author

 
Menu
Search
 
December 27, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Twitter

@mbmelodies

Patrick St. Michel
Patrick St. Michel is a Tokyo-based writer with a focus on Japanese music. He runs the blog Make Believe Melodies, which has focused on Japanese independent music since 2009. Besides The Japan Times, he also contributes to MTV 81 and The Atlantic.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 13, 2011
Honeydew "Don't Know Where"
"Don't Know Where" lacks prerelease hype, sub-subgenre classification or needless gimmicks (unless consistant lyrical allusions to driving cars qualifies — autocore, anyone?). Honeydew's debut album is a simple collection of feedback-assisted indie pop reminiscent of U.S. group Yo La Tengo's catchier...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 13, 2011
Sakanaction "DocumentaLy"
"DocumentaLy," rock outfit Sakanaction's fifth full-length, stands as the group's best effort to date and one of the biggest mainstream triumphs in Japanese music this year. The Tokyo-based band didn't accomplish this through a sudden change in sound or any other grandiose moves often associated with...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 6, 2011
Seiji
Dance-music maker Paul Dolby, aka Seiji, has played with many electronic genres since he began DJing in the 1990s. The Seiji coming to Japan this weekend releases club-centric tracks for free on his website while also putting his personal spin on artists such as Erykah Badu and Gorillaz.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 6, 2011
Second Royal
Record label Second Royal won't just be putting on a concert this Sunday in their hometown of Kyoto, but rather a state-of-Japanese-indie-music address. The imprint's event at Club Metro features some of Japan's most buzzed (and blogged) about artists going today. Past gigs point to this being a great...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 22, 2011
Mop Of Head praises recent past on debut
Mop Of Head founder Takashi "George" Wakamatsu had a pretty standard musical upbringing. He studied piano from the age of 3, and says he listened mostly to classical music and old jazz. Then he heard a track that changed his life ...British dance duo The KLF's "F-ck The Millennium."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 15, 2011
Ogre You Asshole "Homely"
Ogre You Asshole's "Homely" practically begs to be considered as the band's artistic leap forward. The band has traded in the guitar-centric, 1990s-indie sound of its previous releases for a slower-moving vibe featuring an abundance of bongos and saxophone. It's a challenging LP to dive into: the catchy...
CULTURE / Music
Sep 1, 2011
Miila and the Geeks "New Age"
Miila and the Geeks show a great aptitude for the past on their debut album "New Age." The generally fuzzy atmosphere of the whole record evokes 1960s garage rock, with lead singer Moe Wadaka's sinisterly sexy vocals conjuring up early PJ Harvey. The inclusion of a mind-of-its-own saxophone winds up...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 18, 2011
Chili Peppers dominate Summer Sonic
It was clear on the second day of Summer Sonic that this year's event belonged to the evening's headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers. A casual stroll around Chiba's Makuhari Messe complex revealed a noticeable uptick from the day before in the number of shirtless dudes sporting tribal-band tattoos.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 28, 2011
Various artists Style Band Tokyo Compilation Vol. 1
Existing mainly as a live-music event since 2007, Style Band Tokyo has gone the recording route and released a CD featuring artists associated with its gigs. The compilation is a collection of great, noisy rock.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 21, 2011
Beach House live out teen dream by coming to Japan
Earlier this year, indie-rock group Beach House found themselves in unfamiliar territory. Two of the Baltimore duo's older tracks were sampled by much buzzed-about R&B project The Weeknd on their hyped-up debut mixtape meaning once intimate dream-pop was now serving as the soundtrack for drug-powered...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 7, 2011
andymori "Kakumei"
Now three albums deep into their career, indie-poppers andymori still lean on youthful energy to carry their music instead of songwriting smarts. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as "Kakumei" ("Revolution") features a handful of energetic pop numbers that know how to leave an impression without lingering...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 23, 2011
Bedroom ears: Japan's new D.I.Y. ethic
The dimly lit Bar Fabrica is an appropriate place to meet the four artists from Cuz Me Pain Records, who describe their music as "quite dark" and are known for being shrouded in mystery.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 9, 2011
Caroline
In another time, Caroline Lufkin could easily have ended up as a chart-topping J-pop star. After graduating from Boston's Berklee School Of Music, the Okinawa-born artist moved to Tokyo, where she began working on her first album. Her management at the time wanted Lufkin (who performs simply as Caroline)...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 26, 2011
Gellers find a new balance with 'Guatemala'
The story behind Gellers seems like the stuff of made-for-TV movies. A bunch of kids meet one another on the outskirts of the city, and eventually form a band. They stick together and, despite a few setbacks, release an album and tour the country as adults. There are no scripts to be found here, though....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 19, 2011
MacDonald Duck Eclair "Kono Tokimeki Ima Sugu"
"Kono Tokimeki Ima Sugu" (which translates loosely as "This fluttering of my heart, now") serves as a bit of a homecoming for hyper-speed pop trio MacDonald Duck Eclair. Their third album and first in five years comes out on K.O.G.A. Records, the label responsible for releasing the band's debut single...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 19, 2011
Online Maltine learns old-school tricks
Tomohiro Konuta didn't have lofty ambitions when he and his friend Syem started the online music label Maltine Records in 2005. They were just two teenagers looking for a little attention.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 5, 2011
Oorutaichi
Osaka artist Oorutaichi has long tried to test listeners' ears by blending together many disparate styles, so much so as to render the concept of "genre" irrelevant when discussing his music. For an upcoming concert in Tokyo he hopes to further challenge the sensory experience through the addition of...
Human error caused JAL jet collision at Haneda Airport: safety board
The wreckage of a Japan Airlines plane after a collision with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft, at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Jan. 5, three days after the crash.
Japan Airlines reports cyberattack on system, impacting flights
Japan Airlines jets at Tokyo's Haneda Airport in August. On Thursday, JAL announced its systems had been targeted in a cyberattack.
Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashes in Kazakhstan, killing 38
In this handout picture released by Kazakhstan's emergency situations ministry, emergency specialists work at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet near the western Kazakh city of Aktau on Dec. 25.
Toyota to donate $1 million to Trump’s inauguration ceremony
This is set to be the first time Toyota will donate to a U.S. inauguration ceremony.
Chinese man sentenced for vandalizing Yasukuni Shrine
The entrance to Yasukuni Shrine in central Tokyo on Dec. 1
Step into ukiyo-e: A digital journey through Japan’s traditional art form
"Ukiyoe Immersive Art Exhibition" includes an installation of Katsushika Hokusai’s “The Great Wave off Kanagawa.”
High levels of PFAS found in water from 44 private suppliers across Japan
The Self-Defense Forces facilities are believed to have become sources of PFAS contamination because they used firefighting foam containing the toxic chemicals in the past.
For baseball fans, 2024 brought The Summer of Shohei Ohtani
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani reacts to a standing ovation from fans after hitting his 50th home run of the season, against the Marlins in Miami on Sept. 19.
Trump's Pentagon policy pick pushed for Japan to spend 3% of GDP on defense
Elbridge Colby (center) speaks at the Threat and the Strategy panel during the Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, in September 2019.
A brief history of ‘osechi ryōri,' Japan's edible tradition for the new year
Japan's traditional New Year cuisine has a long history, though modern developments have led to slight changes in the way things work.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Site designer on why expos matter more than ever
Site designer on why expos matter more than ever

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER