Philip Brasor - The Japan Times

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Jan 11, 2004

Japan's 'Seabiscuit' shows losers can be winners too

There are few cliches as dubious as "Everybody loves a winner." Does everybody love a winner? The fans of the Hanshin Tigers certainly don't love the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks.

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Jan 4, 2004

Jong gets the gong in 2003 media awards

Media person of the year: Kim Jong Il

CULTURE / Music

Jan 4, 2004

Air

There's a theory that says trapped inside every electronica artist is a real musician trying to get out. In the case of the French duo Air, it initially seemed that the inner artist was either Burt Bacharach or KC & the Sunshine Band, but since their radio-friendly 1997 debut "Moon Safari," more serious...

CULTURE / Music

Dec 31, 2003

For the record

It's a Long Way Down Award:

CULTURE / Music

Dec 31, 2003

Looking death straight in the eye

Though many important popular music figures died in 2003 -- jazz diva Nina Simone and indie singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, to name two -- the deaths of Johnny Cash and Warren Zevon drew particular attention because both artists also hit artistic peaks this year, and those peaks were directly related...

CULTURE / Music

Dec 31, 2003

Joe Strummer lives on

When Joe Strummer was in his musical prime in the late '70s, punk's mission was to make you question everything you were told. Now, of course, it's the sound of young people shopping. Though this is perhaps inevitable, when the former Clash leader died unexpectedly a year ago, a lot of people realized...

CULTURE / Music

Dec 28, 2003

The Lonesome Organist/Bobby Conn

The influential American indie label Thrill Jockey has a reputation for eclecticism, but it's mainly known as the home of Tortoise, Brokeback and all the other groups that make up the postrock Chicago Underground. Jeremy Jacobsen, aka The Lonesome Organist, sort of fits the mold, but as his moniker suggests...

CULTURE / Music

Dec 21, 2003

Atomosphere: "Seven's Travel"

Which makes you more uncomfortable, the cartoon gangsta MC who treats women like pieces of meat, or the rapper who spews invective at the women he thinks made him suffer? Slug (Sean Daley), the MC who along with DJ-producer Ant make up the Minneapolis hip-hop group Atmosphere, first made a splash in...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Dec 21, 2003

Year's top commercials 'ad' up to great Japanese TV

Anyone who reads this column regularly probably believes that I find Japanese television completely worthless. It's not true; or, at least, not completely true. I think Japanese TV commercials are very good and often more representative of the hopes and dreams of the nation than the programming is.

CULTURE / Music

Dec 14, 2003

Mars Volta

The Mars Volta, led by vocalist Cedric Bixler and guitarist Omar Rodriguez, formerly of the El Paso-based postpunk band At the Drive-In, forfeited much of their considerable mystique when they finally released their first album, "Deloused in the Comatorium," last summer. Until then, their reputation...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Dec 14, 2003

Not letting the facts get in the way of a good 'documentary'

In the tributes to the Japanese diplomats who were killed two weeks ago, few people mentioned what they were actually doing in Iraq. Katsuhiko Oku was, among other things, encouraging Iraqis to watch NHK's popular drama series, "Oshin," which is being broadcast on Iraqi TV. The show, originally aired...

CULTURE / Music

Dec 7, 2003

Jonny Greenwood: "Bodysong"

Jonny Greenwood claims that "Bodysong," the soundtrack of an experimental film, is not a solo album. The multi-instrumentalist, who has already made a reputation for himself as a member of Radiohead coloring in the stark imaginings of Thom Yorke, seems content being a musical wonk who supplements the...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Dec 7, 2003

Japan's refusal to embrace sex education fuels spread of AIDS

U.S. President George W. Bush may be the best example of how ignorance can be wielded as a weapon, but most people who take advantage of their ignorance prefer to use it as a shield. Tadao Eguchi, the president of the hotel company that operates the hot-spring resort that canceled the reservations of...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Nov 30, 2003

Japan is not sending the 'right stuff' to Iraq

If ever there was a time to discuss the constitutional legality of Japan's Self-Defense Forces, it's now. The SDF has done peacekeeping work, but it's never been placed in a country like Iraq, which for all intents and purposes is still at war.

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Nov 23, 2003

State gambles with the future of 'discarded' kids

Last month there were two news stories about legal complications arising from the conception of children through special medical procedures. In one, a surrogate mother in California gave birth to twins who were the product of a Japanese man's sperm and the egg of a third-party Asian-American woman. In...

CULTURE / Music

Nov 19, 2003

Old man, take a look at yourself

If you thought that Neil Young was turning into a cranky old coot, his new album, "Greendale," is proof that he already is one. There are many who think he was cranky as far back as 1969, when he shot his baby down by the river. And in one of his two (count 'em!) hit singles, he identifies fully with...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Nov 16, 2003

From manifest destiny to voter apathy

The media kept referring to last week's House of Representatives poll as the "manifesto election," because it was the first time Japan's political parties had spelled out their platforms. The inexperience showed. In their printed versions, the manifestos were considered all but incomprehensible, and...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Nov 9, 2003

Dancing through the storm in a D-cup

Much of the reporting about the Oct. 29 incident at Northwest University in Xian, China, in which three male Japanese exchange students danced in a university festival wearing brassieres and "fake genitals," gave the impression that the students' faux pas was a matter of cultural differences. What this...

CULTURE / Music

Nov 2, 2003

Sharp-dressed Electric Six turn on the juice

In June of last year, the British radio remix duo that calls itself 2 Many DJs released its long-awaited debut mash-up album, which consisted of several dozen fairly famous songs by people as diverse as Lou Reed, Salt'n'Pepa and Dolly Parton laid end-to-end and on top of each other for a full hour of...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Nov 2, 2003

On TV, what you get is not what you want

Last weekend, former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka, prior to her official announcement to stand as a candidate in the upcoming House of Representatives election, held a press conference; or, more exactly, two press conferences -- one for the national newspapers and one for the TV networks. No magazines...

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