Tokyo's Coolest Sound

On Friday July 12 was a show of Playtime Rock, the Nagasaki-based band of Takanami K-taro (ex-Pizzicato Five) (blog). Nagasaki being part of the Kyūshū island in the south of Japan, it's a rare treat to see them on stage in Tokyo! The show was held at the very nice Saravah Tokyo in Shibuya.

This event was organized by a band called BANK, actually the same band as the first time I saw K-taro live in 2007 (report). So this was a happy and nostalgic match for me!

BANK played first. The 5-piece band is led by Nakamura Dai, and members include Hirami Fumio (ex-Love Tambourines) on bass and Ōhashi Nobuyuki (Pate, ex-Bridge) on guitar, both of who are also part of the recently formed Misola. The two other members are Suzuki Bō on drums and Kitami Nao on keyboards.

During their set were constant ocean wave background sounds that helped freshen the atmosphere after the recent hot days (it's was over 35C on that day in Shibuya!). The guitar-driven pop songs all felt very good. I especially enjoyed the drums that used a bass drum, hi-hat, and what looked like a Roland SPD-SX sampler that produced many cool retro sounds.

Next up was Playtime Rock, main members Takanami K-taro (guitar and vocals) and Ichiba Mina (flute and vocals) were accompanied by guitarist Hirami Fumio (BANK, Misola), bassist Sally Kubota (Sally Soul Stew, Love & Revolution, ex-Phantom Gift/Les 5-4-3-2-1), and drummer Tsuji Mutsushi (ex-Oh! Penelope).

On July 5th was the 4th edition of Vanilla Beans' series of shows with a live band. Every time they share the bill with another band. Last time was Kaji Hideki (report), and this time was Nomiya Maki (ex-Pizzicato Five)! Vanilla Beans just keep strengthening their Shibuya-kei connections. Actually they have been covering Pizzicato Five's "Tokyo wa yoru no 7ji" and "Baby Portable Rock" for a while, so this time's bill allowed for a lot of anticipation. As always the show was held at rock venue Shinjuku Loft.

So first on stage was Nomiya Maki & BIBA, that's her unit with guitarist Bravo Komatsu (who previously toured the world with Pizzicato Five) and visual artist UJINO. Ujino had first collaborated with Maki for a show at the Luminato festival in Toronto (Canada) in 2010. At the back was DJ Noboru, Maki's longtime hair & make-up companion.

The show started just past 7 o'clock, opening perfectly with "Tokyo wa yoru no 7ji". Maki appeared in a white one-piece dress, the front had a trompe-l'œil print of a pink dress. The sound was loud and on top of it were added live guitar, and Ujino's spacey bleeps coming from his huge shiny phallic green instrument (excuse the description, it's what it is!) that has coachwork making it look like a scooter.