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December 22, 2024
 

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Shawn Despres

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Shawn Despres
Shawn Despres has been contributing to the Japan Times’ music page since 2005, and he has a passion for writing about the independent music scene in East Asia. He spent several years living in Yokohama and currently resides in Seoul.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 3, 2015
Don Matsuo to take solo experiences into Zoobombs' new act
In September 2013, weeks away from celebrating their 20th anniversary, Tokyo rock act Zoobombs announced they were disbanding. The group's leader, guitarist and vocalist Don Matsuo, and his wife, Zoobombs' keyboardist Matta, went on to form a new group called The Randolf. However, that project was short-lived...
CULTURE / Music
Dec 16, 2014
Rock, J-pop and dance: Albums we liked in 2014
The year-end album charts in Japan have a tendency to prop up the same acts year after year: Exile, anything that ends in a "48," and almost every group from the Johnny & Associates stable of boy bands. Writers at The Japan Times, however, spent the year looking past the charts to find a few gems lurking...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 25, 2014
Bo Ningen teams up with Savages for Dadaist jam
For many music fans, getting up early at multiday music outings is no easy task. But the few thousand folks who mustered the energy to get to the Red Marquee stage for the start of Fuji Rock 2013's final day were treated to one of that summer's festival highlights, Bo Ningen.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 11, 2014
Ogre You Asshole's 'Papercraft' marks end of a conceptual trilogy
When it came time to make a fourth full-length, 2011's "Homely," Nagano rock act Ogre You Asshole was ready for a change.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 30, 2014
Turtle Island's bringing the whole gang to Asagiri Jam
Organized each fall by Fuji Rock promoter Smash, Asagiri Jam is a much more laidback affair than its famed older sister. It features two stages and the music wraps up early each night. And while Fuji Rock has some 200 plus bands, Asagiri Jam only invites two dozen, which means a lot less running around...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 2, 2014
Startline hopes to tap into Japan's punk love
In the 2000s, Gumx was one of South Korea's top-tier punk acts. With that band on indefinite hiatus, though, Gumx drummer Gun Choi is now looking to achieve similar success with Startline, a punk trio he formed in March of last year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 24, 2014
Manic Sheep, Wedance represent overseas indie at Fuji Rock Festival
Since 2001, Fuji Rock's Rookie a Go-Go stage has spotlighted indie talents not quite ready for the festival's larger areas. Acts apply to play — this year 1,300 bands vied for 15 slots — and with the exception of Taiwan's Go Chic in 2010, all the past performers have been locals. But this summer...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 3, 2014
Kenta Koie and Crossfaith earn some rock cred overseas
In February, Osaka electro-infused metalcore act Crossfaith toured Britain with Limp Bizkit. Sharing stages and hanging out with the 1990s rap-metal act and its celebrity frontman Fred Durst reinforced the importance of not letting success go to their heads.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 27, 2014
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes to show a feminine side at Punkspring
Punk rock's best-known cover band, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, will be previewing material from their upcoming "Are We Not Men? We Are Diva!" album at this weekend's Punkspring festival.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 9, 2013
BBQ Chickens keep new album 'Broken Bubbles' short and sweet
When making music, Tokyo punk/metal hybrid act BBQ Chickens like to keep things short. The quartet have yet to craft a song that lasts two minutes. A handful of their cuts don't even break the 10-second mark.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 4, 2013
Rock group Zoobombs announce split, prepare for sudden farewell tour
This month marks the 20th anniversary of Tokyo rock 'n' roll act Zoobombs. It also marks their demise as the group has announced they will part ways at the end of September.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 24, 2013
Supergroup Muddy Apes get album out just in time to rock Fuji
From the beginning, rock act Muddy Apes set a lofty goal for themselves.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 21, 2013
Creative-content agency helps Korean music abroad
Regardless of whether you are a bigger-name draw or a smaller, emerging band, planning — and more importantly financing — international gigs is no easy task. But since last year, things have gotten a bit easier for Korean acts touring abroad.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 7, 2013
Hotel Mexico's pop aims at the heart
It's tough to figure out where to take your band when you get some buzz in the media right out the gate. After getting noticed for its fuzzed-out pop jams from highly regarded online music outlets such as Pitchfork, Noisey and Gorilla vs. Bear, Kyoto's Hotel Mexico knew early on that it would need to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 7, 2013
ZZZ's hone skills abroad and have some chance encounters
The highlight of 2012 for experimental postpunk trio ZZZ's was meeting Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore in Miami. It turns out the feeling was mutual. American record label Matador Records posted their artists' and employees' favorite things from the past 12 months online recently and Hyogo Prefecture's...
CULTURE / Music
Nov 1, 2012
Chatmonchy "Henshin"
Since making their major label debut in 2005, Chatmonchy has established itself as one of the country's most popular female rock bands. As a trio, they released several chart-topping discs and sold out gigs at the iconic Nippon Budokan. In 2010, the band played its first American shows with Spin Magazine...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 30, 2012
Fact welcomes a new face to the fold
In September, Fact will embark on a monthlong Japan trek in support of their fourth full-length effort, January's "Burundanga." The gigs will be the Chiba posthardcore act's first domestic concerts since performing last December at the popular annual Countdown Japan yearend music festival. They will...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 23, 2012
Crying Nut and Yellow Monsters
As K-pop continues its rise in stature, South Korea's small but prolific indie scenes are beginning to gain some recognition abroad as well.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 19, 2012
Fuji Rock embraces Kilimanjaro blend
It may be tough to tell from both acts' music and sense of style, but without the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Saitama funk sextet Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro would be a very different band.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 28, 2012
Mudy on the Sakuban "Zyacalanda"
Nagoya five-piece instrumental rock band Mudy on the Sakuban's "Zyacalanda" EP is their fifth release in as many years. The eight-track effort was produced by Yoshimitsu Taki, the guitarist for local emo/post-hardcore act 9mm Parabellum Bullet. Impressed with Mudy on the Sakuban's output on the EP, Taki...
Freed anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson arrives in France
U.S.-Canadian anti-whaling environmental activist Paul Watson, who was released from prison in Greenland's capital Nuuk after five months in detention, arrives with Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France, at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy-en-France, near Paris, on Friday.
Nippon Steel alleges undue White House influence on doomed deal review
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Dec. 10.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
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