Playing in support of their new EP “Turns Red”, both the band and the listeners were psyched to be in the venue. The new ingredient, synthesizer has spiced up their tunes, and successfully orchestrated the raging conflicts of their instrumentation into unity.

From the get-go, LITE demonstrated its anti-rhythmic mettle. Jun Izawa (bass) and Akinori Yamamoto (drums) were intense, though restrained, and took control of irregular rhythms.

I hate when I see bands desperately making non-sense craziness to impress audience, and of course, in most of cases, they fail. Well, they indeed did not fall for it. Their rationally intense moves did not only make themselves concentrate on the show but also kept the audience engaged.

Though the band has no front man, preferring each of its members to be viewed as equal contributors, a non-smiling seemingly music geek Kozo Kusumoto slightly dominated the band by blessing their tunes with spooky melodies. Not to mention, more importantly, Jun Izawa’s belligerent bass pounded on their spiral sound in a frenzy.

Click here to see the photos from the gig,

There will be more shows coming up, and no regrets to go to.

2009/11/23 – ERA “SPECTRUM 5″ – Tokyo, JP
2009/11/24 – ERA “SPECTRUM 5″ – Tokyo, JP
2009/12/9 – LOOK – Chiba, JP
2009/12/13 – CLUB ROCK’N’ROLL – Nagoya, JP
2010/1/9 – CLUB RIVERST – Niigata, JP
2010/1/10 – LIVE HOUSE J – Nagano, JP
2010/1/11 – FANDANGO – Osaka, JP
2010/1/16 – BIRDLAND – Sendai, JP
2010/2/10 – CLUB QUATTRO – Tokyo, JP

LITE: MYSPACE

The Sun Sank

Few bands have careers that span three decades, least of all bands with song titles like ‘Banana Chips’ and ‘Muddy Bubble Hell’.  Not only have Shonen Knife endured such a span of time, but they’ve retained the enthusiasm and energy of a band just starting out.  When I spoke to the group before their Toronto show at the Horseshoe Tavern, they seemed excited, rather than the slightest bit weary, to be playing thirty cities in thirty-five days during this tour.

The past few years have seen some line-up changes for Shonen Knife (singer Naoko Yamano is the only remaining founding-member) but it seems like they’ve settled into a cohesive unit with the addition of new bassist Ritsuko Taneda.  Naoko explains, “For this album our bassist Ritsuko joined the band and we became more like a rock band.”

It’s impossible not to get swept up in the enthusiasm and energy that Shonen Knife projects on stage.  In Toronto they drew from their entire catalogue, playing sparingly from the new album in order to fit in older favourites.

Playing fan-favourites rather than just plugging their new album isn’t a surprise from a band that is all about being fun and entertaining.  Naoko is anything but a self-indulgent songwriter and claims, “Music should be a fun thing.  I don’t want to sing about something serious like political things or something.  That’s why I pick the topics for my lyrics as cakes or candies, and sometimes animals.”

Shonen Knife had as much fun as anyone at the Horseshoe during their show.  Naoko jumped during guitar solos, Etsuko bounced along with her drums, and Ritsuko wore a huge grin for the entire set.  This is a band that loves to play live, and sure knows how to entertain their fans from all over the world.

For many groups, Japan is a large enough market to make their living, and with little financial motivation (or opportunity abroad), it is rare to see Japanese bands touring outside of their home country.  Shonen Knife is a whole other story, though.  This year alone they’ve been to Europe, Australia and North America.

When asked what drives them to play in the west, Naoko says, “We are influenced by American and British bands.  The music of Shonen Knife is more westernized than Japanese pop bands and our lyrics are in English.  Mainstream Japanese bands’ lyrics are in Japanese and the melody line is a little bit different than western music.  They’re not so rock, but pop.”

Ultimately, Naoko concludes, “We want to go anywhere there are fans.  We like everywhere in the world.”

Flickr Photo Set: Shonen Knife – Live @ Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto – 2009/10/18

Also see: Review of Shonen Knife’s new album Super Group.

Shonen Knife Website | MySpace

Mono is a band with a profound control over their dynamics.  Within each of their mammoth songs you can expect to hear every dynamic step between a fragile whisper of sound and a barrage of feedback, distortion and propulsive energy. Sometimes the transitions are so slow and subtle that you hardly notice when the change happened, and sometimes the dynamic shift is sudden enough to make you (literally) jump.

Usually beginning with a delicate guitar part, Mono slowly weaves dissonance and chaos into their songs, building and building until they reach a terrifying climax.

Each melody is vulnerable and transient, about to transform from something gentle into a wild beast.  This transformation is powerfully relevant, hinting at the destructive power of what first seems beautiful.  But after the climax, the destructive and chaotic elements retreat and reveal that the beautiful beginning melody was bubbling under the surface the whole time.  In the end, it’s the tender and vulnerable melody that wins.

It’s hard to describe Mono without describing their emotional impact. They make the sort of music that demands an emotional investment and what you put into it determines what you get out of it.  I was left with a feeling that hope and steadfastness triumph over their dark and chaotic enemies, even though the battle can seem hopeless during the worst of it.  Maybe everyone else in the audience had a different impression, but it would be difficult to avoid being moved at all.

And some of the most emotionally affects people in the room were Mono themselves.  They perform in a trance of serene passion, as if their performance is a spiritual act.   Mono are uncommonly powerful performers, and their live show is truly something special.

Mono Website | MySpace

Video:  Burial At Sea

(It turns out my camera is rubbish at filming in the dark, but the audio came through okay so I’m including this video anyway)

A good start with a new-wavy spiritual less-punkish pop group, Thai Kick Murph kicked in with a great vibe into the event, resulting in people already flooding into the venue. Not only Thai Kick Murph was there, but also the promisingly up-and-coming experimental-ish psych-heavy rock OWARIKARA was funky enough to bring a large audience, and was on the verge of taking over the show.

It was already crowded with a warmed up audience by four other bands before Kulu Kulu Garden started. Regardless of riskily having a great line-up for a CD release party, Kulu Kulu Garden drew attention from the audience. Intensely pitchy Kotone’s (vocal/bass) barely understandable vocal, (which in a lot of cases sounds cheesy – hers didn’t, of course) flew into the audience keeping them engaged.  Also, Ryotaro’s punk-influenced guitar riffs and Kyohei’s unexpectedly well-built drums made the atmosphere into a rock comfort-zone.

Even seemingly gaining their followers already and having solid music skills, surprisingly and respectfully Ryotaro Aoki(Gutar) and Kotone Miyahara(Bass/Vocal) leading the band are still young.

The event could have been tough for Kulu Kulu Garden since the sub-headlining acts have decent fan-bases and performed well. As seeing them not ending up with disappointment in comparison to other bands, they definitely did the audience good.

Click here to see pics from the show

MYSPACE WEBSITE