Philip Brasor - The Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Nov 18, 2005

Stevie Wonder happily belongs to the world, so one feels cheap complaining about the sentimental sappiness that characterized his output in the 1980s and '90s; or, at least, cheaper than one does when complaining about cogenerationists like Rod Stewart and Sir Paul, whose sappiness is contrived.

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Nov 13, 2005

Companies fixing sights on elite as 'lower class' refuse to spend

Boosters of corporate-led globalization like to say that markets are more efficient economic equalizers than governments are. Whether or not you believe this, it only makes sense if you also believe that everyone in the world has the same desire to buy things.

CULTURE / Music

Nov 11, 2005

Hard-Fi

Richard Archer, the leader of England's Hard-Fi, claims there's no point in being another indie band. "I'm not in competition with Razorlight or The Killers," he says on the band's Web site. "I'm in competition with Eminem." The British music press seems to think he actually has a shot at Shady's level...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Nov 6, 2005

The media is insuring itself, but is failing to assure the people

Japan has a reputation for being a shoppers paradise, but while Japanese consumers are considered savvy and discriminating, they aren't necessarily safe from those who would want to take advantage of them.

CULTURE / Music

Nov 4, 2005

Wolf Parade: "Apologies to the Queen Mary"

The latest big thing from Montreal sounds a lot like last year's big thing from Montreal, The Arcade Fire, but minus the extraneous instruments and calculated drama. That isn't to say Wolf Parade is dry or minimalist, only that they rely more on songwriting than on presentation.

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Oct 30, 2005

Communing with wild animals in Japan's famous culture of cute

In the first of a series of recent articles about nonindigenous animal species in Japan, the Asahi Shimbun reported comments made at this year's annual meeting of the International Association of Falconry. The meeting, which took place earlier this month in Prague, saw the chairperson criticize the Japanese...

CULTURE / Music

Oct 28, 2005

Maritime

Emo was and still is a difficult genre to pin down. The Promise Ring was one of the most popular American indie bands ever to wear the label, though they never quite embraced the punk fundamentals of fellow emo flailers Jimmy Eat World and The Get Up Kids. On their 2002 swan song, "Wood/Water," they...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Oct 23, 2005

It's about time for Japan to take its foot off the gas . . . and think

What do the following recent news items have in common? 1) An automobile driven by a 23-year-old man in Yokohama accidentally runs into a line of high-school students returning home from school, killing two and injuring seven. 2) The United States Senate votes to open the Alaskan wildlife refuge to oil...

CULTURE / Music

Oct 21, 2005

Faith Evans

The bold title of Faith Evans' latest album, "The First Lady," may or may not reference the confidence the soul diva enjoys after having shed 13 kg, an accomplishment that places her in the telegenic league of Ashanti and Beyonce. Musically, however, her only rival is former mentor Mary J. Blige, who...

CULTURE / Film

Oct 20, 2005

PIFF: Asia's magnet for movies

The Pusan International Film Festival, which took place Oct. 6-14, marked its 10th year with its biggest program ever -- 307 films from 73 countries. These numbers alone make PIFF the largest annual film-related event in Asia, and with the Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP) taking place in the Korean port city...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Oct 16, 2005

No point in going if you can't wait in line

The next time you go to Tokyo Disneyland and find yourself waiting an inordinate length of time for five minutes of thrills on Space Mountain, spare a thought for Hung Wah-fung, who is certainly thinking of you -- or, more precisely, your situation.

CULTURE / Music

Oct 14, 2005

Playing in the shadows

"Self-effacing" is not an adjective one normally uses to describe a rock band, but everything about the English quartet Electrelane seems designed to draw attention away from the individual players. In Electrelane's case this is particularly significant since all four members are young women, and there...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Oct 9, 2005

Roll up! Roll up! For a freak show starring 'Koizumi's children'

Adding salt to its wounds, it was reported recently that the Democratic Party of Japan paid 129 million yen to the American public relations firm Fleischmann-Hillard to buff its image in 2004. Though it might have helped in last year's Upper House election, the company's strategy didn't seem to work...

CULTURE / Music

Oct 7, 2005

Bandstand Vol. 3

The third installment of "Bandstand," an occasional, low-priced showcase for overseas indie bands, is headlined by The Walkmen, a New York quintet that rose from the ashes of two Washington, D.C.-to-New York transplant bands, Jonathan Fire*eater and The Recoys. However, it's been noted more than once...

CULTURE / Music

Oct 7, 2005

Beautiful truths woven in lyricism

If poetry is an art then songwriting is a craft. Verbal phrases and musical phrases each have their own modes of logic and the trick is to match them up in a way that sounds natural. All songwriters try to do that to a certain extent, but Joanna Newsom seems more conscious of the actual work involved...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Oct 2, 2005

Killing your career in the media to keep your superiors happy

The vocation of journalism in Japan is not exactly the same as it is in the West. The "kisha club" system makes reporters beholden to the bureaucrats and politicians they cover rather than to the public they're supposed to serve, while the Japanese corporate tradition of on-the-job training means that...

CULTURE / Music

Sep 30, 2005

Gang of Four: "Return the Gift" (V2/Columbia)

Gang Of Four's decision to mark their first full reunion in 20 years with an album of past triumphs re-done exactly the way they were done originally smacks of a stunt, like Gus Van Sant's shot-for-shot remake of "Psycho." But as the band has said, they never felt the original recorded versions conveyed...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Sep 25, 2005

Help the disabled, but don't deny them

Several years ago, the government discussed state-sponsored care for people with disabilities. The idea was to assist mentally and physically disabled people in leaving publicly-funded facilities and entering society; or, at least, that was how it was presented.

CULTURE / Music

Sep 23, 2005

The American Analog Set and Her Space Holiday

Texas isn't just for rednecks any more -- or, at least, Austin isn't. Home to the University of Texas and the South By Southwest music conference, it's a city where even bedroom music-makers can relax and do their quiet simple thing without having to wear a cowboy hat to prove their relevance.

CULTURE / Music

Sep 22, 2005

A troubadour comes to town

Though England's The Soft Boys weren't a hugely popular band when they first made records in the late 1970s, their jangly, psychedelic rock songs stood out among the punk that was considered the vanguard at the time. Eventually, they proved to be almost as influential, especially on 1980s guitar bands...

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