tatenokai

The Fall of Tower Records...don't slam your ass in the door on your way out!!

2006-10-16T09:07:00.000-07:00

The news in the music industry is buzzing about the recently announced demise of Tower Records. Perhaps you’ve read the story elsewhere and have formed your own opinions.

If you are living under a rock, here’s a link to a press release: Mercury News

And here’s another link with a more objective point of view: Blogcritics.org

For many of us, this is less than ‘news’ as the company had filed Chapter 11 back in August. Some have already heralded the company’s downfall as a result of music downloading. That is rationalization of horse shit of the nth degree. Stop your hankering around that issue and smell the vomit.

The information cited above identifies two other factors involved in Tower’s availability for sale, and they truly outweigh the gravity of music downloading by far.

If you have been in a “record” store lately, the truth that the current glut of industry-sponsored KRAP upon our ears is a grim reality for outlets such as Tower…20 years ago, the experience of spending a segment of your hard-earned cash on a slice of music was a more robust and reliable experience. Now, what do you have? Nu-metal, emo, and Fergie, multiplied almost infinitely. Many of us have been trying to send subtle (and less-than-subtle) messages to the record industry for years: Stop producing SHIT and we will stop avoiding it in the checkout counter.

Tower’s first and foremost internal enemy has always been their under-par business strategy. Why would you pay up to 25% more for a title you can get at Best Buy or Target at a better price? And with better service…Tower has always pretended to be a “little record shop around the corner” by hiring sensitive, sniveling art-fags as clerks and hopelessly moronic college-grad dopes as management. Charge more for the KRAP on your shelves and force us to buy it from people we want to beat up is a GREAT way to stay competitive. I can tell you that the only FAIR DEAL I ever got from Tower Records was from their facility in Shibuya, where I knew I was getting a fair price compared to other locations. The reason: Japan ‘enjoys’ a price-fixed entertainment media structure. You pay 3000 yen for a SADS CD at any record store in Shibuya, whether it’s Tower or not.

My ears are weary of the ‘music downloading’ argument to the point of violent nausea. The industry HAS data that confirms that those who DL are those who make intelligent buying decisions, steering away from Fergie and purchasing items from artists who have more substance. The breakdancers and hip-hop goofballs will spend their cash on the ‘new big thing’ but they will be moving on tomorrow; while some of us will discover bands like maybe MARILLION and seek out their backcatalogue over time. Remember the old days, when a work with SUBSTANCE stayed on the charts for a long time? PINK FLOYD’s “Dark Side of the Moon”…not the greatest album ever made, but if you spent $12 on it, hey…you ARE getting your money’s worth. That Justin Timerblake CD is destined for mold over the same amount of time, count on it. “Dark Side” and its perpetual presence on the top 100 album charts for YEARS confirms what we already know…klassics continue to sell, KRAP does not.

Sayonara, Tower Records…nice job, way to work it out…this company is OUT OF BUSINESS because the record industry has been sending them LEMONS to sell, and they are OUT OF BUSINESS because they didn’t know their business. If ‘music downloading’ had never happened, they still would have sold out. And there WILL be more, mark my words.

KSHE Classics...let 'em PLAY!!!

2006-08-14T03:11:00.000-07:00

The following is a comprehensive 'quick history' with reference material that defines the "KSHE Classics" phenomena. I wrote this originally for a series of compilations I assembled for some music forums I'm active at; the series is still active, and I'm working on number 3 now.

What are KSHE CLASSICS you may ask? Unless you grew up in Midwestern America during an era that encompasses the very late 60s through the mid 80s, you may have no idea. Some music fans on the east or west coast (and in many cases, the south) may have seen inconspicuous bins of very high-priced collectors’ LPs bearing this label at record conventions and wondered “why would anybody pay $20 for a Doucette album?”…

KSHE 95, located in St. Louis, Missouri, was just a tiny dot on the FM map in the sixties when it single-handedly pioneered what is known today as AOR Radio (album-oriented rock), a largely anti-commercial radio format that focused more fairly on any given band’s catalog for airplay than upon Billboard top 40 charts. The local popularity of this format resulted in a wave across the nation (and, subsequently, the WORLD) that systematically shunned record industry data to generate listener interest by showcasing more cryptic matter by bands that were just as important (if not more so) than what was being played on larger stations with better frequencies.

Even during the mid-70s, when AOR was truly in its stride, all parties involved continued to look toward KSHE for inspiration as a template for AOR format success. This format gave us the best of the best, even when they achieved chart and/or commercial success. The list of acts graduating from AOR to mega-stardom is way too long; just think of everything from RUSH to DEEP PURPLE to SAGA to RAINBOW to LOVERBOY to TRIUMPH to MONTROSE and all points in between as a guide. 70s and 80s rock would NOT have happened without the auspicious influence of AOR radio, and KSHE was the definition of this format, from the beginning through modern times, as they still include the “classics” as part of their programme.

While I was growing up, I remember my local AOR station, Y95 (WYFE, Rockford, Illinois) as a shining lynchpin of my rock n roll heart. Never following their example as much as heeding their guidance, this station launched a hundred entries into my youthful record collection, and injected a million solid memories from my childhood and adolescent years from their endless stream of “whos” and “whats” from that era. Y95 came in strong, 24/7, on any radio available back then…but KSHE came in loud and clear mostly at night, when radio interference was lessened. My father’s pimped out hi-fi in the living room picked up the station beautifully (although ambiently fuzzy and staticky) during the evening hours; the reception was good enough for me to rig secondary speakers from the family hi-fi into my basement bedroom just for late-night forays into the KSHE universe.

KSHE had a knack for identifying and exposing bands not only from other states and countries, but also from tapping into the stream of unknown Midwestern rock acts for its airplay. Many years later, as a frequent participant at local record conventions, I found myself selling records (and buying as well) for very high prices when I marked selections in a bin labeled “KSHE CLASSICS”…people from all over who grew up in the area know and love this very special segment of the rock world, and as we all age we ache more and more from that fantastic music and those wonderful feelings of yesterday.

While some KSHE purists have set ‘rules and regulations’ on what IS a KSHE Classic and what ISN’T, I am not that discriminating. What I’ve collected over the years in various formats are KSHE Classics from my perspective. You can find many playlists and information on the internet regarding the vast ocean of these treasures, but everyone’s recollection is a little different. Again, personal taste and experience has something of an influence, but I feel that what I consider "tr00" KSHE Classics doesn’t suffer from any hindrance associated with this.

For more info on KSHE:

KSHE Classics – “Mama Let ‘em Play” –great informative article from the Classic Rock Homepage

KSHE Classics Listing Page –excellent resource and listing with links

Depeche Mode "Speak and Spell" - Music for cookies and milk

2006-08-10T04:39:00.000-07:00

I was listening to this album in the car yesterday and, as usual, many memories started popping up. I’m one of those “cursed” with the music/memory paradigm…you know, when you hear a particular song and/or album, you can recall when you first heard it, or what the weather was like, or what you were wearing, or some string of events that may or may not be related…

Depeche Mode’s debut album was originally released in 1981 with 11 tracks. They were one of the ‘original’ Mute Records stable bands (along with Fad Gadget), and were popular initially based on their unique sound and cult following driven by many successful underground club performances. While they were originally signed to Some Bizarre, and recorded a demo for the label, for some reason they went to Mute and the rest is history.

They were hailed at first as “innovative,” but most of us know this simply isn’t true. Where this album is nothing less than a singular masterpiece isn’t dependent upon their originality or any technical ‘innovation’…if anything, the group (and producer/label boss Daniel Miller) deserved a large slap for ripping off and/or gratuitously borrowing elements from the works of Gary Numan, Bowie/Eno, Kraftwerk, and others. What is special about this release is that it is a marvelous representation of boiled, cleaned, and sanitized electronic pop at its infancy; completely void of emotion, classical influence, and personality. Kraftwerk innovated the design and implementation of electronic instruments to demonstrate classical music with a minimalist influence, for example – Schubert, Mozart, et al. David Bowie brought this concept (along with Brian Eno) into the pop music world, but not as pop music, but as vehicles for minimalist and experimental technique coupled with mutated pop elements featured as ‘companion pieces’ within the Bowie/Eno trilogy of albums (“Heroes,” “Low,” and “Lodger”). Numan moved the use of synthesizer from an ‘accent’ instrument (special effect) to a more cohesive ‘band’ instrument (even temporarily replacing the guitar on some albums) with his groundbreaking album “Replicas.”

Depeche Mode wasn’t the first to assemble a combo based entirely upon the use of synthesizers, but their theory and execution was so mechanical and flawless, it was nothing less than a sizable cry into the stratosphere for exploration, and many heard the call. The use of cold, dry, and inhuman weapons to perform routine, freshly passé dance-oriented (disco) music had never been so successful. Their later work presented the same presentation but with more emotion and feeling (although naïve at first, and then nearly condescending and self-indulgent); while albums like “Some Great Reward” are fantastic in their own right, they all pale in comparison to the synthetic and sterilized virtue of “Speak and Spell.”

This is largely due to the fact that co-founder and main songwriter Vince Clarke left the band soon after “Speak and Spell” to become half (or part) of Yazoo, Erasure, and The Assembly. These bands followed the same mold as later Depeche Mode material, where the feeble injection of emotion somehow justified the impulsive use of synthesizers as the ‘main voice’…a puzzling dichotomy. Clarke was also the ‘main thrust’ behind some of Depeche Mode’s earlier naïve homosexual lyric base, popping up in songs like “Boys Say Go!” and “What’s Your Name?”, for starters.

Well, back to MY side of the story now!

My introduction to this band came sometime in 1982 through an article in CREEM magazine (Boy Howdy!) about the ‘New Romantic’ craze in British New Wave…Depeche Mode were featured along with Our Daughter’s Wedding, Ultravox (of whom I was already a fan), Visage, Orchestral Manouvers in the Dark, John Foxx, and Soft Cell (another fave at that time) and a host of others. Subsequently, I came into possession of their material through 2 compilations, via the tracks “Just Can’t Get Enough” and “Dreaming of Me.” In the socially-sequestered burg I lived in at the time, I was unable to obtain their LP, even through my favorite record shop, and enjoyed the band’s work through these two songs alone. I was moderately obsessed with the ‘New Romantics’ movement for a short period of time, and having been a longtime fan of Bowie, Numan, and Kraftwerk, I was genuinely interested (in an elevated sense) in Depeche Mode. The homosexual connotations in their material didn’t sway me at all, where it would have done so for others…I was not ‘that way’ and I could care less. I mean, Depeche Mode (and many of these other bands) were essentially ‘dance music’ and I despised dancing also…music is music. While some genres inherently promote some kind of lifestyle (like the stereotypical rage of drugs, drinking, fighting, sex, etc.) with Depeche Mode’s taste for fashion, homosexuality, and dancing out of the picture for me…ha ha…there’s no other activity left. Their music at this time was so ‘whitebread,’ eating cookies and drinking milk are about the only hedonistic activity that’s comparative for partaking in.

External of my small circle of friends, there was another ‘clique’ that existed, of which I was on more than speaking terms with one fellow, Dan. Dan’s best friend Brian K, I learned, possessed the “Speak and Spell” LP and I went ballistic trying to get a copy. Not wanting to slander Brian K too much (he recently passed away, leaving his wife and kids, and was more than likely a nice guy – you have to remember, the events I’m discussing occurred in the early 80s, during those ‘weird’ high school daze), he was the example of my first encounter with an ‘elitist.’ For unknown reasons, I could not persuade him to tape the LP for me, despite my most furious efforts. Finally, it was through Dan (who was enamored with my sister) that I was able to obtain a copy of the LP and I was, as you can surmise, blown away.

Hearing this now, and at other times, brings back that summer in full bloom. The teenage confusion in my heart, the unnecessary bewilderment about the events in my life, the terminal happiness of my youth and this period of time in particular. Although I finally obtained a copy of the LP in late 1983, the tape is still in my rack (but nearly transparent) and the experience solid. “Speak and Spell” didn’t change my life at all, but it’s one of those musical memory nuggets…I hated the town I lived in, and didn’t understand the relationships I was involved in. Other than a few true friends, most of my peers were mysterious to me and very aloof towards me. I was young; I learned much later that this is pretty much the social makeup of the ages…I wasn’t playing the same game as others, and while I was proud of it and reaped the strength it lent me, I was sad and confused about it at the same time. “Speak and Spell” and it’s nihilistic soundscape was an appropriate soundtrack for that summer, and an example of the cold nature of my peers.

That’s what I feel when I hear it…NIHILISTIC. Bring on the cookies and milk...

Memories of Japan (the GREATEST Summer of my life)

2006-08-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

Last week marked the fourth anniversary of my return from my visit to Singapore and Japan, and subsequently, the fourth anniversary of the realized sadness in my life that I’m not there now!

Of course, reality is what it is…could my family and I exist in Japan? It’s probable, but not very likely. I couldn’t exist in Japan without my family, so the likelihood of my ever living there is miniscule. I exist in Japan through my Japanese friends, my non-Japanese friends who will soon be living there teaching English, my memories of my visit there, and my continuous self-induced immersion in as many aspects of Japanese culture as I can identify.

In times of stress and confusion, I have turned to “thoughts of Japan” for years, even before my adventure there. Since my visit, the performance of this stress-reduction strategy has increased tenfold; having been there, lived and breathed every essence of what is nihongo possible during my brief stay, seen, smelled, touched, and tasted the experience of Japan…it’s all had such a profound effect upon my life.

Everybody’s got their quirks, and I’m no different…when the road is rough, nothing says “take it easy, sport” like some enka music, a cup of green tea, and a hot bowl of miso. As much work as it is, I really enjoy Japanese cooking (especially rolling sushi) as a ‘diversion,’ plus my kids always want to participate and I think that’s fantastic. Alternately, a hot bowl of udon and a kool chambara flick is a great ‘diversion’ as well…I get the best of both worlds; feudal Japan and tasty noodles!

Probably one of my favorite Japanese ‘diversions’ is watching tapes of Japanese TV shows, especially the music programs. As my understanding of the Japanese language progresses (and I start to FINALLY recognize some of the characters!), this is a great way to hear some great music, watch some fun performances, and also ‘feel around’ the language as most of the programs post the lyrics at the bottom of the screen.

For years, I had a wallpaper on my desktop at work that was a beautiful picture of Fuji-yama with a neat little red torii at the bottom of the frame, dwarfed immeasurably by the majestic peaks. I put something different up some months ago, but the way things are going now (especially now that I realize it’s been four years since I visited Japan), I think Fuji-yama needs to come back…soon…

BACK...again?!?

2006-08-07T09:51:00.000-07:00

In the interest of trying to keep this going...I am once again committing myself to a renewed attempt at updating here once in a while, with some fresh links, and the like.

Since I've increased my frequency in posting on a variety of forums, I've been spending my free time (ha ha) doing that instead of this. Robbing Peter to pay Paul, as far as free time goes.

I've debated the possibility of posting some zip files links here, but don't think I will. If anything, I may post links to some of my KSHE Classics Series (a self-compiled 6-volume retrospective series on the phenomena of the midwest and the advent of AOR rock music). I've been successful at the first two volumes, and now that summer vacations are over, I'll be working on the third soon.

I'm also going to start posting a link to this blog on my sig file at some other forums I participate in, so for those of you seeing this wretched inaudible diary of confusion and mayhem...WELCOME, and please leave some comments. I promise not to ask of you that which you cannot provide, or that will not change the world.

For instance, if you think I should post some links to zipped files, tell me. If you think I'm gay, whatever. If you think I need drugs to make me sane, that's probably the worst idea I could ever entertain.

That's how I roll.

WHERE HAVE I GONE?

2006-02-15T03:40:00.000-08:00

CATCHING UP…what a concept! It’s been so many MONTHS since I made a new entry…just like a lot of things I’m involved in I get STARTED but I sometimes do not FINISH…

Now that I’m using Blogger for Word, perhaps I can expedite the ‘catching up’ but I assure you, there are gaps…that I won’t fill.

It’s been crazy at work…around the time of my last entry, we were involved in building a new, double-secret project for the U.S. NAVY that we’ve been developing for six years. I was the PM for this, as well as the lead for the installation team in San Diego over the holidays.

Lately, I’ve been hustling at work during our slow period (first quarter…ugh) to keep everybody busy, stuff going out the door, money coming in. Being busy sure beats being slow, all the way around.

Some highlights (and lowlights, eh?) of the past few months…

My best friend Dave Conyer was shot and killed by the police in my old hometown of Decatur, Illinois, right before Christmas of 2004 during a stand-off where a domestic altercation ensued between he and his wife. She and their children saw the whole thing…and I did not find out about this until my sister returned from my 20th class reunion (which I did not attend). Dave was a very solid pal, and back in my formative days, Dave and I lived our punk rock lives to the extreme, from wearing kool records thin to hurling through plate glass windows. Lost touch with him when I left Decatur. I always knew Dave would “go out like that” but to find out about it is a sincere shock to my system. R.I.P., my friend…I’ll never forget you.

I spent the better part of the holidays in San Diego on an install; it was nice there but it’s a weird place. While there, I hooked up with my good friend Michael and have some kool pictures to share.

I also spent Thanksgiving with my parents in Peoria, IL and hooked up with Mark while there, have some pics of that as well.

Have been VERY active in posting on my favorite site, sharing my personal impressions and relevant historical data (and sometimes…irrelevant)…will share the text of some of those postings here also.

Ta ta for now!!!!

I'm not dead...

2005-08-27T12:13:00.000-07:00

...I'm just that damn busy. I have a lot of catching up to do...weekly tunes (it won't be retroactive), a few comments about some news I learned after my absence at my high school reunion (my best friend during my high school is dead) and some notes on my current reading...

but, nobody's reading this anyway!

Star Wars - the final episode?

2005-08-09T06:36:00.000-07:00

My wife and I finally got a chance to see "Episode III-Revenge of the Sith" and my feelings about it are a bit mixed. Overall, it was a great movie. I feel somewhat disappointed; "oh, no more Star Wars movies!" but simultaneously relieved that the 'waiting' is over for the next one. The truth is, most of my feelings (the mixed ones) are of this nature...a good thing and not-good thing.

Rather than produce a sterile dissertation on the cinematic inequities and personal errata involved, I'll just bulletize the "not-good" and "good" by topic, as it comes to me...

Hayden Christensen
Did considerably more 'brooding' than acting.
'Brooding' is kool!

Natalie Portman
What happened to the kool white-tight suit she wore in the last movie?
That's OK...she was pregnant for most of this one, and the suit would have looked a little different.

Palpatine/Lord Sidious
All the 'surprise' was lost in Episode One, when I remember that the emperor in ROTJ was identified by his name (Palpatine) on the Star Wars cards that came out.
His 'transformation scene' was kreepy.

What's in a name/bloodline?
My willing suspension of disbelief was difficult to maintain as the surviving Jedi formulated a plan to 'hide and seperate' the Skywalker Twins, for two reasons: (1) they should have changed Luke's last name to 'Johnson' or something, you'd think the Empire could have found a pup named Skywalker pretty damn easy in less than 18 years, (2) they shouldn't have called Leia a 'princess' for the same reason, which I'm sure that I do not know.
In support of the original series storyline, it couldn't have been done any other way!

Darth Vader suit

I was hoping that the 'origin' of the Darth Vader suit would show us a 'year one' version of the famous mask & cowl; I scoffed a bit at the original suit (in ROTS) being the same exact model found in the first Star Wars movie (ANH)...you'd think that improvements and modifications would have been made in the course of 18 years where the first time we see DV in ANH, he is the 'latest and greatest version'.
Darth Vader is KOOL.

The Jedi
What a bunch of sissies! And who put a guy like Mace Windu in charge, thinking he and 4-5 others could take on a Sith Lord just like that?
The slaughter of the Jedi (executive order 66!) was beyond kool, a great part in the movie.

Let's go to the DARK SIDE...
I was expecting Anakin's journey to the Dark Side to be one driven by power, primarily, not driven by a contrived dream of Padme's death.
Once he went, he went FULL BORE and that was breathtaking to watch!

Now, I've got nothing to wait for except for the next X-Men movie!

Class Reunion

2005-08-06T08:42:00.000-07:00

Tonight, in beautiful Decatur, Illinois, the 20th Reunion of MacArthur High School's class of 1985 will take place, and I won't be there.

Other than the fact that it's over 6 hours away, and occurring at a bad time (busy at work, home, etc with other responsibilities that make such travel a gruesome adventure), I'm not fond of reunions. True, there are a few good friends I'd like to see again, but for the most part, I'm confortable with everyone there remembering me as I was...even though I'm not much different now. Heck, I'm so normal these days, in comparison...

My family relocated to Decatur from Freeport, Illinois, in the summer of 1983. When I moved there, my life definitively changed. Freeport was a very small, rural, and marginally oppressed town of about 27,000 back in 1983, and still is today. Until that summer, I had lived in Freeport since 1975 and despite the gross distance from relative civilization, my formative years there were spent hounding the local record shops for discs that 'nobody else would buy' and being the first (along with my friend and band-mate Mark Frazier) to have a spiked hair-do. We knew nothing of the brand new MTV and had never been to a punk rock show, but still listened to CRASS and the DEAD KENNEDYS in large amounts at high volume. I felt nothing less than stifled there, and realized this when I found myself reading Conan books alone in the woods and canvassing the local public library to carry Talking Heads LPs while cutting out articles about Gary Numan and Wazmo Nariz from their seldom-perused Rolling Stone collection. We had to travel to Rockford, IL (30 miles away, and difficult to persuade parents to drive there) to visit more auspicious record stores and purchase magazines such as Trouser Press and Creem.

Decatur in 1983 was a breath of fresh air, despite the fact that I was so nervous about moving I manifested my fear physically in the form of severe nausea and diarrhea. I could walk 3 miles to the Co-op record store, where upon entering, would hear the newest Captain Sensible LP on the hi-fi and could purchase the first album by the Smiths...Decatur at over 100,000 people was a paradise of adjusted civilization for me. The best part of it was, I left my past in Freeport behind me...nobody knew anything about my 'quirky' childhood, or passed judgement on my 'bizarre' taste in music or the spiked hair-do. Truth is, only the guys in Voc-Ed made fun of my hair, and for the first time in my life girls were interested in me more than I was in them, a complete reversal of my 'dating' life in Freeport.

Over the next couple of years, the ruralism of Decatur began to raise its head, and eventually, I was only marginally happier there than I was in Freeport...but the relative civilization comparison stood strong, and when I left for college in 1985, my exposure to alternative culture was ten-fold of that which I stood to experience in Freeport.

So, a toast to my good friends in Decatur...I do miss you all, and look forward to a day in the future when we can meet head-to-head and remember road trips to Champaign, IL and fitting 8 people in a 1976 Ford Pinto...until then, this is where I am now and I don't feel right 'going back."

60 years ago...

2005-08-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

A black day, indeed...today is, of course, the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, an act that many choose to believe was the only way to end WWII, regardless of the cost to the people of Japan.

As you can read here, in an article from today's Asahi shimbum, 32 nations are attending the ceremonies at the Hiroshima Peace memorial, but the typically arrogant U.S., the criminals behind this foul act of social injustice will not be attending due to other pressing matters...such as continuing to ignore the fact that they cannot and refuse to face the aftermath of their oppressive xenophobia and megalomania.

W should have been there, but not on his hands and knees...indeed, he didn't order the bomb to be dropped. So, who should be the one to stand in front of the Japanese people and apologize for this insane act of supremacy? Japanese aggression in WWII? The U.S. does the same thing (worse, much larger scale) today...

The icing on the cake is the simultaneous news that the African Union will no longer support the G-4 U.N. reform, meaning that Japan and 3 other countries will have no chance of sitting on the U.N. Security Council (read about it here). I wouldn't be surprised at all to find the "allies" behind this, as many Western superpowers fear the possibility of Japan's revision of the constitution in the future to alter the nature of their military.

At any rate, the U.S.A.'s refusal to participate in the peace ceremony only solidifies the international assumption that we continue to be intimidated by foreign power and will not acknowledge the nature of our part in Global genocide...

weekly tunes review #1

2005-08-05T05:45:00.000-07:00

on Fridays, I will attempt to compile a list with personal reflections on what I've been listening to for the week...since "Music is the best" (per Frank Zappa) such nonsense is important to me...

IGGY POP - "SOLDIER" (1980)
Growing up, I had copped an attitude about any Iggy Pop that wasn't Stooges or didn't have an Asheton, Williamson, or Bowie involved (even some of the material with the latter bothered me, a little)...in July of 1987, Jeff Wilson said to me (as he did many times) while I was record-hunting at Mother Murphy's, "dude, you've gotta buy this record" so I did and wore it out in less than a week...I haven't listened to this album in YEARS!! I still get the goosebumps when I hear "I'm a Conservative"..."Hello my friends! Is everybody happy?"
mp3.com album info and review

YOUJEEN - "The Doll" (2001) and "BEWITCH" (2002)
Never heard this before, gave it a chance...great J-Rock with female vocals, she's kind of a cross between Alanis Morrissette (sp) and Ringo Shiina...pretty kool and catchy stuff, at least this week...
YesAsia Youjeen info

SEX MACHINEGUNS - "Aijin 28" single (2005)
New single by the second best Japanese metal outfit (ONMYOZA being the best, by far)...very kool stuff, as always, but I miss the outrageousness of the 'old' SMG (w/Noisy, Sussy, etc.).
CD Japan Aijin 28 info

G.I.S.M. - "Performance of War" (1998)
One of my favorite Jap HC bands from the 80's, Mark bought this years ago and taped it for me...happily, I've got a digital copy now...classic, bizarre HC/Metal thrash...
Info on CD and details from GlobalDarkness

TWISTED SISTER - "Under the Blade" (1992)
Classic first TS LP...nothing else to say about it!!
Review from KickedInTheFace
TS website

BOSTON - 1st 2 albums
I got these partly to burn some tracks for my wife, but also because I had to have them! Early BOSTON does rule, you know...

TURBONEGRO - "Apocalypse Dudes" (1999)
I remember these guys from the early 90s and didn't think much of it...at all. Now, I've rediscovered their newer material, and if I had ten thumbs, they'd all be up!! This album has run on my CD player in the car no less than 3 times this week (a rarity, especially when you consider that I did 2 Pimsleur Japanese lessons in the car this week as well); its more-than-obvious nod to Iggy/Stooges era and MC5 (even a smack or two of old MISFITS, a-la sing-along stuff) is very refreshing; they way they revisit the genre(s) and the craziness of their lyrics reminds me very much of the same approach taken by THE DARKNESS...TURBONEGRO must be destroyed!!!
Turbojugend USA fansite

ENKA BLOCK
As a rule, and to retain my sanity, I listen to regular doses of enka on a regular basis...this week, lots of Sachiko Kobayashi and Itsuki Hiroshi!!
Barbara's Enka Home Page

NOTABLE QUOTE:
"Each day, you wake up and get out of bed knowing that there is sh%t waiting for you. Each day is a struggle, a battle and you must prepare for these battles, these wars. You have to be prepared...you either fight to win or you throw up your hands and admit that you are f#cked."
---Joey deMaio, MANOWAR

P2P - fun for friends or a threat to the economy?

2005-08-04T16:51:00.000-07:00

Today began in darkness...just as I was addicted, quite seriously, to Bunko (the infamous PublicMM Tracker) last year when it was mercilessly removed from my life right before Christmas, now my favorite BT site has been shut down for reasons (apparently legal) that are unknown to me right now.

I won't disclose the name of the site, yet...friends of mine run it and I'm not sure what kind of trouble they are in, so I'll hold off for now. While Bunko went down for unknown reasons also (it may have been more technical than legal), this latest occurence has not only found me in a mess, withdrawal-wise, but a bit kreeped out, as I usually get when trackers are forced out and the RIAA sues another bunch of people...

My stand on file-sharing has always been a fundamental one:

When I was a kid, we used to tape our records and swap them...this way, we knew what we wanted when we went record shopping, and what to avoid. The technology of the day supported this practice, and even though some folks in the record industry tried to tell us that "home taping is killing the record industry" it didn't happen...record industry continued to grow.
When I was in college, I began to rely on tape-trading heavily (thanks to you, Mark~!) in the same manner...lots of stuff could be yours only through active trading..."your list gets mine"...again, the technology supported this practice, and it brought a small, grass-roots music movement from its infancy into a mega-corporate marketing machine...I'm talking primarily about Punk and Metal.
Now, with file sharing, you have a combination of both aspects...the opportunity to sample before you buy, and the interaction with friends who share your passion for whatever type of music you are obsessed with. Moreso now, the technology supports this practice, and is even driven by it...where would file compression, high-speed internet, and digital media be without the push that file-sharing has provided to drive it to its current state?

What I'm ultimately having trouble understanding is why did Bunko go down (Japanese music only) and my current fave site (underground music), when there is only 'sector-specific' music involved, that by and large doesn't affect the corporate music industry at all...the RIAA could care less about Japanese music or D.I.Y. hardcore demos or German power metal...all completely out of its jurisdiction...

Whereas other trackers and BT sites that offer Eninem and Jessica Simpson by the handful continue to operate...on that account, it's just not fair...

Downhill Battle has always been a source for solace in times like these, and I visited their site during my break again today...I particularly appreciate Steve Albini's diatribe on the truth about the RIAA's claims that file-sharing denies artists their royalties...don't let the media fool you, these guys don't get the money they should from the recording industry, and have to tour and live like dogs to get the money they've got. The economy is what's killing the music industry, that and the crap that comes out anymore...

First Daze Here...

2005-08-04T11:48:00.000-07:00

konnichiwa...my first post!

Yes, I've lept onto the blogger bandwagon...just like most of the rest of the world. And for the same reasons, I suppose, as anyone else...sometimes, your head gets full of stuff and you have to do something with it. Since things are so fast-paced and centered around hedonistic self-gratification, let me just say that this somewhat trendy concept of blogging fits right in with everything that's happening right now in the world that's passing us by each day.

Who am I...those of you who know me, aren't asking this question...but may learn a bit more about me (or, specifically, the stuff that's in my head) by reading this HTML drivel. Those of you who don't know me...how in the world did you get here? I won't be boring the internet community with a self-flagellating bio; you'll have to pick through these bits and pieces to figure out who I am...and once you've got it figured out, drop me a line, I need to be reminded sometimes...

Either way, thanks for stopping by...whether you know me or not.

I intend to share information, useless or otherwise, on a regular basis (during lunchtime, more or less). And, I'm serious about the lack of secret messages.

More to add later...and then some.

ja matta!

(photo: myself and my good friend ULTRAMAN, Tokyo 2002; the best summer of my LIFE...)