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November 27, 2024

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CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE

Jun 15, 2003

Sophomores who shine in a new light

By Steve McClure

Second albums are notoriously difficult, especially if an act's first album has been a success. But on "Modern Lights," Kobe-based pop/jazz duo Orange Pekoe have avoided the "sophomore-album syndrome" by broadening their stylistic template to create a work that demands to be listened to on its own terms,...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE

Jun 11, 2003

Why perfection isn't enough

By Robert Yellin

Light, cool, sleek and refined describe the large celadon bowl that won 1 million yen and the Grand Prix Katsura-no-Miya Prize at the 17th Biennial Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition. This juried exhibition showcases some of the finest works in this "pottery oasis" of Japan and offers a tasty smorgasbord for...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Jun 11, 2003

Mamai Keita and Marc Minelli: "Electro Bamako"

By Tom Bojko

According to the liner notes of "Electro Bamako," a collaboration between Mamai Keita, a former singer in Salif Keita's band (no relation), and French producer Marc Minelli, this album presents "Malian songs mixed with electro jazz on pop structures but with a rock sound." Translation: slick, hip music...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Jun 11, 2003

Junkie XL: "RADIO JXL: A Broadcast From the Computer Hell Cabin"

By Jeff Hammond

Given Junkie XL's successful dance remix of Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation," his appearances on MTV and recent high-profile shows at the Liquid Room in Tokyo, it's difficult to ignore the arrival of his new album, "RADIO JXL: A Broadcast From the Computer Hell Cabin." Not that he's a new...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Jun 11, 2003

Ott: "Blumenkraft"

By Giovanni Fazio

'Blumenkraft" is the debut album from mysterious mix maestro Ott, but to call it a "debut" is kind of like calling slugger Hideki Matsui a "rookie." Ott has spent the last 20 years behind the mixing desk as a producer and recording engineer with artists such as Sinead O'Connor, Brian Eno and The Orb....

CULTURE / Stage

Jun 11, 2003

Kumakawa spreads his wings with 'Swan Lake'

By Nobuko Tanaka

When Tetsuya Kumakawa left The Royal Ballet five years ago at the age of 26, most people said it was too early for the Ferrari-driving superstar to leave his position as a principal dancer with the legendary company he joined in 1989. That was probably because most people didn't know what Kumakawa himself...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES

Jun 11, 2003

Radiohead: "Hail to the Thief"

By Philip Brasor

According to Radiohead vocalist Thom Yorke, the cover art of the new album, "Hail to the Thief," is a road map made up of blocks of words that "rang bells" in his head whenever he listened to commentary about 9/11 and its political aftermath. Radiohead has always invited as much interpretation as the...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Jun 8, 2003

Empowered by consumerism

By Jeff Kingston

THE NEW JAPANESE WOMAN: Modernity, Media, and Women in Interwar Japan, by Barbara Sato. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2003, 241 pp., $19.95 (paper). Barbara Sato's excellent analysis of changes in gender discourse and women's identity in the 1920s recasts the landscape of 20th-century women's...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY

Jun 8, 2003

Synergetic possibilities at the heart

By Michael Pronko

The piano trio is the heart of jazz. This core unit of piano, bass and drums pumps life into the music. All jazz groups, big or small, rely on the piano, bass and drums (called "the rhythm section") for their crucial thrust of energy. Taken out of a larger group, the piano trio contains all the essentials...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Jun 8, 2003

Taisho Sophisticates

By Stephen Mansfield

TAISHO CHIC: Japanese Modernity, Nostalgia, and Deco, text by various contributors. Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2002, 176 pp., 7,390 yen (cloth). There are certain historical periods that resonate with a style and sophistication that is inimitable. They last for only a short, intense few years. The Restoration...

CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF

Jun 8, 2003

Every step you take

As one of the longest-running variety shows, "Downtown DX" (Nippon TV, Thursday, 10 p.m.) is the progenitor for almost every other one. Hosted by the comedy duo Downtown -- Hitoshi Matsumoto and Masanori Hamada -- the shows's format centers on celebrity guests relating anecdotes about themselves.

CULTURE / Art

Jun 6, 2003

Ongoing in Kanto: Ginza & Marunouchi

"Lee Bul: Theatrum Obis Terrarum" till July 13.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.

Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat

By Greg Dvorak

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

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