I stumbled upon Sheena Ringo hearing her first album being played in a trendy Taipei record shop in the late 90s and became an instant fan. Back then she was known as the Queen of Grunge and her first two LPs really drove that home. After her pop success she expanded to psychedelic jazz with a fabulous vibe of 1960s seedy burlesque clubs and 1930s gin joints. Hands down Japan’s most high concept pop star, she never does a show or tv appearance without pulling out every stop and putting on a mixed media barrage of classy retro homage to the past century of japanese music. Her latest work in 2024 is a series of collaborations with younger pop divas which honor and respect both artists but with the expected and extravagant Ringo flair and polish. Heres a few videos, please watch them all.
Tag: noise rock
Our next show – Ultrabunny – June 14, 2024 Brooklyn
japanese music you should be listening to – part 3
88 kasyo junrei – butsumetsu torishunā
mysterious prog/psych/metal trio with a massive cult following.
Red Bacteria Vacuum – Roller Coaster
punk with hardcore influences – 3 woman power trio from Osaka, did a few US tours (I got to see them in NYC) and then retired to raise their families. Hopefully they’ll be back.
Anadorei – We’ll Break Male’s Fantasy Fuck Your Myth Of Musculinity Full Of Anger EP
The bands name translates as “Ass Slave” and from what Ive seen they are all dominatrixes who do a seriously noisey noise rock act. Here, this review says it all
BiSkaidan (BiS + Hijokaidan) – Suki Suki Daisuki
Famed japanese noise outfit Hijokaidan collaborates with genre-breaking idol unit BiS (Brand New Idol Shit) to do a cover of Jun Togawa’s 1980s hit (as seen in the previous post)
japanese music you should be listening to – part 2
0.8syooogeki – Arishima Machine Gun
translated as “0.8 Seconds and a Crash” the band released 5 albums between 2009 and 2017
Midori – Doping☆Noise Noise Kiss
prog/jazz/noise/punk quartet Midori are a genre all to themselves. Manic and yet cohesive. They released 3 albums before lead Mariko Goto went solo as seems to happen to many japanese bands.
Jun Togawa – Suki Suki Daisuki
1980s avant garde new waver Jun Togawa is kinda sorta like the japanese Kate Bush, but so much weirder. Between her solo works and collaborations and her bands Yapoos and Guernica, she paints a very broad canvas of diverse musical colors and poetically profound and disturbing lyrics. The song represented here is a manically happy love song about a Yandere girl, the kind of psychopath who’s love for you may end in murder. (youll want to turn captions on for the english lyrics!)
Fra-Foa – aojiroi tsuki (pale blue moon)
On the periphery of the japanese late 90s indie rock boom, Fra-Foa were amongst the heaviest and most dynamic grunge-inspired bands. With a massive sound and near psychotic vocals from frontwoman Chisako Mikami, they were a powerhouse small club band but never achieved great fame but released two superb albums before Chisako went solo. The video here is her singing about her deceased brother and the intense emotion is breathtaking.
japanese music you should be listening to – a prelude (updated jan 2025)
Sheena Ringo – tsumiki-asobi (playing with blocks)
Japan’s avant-pop, psychedelic-jazz uber-diva Sheena Ringo started out in the 90s as a grunge rock firebrand during Japan’s indie rock boom era. For more superb 90s alt-rock check her first 2 albums Muzai Moritorium and Shouso Strip. For an update on her latest music see my blog post here.
Perfume – Edge (triangle mix) Live 2020
Its believed that Perfume are not actually just 3 girls from Hiroshima but in fact 3 girls time traveling from the future to show us how pop music will be done 100 years from now. Not just Japan’s biggest technopop idol band for the past 20 years but a collaboration between Shibuya-kei era band Capsule‘s songwriter and producer Yatsutaka Nakata, the group themselves, their high tech choregrapher Mikiko and a vast army of lighting, video, animation and stage mechanical technicians. The end result is a string of lush and catchy albums and live shows that would surpass even Pink Floyd’s fever dreams.
NiNa – Happy Tomorrow
Late 1990s supergroup consisting of Kate Pierson (B52s), Yuki (Judy & Mary), Mick Karn (Japan) and the founding members of Plastics. They made just one album together and its essential listening. Infectious soaring pop!
bothneco – choco-mint flavor
Vocaloid dreampop at its absolute dreamiest from a mysterious anonymous composer known only as bothneco. No information anywhere about who they are, but a playlist of wonderful songs are up on youtube.