Tokyo's Coolest Sound

Release info

The songs from The Courettes' new third album "Back in Mono" have a characteristic sound that's sure to take you back in time, and also confuse the inadvertent listener who might believe they're hearing a classic from way back then despite that the tunes are originals. As the title says the whole was mixed in mono, and this succeeds in reaching the authentic wall of sound texture that the duo has been aiming for, while keeping a great dose of garage rock. Filled with songs just between 2 and 3 minutes, the whole is a delight!

The Courettesのサードアルバム「Back in Mono」の曲には、その独特のサウンドにタイムスリップの魔法がかかっていて、それを偶然耳にした人は昔の曲を聴いていると騙されてしまうかもしれません。タイトル通り全篇モノでミックスされていて、2人が目指してきたウォール・オブ・サウンドの音質を完成しつつ、お得意のガレージロックスタイルもしっかり効いています。2〜3分に収まる曲ばかりで、キャッチーで最高！

Part 1: Interview with The Courettes

Part 2: Interview with Seiki Satō

Release info & Useful links

Also available:
- Remastered 2-in-1 CD "Here We Are The Courettes" (DAMGOOD5356CD)
- Remastered 12" LP "Here Are The Courettes" (DAMGOOD535LP)
- Remastered 12" LP "We Are The Courettes" (DAMGOOD536LP)

The Courettes is touring the UK in October, and will play in France, Denmark and the Netherlands in November 2021.

More links:
- The Courettes' official site
- The Courettes' Facebook page
- The Courettes band page at Damaged Goods Records
- StarrSound Recording Studios (Follow on Facebook & Instagram)

- microstar's official site
- nicely nice's official site
- catchball studio (Seiki Satō)

Interview of BJ Rubin by Patrick Benny (Tokyo's Coolest Sound)

BJ Rubin is the New Yorker who is behind the eclectic TV show titled "The BJ Rubin Show" that's currently being aired on the Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN). The show has been going on for over 10 years, it features lots of music segments, and it's edited in a captivating unique style.

I had the chance to meet BJ when he was visiting Tokyo in 2018, and while I already had the show's soundtrack (which featured music by Mark Robinson of label Teen-Beat, an artist who I'm a big fan of), meeting him prompted me to check out more of his show and I've been loving it! I have had the pleasure of helping BJ a bit with English subtitling from Japanese and French, and the latest show even featured a commercial of Tokyo's Coolest Sound (even soundtracked by Mark!)!

The show having plenty of good music and even some hints of Japan, I'm certain that it will also entertain this site's readers. So here's an interview with BJ Rubin who will tell us many details about his show all while leading us to watch his latest and favorite episodes and segments.

— What inspired you to do your show? How long have you been producing it?

BJ Rubin: I was (and continue to be) inspired by a wide variety of artists, musicians, filmmakers and performers. "TV Party" was a legendary New York cable access show in the 70s/80s hosted by Glenn O'Brien and Blondie guitarist Chris Stein (it also featured a 16-year-old Basquiat as a series regular when he was still a local graffiti artist). "The Beat Club" was a television show in Germany in the 60s/70s that had musical performances by pretty much everyone good and often had psychedelic visuals to match. You've probably seen "SNL". Peter Ivers had a show in the 80s called "New Wave Theatre" that featured weird comedy and the best of the local LA underground music scene. I was watching "The Richard Pryor Show" when I came up with the idea for my show, which is one of the reasons I named it after myself. Ernie Kovacs had a bunch of shows in the 50s that were groundbreaking. Who doesn't love "The Simpsons"? Chris Morris had a number of amazing TV shows in the UK, including "Brasseye" (a biting news satire from the 90s), "The Day Today" (which he produced with Armando Iannucci who went on to create "Veep", it also featured a young Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge), "Nathan Barley" (with "Black Mirror" creator Charlie Brooker) and "Jam" (my favorite). If you haven't seen "Doggy Fizzle Televizzle" (Snoop Dogg's MTV sketch show), I highly recommend it. Luis Buñuel is a huge influence on my work, "Un Chien Andalou" changed the way I looked at filmmaking and showed me that it can be anything you want it to be (not bad for a film that came out in 1929). The work of Chris Burden had a profound effect on my thinking and the way I see art and the world (if you don't know him, his most famous work was having a friend shoot him in the shoulder with a rifle, which of course he filmed too). I have a Black Flag tattoo, to remind myself that you can do it yourself if you put your mind to it. I grew up listening to punk music and playing in bands and putting on shows and there are a million bands from that genre that inspired and influenced me but if I had to name one that would be it. The Velvet Underground is a group that I still listen to regularly, I don't know where I'd be without Lou Reed. Tony Conrad recorded drone music and made avant-garde films, his most famous being "The Flicker" (don't watch it if you are prone to epilepsy though). Karlheinz Stockhausen was a controversial 20th century composer from Germany, an electronic music pioneer who influenced just about everyone (including The Beatles, who used his image on the cover of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"). Dischord Records were able to help a number of DC bands (including their own) gain national awareness without having to sign to a major label. Ze Records is one of the coolest labels of all time, from NYC in the 70s/80s putting out records for The Contortions, Suicide and Lydia Lunch. Fast Product out of Scotland had some cool bands before they were famous, including The Human League and Gang of Four. Document Records dug up a bunch of old blues 78s and started reissuing them – each disc is organized first by artist, then chronologically by recording date. So cool! Repertoire Records is a label out of Germany that does amazing reissues of great records (particularly Progressive Rock) with bonus tracks, Belle Antique from Japan is doing the same (but with an obi). Speaking of Progressive Rock, do you know Premiata Forneria Marconi? Also called PFM, they were a progressive rock band from Italy in the 70s that I can't get enough of. They were really the only band from that scene to have fame outside of Italy, albeit just in the UK (thanks to ELP), but as a result they did English language versions of a few of their albums. A great Belgian progressive band was Cos, one of the few to feature a female vocalist. Catapilla were an amazing UK progressive band with female vocals too. Although Aphrodite's Child were Greek they lived in Paris and featured a young Vangelis (many years before he became famous as a film composer, scoring not only "Blade Runner" but winning an Oscar for his "Chariots of Fire" score) and the angelic vocals of Demis Roussos (swoon). Then there was Magma — a French progressive group with operatic vocals in an invented language called Kobaïan. I love Progressive Rock because of the level of difficulty involved — you truly had to be a master of your craft to play the music (it makes me want to practice practice practice). Connie Converse was a singer/songwriter from the 50s who did a few TV appearances and made a number of beautiful recordings, but they weren't released until well after her disappearance in the 70s. Bob Dylan is one of the greatest living artists, duh. This Heat. Neal Stephenson. Douglas Adams. Hunter S. Thompson. Peter F. Hamilton. Isaac Asimov. Philip K. Dick. Richard Brautigan. Homer. J. D. Salinger. Jean-Paul Sartre. Franz Kafka. Werner Heisenberg. Erwin Schrödinger. Niels Bohr. Vincent Van Gogh. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Man Ray. Marcel Duchamps. Pablo Picasso. Joan Miró. Henry Darger. Georgia O'Keefe. R. Crumb. Bill Traylor. John Kricfalusi. Jim Henson. Tex Avery. Stan Lee. Jack Kirby. Jean Dubuffet. Salvador Dali. Shigeru Miyamoto. Andy Warhol. Mike Oldfield. Sally Oldfield. Kevin Ayers. Funkadelic. Stereolab. Can. Clout. Cluster. Brian Eno. Talking Heads. Joni Mitchell. Doris Norton. Wendy Carlos. Suzanne Ciani. Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Co. Silver Apples. Glenn Branca. Terry Riley. Steve Reich. Kid Baltan. Moondog. Nico. Vashti Bunyan. Tangerine Dream. Molam. Koji Kondo. Orange Juice. Yellow Magic Orchestra. La Monte Young. Bernard Parmegiani. Steve Hillage. Kraftwerk. Laurie Anderson. The Casual Dots. Slant 6. The Crainium. Crime. Crom-Tech. The Residents. The Screamers. The Units. X. Mocket. Jean-Jacques Perrey. Bruce Haack. Caterina Barbieri. Lio. Lizzy Mercier Descloux. The Waitresses. Sigrid. Giorgio Moroder. Diaouled Ar Menez. Erkin Koray. Ananda Samarakoon. Fairuz. Oum Kalthoum. Sefako Sa Menoaneng. Bikini Kill. Sleater-Kinney. Calvin Johnson. Kurt Cobain. Daniel Johnston. Captain Beefheart. Frank Zappa. The Fugs. Guided By Voices. Kaleidoscope. July. The Pretty Things. Tomorrow. Skip Bifferty. Nirvana (UK). Coptic Light. Glass Candy & The Shattered Theatre. Drive Like Jehu. Portraits Of Past. Sleepytime Trio. Universal Order Of Armageddon. Unwound. Fugazi. USAisamonster. The Monorchid. Void. Battles. Knyfe Hyts. Leadbelly. Devo. Joy Division. New Order. Kleenex. Nick Drake. Philip Glass. Fela Kuti. William Onyeabor. Mohinder. His Hero Is Gone. Man Is The Bastard. The VSS. The Champs. The Starlite Desperation. The Murder City Devils. Karp. Le Shok. A Minor Forest. Three Mile Pilot. Pee. Shonen Knife. The Spinanes. The Softies. Heavenly. The Vaselines. The Aislers Set. Best Friends Forever. The Clean. The Roches. Girls At Our Best! Dolly Mixture. The Raincoats. The Donnas. The Yummy Fur. Huggy Bear. Antioch Arrow. Moss Icon. June of 44. godheadSilo. Lync. Crystal Stilts. Elastica. The Fiery Furnaces. The Rondelles. The Go-Go's. Gowns. The Great Society. Swell Maps. Popol Vuh. Tubeway Army. The Mountain Goats. Donovan. France Gall. Leonard Cohen. Dolly Parton. Samantha Crain. Liz Phair. Suzanne Vega. Daler Mehndi. Richard Hell. Television. Rocket From The Tombs. Electric Eels. Dinosaur Jr. Sebadoh. Morphine. Karate. The Love of Everything. The Idle Race. Renaissance. Dire Straits. Van Halen. Michel Polnareff. The Monkees. The Replacements. Sugar. Pete Townshend. R.E.M. Raymond Scott. Daphne Oram. Psy. Creedence Clearwater Revival. The Field Mice. Jacno. Aretha Franklin. Ella Fitzgerald. Alice Coltrane. Mahavishnu Orchestra. Iceberg. N.W.A. Dr. Dre. Ice-T. Ice Cube. Kool Keith. Jurassic 5. M.I.A. Dirty Projectors. They Might Be Giants. Violent Femmes. Connie Stevens. Barbara. Robert Wyatt. Os Mutantes. Roy Wood. The Move. Yes. Nuno Canavarro. Conlon Nancarrow. The Rapture. Slint. Dust. Duster. Bedhead. Electrelane. PJ Harvey. Young Marble Giants. Fairport Convention. The Incredible String Band. C.O.B. Steeleye Span. Cressida. Eroc. The Moody Blues. Mudhoney. Guided By Voices. Guns N' Roses. The Good Good. Tears For Fears. Eurythmics. ESG. Liquid Liquid. No Age. Nuzzle. The Fall. Neu! Stiff Little Fingers. The Undertones. Curved Air. Anthony Phillips. Phil Collins. Cream. Yoko Ono. David Bedford. Wesley Willis. Kurt Vile. Chris Leo. Ted Leo. Taylor Swift. Miley Cyrus. The Smiths. The Magnetic Fields. Modest Mouse. The Promise Ring. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Casiotone For The Painfully Alone. Retconned. Rah Bras. The Ex. The Pop Group. XTC. YMCK. The Need. Le Tigre. Les Savy Fav. Less Than Jake. Lifter Puller. Lightning Bolt. Lily & Madeleine. Lindisfarne. Love Of Diagrams. Beaches. Eddy Current Suppression Ring. Sea Scouts. R. Stevie Moore. The Easybeats. Bee Gees. E.L.O. T. Rex. Black Sabbath. Iron Maiden. Metallica. The Hollies. Jonathan Fire*Eater. Lemonheads. Pixies. The Breeders. The Modern Lovers. Jawbreaker. Green Day. Godley & Creme. Paddy Kingsland. Angus MacLise. Diplo. Del Shannon. Delta 5. Stevie Wonder. Prince. Primus. Public Image Ltd. AC/DC. Social Distortion. Bad Religion. Operation Ivy. Skankin' Pickle. Voodoo Glow Skulls. Rudiments. Rye Coalition. Faust. Frank Sidebottom. Ministry. Minutemen. Mission Of Burma. Parenthetical Girls. Pizzicato Five. Nostradamos. Socrates Drank The Conium. The Soft Boys. Wire. The Sonics. The Audience. Alfred Hitchcock. Edgar Wright. Christopher Nolan. Stanley Kubrick. David Cronenberg. Shane Carruth. Quentin Tarantino. Steven Spielberg. Gene Rodenberry. Lorne Michaels. Robert Zemeckis. Crispin Glover. Spike Lee. Spike Jonze. Charlie Chaplin. Federico Fellini. Sydney Pollack. Ub Iwerks. Ricky Gervais. Richard Branson. Mutt Lange. Tom Wilson. Joe Meek. Mark Wirtz. 13th Floor Elevators. West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. Wendy & Bonnie. Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. S.E. Rogie. Boredoms. OOIOO. Osanna. Out Hud. The Outsiders. Nick Garrie. Brinsley Schwarz. The Millennium. The United States Of America. The Zombies. Rodriguez. Nathan Abshire. The White Stripes. The Secret Stars. Jacques Dutronc. Burt Bacharach. Butch Willis. Ween. "Weird Al" Yankovic. Japanther. Surf City. Mahogany. Mates Of State. Mika Miko. Thanksgiving. The Trashmen. Earles & Jensen. The Mighty Boosh. Tim & Eric. Monty Python. George Lucas. George Washington. Benjamin Franklin. Abraham Lincoln. Teddy Roosevelt. Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Jimmy Carter. Mahatma Gandhi. Marie Curie. Martin Luther King Jr. Kurt Vonnegut. John Fahey. Dario Argento. Goblin. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Ivor Cutler. Ronnie Spector. Bill Murray. Neil Young. Iris DeMent. Johnny Cash. Peter La Farge. George Jones. Steve Martin. Dave Chapelle. Robert Johnson. Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Wim Mertens. Zs. Iannis Xenakis. Miles Davis. Herbie Hancock. Robert Moog. Hawkwind. Malala.

Lately I've been into watching video game speedruns. I love the dedication it takes to beat Super Mario Bros. as quickly as humanly possible. Being the best means mastering nearly impossible tricks and performing them repeatedly, one mistake and you have to start over. Speedrunners will often have tens of thousands of tries before breaking a world record. I find it inspiring. I also love video game music, which is a huge part of the games. I don't actually want to speedrun a video game myself, but I enjoy watching them and have tried to find ways of using that kind of dedication in the production of my show.

I've been producing my show for over 10 years, the first episode went up 28 December 2010 on BCAT (Brooklyn Cable Access Television) in Brooklyn. In 2011 I moved to Manhattan and started shooting at MNN (Manhattan Neighborhood Network). Formerly a producer at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, now I work in outreach for the United Nations. Both of those experiences have further influenced my work as an artist and filmmaker. I started making videos with friends in high school and later studied film at UC Berkeley. I love music and comedy and art and film so television seemed like a good medium to work with.

— The look of your show is very unique, how did you develop it?

BJ: I started off with a classic cable access look, black curtain and red carpet. Then I discovered the green screen, and the more I used it the greater the possibilities I saw with it. I sort of got carried away, trying to jam as much energy into the show as I could. I think sometimes it can be too much for people — they find it overwhelming, but I like it. Whatever you see in the green screen comes from me somehow, be it a video I shot and treated or a photograph I took of a painting at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. But I can't take all the credit, Richard Swanson from MNN helped me with the video feedback which greatly amplified what I was able to do with the green screen. The graphics are also an important element, from the beginning Lauren Martin has been a huge part of the show and although she plays keyboard in Frankie Cosmos and works as an illustrator she still makes time for me and produces work for the show. Alice Cohen has contributed some beautiful animations and musical performances as well. The show wouldn't be the same without the theme song, written by serial composer David Earl Buddin. Audio is super important (in many ways even more important than the visuals) — Geoff Duncanson has been a big help with live audio and Kris Lapke with post-production audio. Josh Bonati is an old friend who has pitched in from time to time as well. Jeremy Novak has been a regular behind-the-scenes contributor (he also played in a great band once upon a time called Dymaxion, they had a single on Stereolab's label if you must know).

Recently I returned to the black curtain, I wanted to try to make the show more accessible to a wider audience and I felt that the high energy green screen effects were turning some people off and made it difficult for them to watch (although others I think liked it more for the effects, but you can't please everyone all the time). It's a different process, when you use the green screen you kind of need to just brightly light everything on stage and try to make it even — otherwise stuff gets lost. When you use the black curtain lighting can be more subtle, you can use gels and different colors. It makes you focus on different elements. Process is key.

— How do you book your guests?

BJ: Many of the guests are people I know personally, although maintaining those relationships of course takes effort. Others were artists I saw perform and approached about being on the show. That is one of the most difficult parts about producing the show I would say, booking the guests. You have to follow up and persist. Some guests took 2 years (or more) to book! Rejection is a big part of it too, I ask significantly more people to appear (many of whom promise to and do not) than actually make it on the show. I also offer a small appearance fee to cover transportation costs to the studio, whether taking a cab or driving a car or even the train, it isn't free to get to MNN and it isn't fair to expect my guests to have to pay those expenses out of their own pocket. I think this helps show that I value their time and respect the difficulty in getting to the studio (particularly when it is a band with equipment). If I had to pick three of my favorite guests I would say Lætitia Sadier, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Black Dice, although I could go on: U.S. Girls, Dieter Moebius, Frankie Cosmos, Blues Control, Kate NV, Jeffrey Lewis, Mary Lattimore, Matthew James-Wilson, Rhys Chatham, Forma, Emel Mathlouthi, Billy G Robinson, Badge Époque Ensemble, Mr. Ibok, Owen Kline, Blue Jazz TV, Ye Young Lee, Kevin Shea, Sarah Sherman, Tana Quartet, Tandem Jump, etc.

— What is your favorite part about producing a show at MNN?

BJ: I love producing my show. I don't know where I'd be without it, probably dead or miserable (or worse). MNN is an amazing resource, one that is widely taken for granted (both by people who use it and people who don't). I certainly can't think of another room that I have access to where I can make a lot of noise that also has cameras, microphones, lights and a staff of people to help me use all those things. To do it anywhere else would be prohibitively expensive. The show gives me a positive place to put my energy, it gives me something to feel good about. Plus, I get to collaborate with talented artists and performers from all over the world, many of whom I now get to call friends. For instance — when I was a teenager, I loved a band called Unrest (I found their music on the MTV show "120 Minutes", they were on the 4AD label that Grimes is currently on). Now, Mark Robinson from Unrest composes original music for my show and is a friend. Getting to work with Mark is a real highlight, he is so easy to work with. I write him and ask for some music and he will often send me something later that day. I never have to follow up with him, he even follows up with me sometimes! I saw a Korean ocarina player perform at the UN and asked if she could play my show before she went back to Korea. She didn't speak English so her friend came over and informed me that they were performing at Carnegie Hall the next evening but could come after that. And they did! What other excuse would I have to work with such a diverse group of artists from all over the world? Diversity is important to me, particularly as I produce a variety show. I try to highlight the work of people from all cultures and backgrounds — I've had guests from every continent but Antarctica, speaking in ten different languages. I want to have more species on the show — so far, I've had dogs and cats but I would like to feature birds and lizards and giraffes and elephants (I actually did have an elephant as a guest once, whom I met in Sri Lanka). I want to feature more people with disabilities. A close friend is blind, and I often discuss with him what it's like for him to get around in and how he perceives the world. I enjoy discussing religion since I've learned so much from my Muslim, Hindu, and Christian friends at the UN (many of whom I've had as guests on the show). It is such an important outlet for me — honestly, I'd rather not imagine my life without it.

— Can you talk about some of the performers in the latest episode(s), and how they came to be a part of it?

BJ: I've been lucky in that I've been able to get some pretty amazing guests for my show over the years, and the performers in the most recent episode(s) are no exception. In addition to the previously mentioned Korean ocarina player (Ye Young Lee), there was the Tana Quartet from Belgium. I saw them play at my favorite CD store in New York City (the great Academy Records, I even did a commercial for them a few years ago), and asked how long they were in town and if they'd be interested in being on the show. It turned out they were around for another couple of days, so the next night they came up to the studio. They had just released an album of Philip Glass string quartets and were touring behind it. Philip Glass is one of my favorite composers so obviously I was thrilled. They came and had lunch with me the next day at the UN which was also a lot of fun. Tandem Jump is a local group just getting started out and I think they're great, it features my friends Tara and Luke. Tara I met somewhat recently but Luke I've known since I was in college. He's better known for playing in The Rapture but he has a few new projects as well and I'm a fan of his. We reconnected somewhat recently at my friend Yoko's monthly night at Honey's in Brooklyn, who coincidentally also has a segment on the show about takoyaki. She goes around to various cool events around town and makes takoyaki. So you know you're in the right place if you see Yoko. Luke invited me out to The Surf Club in Montauk to film him and Tara and Tandem Jump and The Rapture so there's also a clip of The Rapture from that afternoon. What a day that was! I had brought a couple GoPros (as I didn't have a crew) and took one swimming in the ocean with me and it immediately broke. Typical!! Luckily, I had another one and also asked their roadie Matt to shoot what he could with his iPhone while I stood up front with my own Sony camera. So it's a bit of a collage with all the different cameras but I think it worked out well. I also went to Union Pool one night with a small crew and shot Badge Époque Ensemble and U.S. Girls, both of whom have already appeared on the show many times over the years in different guises (Meg first appeared on the show back in 2013 in Pilot II, Part 1). Max and Meg are old friends, and we don't get to see much of each other so it's always nice to have them on the show. Plus their bands are great! Forma came in and played a new piece that I don't think they documented anywhere else, it was really great. A few days before the session a picture of La Monte Young and the Theatre of Eternal Music (don't forget Tony Conrad, Marian Zazeela and John Cale were also in the group) was passed around for inspiration. As there is a large gong behind them in the pic, the band decided to rent a gong for the session. I was not disappointed! I originally saw Forma when they opened for Roedelius, the day after he played on my show! So it took some time and some back and forth before we were able to make it happen but eventually it did. Billy G Robinson, who is a national treasure (and also used to sing in the great B.T. Express) blessed us with a couple numbers. We're actually close, I'm helping him manage his career a bit and why wouldn't I want to be involved with someone so talented! I had the sincere pleasure of interviewing Mona Heftre in the South of France; she was a member of Le Grand Magic Circus and married to Jérôme Savary. Jérôme and the Circus are not super well known in the US but they are pretty famous in Europe. Emma and Nina (Mona's daughter) play in Lætitia Sadier's band and thus had been on my show before and stayed at my house. They invited me out to stay with them in Caves, a small town in the South of France where they live. How could I say no? When I arrived I met Mona and pretty much knew immediately I wanted to interview her for the show (of course I had no idea about the Circus or any of that before I got there). She also recorded an album of songs with Serge Rezvani, a famous French songwriter. He wrote “Le Tourbillon” which you might know from Jeanne Moreau singing it in "Jules et Jim", it is probably one of my all-time favorite songs and now I regret not having Mona sing it on the show! I also had a bunch of UN colleagues on, as I appreciate their perspective on the world. In addition to Lauren and Alice (mentioned before), Sasha Safir-Temple, Laura Heidotten and Ben Miller all contributed animations. The show wouldn't be the same without them! Although I will mention that much of the typography comes from fonts that I created specifically for the show — the subtitles are Lauren's handwriting and the credits as well as some of the titles for briefer segments are a font I created myself, inspired by Gary Panter's designs for "Pee Wee's Playhouse". I was working as a civilian peacekeeper doing graphic design at the UN, which was a bit of a stretch for me as I hadn't done much design other than a few album covers and flyers and such over the years, but I'm glad I took on the challenge because I had to familiarize myself with Adobe Illustrator and push myself as an artist. It's important to get outside your comfort zone! In any event I felt like I was hot with it and wanted more practice so after working all day at the UN using Illustrator I would come home and use it some more. Then I moved to a different office! But it was fun while it lasted.

— Your new episode "Back In Black" comes in three parts and totals over 4 hours! That sounds like a huge amount of work, how did you do it all?

BJ: I was watching "Stand And Deliver" recently and Edward James Olmos tells his students to take each calculus problem "step by step". And that's exactly how I produced over 4 hours of material for the show — step by step. The third season of the show had taken a lot out of me and I wasn't sure if or when I was going to start the fourth season. Then I went to Academy to see the Tana Quartet and I couldn't resist asking them on the show and they said yes! From there it's been quite the roller coaster ride, I put a lot of myself into the show and I hope it shows. When I was a kid I used to come home with skinned knees (and ripped pants, much to mother's chagrin) because I was always diving for the ball in handball or whatever sport I was playing. I feel like I'm still that kid but now the skinned knees are more metaphorical, I still play hard and hurt myself but it's less physical and more emotional. But you keep going like that and trying your best to get great guests and feature new acts and eventually you have a lot of material. The trick then is to edit it all into something that someone would actually want to watch, which I do with varying degrees of success (depending on who you ask). Editing is a long and difficult process but without it, there's no show (duh). I really obsessed over little details like what frame the subtitle should appear on and whether it's better to cut on the beat or the frame before the beat. As the months went by and I watched it over and over and over my feelings changed but I settled on the frame before the beat and two or three frames before they started saying the first word of the subtitle (FYI). I also taught myself how to do little tricks like click removal which actually is incredibly difficult and requires a lot of focus and attention but now there are far fewer clicks! I wish I could say there were no clicks but it is a cable access show after all, I'm never going to get the lighting 100% right all the time or be able to remove all the clicks. I did my best though! I tried to keep Part 1 succinct, so it clocks in at under 40 minutes, which is quite the feat as the third season was more like 60-90 minutes per episode. Part 2 is 90 minutes (bolstered by Forma's 40-minute piece), and Part 3 is of course about 150 minutes and is actually the longest episode of the show I've ever produced. There was just so much left over from Parts 1 & 2 that I felt would be interesting to somebody at some point. I don't necessarily expect everyone to sit and watch each episode from start to finish, people can skip around or watch however they want. There's a little treat there at the end of Part 3 if you make it all the way through, "The BJ Rubin Show" heads will find a little nugget that might just make the journey worth it. Of course, you can skip right to it but you don't get the health benefits unless you start from the beginning and watch it all the way through to the end...

— I'm a big fan of Mark Robinson, and even once went to Washington DC to see Flin Flon (for the TeenBeat 15th Anniversary). What led him to make soundtracks for "The BJ Rubin Show"? I'm so grateful that he even made the music that accompanies Tokyo's Coolest Sound's commercial!

BJ: I met Mark in 2005, I knew Nattles from Flin Flon and she invited me to go to dinner in New Jersey with her and Mark and Jeff from Aden. I didn't really know much about him at the time but the famous Uncle Floyd performed at this restaurant once a week and everyone was a huge fan except for me because I'd never heard of him lol. Uncle Floyd had a local television show in New Jersey for many years and was sort of a local celebrity. So it was kind of a special night for all of us, but I had never met Mark before and was a huge fan of Unrest and Teenbeat so it was a big deal for me. Uncle Floyd was great by the way, I think Mark recorded it too, I wonder if he's ever gone back and listened to that tape and what else is on it, what we all discussed at dinner that night? I'll have to ask him sometime. Anyway, a few years go by and I've started my own local television show and I invited Mark to come be a guest. It turned out that he had been keeping up with the show and was already a fan so he agreed! Since then he and his family have been regular guests on the show, it's funny but you can see his children growing up over time since the first time they appeared back in 2012. At first it was mostly his group Cotton Candy (he and his wife singing old radio commercials), but I realized that Mark would probably be great at composing background music for the show and I was not at all surprised to learn that I was absolutely correct. So he started doing much of the background music for the show since 2016, and we release soundtrack albums too so you can listen to the music independent of the show (FYI in addition to the show I run the Dick Move label and Pukekos blog where you can find all the soundtrack music and much more). He is so easy to work with, I love it! I went up and stayed with him and Evelyn and Dutch and Cardinal one weekend and we made a few animations together for the show that we used in the "Into The Void II" series of episodes (the Season 2 finale, which of course was spread out over 8 parts). My fondest memory of that weekend is walking Dutch to ballet class only to discover a record store directly downstairs from the dance studio. Mark and I certainly enjoyed killing that hour or so while Dutch was in class, I can't resist looking at CDs if I see them. I am obsessed with collecting CDs, I don't know a lot of other people with the same compulsion as most collectors these days are into vinyl. But CDs sound amazing and are easier to store and listen to — but most of all they are CHEAP and you can get some great stuff on CD that would be ridiculously expensive on vinyl. I went to a record store in LA (Rockaway Records, if you must know), and on the wall they had this super cool looking UK prog album from 1971 by a band called The Dog That Bit People for $2000. After looking around a little I found a copy of the album on CD for $3, with a bonus track! That's quite a savings!! To bring it full circle I have every Unrest album on CD, and if you've never heard them I highly recommend getting "Perfect Teeth" on whatever format you prefer! Or stream it or whatever (if you must).

— You mentioned your own label Dick Move, which can be found on Bandcamp. You've previously released your show's soundtracks as well as your own projects and some for other artists as well. Could you tell us about the latest release, Blue Jazz TV's album "Blue Ragu Volume 2: Live At Magick City"? I have been enjoying it a lot, and I noticed that it features Max Zuckerman whose solo album "The Corner Office" was just recently released on vinyl in Japan.

BJ: I am a collector — and I found that somehow, despite the fact that so much art and music and culture is being documented these days, there were still things that didn't exist that I wanted to add to my collection. I started Dick Move Records as a vinyl only label in 2009. The first release I did was a 12” single for the great Brooklyn band Knyfe Hyts. We did 100 copies in a silkscreened sleeve with a poster. You could only buy the record at a concert I put on for them in Williamsburg back in 2009. I personally signed each record over to the recipient that night, so if you are lucky enough to have one it has your name and mine on it. The second record I did was another limited 12” single (100 again), this time for Teengirl Fantasy. Each sleeve was handpainted and unique. At some point in there I had an epiphany and realized that CDs were much more fun to collect than records, so I made the switch. They're cheap, easy to store, easy to listen to and sound great. Unlike used LPs, used CDs come with mp3s (although I prefer AIFFs as they are full CD quality and can hold metadata). I released small CD editions for Frankie Cosmos ("Zentropy"), Kate NV ("Binasu") and David Earl Buddin ("City Of God").

As for how Blue Jazz came into my life — I first met Adrian Knight at an Alice Cohen concert. She was performing solo, and after the set this strange Swedish man approached her and said that he really liked her music and wondered if they might play together sometime. He ended up joining her band and then asked his friend Dave to join too. I went with Alice to go see Dave and Adrian's other band Blue Jazz TV one night at The Eagle (a gay bar in Manhattan), and they were great. I started regularly going to their gigs. It also features Max Zuckerman (who did indeed recently have an LP come out in Japan) and the great Billy G Robinson. Blue Jazz had never put out a proper CD, so we kicked the idea around for a while. They bought a digital mixer so they could start recording their performances. One night, Dave and I were chatting about it and he said that they had recently played a show at Magick City in Brooklyn that he thought would be great for a small run CD release. The plan was to have the release party at Magick City but then the pandemic hit. We thought since it was a live album and the band couldn't play live that we'd put it out in case anyone missed seeing them. I certainly do! I am excited that this one has an obi because I'm kind of obsessed with them and of course they are a Japanese thing that most Americans don't even know about, but collectors dig them and as I said before I'm a collector! We only made 100 CDs and as of writing there are still a few left so you should order one!

My favorite Dick Move release would have to be the cheese sandwich I made and ate one day in Amsterdam. Very limited edition, only one and now it's gone lol! I gave it a catalogue number and posted it to Discogs where it went without comment for a few years before moderators, while admitting that it was hilarious, took it down. I'm working on a few new projects at the moment but they aren't quite fully cooked yet so you'll just have to wait and see what happens!

— I know you've been to Tokyo before, because we met here. Some segments from Tokyo can be seen on your new show, and also the band CHAI. Could you tell me what attracted you to Japan, how it was when you finally got to visit, and also how you got CHAI to appear on the show?

BJ: Japan is like a mecca to me. It was a dream come true to be able to visit when I did back in 2018. As I mentioned before I am an obsessive collector of CDs. Of course, many CDs are ONLY RELEASED IN JAPAN. The only way to get them in the US is to pay high prices and exorbitant shipping fees. Of course, everywhere you go in Japan they sell CDs. So I had quite a time, unfortunately there are not enough hours in the day to look through every CD in every store I went to. One of the reasons I went alone was so that I could spend more time CD shopping lol. In particular on that trip I was (and still am) after video game music, which isn't a popular genre here in the US so the vast majority of it, as mentioned before, is only released in Japan. Book Off, a chain of stores in Japan (there are a few in the US as well though) that sells pretty much any kind of media you could imagine, kept me pretty busy in their used section where I was able to find stuff for significantly less than I would have paid for it on the internet, if I could have found it at all. I also love the culture there; everyone is so polite all the time everywhere you go which reminded me a bit of the UN. I was lucky enough to meet Patrick (editor of this very blog) there, who took me to see weird amazing music every night of the week. La Veuve Moustachue was perhaps the strangest act we saw, featuring a moustachioed man dressed as a grieving widow (as the name of the group implies). They sang sad songs about being a widow with a moustache while strange animations played behind them. One was Super Mario themed, featuring a pixelated widow with a moustache hitting cool album covers (like Harpers Bizzare or Harmonia) with his head, only instead of coins, records would come out. I love how seriously they take things in Japan, whatever it is that you do, you do to the max. It seemed like such a silly idea for an act but they took it TO THE LIMIT. I had the best sushi of my life in Kyoto. I had spent the day hiking to the top of a mountain to pray at a Shinto shrine, on my way back to town stopped at a cat café to pet some kitties, then finally wandered around until I found a little out of the way sushi spot that was clearly locals only. I sat down at the bar, where I had my own individual sushi chef. He didn't speak much English, but I was able to point to the menu to show him what I wanted. I didn't have to order everything at the start, because he was right there. I could eat each course and then decide what to have next. I really appreciated how seriously he took his job; he was an excellent sushi chef and had probably spent much of his adult life slicing fish. He knew how to slice a fish. He sliced fish with authority. Its taste was transcendental, it was truly a special experience. One by one, the various other patrons came up to me and paid their respects. One by one, they would ask me where I was from, and when I said "New York City", they would respond, "Oh, New York!" They seemed thrilled to meet someone from such an exciting place. I loved the country, I loved the food, I loved the people. I actually discovered CHAI while I was there; although it pains me to admit it, I was reading Pitchfork on the toilet (duh) and they ran a Rising feature on the group while I happened to be in Japan. I made sure to go to the local Tower Records (still alive and well in Japan) and get copies of all their Japan-only EPs. A few months later I saw they were coming through town and I managed to get in touch with their label who put me in touch with their publicist who put me in touch with their manager and we were able to sort out a little time before their set at Market Hotel for the interview. Unfortunately, I think CNN's digital channel or something was shooting their set that night which is why I couldn't bring my own crew to shoot the concert. But I still held my camera up above my head here and there and the venue shared the audio from the board so I was able to cobble that segment together. I think it turned out pretty well, I love their responses! I love CHAI! Such a great band. The first night I was in Tokyo, Patrick took me to see Avandoned do an instore at HMV. After picking me up at a nearby Disk Union (a chain of record stores in Japan), he took me for a quick bite and then on to see this strange Japanese idol group which I thought was so high energy and great, even though it was just two teenage girls singing over a backing beat. I bought all their singles and had them signed and even got a picture with them! Patrick was such a great host in Tokyo and if you don't know he speaks English, French and Japanese and thus is an incredibly useful person to have around! He did many of the translations for the recent episodes, not only Japanese to English for CHAI but French to English for the interview I conducted while in France with Mona. Thanks again for everything Patrick!!

— Merci à toi, BJ!

Find BJ Rubin on the Internet:

• Pukekos blog
  Announcements of all of BJ's works and "The BJ Rubin Show" episodes.
• YouTube channel
  Subscribe to the channel to not miss new episodes.
• Dick Move Records on Bandcamp
  Check out BJ's label's releases to date.
• Twitter
• Instagram

Blue Ragu TV "Blue Ragu Volume 2: Live At Magick City" out now on Dick Move Records
(CD and digital at Bandcamp)

Izumi "Mimi" Kobayashi (below "Mimi") is an interesting artist from actually many perspectives. First, there is the one where she expresses original works as the leader of her own group, such as Flying Mimi Band. Another is as a member of bands such as with Masayoshi Takanaka, The Square (now T-Square), and Parachute, while in live performances or recording sessions she is a renowned funk keyboardist. She also has a composer side, contributing music for singers, TV commercials, plays, and movie soundtracks. She's also an arranger, a graduate from a music university, with a reputation of even handwriting orchestral scores. Yet her most known side might be as the songwriter of music for anime "Urusei Yatsura". Artists of such ambivalence being very rare, whenever talking of any of her specific works it has been a must to remind of her many roles.

Recently, Japanese city pop has been gaining popularity abroad even more than in Japan, and Mimi has a unique position. Japan's DJs digging groovy music have been rediscovering Mimi's records, and city pop's popularity has gained from that. Meanwhile, her name has spread overseas thanks to "Urusei Yatsura" and is famed in a future funk scene that's born from a blend of anime and city pop.

Since moving to London in 1985, the reporting of her activities back to Japan had been considerably reduced, to a point not long ago when it was fair to say that there was no information at all. However, two years ago I (writer Takashi Ikegami) published a long interview that got shared widely, finally communicating her roots, her work after moving to London, all the way up to her current activities. This led to planning a band-backed live show last May, however because of COVID-19 it was unfortunately postponed. This new interview aims at looking back on her career and also pursuing her particularities as a musician.

Looking at her career, it appears that Mimi has special powers to pull people together. After having started piano at 10, when reaching high school she got to play in dance halls and restaurants, and even government-related clubs. It's surprising that she was given work one after another in these places when still just 15. Amidst these, the army camp band she started playing with was a definite turning point. Following that and the legendary ASOCA, she debuted with Flying Mimi Band, and her name quickly started spreading in the industry.

— Let's start by talking about the army camp band. How did it happen for you to join that band when you were still in high school?

Mimi: The army camp was when I was about in 11th and 12th grade (approx. 17 or 18 y.o.). Back then I went to a Hammond organ class in Akasaka. A friend there was in the army camp band and asked me if I would take the place instead. That's how I entered. We played Ohio Players, Commodores, Earth Wind & Fire, and then some. The drummer was Yuichi Togashiki, who later invited me to join ASOCA.

— And ASOCA went on to become Flying Mimi Band, right?

ASOCA's vocalist Mr. Tanahashi first said we should form a band. Yuichi lived in Tokyo, while guitarist Takayuki Hijikata, bassist Morio Watanabe and I were in Chiba. We started as a copy band, playing Doobie Brothers and various rock tunes. Takayuki liked Jeff Beck, and Yuichi liked Stuff and other fusion. None of us thought of making a debut. We did many shows but with almost no spectators. (Laughs)

— Then you participated in the EastWest Amateur Band Contest in 1976 and won!

It was the first edition. Masayoshi Takanaka was a judge, and it seems like he remembered me and later invited me to join.

— Was EastWest the direct reason for your debut?

No. When in university, Masatoshi Nakamura asked me to play in his band for a tour. Stage manager Mr. Mashita was looking for new faces to make a debut on Sony, and so Rie Nakahara and I got released at the same time. It was supposed to be a solo debut, but as the other band members were great too I asked if they could be in the recording too and it worked out. That's how I debuted with "My Beach Samba". However the Sony person was doing idol work and it seemed that he wanted me to be an idol too, so I left and went to Phonogram. I had been recording my album "ORANGE SKY" (1978) at Sony, but Mr. Mashita canceled it.

— Was ASOCA still active around that time?

I think it was after EastWest that we talked about whether to continue. Mr. Tanahashi was going to join a company, and because the band couldn't do without the vocals we split up. By the way, Maki Kubota knew of ASOCA and when Sandii got to sing the theme song for the movie "Death on the Nile" she had ASOCA play the music (released as Sandy O'Neil "Mystery Nile" in 1978). It was our first studio work and I was very nervous. (No idea if it got used on the record.)

— Who chose the name Flying Mimi Band?

It was Mr. Mashita. He was a producer type, so he put effort into creating my image. It had to do with surf movement and music, so he told me to start surfing. (Laughs) And at Hawaii's North Shore of all places. I stayed a month in Hawaii while recording the 2nd album ("SEA FLIGHT" in 1978).

— How did Yasuaki Shimizu end up joining?

Yuichi was a favorite of Kiyoshi Sugimoto and bassist Akira Okazawa. Mr. Shimizu was in Mr. Sugimoto's band, so I guess Yuichi invited him to join.

— In Flying Mimi Band, almost all songwriting and arrangement was done by yourself. Wasn't that uncommon back then?

Akiko Yano was maybe the only other female. Ms. Yano was also on Phonogram. I was closer to Mr. Makoto Yano, and it's by working with him that I met Nobu Saito, which led to Parachute.

— On 2nd album "SEA FLIGHT" (1978), Mr. Yuichi Togashiki was replaced by Marty Bracey, right?

Yuichi was busy working with Mr. Sugimoto and couldn't keep up doing both. Marty was from the army camp, and although we hadn't played together our bands were often in the same event, so we had known each other for a long time. He was such a nice guy.

— Jumping forward to talk about your solo work. "Coconuts High" (1981) was recorded in L.A.?

Harvey Mason with the horns from Tower of Power, I decided all that. I went to LA and wanted to look for musicians there, so I went to see shows, and when I found someone I wanted to play with I'd go backstage and ask. That made the label upset though. (Laughs) Musicians in the U.S. seemed very skillful to me. Abraham Laboriel was amazing. I brought sheet music that I wrote, and he'd play it perfectly at first sight. So did Alex Acuña.

— In your later albums, the sound changed completely, didn't it?

Being that I'm an instrument maniac, on each album you can tell what instrument I liked around then. In Mimi Band, it was clavinet and organ. In "Coconuts High" I used a Prophet 5. On "Nuts, Nuts, Nuts" (1982) I thought I'd use more programming.

— But the song "Gypsy Love" on "Tropicana" (1983) sounds like kayōkyoku. 

On "Nuts, Nuts, Nuts" there's "Coffee Rumba". I like this also, like typical latin kayō. Like "Adios" (1979) that I wrote for Noriyo Ikeda, and Helen Sasano's "Kokorobosoi na" (1982). It doesn't show up in my own works, but as a songwriter it's a side that I want to express.

1979 was Mimi's first year of stepping up. She did her debut with a band she led, and on the other hand she also got more work in the studio. Meanwhile, instead of being asked to play in a band for a single show she'd be asked to be a regular member on tour, and also she got work as a songwriter, making her active in several directions. Almost all at once, she got invited to play in Parachute, which was formed of top studio musicians, as well as up-and-coming fusion band The Square, and also Masayoshi Takanaka's band. All of that made music listeners recognize Mimi as a player.

— After Flying Mimi Band, you were in Mr. Takanaka's band for a long time.

My other work being busy, Mimi Band sort of faded out naturally. I also played in the back band of Hiroshi Tachi. I'd accept any work offer. At first Takanaka was also about playing live shows, not recording. And almost at the same time, I had Square and Parachute too.

— You didn't do any recording with Square did you?

We didn't. We played as the back band for a tour of Yuming, the one in which an elephant shows up ("OLIVE Tour" in 1979). Once the tour ended, I was asked to become an official member, but I also had Parachute and Takanaka, and the schedules were conflicting so I had a tough time deciding.

— On the other hand, Parachute recorded just one album.

We didn't do any show, but there was a strong feeling to make Parachute a band, so we even did band camp. It was fun. All of us had been doing so much studio that we starved to be in a band.

— In the end what made you decide to stop everything else for Takanaka?

It was around that time. I had been to a fortune teller, unable to make a decision. And perhaps I was told "Takanaka"? But in terms of music it's what felt right, not having to force it. There was a bit of Latin feel, and I liked the songs.

— And you continued for quite a long time, right?

3 or 4 years maybe. I played on several tours. It was just around when Takanaka had growing popularity. Kitty president Hidenori Taga was really into it, so we did tours of all of Japan, we got to invite Santana (August 2, 1981 at Yokohama Stadium), and a bit before that we played two consecutive days at Budokan.

— That was for "The Rainbow Goblins". That was crazy!

Around that time Takanaka had trouble writing songs. He had gone famous and the label president would tell him to write more and more. Songs were finished and we only had about 4 days of practice, and then Budokan. We made most of it at Kitty's Izu studio. In Ikejiri-Ōhashi there was Polydor's studio, and Kitty had a studio in Aobadai. That's where I recorded "Urusei Yatsura".

In general, Izumi Kobayashi is best known for "Urusei Yatsura", and the work she did here went right into popular culture. Mimi wrote and arranged the lead song "Lum's Love Song", and despite being sung by Yuko Matsutani (although the catchy "uffun" and "ufufufu" phrases were by Mimi herself) it's a rare thing for a song to be credited to its composer. At the time Kitty put strength in movie soundtracks, and for that Mimi got a lot of work in which she showed remarkable originality. Soundtracks let her music skills as a composer and arranger surface.

— While still playing with Takanaka you started doing movie and anime related work. What triggered this?

For "Urusei Yatsura", Kitty president Hidenori Taga called me to his office and asked me "do you know this manga?" It was a manga that I had loved it since when it was published in Shonen Sunday, so the next day I wrote three songs and they were all accepted. Nevermind it had only taken me 10 minutes. (Laughs) "Lum's Love Song" must have sold about 500,000 copies. But because of the 16-beat syncopation, Mr. Taga had criticized that it was a difficult song. Still I didn't do any change, and it was left as I wrote it. Recently, Mr. Fumitaka Anzai with who I worked on "Lum's Love Song" posted a demo of it on the Internet.

— Mr. Anzai is the one who first brought a Fairlight CMI to Japan, right? Did you first use it on "Urusei Yatsura"?

It was used in the movie ("Urusei Yatsura Only You" (1983)). Maybe he wasn't the first, but one of the very first. At Baku Studio in Nishi-Azabu, with Mr. Anzai and Mr. Masamichi Amano, we'd do a sort of Fairlight research get together every night or so. That's where we recorded "Urusei Yatsura". Also, I believe that "Lum's Love Song" was the first song in Japan to use a Linn Drum. I had gone all the way to LA myself to buy it. I think it wasn't yet being imported at the time. Perhaps that was when I went for the recording of "Coconuts High".

— Then you also did the music for "sasuga no sarutobi" (1982) and "Stop!! Hibari-kun!" (1983).

There was also BGM, so I did really quite a lot. I also did many TV commercials, such as for Kanebo (cosmetics brand). Because the image of my music being clearly defined, summery and bright and fluffy, I got many offers. My favorite commercial was the one for Hankyu department store's oseibō (year-end gifts). I wrote the scores for orchestra, horns and chorus, and it was recorded in one take all at once. I wasn't playing so I was in the control room, and as soon as I heard the sound I was in awe. Also I got to do the music for a sort of contemporary dance play at the Dance Theater, and I scored 60 minutes for a string quartet. I like this kind of opportunity.

— These let yet another face of musicality show through.

Exactly. Holger Hiller had heard that score and did a request to take it to Europe. At the time there were many of my works without my name on, so I put those together on a cassette tape myself and sent it to artists overseas. Because I wanted to get out of Japan. (Laughs) Then I received two offers, one of which was from Narmada Michael Walden, though I let it pass... Holger Hiller's included even a visa and plane ticket. This is when my life changed completely. It was a sayonara to my career in Japan. I still remember very well, on March 11, 1984.

Having moved to London, Mimi soon got work to do, and her career abroad moved on fine. Later she gave birth, and then she shifted her work towards coordination. Because it was a time with no Internet, for the following 30 years there was nearly no reporting in Japan of her activity. But another recent interview I did with her proved that she still has a big reputation. And now she is still based in London where she has started playing music again. This has already been gaining much attention locally, which again gives hint that she has a special power of appeal.

— Was it alright for you to leave Japan so suddenly?

Just no one said anything. (Laughs) I still had a contract with Kitty, but Mr. Taga said "You should go!" He even paid for my rent for a while. So generous. Then later I said "I'll make an album so please pay for it", and I made "iK.I" (1989). It was so completely different from what I had done before, what a surprise. (Laughs) Kitty owns the masters but it was released by WAVE.

— When you went abroad for Holger Hiller's tour, did you plan to come back to Japan?

Yes. I thought I'd go for about half a year and then come back, but then there was Mathilde Santing, Swing Out Sister, and Depeche Mode. I had several opportunities in a row and kept busy.

— You played on Swing Out Sister's "Breakout" (1986), right?

Yes. Also, Depeche Mode sold 3 million copies ("Enjoy The Silence (The Quad: Final Mix)" (1990)). I also did a bunch of other things.

— Then you gave birth to your son, and your musical activity stopped.

Oh, before that I also did RPO (Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra). I also toured Jamaica for a Bob Marley cover compilation ("Marley Classics" (1991)). Then from 1993 I also did Moves In Motion, which I started with Tony Nwachuku who did the programming in RPO.

— And then you became company president. (Laughs)

When Toy's Factory began distributing Ninja Tune, I prepared all of the promotion material for Japan, then for Sony I did R&S and Warp, I did all the techno around there. I also promoted Takkyu Ishino (Denki Groove) in Europe, and I did project coordination for Dentsu and NHK. Around 1989 I started my own company named UMU Production. Later in 1997, Cisco asked me to make a branch in London.

— Didn't you ever feel like doing music during that time?

Not at all. I was busy and didn't play much piano. Then once my son went on his own, I started making music again, in 2016. Luckily I now get a lot of piano work in London.

— There's also that band of African music that's popular in the UK now.

The Scorpios. We first started as a trio with people from Sudan and UK, then when we thought of making it a band, Ronnie Maxwell who played bass in RPO got in touch after over 10 years, and it started. On top of a rhythm section of four, there are two playing African percussions, and then some, it's a large band. We play Sudan traditional music and children's songs. We're popular in the UK, and every time we play a show the audience gets bigger. In London, there are jazz cafes and when we play there it makes people go "ohh!" (Laughs) When we played in March before the lockdown it got really packed, and it was very energetic. A new album we recorded in Abbey Road Studios will be released very soon. Also, I want to make a new solo piano recording this year.

Live information:

Friday, November 20, 2020
Takashi Ikegami presents City Pop Connection Vol.7: Izumi "mimi" Kobayashi from London
at Blues Alley Japan

Featuring:
Keyboards/Vocals - Izumi "mimi" Kobayashi
Guitar - Takayuki Hijikata (ex-Flying Mimi Band, ex-Mariah)
Bass - Akihiro Tanaka (ex-Masayoshi Takanaka band, Shigeru Suzuki & Huckleback)
Percussions - Makoto "Kimchi" Kimura (ex-Masayoshi Takanaka band)
Drums - Marty Bracey (ex-Flying Mimi Band, B-EDGE)
Keyboards - Kaoru Inoue (Blue Peppers, Masayoshi Takanaka band)
Chorus - Yasunoji, Natsu Summer

Pricing & Reservations: Blues Alley Japan

Live streaming via Streaming+ (by e+)

Facebook event page

Izumi "Mimi" Kobayashi official information:

Twitter: @MimiKobayashi1

They came carried by winds from Northern Europe, where they returned to last October 7 (2018). So goes the setting of Vanilla Beans, a unique idol group that had debuted 11 years ago, on October 3, 2007. It's worth to take a good look back to their career that I believe brought a lot of innovation and fresh air to the scene.

Vanilla Beans were mushroom-cut (kinoko-atama) Rena and outward-curled (sotohane-atama) Lisa, who spent all of their 20's giving everything to the group. Always sticking to their signature 60's-style sleeveless dresses and those specific hairstyles, their music was also greatly notable from the start. They also did countless surprising promotions and even many experiments in their music, while always keeping a perfect balance.

This article aims to recall and share my good memories of this unforgettable duo.

In recording

Starting with what Tokyo's Coolest Sound's readers may be most familiar with, here's a list of most of Vanilla Beans' recordings from first single "U ♥ Me" (which featured member Rika, who quickly disappeared to be replaced forever by Lisa) to the last, "going my way". Some anecdotes are added throughout.

- 2007.10.03. CD single "U ♥ Me": The only release where Vanilla Beans was Rena & Rika. Around that time they went to Denmark for promotion where the unit gave its first performance ever at the Japanese embassy (photos). From the very start, things were a little bit strange like that.
- 2008.05.21. CD single "Nicola": Probably their most popular song ever! It must have been the most sung in their shows (along their cover of Pizzicato Five's "Tokyo wa yoru no 7ji (the night is still young)").
- 2008.08.27. Digital single "Afternoon a Go-Go" and its remix "Afternoon a Go-Go -We Love You Mix-" (2008.09.24)
- 2008.10.29. Digital single "Shopping☆Kirari": The song was written by Dr.Usui (Motocompo, now of (M)otocompo), one of his first idol works.
- 2008.11.26. Digital single "Shopping☆Kirari ~Okite Porsche + Dr. USUI Waterfront Mix~": Okite Porsche (of duo Roman Porsche) also took part in the remix, he turned out to be VB's #1 supporter all through their career.
- 2008.12.24. Digital single "ashita wa ashita no natsu ga kuru": Another song released ahead of the first album.

- 2009.01.28. CD single "sakasaka Circus": Another song that became a Vanilla Beans classic! B-side "Tic Tac" is also a favorite with its cute choreography that mimics a clock.
- 2009.02.25. First album "Vanilla Beans"! All A-sides from previous singles were included, as well as the digital releases in different "album" or "remastered" versions. Song "Vanillad" was written by bice. Until here, all releases were on label Tokuma Japan.
- 2009.04.29. Digital single "koi no Theory": A non-album song that also ended up being a favorite in their live shows. It was the theme song for movie "fujoshi kanojo" (English title "My Geeky Girlfriend").
- 2009.09.29. CD single "LOVE&HATE": Lyrics written by Kaji Hideki.

Around this time, Vanilla Beans also started covering Pizzicato Five's "Tokyo wa yoru no 7ji" ("the night is still young"), and released it along Kaji Hideki and Original Love covers ("La Boum ~My Boum Is Me~" and "seppun ~Kiss~" respectively) but only on a mobile site. While their sound and fashion had always hinted a Shibuya-kei connections, ties with that scene were becoming clearer by the day.

- 2009.10.28. DVD "Vanilla Beans Produce kaigi DVD": An event held at Asagaya Loft, plus a collection of music videos so far. There's also some studio footage with Kaji Hideki. There was another event of the same series (though not on DVD) featuring Konishi Yasuharu who was probably converted into a fan by then.
- 2010.02.10. Compilation album "Kirakira Majocco Cluv": VB sang two songs on this compilation, one that was a collaboration with Sexy-Synthesizer and the other with Ishii Masayuki (Tica). VB also participated in a special show at Shibuya AX that featured many of the artists on this compilation. This was maybe their first encounter with Shinohara Tomoe, with who years later they would start Internet TV weekly program "ShinoVani".
- 2010.04.21. Guest appearance on Roman Porsche's "nusunda Bike de amagigoe" album: They sang Imo-kin Trio's techno-kayō classic "High School Lullabye".
- 2010.05.19. Mini-album "Def & Def": Includes lead track "D & D", a song for a TV commercial of a deodorant of the same name. Vanilla Beans could finally be seen on TV!
- 2010.05.28. Around then they also sang a cover of Danish football anthem "Ra-sepp-ten" to cheer for the Denmark team during the World Cup.
- 2010.09.22. Greatest hits album "VaniBest": New song "100mankai no SMK" written by Okite Porsche is included, and also their cover of Pizzicato Five's "Tokyo wa yoru no 7ji" and another cover of MGMT's "Kids". Both songs from first single "U ♥ Me" had vocals re-recorded.
- 2011.02.09. Participation in live DVD "Tokyo Idol Festival 2010": 7 songs with Vanilla Beans were included.

Vanilla Beans then moved to Tower Records' new T-Palette Records idol label, where they would stay for most of their career. The label's first releases were singles by Vanilla Beans and Negicco, and there was a press conference-like event at Tower Records Shibuya to do the announcement. Things got a bit stranger and interesting too!

- 2011.06.29. CD single "Stairway to Heaven": So their first single on the new label was a cover of Led Zeppelin, in its full length! The B-side was a cover of Pizzicato Five's "Baby Portable Rock" which also became a live favorite.
- 2011.07.20. 2nd album "Vanilla Beans II": Shortly following the Led Zeppelin cover (included in this album), this album title also reminded of Led Zeppelin, and they were going to keep this album naming rule until the end. Also no more normal idol album jackets, instead they would stick to very strange paintings. Drummer Araki Yuko (mi-gu, The Cornelius Group) played on a few songs. "oyasumi" had music written by bice, a year after the passing away of this great singer-songwriter, with lyrics written by Rena and Lisa themselves. A sequel song to "Nicola" was included, "älskar dig". Also a cover of rock band Spitz' "oppai". Another particularity is that the entire album had each vocalist on a different channel (left and right)!

- 2012.01.12. CD single "toki no kakera": From here on, most releases come in two editions. This single came in two versions with each a different cover song of Yamashita Kumiko.
- 2012.03.14. Guest appearance on Tokyo Girls' Style's "Limited addiction" album: Song "memai".
- 2012.04.11. CD single "Choco Mint Flavor Time": Baskin Robbins tie-up. Includes cover of Ohtaki Eiichi's "1969nen no Drag Race".
- 2012.06.26. Photo book Vanilla Beans "gekkan NEO Vanilla Beans": Their only photo book. A limited edition included a DVD and 10 separate photos.
- 2012.07.04. CD single "Non-Section": Another new live favorite was born! The limited editions' B-side was a cover of rock band RC Succession's "kimi ga boku o shitteru".
- 2012.10.03. Live DVD "Vanilla Beans One-Man Live DVD - Debut 5th Anniversary Live @ Shibuya WWW" (DVD): Their first live DVD of an entire show held at one of my favorite live venues. 22 songs + 3 music videos.
- 2012.11.07. 3rd album "Vanilla Beans III": Album versions of the 3 previous singles' title tracks are included. All the rest are new tracks, with a cover of Thee Michelle Gun Elephant's "sekai no owari". The entire album was performed by a full band, with no programming involved. Tokyo Girls' Style return a guest appearance by singing some excellent chorus on "mō sugu Triangle". So many good songs!

- 2013.05.08. CD single "Muscat Slope Love": Written and produced by Kaji Hideki aka Mr. Sweden. The jacket is different in all three editions, and it was shot by photographer Leslie Kee.
- 2013.07.17. Label compilation "T-Palette Records 2nd Anniversary Mix ~Diggin' on you~": 5 VB songs out of 22.
- 2013.07.27. Appearance in horror movie "ADA" (Wikipedia)
- 2013.10.06. CD single "Please Me Darling"
- 2013.10.23. 7" single "Jewel Memories / Skåne no hana ga saiteiru": The B-side of "Muscat Slope Love" and the lead track from album "Vanilla Beans III" were released on 7" exclusive to Tower Records. Back then idol 7"'s still weren't as usual as they now are.

- 2014.04.23. CD single "watashi... fukō guse": A limited edition contained 6 extra rarities for a total of 10 tracks (including 2 instrumentals).
- 2014.06.10. Label mix CD "T-Palette 3rd Anniversary ~Far Beyond The Dream~ Selected & Mixed by DJ Wildparty": 3 songs by VB were included.
- 2014.06.18. CD single "Cup no Fuchico kōshiki Song 'kitto ii fuchi' / zettai Panty Line (seishiki hikōnin Song)": Official and unofficial theme songs for popular toy series "Cup no Fuchico". Memorable music video of VB acting as if they were the toy.
- 2014.11.11. CD single "uchōten Girl": New song that used music originally written for idol group Wink (but remained unused until then). VB climbed Mount Fuji, a journey that can be watched on the limited edition's DVD.
- 2015.02.03. 4th album "Vanilla Beans IV": Included the title tracks of the previous 5 singles, and also a cover of Belle & Sebastian's "Funny Little Frog".
- 2015.03.25. Compilation "yoru no Minoru Phone Hour": Compilation of songs from the Tokuma Japan label, selected by Konishi Yasuharu, including a new remix of "Nicola" by Konishi! He did a funny trick at the end of the song, changing the last word from "Nicola" to "Konishi". Haha! :) This song was later released on 7" too.
- 2015.04.22. Compilation "Idol bakari Pizzicato -Konishi Yasuharu x T-Palette Records-": T-Palette idols cover Pizzicato Five songs in this compilation supervised by Konishi Yasuharu! VB sang 3 of the 10 songs ("I", "It's a Beautiful Day" and "Sweet Soul Revue"). The covers were produced by Yoshida Tetsuto with Hase Yasuhiro (Yume to Cosme) and Arai Toshiya. "Sweet Soul Revue" is at the end of the album, but just before it is an instrumental of the same song. While this may look strange as a tracklist, it creates a unique and moving listening experience! The compilation was later released as a set of five 7"'s.

Around then, Vanilla Beans moved from T-Palette Records to major label Avex.

- 2015.11.18. CD single "onna wa sore o gaman shinai / Beanius / lonesome X": Triple A-sider. A new album was announced at the same time, but that also came with a worrying news. An objective was set saying that a total of 15,000 physical CDs (of the single or album) would have to be sold by the end of February 2016, unless which Vanilla Beans would disband.
- 2016.02.03. Album "Vanilla Beans V": All three songs from the latest single plus a lot of new ones. Notice opening song "Say Goodbye" and closing song "Now & Forever". A cover of Gorillaz' "Dare" featuring Ram Rider was included. In the promotion in-store events for the album, VB always sang "Say Goodbye". Fortunately the previous single and this album sold just over 15,000 copies, enough to keep VB going some more. Only once they reached this number, they performed "Now & Forever" live for the first time. The album's limited edition came with a live DVD, and the regular edition included a bonus track.
- 2016.09.28. ShinoVani single "onna no ko ☆ otoko no ko / kokoro no usagi": Only single of ShinoVani (Shinohara Tomoe + Vanilla Beans), a unit named after their weekly Internet TV show of the same name. Title track was written and produced by Tomoe, and the B-side is a self-cover of her song "kokoro no usagi".
- 2017.02.01. Digital single "sweet life": Another song with music written by late singer-songwriter bice. So thankful to VB for using music from bice's repertory. This song was also released on 7" as a split-single with The Pen Friend Club for Record Store Day 2017.
- 2017.08.02. Digital singles "Nihao! Zaijian! Yodaredori!!" & "Tokyo Crawl (Rena ver.)": These two songs are separate collaborations of Lisa and Rena with other artists. "Nihao! Zaijian! Yodaredori!!" is a rap song released as "Omisohan to Richakohan" and featuring Lisa and her good friend DJ Misoshiru to MC Gohan (aka Omisohan). "Tokyo Crawl" is a collaboration of Rena with band Five New Old.
- 2017.12.06. Greatest hits album "Vani Best II": Mostly single title tracks from their entire career. Included is a new version of Pizzicato Five cover "Tokyo wa yoru no 7ji" remixed/produced by Konishi Yasuharu. VB had kept covering this song in most of their shows for many years, and finally got a new version tailored especially for them by the song's creator. The album came in three editions, each of which had a different bonus track ("Nihao! Zaijian! Yodaredori!!", "Tokyo Crawl" and "sweet life" respectively). One limited edition contained a DVD of 4 live songs and interviews, and another came with a Blu-ray disc of all their music videos plus the same 4 live songs (no interviews though). On the jacket VB appear in the same pose as their first album.
- 2017.12.20. Digital single "Necco ~watashi no mono~": A surprising track released suddenly. Sung in Korean, it has a Swedish-style soft rock sound that reminds of Shibuya-kei.

After "Vani Best II" (and digital single "Necco") there was somewhat of a blank, after which came the news that Vanilla Beans would break up in October. After the announcement (on August 1st), there was still plenty of time so that they could release a single, finish an ongoing tour of all of Japan's Tower Records (an unprecedented feat as there are over 80 stores), and then do again plenty of promotion for the last single, to finish their duty with a final one-man live.

- 2018.09.18. CD single "going my way": Coming after the news that they would quit on October 7, 2018, this single was VB's musical farewell to all their fans. Two brand new songs. The jacket is a nod to their 2nd single "Nicola". Tomizawa Noboru (Nomiya Maki's long-time hair & make-up artist) participated in the making. This last single was released on T-Palette Records, label they were on for most of their career.

On stage

Vanilla Beans also gave wonderful on-stage performances. Unlike most idol groups, no dancing was ever involved except for some simple but beautiful choreography mainly just using their arms as they stood at their mic stands. For some songs they would move the mic stands away and walk around the stage to get a bit closer to the audience, such as for song "Summer Vacation".

In terms of visuals, Vanilla Beans always sported cool 60's-ish sleeveless dresses, always of a matching design but different colors. With every single release at least, they got brand new matching outfits totaling at least 20 sets. Most (if not all) of those dresses were made by brand Starblinc which offers similar dresses in their collections. For in-store events they often revisited previous outfits, so fans even got to see nostalgic ones.

From around the release of album "Vanilla Beans III", which was released near their 5th anniversary, they often performed live backed by a band of four (guitar, bass, keyboards and drums) which was referred to as VaniBand. Several shows featured the band from start until end. That was also something quite rare at the time for idol groups to do, and I feel like it influenced others. With VaniBand, Vanilla Beans also did a series of band-themed shows held at Shinjuku Loft, all of which featured another artist or band (Band janai mon, 7!!, Kaji Hideki, Nomiya Maki & BIBA, The Collectors, Fujioka Minami & The Morones, Scoobie Do, The Bohemians and D.W. Nicols). For each show they would also sell a new "VaniRock T-shirt" that funnily gave homage to visuals of various famous bands from around the world.

Below is a list of all (or most) Vanilla Beans events that I've been to. Thirty-eight of them!? Still that's a small number compared to the huge amount of shows and in-store events they did. The "Report" and "Mini-report" links next to each contain more details, set lists and sometimes photos.

- 2009.07.17. "The Sound of 60/90" w/ Les 5-4-3-2-1, Kinoco Hotel @ Shibuya Aoi Heya (Report)
- 2009.08.21. "Love & Hate" release in-store promotion @ Tower Records Shibuya (Report)

- 2009.11.02. "Vanilla Beans Produce kaigi DVD" release in-store event @ Tower Records Shinjuku (Report)

- 2009.12.23. One-man live vol.1 w/ Kinoco Hotel @ Daikanyama Unit (Report)
- 2010.03.14. Compilation "Kirakira Majocco Cluv" release party w/ Shinohara Tomoe, Ōta Takako & more @ Shibuya AX (Report)
- 2010.05.19. "Def & Def" release in-store event @ HMV Shibuya (Report)
- 2010.08.28. "Def & Def" promotion testing of the D&D deodorant @ Shibuya Tokyo FM Spain-zaka Studio (Photo)

- 2011.06.03. T-Palette press conference w/ Negicco @ Tower Records Shibuya (Report)

- 2011.07.20. "Vanilla Beans II" release in-store event w/ Negicco @ Tower Records Shibuya (Report)
- 2012.03.17. "Choco Mint Flavor Time" in-store event @ Tsutaya Nakano (Mini-report)
- 2012.04.10. "Choco Mint Flavor Time" in-store event @ Tower Records Shibuya (Mini-report)
- 2012.06.17. One-man live vol.4 @ Shibuya WWW (Report)

- 2012.07.20. "Tamaful & Mōshiwake Night" all-night event w/ LinQ, Tomato'n'Pine, Beach on the DIE!, DJs Utamaru, Gyūzō, Se­ｘ Yamaguchi, Cypress Ueno, etc. @ Daikanyama Unit (Mini-report)
- 2013.05.01. Band live vol.3 w/ Kaji Hideki @ Shinjuku Loft (Report)

- 2013.07.05. Band live vol.4 w/ Nomiya Maki & BIBA @ Shinjuku Loft (Report)
- 2014.04.22. "watashi... fukō guse" free release event feat. Supbeans @ Shibuya 2.5d (Mini-report)

- 2014.06.17. "kitto ii fuchi" release in-store event @ Shibuya Marui Jam rooftop (Mini-report)

- 2014.11.??. "uchōten Girl" release in-store event @ ?? (Mini-report)
- 2014.12.18. One-man live feat. Tokyo Girls' Style, Supbeans @ Ebisu Liquidroom (Mini-report)
- 2015.02.03. "Vanilla Beans IV" release in-store event feat. Okite Porsche @ Shibuya Marui Jam 5F (Mini-report)
- 2015.02.05. "Vanilla Beans IV" release in-store event @ Nakano Tsutaya (Mini-report)
- 2015.11.09. "onna wa sore o gaman shinai" promotion at Tower Records Shibuya Internet TV show w/ DJ Fukutake (Mini-report)
- 2015.11.21. Nomiya Maki "What The World Needs Now Is Love" release in-store event @ HMV & Books Shibuya (Mini-report)

- 2015.11.29. "onna wa sore o gaman shinai" in-store event @ Tower Records Shibuya B1F Stage One (Mini-report)
- 2016.02.03. "Vanilla Beans V" release in-store event @ Shibuya Marui rooftop (Mini-report)
- 2016.02.05. "Vanilla Beans V" release in-store event @ Tower Records Shibuya (Mini-report)
- 2016.03.18. One-man live vo.9 @ Tokyo Kinema Club (Mini-report)

- 2016.08.17. ShinoVani outdoor event @ Roppongi Hills (Mini-report)
- 2017.04.22. Record Store Day 2017 in-store event w/ The Pen Friend Club @ Tower Records Shinjuku (Mini-report)

- 2017.10.03. 10th anniversary in-store event @ Shibuya Marui rooftop (Mini-report)

- 2017.10.07. 10th anniversary show @ Shibuya Duo Music Exchange (Mini-report)

- 2017.10.28. "Shibuya no Radio no Shibuya-kei Festival" w/ Nomiya Maki, Kaji Hideki, Kaseci Cider, Takano Hiroshi, DJ Konishi Yasuharu @ Sakura Hall, Shibuya Cultural Center Ōwada (Report)
- 2017.11.27. "Vani Best II" release in-store event @ Shibuya Marui (Mini-report)

- 2018.09.10. Talk & mini-live event @ Shibuya Marui 8F (Mini-report)

From then, there was a Vanilla Beans shop in Shibuya Marui where many outfits and props were on display. I dropped by several times.

- 2018.09.19. In-store talk event @ Tower Records Shibuya (Mini-report)
- 2018.10.03. Last in-store event @ Shibuya Marui 8F (Mini-report)

- 2018.10.06. Last one-man live "adieu" @ Shibuya Duo Music Exchange (Mini-report)
- 2018.10.07. Last event "Vanilla Beans ni kanshasai" @ Shinjuku ReNY (Report)

The two last ones are reviewed in greater detail further below.

Continue reading below for more about Vanilla Beans' creative promotions, their musicians and collaborators, and also reports of the last shows!

On Saturday October 21, 2017 was held a very special music event for Shibuya-kei music fans. Shibuya ward organizes annually a music festival called "Shibuya ongakusai" (or "Shibu-on", official site) and for its 12th edition this year they invited Nomiya Maki (ex-Pizzicato Five) and Kaji Hideki to curate the event. For a year and a half these two have been hosting a Shibuya-kei-themed radio show every Monday from 5pm to 7pm on Shibuya's community radio "Shibuya no Radio" (of which the studio can be seen from outside). In this special collaboration, they made a dream-like event for any Shibuya-kei fan. Titled "Shibuya no Radio no Shibuya-kei Festival", the show was held at Sakura Hall, inside Shibuya Cultural Center Ōwada, a seated venue most often used for classical concerts.

First let's have a look at the amazing line-up: Nomiya Maki, Kaji Hideki, Kaseki Cider, Takano Hiroshi, Vanilla Beans, and DJs Konishi Yasuharu (Pizzicato One, ex-Pizzicato Five) and Halfby! Until the show started it was unclear whether each artist would do their own set in turn, but there had been word that some collaborations were to happen. Nomiya Maki has collaborated with singer Takano Hiroshi on her brand new album "Holiday Shibuya-kei o utau.", and Kaji Hideki has collaborated with Kaseki Cider before, and also written a song and lyrics for Vanilla Beans ("Muscat Slope Love" (2013) and "LOVE&HATE" (2009) respectively). And of course, the two members of Pizzicato Five were to be on the same bill officially for the first time since they quit in 2001!

The show started at 5pm with a DJ set by Halfby, who played some Shibuya-kei classics and songs that influenced its artists. I was happy to hear Saint Etienne's "You're In A Bad Way", Lio's "Le banana split" and France Gall's "Poupée de cire, poupée de son". That set a very good mood for starting the event.

Kaji Hideki was the first to perform, starting his set with hit song "amai koibito" (from album "Lollipop", and also heard in movie "Detroit Metal City") followed by "Ice Cream Man". Guests Vanilla Beans were called on stage, but instead of performing the expected song Kaji wrote for them before, he chose to have them sing their 2nd single "Nicola" (2008) which he described as being of true Swedish pop taste. They were accompanied by just his guitar and cajón, which gave for a very unique performance! Next Kaji called rapper Kaseki Cider to sing "shakunetsu shōjo" (aka "Tropical Girl", also from "Ice Cream Man" (2014)) for which he wrote the lyrics. Then the roles were reversed and Kaseki Cider got to sing "Kung-Fu Dance" (from latest album "Onigiri University" (2017)) during which Kaji danced and sang chorus. The last song of his set was hit song "La Boum ~My Boum Is Me~" (1997), for which he called Vanilla Beans and Nomiya Maki on stage. Vanilla Beans had covered this one before and got to sing some verses.

DJ Konishi Yasuharu was introduced and asked what kind of set he would play, and he said "Shibuya-kei!" without hesitation. He started with "Theme From The First Question Award", and Kaji who had started to walk out of the stage just had to run back to sing and dance along. That was followed by Cornelius' "The Sun Is My Enemy" and then Ozawa Kenji. The set indeed has a very high dose of Shibuya-kei songs, including ones such as Negicco "Idol bakari kikanai de" (written by himself), Takano Hiroshi "niji no miyako e", Pizzicato Five "Let's Spend The Night Together", Vanilla Beans' cover of P5's "It's a Beautiful Day" (from the "Idol bakari Pizzicato" compilation (2015)), P5 "I hear a symphony", Kahimi Karie "Mike Always Diary", Roger Nichols & The Small Circle of Friends "Don't Take Your Time", P5 "Baby Portable Rock" & "Twiggy Twiggy"... and a whole lot more, all in Konishi's fast mix style using only 7"'s.

The last song of his set was a brand new version of "Tokyo wa yoru no 7ji" (aka "the night is still young") that he newly produced for Vanilla Beans' upcoming greatest hits album "Vani Best II" (to be released on December 6). It was played for the first time at this show! After a verse Vanilla Beans came on stage to sing it live, obviously very excited about being on stage with the hit's composer, and towards the end of the song Maki also appeared to sing and dance along, making that dream Pizzicato Five reunion happen!!! Yes!!! That was such a wonderful and priceless moment. It is to note that Vanilla Beans are this year celebrating their 10th anniversary!

Next it was time for Nomiya Maki's own set! She said that her set would consist of Shibuya-kei standards that Konishi Yasuharu translated to Japanese for her recent albums. She first sang "What The World Needs Now Is Love" (from the album of the same name (2015)), "Wonderful Summer" (from "Vacances Shibuya-kei" (2017)) and "Un Homme et Une Femme" (from "French Shibuya-kei" (2016)). She then invited Takano Hiroshi on stage, and together they sang Towa Tei's "amai seikatsu" (aka "La douce vie") on which he had played guitar. He then played two of his songs on his own, "180°ree;" from his new album "Everything is good" (out Oct. 25) and then hit song "niji no miyako e" (1990). Maki came back and together they sang "Winter's Tale" in duet as heard on her new album.

Maki continued her set with "The Bell That Couldn't Jingle", a Christmas song by Burt Bacharach which was also translated by Konishi, during which she shook two different sets of bells, one with a weak sound, and another that had a bright and beautiful sound. Maki finished her set with two Pizzicato Five favorites: "Twiggy Twiggy" and "Sweet Soul Revue"!

There was still the encore to go! Nomiya Maki and Kaji Hideki appeared again on stage to sing "You Make Shibuya" (YouTube), a beautiful theme song they made commissioned by Shibuya city. Then came a big surprise, a cover of Roger Nichols & The Small Circle of Friends' "Love so fine" with original freshly written Japanese lyrics by Konishi! That was just wonderful, and I really hope that it will get released eventually.

To finish things right, there was a medley of Shibuya-kei songs. It started with "Baby Portable Rock" sung by Vanilla Beans, a song that they often cover in their own shows. This was followed by Kaji and Kaseki Cider who sang Flipper's Guitar's "koi no Machinegun" (aka "Young, Alive, in Love"), and then Takano Hiroshi's with a moving cover of Original Love's "tsuki no ura de aimashō" (aka "Let's Go To The Darkside of the Moon"). The two last songs we sung with everyone on stage: Ozawa Kenji's "bokura ga tabi ni deru riyū" and Pizzicato Five's "Tokyo wa yoru no 7ji"! The whole audience finally ended up standing and dancing, something that had felt hard to resist during the whole show.

That was a truly perfect and amazing show! The whole had live music backed by Nomiya Maki's band of the recent years, credited as "Les Romantiques" in her albums. They have a great Shibuya-kei sound and the skills to play Pizzicato Five songs live! I really wish for a second edition (and more!) of this great event. One thing that's sure is that Shibuya-kei is definitely happening in 2017!

Pictured is the official T-shirt designed by Kaseki Cider. For show photos, check out this official report on Nomiya Maki's label site.

Correspondent Nicholas D. Kent went to the "Godzilla Legend" concert held recently in New York. Here's his report!

"Godzilla Legend—Music of Akira Ifukube"
April 28, 2017 at Japan Society, NYC

For the past few years I had seen Tokyo concert announcements from time to time announcing a special concert called "Godzilla Legend" with performances by Hikashu. But I was never in town when one was scheduled. I was thrilled to discover that one of these concerts was set to take place at Japan Society in NYC, for the first time outside of Japan.

The man behind the project is Inoue Makoto, who originally played keyboards for Hikashu in the late 70s though departed as a band member in the early 1990s. He greatly admires the Godzilla film scores of Ifukube Akira (1914-2006). Ifukube composed the score for the original "Godzilla" in 1954 and wrote many but not all the Godzilla scores up until 1995 as well as a number of other Toho non-Godzilla giant monster films (Like "Rodan", 1956) that take place in the same fictional universe.

The Godzilla Legend concerts feature Inoue as musical director and Hikashu as the core band and then add guests to fill out the brass section (Tatsumi Kogorō, Gotō Atsushi, Yoshida Ryūichi) and featured guests Charan-Po-Rantan with sisters Momo and Koharu singing vocals + Koharu on accordion.

The show opens with the first scene's music from the first Godzilla film. There is a melancholy song sung by Charan-Po-Rantan which was originally sung by the sailors on the ill-fated ship the Eiko-maru who soon have a fatal encounter with Godzilla. The audience is launched musically into a number of classic Godzilla themes. One of the things I consider a "trademark" of Hikashu is the ability to perform a sort of freak out improv and then snap on the beat into a very tightly arranged melody. That's something that takes place a number of times and always impresses.

Besides the brooding suspense and rousing marches, a number of the films contain some sort of imaginary ethnic, sometimes primitive music. We hear some on King Kong's Island in "King Kong vs Godzilla" (1962) with Makigami Kōichi singing. Though a group, I'm sure Makigami is often referred to as Hikashu's frontman. During the evening he plays Theremin, does what I believe is Tuvan overtone chanting and occasionally plays a big gong and at one point a pocket trumpet.

The last show I saw in 2014 was Frenesi, and it was a very special one. In November Frenesi announced that she would put a stop (though maybe temporary) to her music career. Her last activity would be this concert held on December 27 in the Denshō hall of the Shibuya Cultural Center Ōwada. This seated hall seems to be more often used for traditional performances such as rakugo (Wikipedia), so it felt special to see a pop-oriented concert there.

For the last 2½ years or so, Frenesi's shows have always had a "school" theme, where Frenesi is the "head teacher" and those who attend are "students". Also for at least the same time she has been hiding her face from the public (Internet and photos), except in her shows where her fans are allowed to see her. The reason is unclear as she is really a cute and charming person, although this definitely works great in building a lot of anticipation for fans who get to see her show for the first time.

The show began as a kind of ceremony. People sitting in the front row were called one by one on stage to receive a pile of certificates, and once back to their seat they had to keep one and pass the rest to the person behind. Remember those school days? Yup, this is Frenesi school! The large square sheets were distributed to everyone. On one side was the certificate proving that one attended Frenesi school's end-of-business ceremony, and on the back was... Frenesi's signature cartooned face, just like the board she holds as a mask every time a photo is taken!

On November 7 was a show by Nomiya Maki (ex-Pizzicato Five) at Billboard Live Tokyo. With the title "Miss Maki Nomiya Sings Shibuya-kei Standards", it was the 2nd of the series that began the previous year, an effort in passing the word on great Shibuya-kei and inspirational songs so that they don't end up forgotten. Last year's show was to be released on CD a bit later, so this doubled as a release party. There were two representations in Tokyo on the same day, and I went to the later one starting from 21:30.

The weekend before the same show was also first held at Billboard in Osaka, so I spent the week avoiding any spoilers online. Still, as soon as I reached my seat I couldn't resist opening the booklet on the table, and before I realized I already knew half of the set list, oops! :) That just made me yet more excited to hear some of the songs listed there.

Maki's band was formed of a pianist/keyboardist (on Fender Rhodes and piano), the bandmaster on keyboards (Hammond) and percussions, a bassist and a drummer. Maki appeared in an elegant off-white dress, and started the show with Pizzicato Five's "Tokyo wa yoru no 7ji (The night is still young)", the obvious choice especially that the first set started at 7pm.

On March 19, Minekawa Takako played a solo show part of a cassette-themed exhibition. Held at Asakusabashi Tensai Sansūjuku, a multipurpose venue, the exhibition showed various artworks made using audio cassettes, and also boomboxes of all kinds were on display. The small venue has two floors, with a bar counter on the 1st floor and a tatami room on the 2nd, that's where the show was held.

After a little wait, guests were led to the 2nd floor, where Takako was already playing some tapes as BGM. She had remade a broken cassette into a cute hair accessory. It was a bit unclear when the show officially started, as people were still chatting while she had already began adding synth sounds over the tapes.