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July 22, 2024
 

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Joe Kern
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 31, 2007
Jack Peñate
Jack Peñate wants to inject human feeling into pop music again. And not just in the vocals — he wants it in every last note played. He and his crack band, Joel Porter (bass) and Alex Robins (drums), play a lively, sometimes frenetic mix of rockabilly, country, rock 'n' roll, Latin, lounge...
CULTURE / Music
Jun 29, 2007
Malajube "Trompe L'oeil"
If the first you hear of Malajube is the single "Montreal -40 C," you may dismiss them as an undistinguished, shiny-happy Euro-pop rock act thrown together in homage to The Cardigans. This would be a tragic, but understandable, error, since it's not until the fourth track of "Trompe L'oeil" that the...
CULTURE / Music
May 4, 2007
Feist "The Reminder"
Leslie Feist traipses the map for inspiration, literally and figuratively. Indie rock and its melange of alternatively low- and hi-fi sounds comes through in the Canadian's music and in her moonlighting gig with Broken Social Scene, one of that aesthetic's most convincing purveyors. But Feist spent most...
CULTURE / Music
Apr 27, 2007
Maximo Park "Our Earthly Pleasures"
This year marks about the fifth birthday of the post-punk revival that has seen tightly dressed lads in Europe and cosmopolitan hipsters in America playing danceable rock. Of this clique, Maximo Park are the eccentric artsy and intellectual guys from northeast England who come across as not giving a...
CULTURE / Music
Nov 24, 2006
Joanna Newsom "Ys"
Joanna Newsom possesses genius on a ridiculous number of levels. She plays pixie folk music on a harp, but doesn't rest on the mere novelty of the idea. Her lyrics are stream-of-consciousness, but she has two things that run counter to this type of songwriting: an unimpeachable sincerity and a complex...
CULTURE / Music
Aug 25, 2006
Be Your Own Pet "Be Your Own Pet"
Fast-playing BYOP sparked an indie buzz in 2005 as a raw, late-teens rock band from Nashville with an archetypal post-punk hellcat in lead singer/yelper Jemina Pearl Abegg. The buzz built up further after they launched a string of three hot singles without releasing an album. By then their mystique ensured...
CULTURE / Music
May 12, 2006
Fatboy Slim
Fatboy Slim, aka Norman Cook, is the DJ everyone can love: drunken college meatheads, glow-stick-toting ravers, classic rock lovers and parents of small children alike. His popularity has gone beyond mere love for his music; it has crept into the arena of institutional adoration.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 10, 2006
Kings of Convenience
In 2001, when Kings of Convenience's first album was released (the near-perfect "Quiet is the New Loud"), it was almost an antidote to the humorless introspection of their contemporaries: the teen angst of Dashboard Confessional, the poetic depression of Elliot Smith, and politely existential Britpop...
CULTURE / Music
Feb 24, 2006
Beth Orton "Comfort of Strangers"
British singer/songwriter Beth Orton's fourth album, "Comfort of Strangers," does little that is new, but that's not to say it's a disappointment. The 14 tracks are among her best, and are far more concise and instantly likable than those on 2002's "Daybreaker." Famed experimental musician Jim O'Rourke,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2005
Sufjan Stevens: "Illinois"
Sounding at times like The Moody Blues' "Days of Future Past" as interpreted by a roomful of high-school band geeks, "Illinois" is a 22-track concept album loosely based on the U.S. state of Illinois.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 19, 2005
Maximo Park: "A Certain Trigger"
It is rare for a band to successfully drive a pop song without great hooks -- those musical bits that sometimes joyously, sometimes maddeningly refuse to leave your head -- but on pure energy alone. Yet this is precisely what Newcastle's Maximo Park do. As dance rock goes, their tunes are ordinary, but...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 5, 2005
Weezer "Make Believe"
Four years ago, Weezer songwriter Rivers Cuomo decided that the meticulously documented angst beloved by his die-hard fans wasn't impressing enough people, so he stocked his next two albums with somewhat catchy yet largely meaningless pop songs instead. On their new effort, "Make Believe," he has returned...
Japan bakes as temperatures across the country rise above 35 C
A pedestrian walks past air conditioning units in Tokyo on Saturday.
Japanese gymnast Shoko Miyata leaves Olympic team over drinking and smoking
Shoko Miyata had been set to lead the Japanese women's gymnastics team at the Paris Games.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals
Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
U.S.-Japan Patriot missile production plan hits Boeing component snag
Self-Defense Forces soldiers walk past a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile unit in Tokyo in October 2017.
Nippon Steel hires Mike Pompeo to help clinch purchase of U.S. Steel
Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during the last day of the 2024 Republican National Convention on Thursday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
How to prevent and respond to heatstroke in Japan this summer
A passerby holding a parasol wipes her face as she walks on the street amid a heatstroke alert in Tokyo and other prefectures, in Tokyo on July 9.
‘Sniper from Oita’ sets her sights on Paris Olympics target
Misaki Nobata competes at the World University Games in 2023. A hero in her hometown of Oita, Nobata is one of three Japanese shooters who will compete at the upcoming Paris Olympics.
Households struggle as Japan’s inflation rises near U.S. levels
The Nishiki market in Kyoto. June’s inflation report shows extraordinary jumps in the prices of some items favored by households, including cabbage (27.6%), potatoes (28.5%) and tomatoes (15.6%).
As risk of heatstroke rises in Japan, so does that of COVID-19
People hold umbrellas while watching baseball to deal with the heat in the city of Shizuoka on July 7.
German, French and Spanish fighter aircraft arrive in Japan for joint drills
Two Air Self-Defense Force F-15s (right) escort two German Air Force Eurofighter jets and an A330MRTT aerial tanker on their arrival in Japan Friday. The ASDF is conducting training exercises with the German, French and Spanish air forces this weekend.

Podcast

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals
By Alex K.T. Martin

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