Philip Brasor - The Japan Times

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Sep 11, 2005

Desperate drones are content to be 'conned' into buying a condo

As long as I've lived in Tokyo I've received phone calls from condominium salespeople. In the past, these solicitations seemed accidental, as if the salespeople had dialed my number at random. But in the last five years the calls have been more deliberate. The salespeople know where I live -- not just...

CULTURE / Music

Sep 4, 2005

Hot Hot Heat

Since last we saw Hot Hot Heat at Summer Sonic in 2003, the Victoria, British Columbia, band lost their invaluable guitarist Dante Decaro and released a major label album, "Elevator" (Sire-London/Rhino), that has incurred the unallayed derision of the indie-rock cognoscenti. For sure, "Elevator" doesn't...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Sep 4, 2005

The aged better off heading for the hills on their limited pensions

The main opposition parties claim that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's attempt to make the upcoming Lower House election a referendum on postal reform is simply a scheme to deflect public attention away from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's fiscal failures under his leadership. Consequently,...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Aug 28, 2005

Postal reform gets stamp of approval from celeb politicians

Opponents of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's postal reform plans have a number of complaints, but the point they tend to harp on about, presumably because it's the only one the average citizen can appreciate, is the downsizing of post offices in far-flung regions.

CULTURE / Music

Aug 28, 2005

The Double: "Loose in the Air"

Positioned somewhere between the noise rock of Black Dice and the more accessible psychedelia of Animal Logic, fellow Brooklynites The Double use distortion, analog effects and explosions of pure feeling to mess around with classic pop.

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Aug 21, 2005

'Pacifist' Japan always ready to back a bit of conflict

"I don't care to belong to any club that will accept me as a member." -- Groucho Marx

CULTURE / Music

Aug 21, 2005

Zuco 103: "Whaa!"

Brazilian singer Lilian Vieira met drummer Stafan Kruger and keyboardist Stefan Schmid at the Rotterdam Conservatory of Music in 1989. After that, they worked together in a fusion outfit, and while Vieira's Tropicalismo pedigree livened up the group's sound, fusion is fusion.

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Aug 14, 2005

He hops onto a shuttle, jumps off to a media shuffle

Last Tuesday's landing of the Space Shuttle Discovery in the deserts of California capped a tense two weeks in which the safety of the vehicle and the seven astronauts it contained was never 100 percent assured. The loss of foam insulation during liftoff was eerily reminiscent of the last shuttle mission...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Aug 7, 2005

No turning back the clock when the walls come tumbling down

Because earthquakes are unpredictable, people who live with them are fatalistic: There's nothing you can do except hope you're in a place that doesn't fall down on top of you. This attitude only covers naked survival, which to most people means everything, but experts predict that in a worst case scenario...

CULTURE / Music

Jul 31, 2005

Dawn of New Wave

If you're reading this on Sunday then most likely you're not at the Fuji Rock Festival this weekend. But if you're kicking yourself for not having made the trip to Naeba, you still have a chance to enjoy at least a fraction of the Fuji fun, because six bands who are playing at the festival will be doing...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Jul 24, 2005

It's the black comedy of Japan: 'Don't mention the war . . .'

A point that tends to be overlooked in the debate over textbooks that whitewash Japan's actions during World War II is that Japanese junior high school history classes rarely make it past the Meiji Restoration. Whether or not "comfort women" or the Rape of Nanking is mentioned in textbooks becomes an...

CULTURE / Music

Jul 24, 2005

Adassa: "Kamasutra"

As with any musical genre that becomes popular overnight, reggaeton, the Spanish-language hip-hop form that has taken Latin America by storm, is much bigger than any of its individual stars, who are often difficult to distinguish amid the synthesized beats and rapid-fire, dancehall-style rapping.

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Jul 17, 2005

How gei can one get? 'Pretend gay' is as far as it gets

"Talent," or tarento, is the cushiest job in Japan -- maybe in the whole world. Though you are expected to have some kind of skill (gei), once you achieve a level of regularity as a TV variety show guest, the work is self-perpetuating, though it's by no means guaranteed forever. And rarely do successful...

CULTURE / Music

Jul 17, 2005

Missy Elliott: "The Cookbook"

The divine Miss E's sixth album of spicy hip-hop and juicy R&B is even more old school than her last joint, the criminally underrated "This Is Not a Test!" Dismissing her sous chef Timbaland after two excellent opening cuts, she takes sole charge of the kitchen and brings in the original irresponsible...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Jul 10, 2005

Author asks Japanese courts, 'Where is your mind?'

Sensational crimes are defined by the media since sensations fuel the media engine. Murder has the greatest potential for sensationalism, but some murders attract more attention than others. Through a certain confluence of motive, money, and methodology some hog headlines for weeks while others never...

CULTURE / Music

Jul 10, 2005

Chicago's fertile ground

Traditionally, American musicians who want to reach the masses gravitate to Los Angeles or New York, where the big record labels and artist-management companies are headquartered. However, pop music tends to have a regional pedigree, and with the rise of truly independent labels in the 1980s musicians...

CULTURE / Music

Jul 10, 2005

Afrika Bambaataa

If any one person could be said to have invented hip-hop it's the man born Kevin Donovan in the Bronx in 1960 who, during the mid-'70s, organized block parties where he acted as DJ and his friends acted as emcees, rapping to the beats he selected so carefully. The wider world didn't turn to Donovan,...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Jul 3, 2005

This is Japan and yes, it's easy to net a pet to enjoy a dog-day life

Ten years ago I was in San Francisco and dropped by the local SPCA's pet-adoption facility in the Mission District to make a donation. When I was living in the city years before, I had adopted a cat there that was still living with me, and I wanted to express my appreciation.

CULTURE / Music

Jul 3, 2005

Datarock: "Datarock Datarock"

Weirdness exerts its own energy, which is why Talking Heads and The Happy Mondays made such great dance music. In front of a tight combo of drums, bass and rhythm guitar the lead singer couldn't keep his feet on the ground or his brain in his skull. Datarock, two guys from Norway, understand this juxtaposition....

CULTURE / Stage

Jun 29, 2005

Where did we go right?

When it opened on Broadway in the spring of 2001, Mel Brooks' musical comedy "The Producers" became an instant cultural phenomenon steeped in irony. The day after its premiere, 33,000 tickets were sold at $100 each, a record high price, and the production was able to pay off its initial investment of...

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