Though, sadly, it is only for about 2 weeks, this trip will include recording sessions for their up-and-coming new album with producer John McEntire (Tortoise, The Sea and Cake), who they have been craving for working with, so I have to say it’s worth it.
Before they took off for this tour, I was lucky enough to interview them.

Q: On Feb 10th, the last day of the new EP tour, I enjoyed your performance much more than last year.  It was one of the best shows this year so far.
What kind of bands do you particularly respect?
A: 54-71. Their live performance has all the elements such as techniques, original ideas, surprises, and funniness, living on their stage. I have never seen any other shows that full of originality.

Q: What were good and regretful things during this tour?
A: Good: Had a great time touring with the band Marvins Revolt (Denmark).
Sad: The band (Marvins Revolt) broke up after this tour.

Q: I heard you are doing some recordings after the US tour, could you tell us about that?
A: We have been longing to have John McEntire to record our music. We couldn’t schedule it last time as he was busy, but this time we were able to have a chance to ask him for it.

Q: About the new EP “Turns Red”, I see there were some new things in your music, such as a synthesizer. Was there anything that influenced you? Were there any changes for making music?
A: We did not get influenced by anyone particular. We thought we have done enough in our former style of music, and wanted to try out something new and challenging. We finally have learned how to make music on our PC.  We did a demo on Garageband.

Q: When are you planning to release the new album?
A: We would like to release it by this Summer if possible.

Q: When it’s released, are you planning to go on tour abroad?  You went to several places on the last tour, what country was the best place to play? and why?
A: We would like to go to Europe again.  Hard to name one place since we have good memories at each location, but Dublin, Ireland, (the hometown of our label) was very lively.

Q: Do you have any confirmed plans for summer festivals? Do you prefer to play outside or inside?
A: We don’t know about summer festivals yet.
We like to play outside, because it seems more fun.

Q: Do you ever feel music is your job? If so, what makes you feel it?
A: We have never felt that music is our job.

- US Tour Dates -
3/4 – RHYTHM ROOM – Phoenix, AZ
3/5 – BOOTLEG THEATER – Los Angeles, CA
3/6 – THE CASBAH – San Diego, CA
3/7 – MERCURY LOUNGE – Santa Barbara, CA
3/8 – THE BLUE LAMP – Sacramento, CA
3/9 – BOTTOM OF THE HILL – San Francisco, CA
3/11 – DANTE’S – Portland, OR
3/12 – CHOP SUEY – Seattle, WA

LITE: MYSPACE

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

I’m not often one for short EPs and singles. I tend to prefer full albums, so shorter releases don’t usually get many plays from me. The format works well, though, for LITE, who pack an album’s worth of ideas into three songs on their new Turns Red EP.

The instrumental math-rock quartet adds synthesizers to their sound with this release, most prominently on opening track, ‘The Sun Sank’.  The overall shift in sound isn’t a huge departure, but it suits them well. What drives this release is that the songs are constantly changing and evolving. It’s important for an instrumental band to vary their sound to stay interesting, so the addition of synthesizers is a logical step for LITE.

Turns Red EP has a lot in common with Zazen Boys, albeit less experimental, and with less edge.  I’m enjoying this EP quite a lot, it’s a good introduction to LITE and feels a lot more substantial than most three-song releases.

Turns Red EP is available on

LITE Myspace | Official Webpage