Fujirockers: The official fansite of the Fuji Rock Festival

Boys Noize live at FRF '10

Boys Noize, real name Alex Ridha, has been at Fuji Rock before, the last time in 2010, and the verdict on that set was pretty unanimous: crazy good. This time for his Saturday post-midnight set in the Red Marquee, the word “Live” appears in parenthesis next to his name, implying a live set. With DJs, a phrase like “live set” could mean a lot of things, so what does it mean here? Earlier this year at Coachella, there was a Boys Noize “live set”, and that meant Ridha teaming up with Skrillex (OMG! ~ and I am only being semi-ironic), but that was billed under the name of the new Skrillex-Boys Noize DJ super group, Dog Blood, and not as a Boys Noize (Live) set, as per the current FRF schedule. Now, Skrillex is playing Fuji Rock on Friday night, and this is so damn tempting to think about. BUT, there is no mention of Dog Blood on the schedule, and Skrillex is booked on Saturday night in Korea. So as tantalizing as this team-up sounds, and I for one am not so secretly rooting for it, we may have to go with the explanation that Boys Noize has given for his “live set”:
Continue Reading…

LA SISTERS NAMED BBC'S SOUND OF 2013

Just a few days into January, a BBC poll of music critics and industry insiders boldly announced Haim, a Los Angeles trio of sisters, were this year’s distinctive sound or “it band.”  It was a bold vote as Haim have just one EP and one single, “Falling,” though insiders are betting this sound will soon drift into every night club, radio, and TV set around the world.

Honestly, Haim was a pretty easy choice as the five other bands at the top of the list were also all female or female fronted (Aluna George, CHVRCHES). Haim also draw heavily from Fleetwood Mac who have already influenced a score of recent US indie acts like Fleet Foxes and Best Coast, with the distinctive 70’s sound just beginning to infiltrate the UK. They also simply sound like summer, a strong draw when there’s snow on the ground in early January.

The question is will Haim live up to all this UK hype? Continue Reading…

LITE LIVE & RAW AT NAGOYA UPSET '12

Local Japanese band Lite have just celebrated their tenth birthday this year and show no signs of slowing down, with the group set to bring their intensely intricate live performance back to Fuji Rock for a third time. The veteran band’s brand of blistering math-rock, liberally mixed with an experimental curiosity, has seen them hailed as one of the most exciting bands to come out of Japan in the last decade. The band’s sound’s foundation can be found in their guitarists, with the dual guitar’s tangled precision, jagged power and intricate melodic hooks enough to catch the ear of the most jaded music listener. Their most recent releases have seen the band add synths and a multitude of percussion into the mix, further varying their sonic style.

Not content to rest on what they’ve achieved so far, Lite have just released another album to add to their bulging discography. Named ‘Installations’, it brings together the band’s styles across many albums and combines them with a polish born of constant touring. The core of the sound is still built on the fast interweaving dual-guitar duels as shown of in tracks such as ‘Echolocation’ and ‘Bond’, but the band has learnt from experiments in previous albums, cherry-picking the successes to intelligently continue their experimentation. The piano and synth use of the band is the main area this can be seen in when compared to previous material.

Continue Reading…

WHO DA MAN? BRAHMAN

Yes, it’s time for another lineup announcement, and this one is good.

Not only have over 20 new acts just been posted over on the Japanese Fuji Rock Official Page, but also all acts are now listed according to what stage they’re playing on. Finally, you can start planning your fes schedule! For a closer look at some highlights from the new lineup, as well as the full list of newly added artists, click past that pesky “more” bit right here. Continue Reading…

Beat blender

DJ BAKU is a Japanese DJ well known in the Tokyo club scene mainly for his deep knowledge of and skill in spinning hip hop music. At Fuji Rock he played three different sets, some collaborating with other artists and then some on his own. I saw him throw down some tunes late at night in the Red Marquee and he was yet another artist tipping his hat and paying his respects to the death of The Beastie Boy’s MCA by playing 3 hit Beasties tunes in a row including “Hey Ladies.” Continue Reading…

Japandroids Getting Folks Riled Up in the Red Marquee

Japandroids guitarist Brian King earned extra favour with the Red Marquee audience by speaking a little Japanese at the beginning of the act’s Sunday morning Red Marquee gig.  Wanting to make a good impression during their first live gig in Japan, within seconds of walking onstage, King said “konnichiwa,” “domo arigato,” and then counted to 10 in Japanese before he and drummer Dave Prowse kicked into opening cut “Adrenaline Nightshift.” Continue Reading…

While tens of thousands of people staked out their spaces for the Radiohead show, a few thousand preferred to enter the relative darkness of the Red Marquee for a more different kind of set. The Shins didn’t have the impressive light show, or even, to be honest, an impressive stage show. What they had was simple, stripped down, and mostly held together by Shins mastermind James Mercer. His outstanding songs were the star of the show, while his performance came in close behind – live, his voice was somehow stronger than on Shins records, and he played with a subtle intensity.

This was not the Shins’ first time in Japan, but at the same time it kinda was, since no original members were in the line-up (Mercer having, you know, fired a few). Either way, he expressed enthusiasm for being here. The new members were a solid back-up of youngish, hipster-looking musicians, but in the end, they were simply solid backing; all eyes stayed on Mercer, who showed the most emotion. He seemed to have chosen the best of the group’s songs – every one of them met with a cry of recognition by the crowd. Instead of packing the set full of songs from his recent Port of Morrow, he performed a sprinkling from each of the records. From his latest he played a good sampling, though, including “Simple Song,” “Bait and Switch,” on which he came across with the rawness of a younger Elvis Costello, He also reached to the previous record with “Phantom Limb” and “Astralia,” for which, perhaps due to the large number of Aussies at Fuji, the crowd went crazy. They also sang along with tracks from previous albums, including “So Say I” and especially “New Slang.”

Overall, there was a rockier edge to the set that isn’t found on the polished records – not that disappointingly distorted sound some bands adopt live, but a genuine infusion of vitality. There may not have been a ton to watch, but there such was much to enjoy.

Photo: 加藤智恵子 For more photos go here.

JAMES IHA ENJOYS RETURNING TO JAPAN

There was a very large crowd assembled inside the Red Marquee despite the fact that Jack White was playing on the Green Stage and that the Smashing Pumpkins were currently on tour somewhere. James Iha is something of a legend in Japan, and when he left the Smashing Pumpkins he was able to sign a record deal directly with EMI, a deal that seems to be lucrative for both sides.

Iha is an Okinawan name, and I guess there was a lot of local support for this fella who spent most of his life in the USA. He speaks little Japanese, and definitely a lot less than the blues legend Elvin Bishop who seems to astound everyone with his ability to speak and read the language.

Still, Iha had to do little to win over the audience as he pulled out a rare Patty Smythe number called “Dancing Backwards” and other songs from his back catalog. The crowd loved his earnest vibe and his charm, making this a definitely s fun lighthearted gig. Iha played other tunes such as  ”Gemini”,  ”Be Strong Now”,  and the up-tempo “Speed ​​Of Love.”  Iha also gave the crowd a little surprise,  singing a full chorus “Mayonaise” of the Smashing Pumpkins.  And his final number was was a cover of “Rock’N Roll With Me” David Bowie. And while much of the audience may not have known this song, I felt it quite fitting for Iha to play this Bowie tune considering his white hair and similar, slight physical stature.

Photos by 熊沢泉 More photos here

Hip

I did ask a proper music writer on Gchat for a one-line summary of various acts, and he told me Electric Guest were “hip wankers resuscitating 80s AOR tropes”. But I didn’t know what that meant, so I came to the festival with no clue.

They were playing in the Red Marquee when I was buying a pizza nearby, and the sound drew me in. It’s sort of like Vampire Weekend playing Soft Cell covers, at least some of the time.
Continue Reading…

WHO KNEW SHE WAS A NETS FAN?

This is her special live edition of Fuji Rock Free Music Mondays!

Annie Mac went all-out. Every week, this high profile BBC Radio 1 Friday night drum and bass DJ provides fans with a Free Music Mondays. Since her set was in fact 1:45-3am on Monday morning, consider this her live installation party version of that.

It was a balls-to-the-wall heavy on the hip-hop set that the crowd loved every minute of. She pulled out Daft Punk, but didn’t dwell on it for long, thankfully. Then she padded into a dark, deep repetition of the Big Bad Wolf, fully equipped with howls. She really didn’t let up for the entire set. Grabbing the mic and shouting out to Fuji Rock and her adoring fans pushing the limit, staying late and sweating into the early morning got deafening cheers from about 2/3 of the Red Marquee. The other 1/3 consisted of people splayed out right there on the dingy concrete and somehow amazingly sleeping through the onslaught of bone-rattling bass.

Her dirty south mixes influenced by American rap like Lil’ Wayne, “A Millie” and Outkast were fierce and pounding. Sporting a New Jersey Nets cap with a slight gangsta tilt to the side gave Annie the “urban” air enough to make what she was playing seem legit.

Un-related to her live set then, later, after sun up, Annie and her posse was sighted hanging out at the Palace of Wonder free party and sideshow attraction arena.  I wonder if she was making deals to come back next year to play the “smallest niteclub in the world?” Better yet, let’s get some Annie Mac dance party action going in the Crystal Palace tent late night next year! What say ye?

Photo Courtesy Smashing Mag 古川喜隆. See more here.

GEORGE ON MACHINES KEEPING IT LIVE

Whether Annie Mac or Mop of Head initiated it I am not sure, but the transition from her DJ set to the live band was speedy and flawless. An oldie with lyrics translated into Japanese karaoke style came on the screen and segued the energetic entrance onto the stage for Mop of Head’s encore performance second-to-last of the festival closing out the Sunday Session.

The lead keys and general hype man has the mop head btw, George on Machines.

So if you thought it was packed for Annie Mac, think again. Mop of Head brought an influx from the side stage right entrance and flooded the place just as they run out on stage.

Mop’s brand of disco/dance live done with guitars (Takuma Kikuchi) and drums (Satoshi Yamashita), plus a hottie on bass (Hitomi Kuramochi), was a great way to keep the energy going until the end. Dancing yourself into oblivion to DJs without that human action can steal your genki. Luckily, the movement up on stage of real people brought new life to the crowd, especially those rudely awakened in the back getting trounced on by drunken dancers.

The Red Marquee needs a facelift, too. But, considering three days of partying, the grime accumulating, the ratted out at wit’s end feel of the place fit perfect with the rambunctious party vibe Mop of Head brought.

Photo courtesy Smashing Mag古川喜隆. See more here.

DE DE MOUSE IS THE GLUE THAT HOLDS DRUMROLLS TOGETHER

DE DE MOUSE + Drumrolls are a great way to end a party.

Like a puppet master constantly pulling at the strings, DE DE MOUSE (aka Daisuke Endo) mixes his seemingly endless catalogue of electronic arrangements with genres such as acid house, amen break, soul and hip-hop to create an energetic form of breakcore on his computer that doesn’t ever sound like it’s gonna stop. Throw another two live drummers into the equation, positioned facing each other on stage in order to heighten the tension, and you have yourself a performance that is sure to get those weary feet moving one last time.

The drummers, who play together as Drumrolls, worked their way solidly through three or four ligament-wrenching live techno tracks before even stopping to take a break. The sizeable crowd at the Red Marquee verbalized their applause when the driving kick drum finally fell quiet for a spell, but I suspect they were equally relieved to finally have a chance to catch their breath. Did I ever notice the switches? Probably. But they were peanut butter smooth, aided by Endo’s original keyboard ear candy.

From what I observed at the Red Marquee on the final night of Fuji Rock 2012, I believe I have come up with a brand new theory in life: You simply can’t have too many full drum kits at a party. After tonight’s gig, it’s an innovative idea that may indeed be worth exploring further…

Photo by 古川喜隆  For more photos, go here.

Michael Kiwanuka uses those wodnderful vocal chords of his

Michael Kiwanuka’s singing is something to behold. He has a deep voice, one the British singer uses primarily to sing soulful numbers, numbers where the vocals are front and center. Yet Kiwanuka never totally commands the music – he didn’t recruit a backing band as a way to show off his attention-grabbing voice. Instead, during his late-afternoon show at the Red Marquee, his voice came off as strong but inviting, Kiwanuka content to let his voice flow with the backing sounds instead of trying to conquer them.

Continue Reading…

Jason Pierce blending gospel, psychedelics and smoke.

Spiritualized is a band with an indie following but which not all that many people in Japan know about. This is a sad fact and when some of my friends who hadn’t heard of them asked me to explain what their music was like, I hesitantly replied by saying that the message in their music is about how life is filled with pain and misfortune and music, drugs and religion are in some way or another either a temporary escape or a true salvation from the sorrow that hangs upon us all at some stage in life. The leader of the band, Jason Pierce was a member of the seminal space rock/psychedelic British guitar band from the 90’s, Spacemen 3. Continue Reading…

It looks like the person in charge of booking the all night acts at Planet Groove on Friday wanted to kick-start the synapses of the dancers in the Red Marque with a lineup of acts that were mostly very heavy (in an industrial kind of way) on the senses and for the most part, not that easy to dance to. Just over an our after Goth-Trad tore the heads off the crowd with his stream of consciousness approach to making a sonic fluid out of the growling dub-step bass, James Blake took to the turntables for a lighter yet still bass filled set of primarily dub-step thunder. Continue Reading…

Howler on the Red Marquee Stage

The crowd gathered at Red Marquee Sunday afternoon didn’t seem particularly energized for anything. It’s a rough period – the afternoon of the last day of a music festival that has been surprisingly, oppressively hot. Summoning up energy for anything at 1:50 in the afternoon sounds like a herculean task. Minneapolis-band Howler had to perform to this crowd, and for the first few songs it didn’t look like the crowd, save for a few arm-wavers in the front, were having any of it. To Howler’s credit, though, they delivered a fast-moving set full of catchy hooks that ended up waking a good portion of the crowd up.

Howler played sun-soaked rock music, the sort of post-Strokes stuff that became the norm of underground scenes for the past decade. The group’s personal touch on it are snarky lyrics (which couldn’t really be heard at Red Marquee) and an appreciation for 1950’s American rock. Some tracks featured beach-pop elements (the appropriate-enough “Beach Sluts”) while others would have felt at home in a Leave It To Beaver-era diner (well, ignoring the lyrics, but it was hard to make those out Sunday). Lead-singer Jordan Gatesmith also came across as very affable, and his laid-back attitude made Howler’s ramshackle rock go down even easier. The crowd could still go for a nap, but Howler helped pick things up Sunday afternoon.

Photo by Julen Esteban-Pretel, see more photos here.

YOUTH GONE MILD

Cambridge-based quartet alt-J were definitely the youngest looking non-Japanese band I’ve seen to date at Fuji Rock. Indeed, next to Buddy Guy they looked positively infantile. But the performance they delivered at the Red Marquee on Sunday afternoon well and truly belied their youthful appearance.

It was a thoroughly poised performance featuring swirling harmonics, intelligent keyboard patterns and skittering drum beats that sound almost dubstep-tinged. Some have gone as far as to dub alt-J’s sound “folk-step,” and yet I for one think this underestimates the musicianship required to create this sound. Joe Newman’s lead vocals hold each song together, acting as the glue that pulls everything together from their peripheries. Continue Reading…

If you have something to say, scream it

There’s just a whole shitload of great hard rock bands toiling at the margins of Japan’s rock scene, and you can always catch a few of them in the morning at the Red Marquee. Yesterday, it was Asparagus, but Lostage has been around even longer; long enough to have gone through at least two personnel changes. The very large crowd that showed up was stoked even before security removed the tape from the entrance, and stomped and shouted to get themselves psyched for the show, holding up white towels with the name of the band magic markered in black. They obviously knew something.

The band seemed oblivious to the ovation when they walked out. Too cool, or too early? Regardless, they gave the people what they wanted, a whiplash pseudo-rockabilly slice of precision hardcore that tore through the shed like a scythe. Bassist Takahisa Gomi’s shredded vocals and Tomokazu Iwaki’s caveman drumming did a number on sensitive eardrums (it definitely was too early for some of us). After several songs of this the band paused for only a moment and members of the audience prodded them to say something. It’s standard operating procedure, even for hard rock bands toiling at the margins: gotta connect personally to your audience. Takahisa obviously wasn’t into it but felt obliged to say something, so he essentially said he had nothing to say, but added he was “moved” by the response. From there the songs became a little less harsh, a little more emo, but no less visceral. Lostage doesn’t get by on any one style, and is as capable of Mogwai-like expansion as it is agile with super-focused punk. They’re a band of few words but big actions. Discover them yourself.

photo: Maeda

THE ARTIST LOVES YOU, REALLY

Coming all the way from France, you would think more dancers would stay up for this special engagement with the young Agoria. I guess you could say it is comfortably crowded in the Red Marquee, but I would not call it packed. Maybe the dance-a-holics got their fix last night at All Night Fuji? Or the Crystal Palace’s reputation preceding itself has stolen the night owl crowd. That, and a shitload of people are splayed out all over the place, too exhausted to stand let alone dance or even make the trek back to their tents I suppose.

Agoria comes out strong. The troops that are sticking with are digging it. He does a nice job of stretching breaks and playing with the bass volume and fades, yet somehow keeping the crucial dancing rhythms he’s been layering intact. Different from his recorded work, and a far cry from his soundtrack concepts, his live show comes much heavier than expected. I suppose the heartbeat of the night is necessary to remind those campers lost in the woods, and people nodding off in and out of consciousness on lawn chairs everywhere within hearing distance that this is the “#$%&’& Tribal Circus at Fuji Rock Festivaaaaaal!

In frequent vocal sample application and organ melodies reminiscent of Derrick May’s early techno, Agoria’s versatility and various roots in the broader definition of the electronic music genre come out.

He was slotted 3:30-5am, though somehow he dodged and dooped the stage manager numerous times, holding his finger up saying, “One more, one more.” That went on 5 or 6 times until around 5:20 the stage manager brought reinforcements and nearly had to pull Agoria from his decks; Mr. Manager was not a happy camper. And the crowd still loving it, whom “The artist loves” – as his simple white T-shirt read– was with him till the bitter end. The Dex Pistols even came to pay homage and hear the finale. Nancy Sinatra though had the last word as she quipped loud and clear and classy, and perhaps somewhat sarcastically at the current situation of Agoria’s chagrin at having such an unreasonable 5am DJ curfew, “Bang bang…shot me down, bang bang.”

And with that, let the stink of the morning after rise. (Big ups to the Seed Japan volunteers picking up after everyone’s mess.) Now as the sun already begins to bake campers in tents, how about a few hours shut eye before we do it all again?

Photo Courtesy Smashing Mag 府川展也. See more here.

GOTH-TRAD PLAYED DARK, DARK MUSIC

Starting off the festivities at Planet Groove on Friday night in the Red Marquee was Japanese dubstep beat maker and producer Goth-Trad (real name, Takeaki Maruyama). I have no idea where he got the inspiration for his performing name because what he played had nothing to do with anything traditional or anything gothic. Continue Reading…

NIGHTMARE DREAM POP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AFTERNOON?

Purity Ring probably has to be one of the unluckiest outfits to appear at Fuji Rock this year. First, there is the question of timing: two o’clock in the Red Marquee on a roasting hot Saturday afternoon and playing at the same time as the illustrious Seun Kuti next door? Ouch, that has to hurt.

Second, the location. The idiosyncrasies of the Red Marquee can really make or break the fundamental sound behind any given electronic outfit, and even traditional four-piece guitar bands are not completely free of its wrath. But the Red Marquee at that time of day offered the worst possible acoustics in which to hear the haunted electronic duo at their finest.

Starting the set off with “Cartography,” the duo’s darkest tune by far, the thundering bassline rippled through the audience in waves and offered a hint at what we could expect to hear if we were sitting in a smaller, more intimate environment. It was perhaps the best of what they reproduced from their debut album, “Shrines” (recently released on 4AD), which not surprisingly pretty much covered the entire set. Continue Reading…

FIEND OR FOE?

Warp Records is one of those labels you can generally trust like an old pair of shoes: you can almost choose something from the catalogue blindfolded and still end up with something that you’d be happy with.

So I was pleased to see that indie/space rock outfit My Best Fiend had been included on the bill at Fuji Rock this year, it being one of Warp’s newest additions and a rare guitar signing at that. What pained me somewhat later was when I realized the five-piece from Brooklyn were playing in the Red Marquee at 11:30 on Saturday morning. The pain intensified upon arriving home in the early hours of Saturday morning from the night before.

Walking out onto the stage for the first time, the band looked as if they’d been dealt a similarly harsh deal. Frontman Frederick Coldwell and keyboardist Paul Jenkins were the only two who weren’t sporting dark sunglasses, and even they looked like they needed them.

If this leaves a bad impression it shouldn’t: They looked 100 times better than the dozens still slumped in chairs scattered around the Red Marquee floor.

And if the five of them looked in any way dishevelled, it certainly wasn’t reflected in their performance. Featuring predominantly songs from their Warp debut, “In Ghostlike Fading,” the guys ripped through their set in next to nothing. Time certainly flies when you’re having fun. Continue Reading…

Chatmonchy Live in the Red Marquee

The Red Marquee was absolutely rammed with people for Chatmonchy’s Fuji Rock debut on Friday afternoon. The concrete area at the back of the stage and the wooded region next to Queen Sheeba were pretty packed too.  This is a show that could have easily taken place on The White Stage.  When the Tokyo duo are brought back (note I wrote “when” … “not” if), hopefully they’ll be moved up to a bigger performance space. Continue Reading…

It takes two

I will assume that the Red Marquee was packed for the D.O.T. show for Rob Harvey and not for Mike Skinner. Harvey was the lead singer for The Music, a band that was phenomenally popular in the UK and Japan only, it seems. Skinner, who was essentially The Streets, had a more detailed popularity, since hip-hop is by definition a local thing. In England, his short stories about the lives of the chronically underemployed made him a superstar in spite of himself. But that’s all over now.

Apparently, Harvey was sick of the guitar rock he was plying with the Music and Skinner had exhausted whatever store of personal angst he’d exposed as the Streets. They got together to make hybrid music that wasn’t exactly what either had been famous for, and Saturday evening at a little after 6 they unveiled their project. Actually, they’ve already released an EP, as well as scads of online tracks, but to appreciate their product you need to hear it in a live setting. As songs, they’re sort of weak, but as a body of intent, they’re very exciting.

They opened with “Whatever It Takes,” an electronica dance track that had Harvey bobbing and weaving to Skinner’s pre-programmed beats. This was a switch. With The Music, Harvey responded to live produced product, and here was Skinner mixing the drums and the background instruments as Harvey made himself the center of attention. The audience didn’t mind at all, and the whole shed boogied as one. From there, Skinner segued from one song to another without really calling attention to the quality of each one. He basically acted as a DJ, mixing the songs into an hour-long show that didn’t discriminate between bad and good. It was all relative. Harvey, used to being the front man, seemed happy to play the willing employee, picking up his guitar when necessary, but for the most part responding to the beats and melodies Skinner produced.

It was an eclectic mix, moving from the standard rock Harvey was famous for to hip-hop (Harvey has developed some nice MC moves) to pop to dub reggae to shameless R&B, which seems to be Skinner’s default mode now. It should be mentioned that Skinner sings, too, quite enthusiastically, and while the crowd in the shed occasionally turned inert, their attention never wavered, and as soon as Skinner goosed a segue with a killer break beat, the place exploded. No one cared about the often insipid lyrics or Skinner’s idea of what pop entails (think boy band in da club). The presentation was the thing, and it pulled everyone’s chain very effectively.

Photo: Ueda

MATTHEW WHITEHOUSE OF THE HEARTBREAKS

They’ve been labeled “Classic Britpop” and this label may not be far from the mark. Most songs have an upbeat bright ring to it and the music was a stark contrast to the powerful back lighting, creating a wonderful silhouette.

At their best,The Heartbreaks conjure up a sound that may resemble others in this genre, but they do have the opportunity to reach greatness such as the The Charlatans and The Smiths. Formed in 2009 by Matthew Whitehouse (vocals, rhythm guitar) the rest of the band are competent musicians with good skill and the ability to create jangle pop guitars and walls of feedback.

They’ve already managed a hit with the song “Liar, My Dear” and there was a strong turnout for this show with the Red Tent shoulder to shoulder and an army of camping chairs parked outside. It was definitely difficult to squeeze in an get a peak at this up and coming band.

More photos here: http://fujirockexpress.net/12/12903.html
Photo credit: 直田亨