a long time.


Ayako is an amazingly talented fruitcake of a piano player with unbelievably strong vocals that waver between haunting classical Japanese and Jagged Little Pill. Somewhere in the middle she evokes Wong Faye 王菲, and would possibly be as depressingly maudlin if it wasn't for Shingo laying down a solid groove on drums. Together they are a treat to see and hear.

The live performance is really LIVE, and they come over well on CD (Paragraph -節- is their latest), even if I do miss the quirkiness and humor of the live set. Like the poetic diatribes inbetween numbers that make you laugh even if you do not understand a word that is being said.

I don't know where you can buy their albums (the CD is mine!) and have no idea how to find them performing ... but look out for them, and if you do manage to catch them live, you won't regret it!


The Freeze by Phrase is a nice ohrwurm to get you started..



NB: I am retro-blogging Tokyo which is why this post is a little delayed

Bettye LaVette - The British Rock Songbook

All I can say is that Bob Lefsetz is right .. this is a great album; in my cart.

Joshua Bell and Kristin Chenoweth performing "My Funny Valentine"

Happenchanced upon this fantastic performance on Channel V the other day. Joshua Bell and Kristin Chenoweth. I'm way impressed by Kristin's vocals, especially the way she manages the transitions. So deliciously smooth when most other singers would break. Perfectly matched by Joshua's playing.

Captain's Share

Last year, I wrote about Ishmael Wang's blossoming career on the ships within Nathan Lowell's wonderfully realised future universe of inter-galactic trading.

We last heard of Ishmael when he'd made it to full share and there's been an excrutiatingly long silence as we wait to hear more of his story. But Nathan was on a promise - it was coming!

I must admit I was wondering whether the latest installment would keep up the high standards that Mr Lowell has set for realistic, humanist, hard sci-fi. But now that I've started reading ("listening") to Captain's Share, I know my worries are for naught.

If you think it is remotely possible, I'd say that Nathan Lowell has met and exceeded the standards of story-telling that he set with the earlier books in the saga.

If you are not familiar with the Age of the Solar Clipper, I heartily recommend you start way back at the beginning and work through the series - you won't be disappointed! Not only does Nathan deliver intriguing hard science, but the situations into which he places his characters are model studies of human behaviour (and even management science)... not to mention the few culinary tips I've picked up along the way!

Here's the series (so far) in it's entirety:

• Quarter Share


• Half Share


• Full Share


• (an interlude [side story] South Coast)


• Captain's Share

All of these stories are wonderfully available for free download in audio format from podiobooks.com: read by the author in an utterly engaging way that only the creator could muster.

When I say "so far" I really mean it: Nathan Lowell has created an alternate universe/future so compelling and detailed that I can imagine (and eagerly await) many more stories drawing from the rich canvas he has created. So many more possibilities than even the Star Trek and Star Wars franchises ... and probably more in the league of the Dune and Foundation sagas ...

TechnoDjango - The Lost Fingers Pump Up The Jam

NPR Fresh Air made me wish I was at the Montreal Jazz festival this year. The Lost Fingers' take on hits from the 80's are great fun, and great listening.

Just noticed their album is currently available for pre-order on amazon (out 1-Sep-2009).
Pump Up the Jam You Give Love a Bad Name You Shook Me All Night Long Incognito Touch Me Part-Time Lover Fresh Billie Jean Careless Whisper Tainted Love Straight Up Black Velvet

Rocket Ship Galileo - Apollo 11 40th Anniversary

Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed -- 20 July 1969 The 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing has been getting quite a bit of coverage, but the coolest initiative has got to be the addition of the Moon in Google Earth. Quite coincidentally, I just read Robert A. Heinlein's "Rocket Ship Galileo" (well, actually listened to the audio version brilliantly narrated by Spider Robinson ).

Heinlein packs this atomic moonshot adventure with just about every Boy's Own plot twist possible and tells a rollicking ripping yarn. What's amazing is the detail of the hard science throughout the book - especially given the fact it was written in 1947.

All the shucks, gee willikins is quaintly pre-baby boom, while the embracing of atomic power with such wild abandon is frightening in retrospect. Altogether, it's a great - if dated - story; a true testament to Heinlein's genius and imagination.

On atomics: it is possible the tide of opinion may be swinging back to nuclear. The ABC Science show just featured a story on the safer and cheaper generations of reactors coming online (transcript, audio). Today's generation III reactors, and the generation IV on the horizon offer even cheaper, safer and cleaner power (literally eating the waste products of earlier designs). All well and good, but it would be a concern if "new atomics" became the quick and easy fix that sabotages the head of steam building up behind the true clean, green renewables (like solar nanopillars).

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

Heard that the movie Sex & Drugs & Rock & Rollhas just started production. Probably shouldn't hold my breath, but I can't wait to see it.

It's based on the life story of Ian Dury, IMHO the best lyricist/poet who ever got a gig. And Laughter was the best album I ever bought as a teenager. I still have the cassette tape at home, even though the ferrite oxide has long rusted and worn away.

In what could turn out to be a masterful bit of casting, they have Andy Serkis playing Dury in the movie. I can well imagine Serkis doing a great Dury. Having done mega-blockbusters with Peter Jackson, Andy seems to be picking up quite a number of intriguing, not-so-mainstream roles. I guess he can afford to;-)

I also realize there's an obscure connection between Dury and Serkis. Dury is well known for having created and performed a version of the Bus Driver's Prayer, which ends with the line..

For Iver and Iver ... Crouch End

Which is - at least according to wikipedia - where Serkis now lives. So Andy is picking up from where our dear departed Ian Dury (RIP) left off...

OK, so that's a stretch. Time to reminisce over the Blockheads and wait for the movie to come out..

マキシマムザホルモン & THE Best Drummer In The World

マキシマムザホルモン (Makishimamu Za Horumon/Maximum the Hormone). I've had their latest album ぶっ生き返す for a month or so.

And listen to it .. oh, at least once a day. It's some kind of amazing.

Just saw they won the "MTV Best Rock Video Award" in Japan a few days back. Which is pretty mind blowing - Japan has a real vibrant alternative music scene, but the mainstream always seems dominated by the bubblegum schoolgirls and elderly crooners.

Yeah, did I mention Makishimamu Za Horumon is pretty "alternative"? Like driving down a mountain road at 100kph. Every turn you don't know what to expect. Don't try to guess - you will be wrong. Pop+punk+metal+ska+WTF!

Kind of like Red Hot Chili Peppers way over the edge. And in Japanese.

And I am sorry Lars and Nikko, Kawakita Nao 川北 奈緒 / ナヲ is now THE best drummer in the world. And her vocals are essential for the unique fusion that is MTH.

If you are in Osaka 大阪府 tomorrow (3-Jun), you can catch them live. You lucky bastards.

Let'er rip. This is classic. The first track from ぶっ生き返す..

Faster and Faster

'ere, guv. Got a new mota?

More at Andy J Gallagher. Great Brit-indie-pub-rock vibe. Now listening to his Crocodiles & Prostitutes EP...

Great Innovation for Bathroom Readers

... but I have to know: is there a MAXI version? A pity it seems to have been designed by designers for designers, and not your typical O'Reilly, Apress or Wrox reader;-)

PicoCool - Elegant Solution for Bathroom Readers

The forgotten link between Earth, Wind & Fire and Jamiroquai?

As if you needed convincing that Earth, Wind & Fire laid the groundwork for modern funk... My latest, crazy theory is that a forgotten track "You Can Do It" in the middle of No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom is the forgotten evolutionary link! Don't believe me? Try listening to this sequence and tell me if I am wrong.. Boogie Wonderland, EW&F - classic disco funk (1979). Vocals, base and guitar come down heavy on the beat with trademark brass punctuation. You Can Do It from Tragic Kingdom , No Doubt - big trumpets, rollicking beat and wah-wah, but in comes the synth. Then, say, Love Foolosophy from A Funk Odyssey , Jamiroquai - the pinnacle of modern funk. Borrows all that is great in terms of beat, the brass and real guitar but so well produced and of course, the one thing that always makes a song .. distinctive and delicious vocal styling. Good listening, whether you can see the connection or not;-)

The grand-daddy, one more time..

Eleven Fire Crackers

OK, plugging in my iPod now to drown out the friggin jingle bells playing in the background. It's barely November, I'm in Singapore ... so who invited Bing Crosby and a troop of reindeer godammit?? Spinning thru albums at random I crank up the volume on Eleven Fire Crackers, and instantly remember why this was a 2 second buy decision back at some music store in Shinjuku. I picked it up while working in Tokyo a few years back. I was going crazy over the local bands, and this album by ELLEGARDEN was kind of lost in all the great music at the time.

I think I just listened to it about 3 times today. This is wild, energetic J-Rock at its best, a little pop and heavy on the grunge. I guess what sets them apart from other bands in the genre - like Uplift Spice, another of my favourites - is that many songs are in English. Vocalist 細美武士 Takeshi Hosomi's accent is undefinable and intriguing. Could be Orange Country one moment, pure cockney the next. A little like Hyde in English.

Having just rediscovered ELLEGARDEN, it's sad to now discover I am just a month late - they officially suspend their activities indefinitely in September 2008 and go onto other things.

So no chance to see them live anymore (at least as ELLEGARDEN), only go back and checkout their other albums. I can't imagine anything better than Eleven Fire Crackers. But maybe I have some treasures to discover yet...

I haz audible! / Dune

As a long time TWiT listener, and a fan of audiobooks, I've long been tantalised by one of the TWiT network's biggest sponsors - audible. To my chagrin, last I checked - admittedly a long time ago - I was unable to subscribe to audible because I live in Singapore. Undoubtedly due to pre-Copernican copyright issues. After chatting with a colleague from the US the other day who was raving about audible, I thought I'd try again. Success! I am over the moon to now be a totally addicted audible member (it seems 99% of titles are available for purchase to me - just a few that are restricted due to copyright). With my free credit (for signing up as a TWiT listener) I bought the unabridged adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune. The production by Audio Renaissance is truly wonderful. The selected use of character actors, and subtle atmospheric music and sound effects really bring the story to life, keeping you enthralled for the full 21 hours. It is many years since I last read and re-read Dune, and it was great to rediscover the book in audio. Still the SF classic I remember, and now I have it sitting in my audible library for another listen in the not too distant future.

Tu Plang, Unit and the Green Papaya

I've had Regurgitator's Tu-Plang and Unit since when I was working in Sydney around 98/99. These albums are classics. I love their sound, and the lyrics are smart. They still get a regular listen, and that's not going to stop. In a twist, I saw recently on the Food Lover's Guide to Australia that Quan's mother established a Vietnamese restaurant in Brisbane called Green Papaya, and it has great reviews. It was Hanoi-born Lien Yeomans's dream come true - opening her own restaurant. At Brisbane's Green Papaya she cooks dishes from North Vietnam. She says she has her rock star son Quan to thank for her fame (he’s with the band Regurgitator) but we think it’s her recipes, each one linked to a personal story from her incredible life.

So next time I'm in Brisbane...


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Driving me crazy .. know this song?

Someth'n my society... anyone recognise this song?

As usual I was casually playing around on my guitar while chilling out, and I hit this chord seuence. Can't vouch for the key, but if you comp this do you recognise it?

Am-Am Am Am | Dm7- Dm7 Dm7 Dm7 |
E7-E7 E7 E7 | Am-Am Am Am

And the chorus/bridge is E7/Am.

It's driving me crazy! I know this song. At first I thought Annie Lennox with Dave Stewart doing an acoustic jazz guitar bit, but after 30mins on amazon mp3 came up empty (such a useful resource though!)

If you recognise it ... let me know, and release me from my anxiety!

Postcript 2-May-2008: GOT IT! Tanita Tikaram - Twist In My Sobriety. I am sane again.

Doing the As

Had some work on the weekend, so I've had my iPod on "song play". So far it's at 144 of 4981 and still working through the "A"s. I'm up to Always..

• Always - Bon Jovi, Bounce
• Always by Kuraki Mai 倉木麻衣 from Fever Pitch: Official 2002 Fifa World Cup
• Always On The Run [Explicit] Lenny Kravitz Greatest Hits
• Always The Way - James Reyne from his cool 80's pop-rock self titled, the first album he released after leaving Australian Crawl
• Always With Me, Always With You - classic melody line by Joe Satriani from Surfing with the Alien

Best song in the "Always" category? At the moment, my vote's going to Kuraki Mai. And like pretty much everything these days, it's on YouTube too, complete with user-generated anime mtv;-)


  
 

Brain Rules

Geoffrey Grosenbach took a diversion on the Ruby on Rails podcast recently, with a fascinating two-part interview with John Medina (part 1, part 2). Medina is a very engaging speaker, with some controversial but well researched ideas on how the brain works, and why so many of our social conventions in school and the workplace actually conspire against optimal brain performance. I gather its a discussion of many of the ideas from his book Brain Rules. Well worth a listen.

Earthcore & Infected

Scott Sigler has the book launch of Infected coming up on 1-Apr. No joke, you can pre-order on Amazon already. ..a cinematic, relentlessly paced novel that mixes and matches genres, combining horror, technothriller, and suspense.. Sigler's been one of the stars of the free podcast-audiobook scene, and its great to see him on the mainstream bookshelves. In fact, you can still get Infected as a podcast download here at podiobooks. Sigler reads his own works, and he's got the voice for it too. See the Infected promo page at podiobooks for more info. Earthcore was the first Sigler novel I came across, also highly recommended. I found it some time ago, before I started blogging about books actually, which is why you are only seeing a post about it now. I listened to Earthcore as a podcast available here at podiobooks. In fact I think it was my very first podiobook download, and got me hooked on the whole podiobooks idea (from which I've since discovered other great authors like Terry Fallis and Nathan Lowell). These authors are all making podcast versions of their works freely available. It is a fantastic way to discover new authors and enjoy their books in audio. They deserve our support if you like what they do. Podiobooks takes donations directly. And for authors like Sigler we can buy their books in print too! Infected: at Amazon Infected: at podiobooks Earthcore: at Amazon Earthcore: at podiobooks

Half Share, Full Share and beyond...

After enjoying Quarter Share so much, I quickly listened to the sequels Half Share and Full Share. They continue Ishmael Wang's career aboard the Space Clipper Lois McKendrick in rollicking fashion. Honest to goodness ripping yarns! I was sad to complete the trilogy, buoyed only by the hope that the author, Nathan Lowell, would continue the series. Well, this post is coming quite a while after I listened to the three stories, and it seems Mr Lowell has been busy. I was reminded to checkout the latest when I saw Podiobooks report that Nathan Lowell has taken a break from his own stories to narrate Time Crime by H. Beam Piper (iTunes downloading...) So of course I checked out Nathan's site - The Trader’s Diary - to discover Nathan has already completed another in the Golden Age series: South Coast. And its already #3 in the Podiobooks Top Overall Ratings chart. ...my iTunes is running hot now!