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November 22, 2024
 

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Tom Bojko
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jun 19, 2002
Omar Faruk Tekbilek: 'Alif'
With the steaming shimmer of a cymbal, Alif magically opens a creaking door, draws aside a heavy curtain and welcomes us into a room thick with the smell of sandalwood incense where revelers recline on silken pillows and smoke from gurgling hookahs, preparing for a night of decadent pleasures.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jun 12, 2002
Kona Records: 'Deep Funk Africa'
With a title like "Deep Funk Africa," this CD compilation had better deliver. And deliver it does -- 14 steaming slabs of rough-hewn funk from Ghana, Mobutu's Zaire, Sierra Leone and beyond.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 29, 2002
Salif Keita: 'Moffou'
Salif Keita -- otherwise known as the Golden Voice of Mali -- has taken some jabs from world music purists in recent years for straying from his traditional African roots in collaborations with the likes of Vernon Reid of Living Color and the keyboardist Joe Zawinal. With "Moffou," Keita has dropped...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 22, 2002
Theo Bleckmann and Ben Monder
Vocalist Theo Bleckmann only occasionally sings in an identifiable language, a trait that reinforces the impression that he is of another world, a messenger graced with an ethereal sense of beauty and a childlike fascination for exploring the unknown. His style is evocative and beckoning rather than...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 12, 2002
Making each note dance on the wind
In 1968, at the age of 13, Akikazu Nakamura began playing electric guitar. A few years later, he discovered that one of his favorite bands, King Crimson, counted contemporary classical music among their influences. Intrigued, Nakamura pursued this thread and soon discovered "November Steps" by the composer...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 8, 2002
His fingers on the pulse
Bill Laswell stands in the lobby outside the Shinjuku Pit Inn, where on April 27 and 28 he played to packed houses with drummer Hideo Yamaki and saxophonist Yasuaki Shimizu. He's just set up his bass rig and is wondering where to sit for our interview.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 24, 2002
Kinnie Starr: from strength to strength
Kinnie Starr has a voice that sometimes purrs and sometimes snarls, but either way it is virtually unknown in Japan. That may be changing, though, as she is spending the better part of this month touring the country, both on her own and in the coveted opening slot for the hugely popular Speech, formerly...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 21, 2002
A fresh spin on Okinawan tradition
Inside Hot Wax, a hip music shop in Shibuya's Udagawa-cho, the wet, modern sounds of Ryukyu Underground's "Tinsagu nu Hana Dub" wash over racks of used records, compact discs and a half-dozen music lovers. One of the browsers, a young woman, describes the music as "like summer with the windows open."...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 20, 2002
Onward klezmer voyager
Like people, music travels. How else could a handful of Japanese musicians have come to embrace klezmer, a centuries-old Eastern European folk music historically associated with traditional Jewish weddings?
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

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