On Monday June 27 was an event organized by CTO LAB. at Koenji High, a good venue for which I've heard many praises for its good sound and tall stage.
I got there just on time, catching a mini-live by Hitorimisaki who played instrumental electronic music with good beats. He was followed by Tenorierie, a girl who stood in a yellow raincoat (it was a rainy day after all) singing electro-pop songs accompanied only by her Tenorion, adding live parts and solos. She played 3 songs including "yowamushi no hikoshi" that can be heard at MySpace. For a song she added percussions by using scissors to pop small balloons kept in a transparent box by her side.
Then was (M)otocompo (read "otocompo") that I had been curious about. It's a unit of 5 guys (otoko) put together by Motocompo's Dr Usui. The 4 other guys act like robots who he controls, giving them their cues, although when presenting them he said that the leader is actually the guitarist. :) Usui explained that their style is ska-electro, even joking that they were the only band in the world to combine these styles, though they often sounded more like new wave. The show had an awesome amount of live synths and electronic drums played all while dancing, with also guitar and bass.
They played I believe mainly covers, like Motocompo's "Detective" and "Drive My Car", and closing with a crazy version of K-pop band Girls' Generation's "Gee" driving everyone into laughter (watch a clip from another show below). Here's hoping for an album sooner or later!
Next up was Shampoo, a techno-pop who I was unfamiliar with, but checking out their site before the show I found out that they debuted in 1982 produced by P-Model's Hirasawa Susumu. Now it's a unit of two, with singer Orimo Masami and keyboardist KC. They were later joined on stage by a female bassist Romina and also Pevo#1, guitarist from band Pevo. Most surprising to the inexperienced is that the singer has an amputated right leg, and also uses a mysterious instrument named Leg Two, played with a bow, which gets mounted to her right leg when needed. The songs ranged from electro to slower ones with elements from French chanson. They played original songs and also a cover of Serge Gainsbourg's "Bonnie and Clyde".
Shampoo has a 2nd album titled "Blizzard Drive" that came out a month ago (Amazon, HMV).
Shampoo - Left to right: Romina, Orimo Masami, Pevo#1, KC
Next was an intermede by Uda Michinobu who presented the instrument he invented, the Udar, on which he played a few songs from Final Fantasy. Udar is a hand-held electronic instrument with small tubes spiraled around its core. It produces beautiful tones when the tubes are pressed with the fingers. It's polyphonic and can slide between tones. The instrument is hoped to be released with magazine Otona no Kagaku before the end of the year.
Then came CTO LAB., the super-unit of polymoog (Elektel), Imai Kentarō (The Aprils) and Okada Tōru (The Moonriders). Each member stood in front of their usual arsenal of small electronic instruments, and while sometimes they take time to present each instrument, this time the show was all music. After a few songs, Okada-san took the mic and called Shampoo's Orimo-san on stage, it was to sing her and also Imai-kun a happy birthday! The show was originally planned to be held on Imai-kun's birthday, and it's only after they invited Shampoo to play that they realized the coincidence of the singer's matching birthday. The audience all sang along, one verse for each.
CTO LAB. - Left to right: polymoog, Imai Kentarō, Okada Tōru
The set list included some of CTO's best tracks, and also a session with "Caméra Égal Stylo". For the encore, they did a cover of Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" accompanied with Udar, and then ended with "Crash Bandicoot" with Taichi (of Genius) doing his dance.
Set list: 2001: A Space Odyssey / C.DISCO / One more thing / Happy Birthday / Session with Udar / itoko dōshi (Moonriders cover) / shōtokai kōkyōgaku (Moonriders cover) / Flashback
Encore: Smile (Charlie Chaplin cover with Udar) / Crash Bandicoot (with dancer Taichi)
It seems like the Tokyo Outbound event might become a series, and I'm definitely looking forward to what it will bring up next!
Larger sizes and more photos at Flickr
(M)otocompo "Gee" (from a show earlier in June)
Shampoo album "Blizzard Drive" promo clip
CTO LAB. "C.DISCO" (live clip from 2009 show)
Posted on July 4, 2011 at 00:18
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Whaaaat, Shampoo! I love them, haha! I never thought they were still around! That's amazing. It looks like a really awesome show, all these bands.
I will most likely be going to tokyo for a week in late january or february. I might find a way to prolonge the say, but I totally have to go to a concert like this!
Posted by Pierre-Olivier on July 4, 2011 at 10:50
Oh, so you know Shampoo! Cool!! :) Their show was great!
And very cool about your upcoming trip to Tokyo, I hope you can catch a few good shows. Watch Tokyo Gig Guide when time gets closer. http://www.tokyogigguide.com/
Posted by Patrick on July 4, 2011 at 21:25
Patrick,
Thank you very much for such a thorough and comprehensive report! Even if I was there on June 27, your report delivers me more scenes than my pure memory!
I was a fun of Shampoo (Orimo-san) in 1982. I saw the stage of Shampoo on May 14, this year, after 29 years interval. I was quite impressed by their stage, and soon found the world of Shampoo stays very consistent even after long interval for me. Besides, now with more quiet but deeper emotions. Shampoo June 27 stage was also great!
All of the performances on June 27 were amazing, together with many musical gadgets !
Posted by Herisson on July 4, 2011 at 23:15
Aww, no "Dream Child"? That's my favorite CTO Lab. song.
That looked like a really fun live. :)
Posted by coco★tapioca on July 5, 2011 at 00:31
Thanks Herisson! I envy that you've been a fan for such a long time! It's great news that they're back now.
coco★tapioca, yeah I like "Dream Child" too! They played it at this show last December, I hope they will again. :) Lately "Chemi-con" gets stuck in my head a lot!
http://coolestsound.jp/reports/CTO_LAB._Candles_Hi-5_spoon/2010.12.31/007791/
Posted by Patrick on July 5, 2011 at 00:37
thanks for the site! I would've only thought of using last.fm , but they don't have everything.
Posted by Pierre-Olivier on July 5, 2011 at 03:13
Patrick, thank you for your comment.
Just to be precise, Shampoo(Orimo-san) has been performing almost continuously from 1982. I just did not have a chance to see the stage of Shampoo in the last 29 years.
Hoping to see you at the next Shampoo Live! (although I do not know when...)
Posted by Herisson on July 5, 2011 at 23:46