Philip Brasor - The Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Feb 5, 2003

2001 marked the 10th anniversary of the release of "Nevermind," the album that broke alternative rock on non-college radio and MTV. Owing to disagreements among the interests that control the Nirvana legacy, the anticipated career-survey box set was never released. Instead, a single-disc greatest hits...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Feb 2, 2003

Can 007 fire up the Japanese on N. Korea?

As North Korea's threatening bluster continues to make international headlines, it seems almost bizarre that Japan, which would be in direct physical peril if a conflict erupted on the Korean Peninsula, has its mind on something else, namely Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean agents. Though important,...

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Jan 29, 2003

Kimya Dawson: "I'm Sorry That Sometimes I'm Mean"

The biggest star to emerge from New York's antifolk scene is Beck Hansen, but before King Loser went legit he was more of a hanger-on than a guiding light. The Moldy Peaches -- 30-year-old Kimya Dawson and 21-year-old Adam Green -- embody the antifolkies' art-is-fun credo more convincingly, and having...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Jan 26, 2003

It's time Japan woke up to refugee problem

The Foreign Ministry's lack of a coherent policy with regard to North Korea was obvious back in autumn, when public opinion forced the government to renege on its promise to Pyongyang that the five Japanese abductees would return to the communist nation after a two-week visit to Japan. The five are now...

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Jan 22, 2003

Ms. Jade: "Girl Interrupted"

Twenty-three-year-old Chevon Young was not an overnight sensation. She was repeatedly passed over by A&R people because Eve was already a star and they didn't think there was room in the majors for two female MCs from Philadelphia. Then someone steered her to the Beat Club, the new record label run by...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Jan 19, 2003

Amateurish TV? Well let it be, just let it be

The Jan. 16 issue of Shukan Bunshun carries an article that lists and describes the 10 worst TV specials broadcast during the New Year's holidays. Coming up with a Worst 10 is not difficult, since practically any special broadcast during the New Year's break could qualify for a list of the 10 Worst Programs...

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Jan 15, 2003

hoggboy: "Or 8?"

The British rock press has declared the Sheffield band hoggboy the official scapegoat of the inevitable garage-rock backlash in England, where The Strokes first made a splash and, therefore, the place where their star has been fading most rapidly.

CULTURE / Music

Jan 15, 2003

Talent-laden 'festival' to bring back a pinch of that old magic

Once upon a time, rock shows were long, drawn-out affairs, with two or three opening acts who could be counted on to play as if they were headliners. Magic Rock Out, an event that will be held in Kobe and Tokyo in early February, is too limited in scope to be called a "festival" (only one stage), and...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Jan 12, 2003

It's no joke scripting a sitcom in Japan

When the six cast members of the hit American comedy series "Friends" recently agreed to a 10th season, no one was really surprised, even though the six had implied that the present season would be their last.

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Jan 8, 2003

Chan Marshall

Singer-songwriter Chan Marshall, better known as Cat Power, was raised in the U.S. South by an itinerant pianist and didn't finish school, so it's easy to imagine that much of her childhood and adolescence was spent in her own head. Her songs, while not particularly morbid, nevertheless revel in detailed...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Jan 5, 2003

You saw it! The gongs and goofs of 2002

Media Personalities of the Year: Koichi Tanaka and Tama-chan

CULTURE / Music

Jan 1, 2003

In with the new

Diva dilemma The three big names in Top 40 R & B released albums this past month, but Whitney Houston's "Just Whitney . . . ," Mariah Carey's "Charmbracelet" and Toni Braxton's "More Than a Woman" are musically mediocre and generally embarrassing.

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Dec 22, 2002

Trial judge completes the vicious circle in curry-poisoning case

Exactly four years ago in this column, I wrote that, egged on by the media, which had already tried and convicted Masumi Hayashi for murder in the Wakayama Curry Poisoning Incident even before she was arrested, "the police . . . proudly announced that they have enough circumstantial evidence to convince...

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Dec 18, 2002

Ivy: "Guestroom"

Before Adam Schlesinger penned the catchy title song to Tom Hanks' directorial debut, "That Thing You Do," and formed the excellent power-pop band Fountains of Wayne with Chris Collingwood, he was the impetus behind Ivy, the New Jersey trio that pioneered the French pops revival on the U.S. East Coast....

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Dec 15, 2002

To eat or not to eat -- here's some advice

One of the big best sellers of the season is "Taberu na, Kiken" (Don't Eat! Danger!), which was first published in October and is now in its third printing. Unlike most books that enjoy such good sales, it isn't getting much attention in the media.

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Dec 11, 2002

Solomon Burke: "Don't Give Up On Me"

Solomon Burke's new album, "Don't Give Up On Me," is being touted as not only the return of one of soul music's pioneers, but the return of soul singing itself. And while the sixtysomething Burke is in great voice, the record is somewhat frustrating. Producer Joe Henry hired a dozen big-name artists...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Dec 8, 2002

It can be a royal pain to be in the family

Bowing to the media's ongoing obsession with the returned abductees, the first birthday of Princess Aiko passed with little more than token coverage.

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Dec 4, 2002

"Red Hot" AIDS charity compilations: "Red Hot + Riot"

Tribute albums tend to disappoint because multiartist formats are by nature inconsistent. "Red Hot + Riot," the latest in the decade-old series of "Red Hot" AIDS charity compilations, is a glorious exception. If it's more exciting than any tribute album of recent memory, then it must have something to...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Dec 1, 2002

South Korea helps Japan to get more trendy

As we draw to the end of the so-called Year of Korea and Japan, which was sort of forced on the two neighbors by FIFA, we should take a moment to reflect on just how much closer the countries across the Sea of Japan have grown in the past 10 months.

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Nov 27, 2002

Wonderful Parade 2002

Every year, the pholks at Philter Records, Japan's phearless purveyors of phoreign indie pop, bring a phleet of artists to these shores for a special showcase called Wonderful Parade. Last year, the pheatured artist was Of Montreal, which has nothing to do with Canada and everything to do with the Elephant...

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