Its been over an year since my last entry. I'll try and upload reports of gigs that I attended after that.
最後の更新から一年以上経ってしまった。時間が経つのは早いねぇ。残ってるレポを出来るだけアップしようと思う。
最後の更新から一年以上経ってしまった。時間が経つのは早いねぇ。残ってるレポを出来るだけアップしようと思う。
I have known the existence of Last.fm but have never used it before. It seemed like a nifty program so I registered and downloaded it and started "scrobbling" the music that I listen to. The above chart is what they generated according to the tracks I listened to so far. My personal last.fm page is at http://www.last.fm/user/mrshite/
その存在は知っていながらも今まで使う事のなかったLast.fmをつい最近ダウンロードした。このプログラムを使うと自分が聞いてる音楽を自動的に記録してチャートを生成してくれるという仕組み。それで上のチャートが出来上がったんでサイトに載せてみる事にした。ちなみに個人ページはこちら http://www.last.fm/user/mrshite/
---Notable tracks---
1. Beirut - This has been said a million times by everyone but Beirut's music is unmistakebly Neutral Milk Hotel-esque. In fact, he recently released an EP titled "Lon Gisland EP" which suspiciously sounds like a nod to NMH's "On Avery Island". The band consists of horns, strings, accordions, glockenspiels and ukuleles. Has a very Eastern Europe vibe to it. Oh yeah, and the frontman of this band that puts everything together is a 20 year old Brooklyner.
2. TV on the Radio - actually saw them as an opening act for the Franz Ferdinand gig, but didn't think they were great back then. Now that I've gotten to like their stuff, I really want to see them live again. The band is a group of African Americans (Politically Correct) from Brooklyn, and they admit that they were the only ones in their neighborhood who were into New Wave music.
4. Fujiya and Miyagi - these guys aren't actually Japanese. And there's three of them, not two as the name suggests. They are three British dudes making electronica music. On this particular track, "Photocopier", they reveal the shocking truth in their lyrics - "yeah we were just pretending to be Japanese". I have yet to figure out why.
---注目トラック---
1. Beirut - 散々言われてる事だけどこのバンドはNeutral Milk Hotel色が強い。つい最近リリースしたEPのタイトル「Lon Gisland EP」もNMHの「On Avery Island」を意識したと思われるし。まあそれは置いといて、Beirutの曲はストリングス、ブラス、アコーディオン、木琴にウクレレを使った東ヨーロッパ風味な音楽。実はこのバンドをまとめてるフロントマンがブルックリン住まいの20歳だと知った時は驚いた。
2. TV on the Radio - Franz Ferdinand ライブにて演奏してるのを見た時はイマイチだと思ってあまり興味を持たなかったバンド。今はすっかり好きになってしまったので是非ともまたライブで見たい。ブルックリン出身の黒人グループなんだけど、やっぱり「近所でNew Wave音楽を聞いてたのは俺達ぐらいだった」と認めている。
4. Fujiya and Miyagi - フジヤ&ミヤギ。この方達は日本人ではありません。イギリス人です。あと二人では無く、三人組というなんとも紛らわしいネーミングのバンド。ジャンルはエレクトロニカ。彼らの歌詞の一部に「そう、僕たち日本人のフリしてただけ」というのがある。理由は不明。
Went to see Swords (formerly known as The Swords Project) play at Mercury Lounge with opening act Say Hi To Your Mom....and the attempt ended as a failure. Apparently, the place has a strict age limit of over 21 to enter. Letting anyone under 21 in is as illegal as buying a TV without license in South Africa. I had no form of ID, fake or real, I'm underage and that was the end of the story. So I'll just do a random disk review.
えー事の顛末を語ると、旧The Swords Project現在名The Swordsのライブ（前座にはSay Hi To Your Momの名も）が行われる会場マーキュリーラウンジに行ったはいいけど21歳以下は立ち入り禁止のバーということであえなく門前払い、拍子抜けして適当にディスクレビューでも、と。入り口の黒人用心棒をなんとか説得しようとしたけど20ドル払ったら裏口からとかそんな事言い始めたからやめにした。ケチ。
Swords (ex The Swords Project)
Metropolis
So this is the latest Swords album. They changed their name with the release of this album, making it harder for people to search for them online. They are a 6 piece, atmospheric rock band from Portland. Surprisingly, it seems less new material than I expected compared to their "Entertainment Is Over If You Want It" album. I had the idea these guys were the innovative type, and since they changed their band name with the release of this album, I thought they would come up with a completely new approach. Either way, Metropolis offers some note-worthy points: similar to their previous album, they have compiled all their sounds - guitar, drums, strings - in such a fashion that all the sounds are mashed into one, creating a wall of sound without any one prominent sound standing out from the others. Unlike many atmospheric rock bands, these guys incorporate a lot of actual singing in their songs. At times, they layer vocals, contributing to the songs with an almost instrument-like quality. I really liked "city life" from their previous album with its abrupt funky breakdown without a warning, but it seems as if they eliminated that option for this new album.
これがそのSwordsの新譜。このアルバムをもって正式に改名、検索エンジンでほぼ確実に引っかからなくなった。6人のメンバーが織り成す空間系ポストロックの音はどこか未来っぽいサウンドだが普通の空間系と違って歌も入れたりしてる。前作と比べてもあまり音楽的に違ったものはないと思う。残念なのは前作の"city life"みたいに途中からガラッと音が変わるような仕掛けの曲が無いこと。このバンドの特徴としては全ての音をまとめてでっかい音の塊にしたような感じで、なにか一つの楽器が他より目立つとかそういうのは無いこと。ストリングスも他のストリングス入りポストロックバンドに比べて控えめで、どっちかというとほとんどギター音が独占してる。是非ライブで聴きたかった…惜しいことを。
Giardini Di Miro
Punk...Not Diet!
Here it is, Italian Postrock. And it's good. Giardini Di Miro succeeds in recreating God Speed You Black Emperor!-esque brass instruments/loud drums/soaring guitar/strings compilation music with an addition of electric bleeps but without too much of the gloomy ambience that many post rock bands have. It still does have an underlying somber tone to it though, yet it is cleverly covered with lush soundscapes.
イタリアのポストロック。これまた珍しい。でも内容は他の国のポストロックに負けず劣らず…どころかむしろかなり良く出来てる。ブラス楽器にドラム、歪みギターにストリングス、更に電子音全てがうまく調合されていて、ポストロックにありがちな暗い雰囲気もない。
Jens Lekman
When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog
"Did you eat your banana from 7-11?"
"Tram no.1 is full of fun, Tram no.2 is cootchie-coo, Tram no.3 is misery, Tram no.4 knocks at your door, Tram no.5 I'm still alive, Tram no.6 I think I'm fixed, Tram no.7...Tram no.7 to heaaaaveeeennn"
"Yeah I got busted. In custody I imagined our melody being played on the piano...Yeah I got busted. I painted a dirty word on your old man's mercedes benz because you told me to do it"
"When people think of Sweden I think they have the wrong idea. Like Cliff Richards who thought it was just porn and gonorrhea. And Lou Reed said in the film "Blue in the face" that compared to New York City, Sweden was a scary place"
Imagine all these lyrics sung in old-fashioned, dreamy, acoustic pop songs with a deep but clear voice. Swedish bands kick ass.
タイトル「僕が君の犬になりたいと言った時」
「セブンイレブンのバナナは食べたかい？♪」
ほう！バナナ！
ほう！
歌詞が最高だよ歌詞が
「一号車は楽しさ一杯
二号車はコチョコチョ
三号車は悲惨
四号車はドアをノックする
五号車は僕まだ生きてる
六号車は僕直ったと思う
七号車は……七号車は天～国～♬」
これ全部さわやかレトロ調の夢見心地アコースティックポップに乗せて低くて抜けのいい声で歌い上げられてて絶妙にハマってる。
終いにはスチールドラムまで…ってスウェーデンアーティスト？ええっ？ｗ
もうこれからスウェーデン産のバンドは無条件で応援してやるよ。
Set Fire To Flames
Sings Reign Rebuilder
Here's another post rock band with a total of 13 musicians. They're from post rock central, Canada, specifically Montreal. 5 of those 13 gangstas are actually former Godspeed You Black Emperor! members. Heavily string-oriented with numerous environmental sounds infused (i.e. sound of traffic, wooden windmill creaking sounds, etc), but yeah, strings are most prominent I'd say. The songs are definitely not as long as GYBE! songs but they follow a similar sort of ambience with overlayering of warm-sounding string instruments.
13人のメンバーの内五人が元Godspeedメンバーっつー正統派ポストロック形式バンド。もちろんポストロックセンターであるカナダ産、具体的にはモントリール出身。音もそのまんま五人分の濃厚凝縮Godspeed成分を残りの8人が薄めた感じ。Godspeed程ひとつひとつの曲が長くはないが、ストリングスを多用してる点ではかなり似ている。あと渋滞の音だとか木製風車の軋む音だとか環境音を一杯取り入れてる所も面白い。全体的にはアンビエントな雰囲気だけど温かなストリングスの音色を上手く重ねているのでバランスの取れた仕上がりになった曲が多いといった印象。
Dead Meadow
Feathers
Stoner rock. Fuzzy guitar sounds stretch lazily across the air while the drum apathetically produces uneven beats and suddenly a dirty sounding guitar bursts in with a random, half-assed solo, ending in a jumble of noise. Also, nasaly vocals. It was made when the musicians were stoned and it is meant to be listened to when you are stoned. No twinkley-twinkley here, just muffled buzzes all the way from beginning to end.
ヤク中毒者ロック。ベッタリくっつくようなヴォーカルに毛羽立ってぼやけているギター、やる気のないドラム。いまいちサイケな感じがしないのは音数が少ないからだろうか。あと全体的に凄くテンポの遅い曲が多い。ただひたすらモヤモヤした質感の曲が次から次へと続く。正にドラッグ野郎ご用達バンド。
DELTA FORCE
Starring CHUCK NORRIS
"Dis iz a haijak! Open cockpit or I'll blow plane!"
"I was in Beirut 20 years ago. You should've been here then. It was beautiful! Beirut had casinos, dances, parties, concerts. It was the Las Vegas of the Middle East."
"It's a go. TAKE THEM DOWN!"
Classic. Totally classic.
デルタフォースは俺の中では歴代「90年代よく見た安っぽい映画」に勝手に殿堂入り。
えー事の顛末を語ると、旧The Swords Project現在名The Swordsのライブ（前座にはSay Hi To Your Momの名も）が行われる会場マーキュリーラウンジに行ったはいいけど21歳以下は立ち入り禁止のバーということであえなく門前払い、拍子抜けして適当にディスクレビューでも、と。入り口の黒人用心棒をなんとか説得しようとしたけど20ドル払ったら裏口からとかそんな事言い始めたからやめにした。ケチ。
Swords (ex The Swords Project)
Metropolis
So this is the latest Swords album. They changed their name with the release of this album, making it harder for people to search for them online. They are a 6 piece, atmospheric rock band from Portland. Surprisingly, it seems less new material than I expected compared to their "Entertainment Is Over If You Want It" album. I had the idea these guys were the innovative type, and since they changed their band name with the release of this album, I thought they would come up with a completely new approach. Either way, Metropolis offers some note-worthy points: similar to their previous album, they have compiled all their sounds - guitar, drums, strings - in such a fashion that all the sounds are mashed into one, creating a wall of sound without any one prominent sound standing out from the others. Unlike many atmospheric rock bands, these guys incorporate a lot of actual singing in their songs. At times, they layer vocals, contributing to the songs with an almost instrument-like quality. I really liked "city life" from their previous album with its abrupt funky breakdown without a warning, but it seems as if they eliminated that option for this new album.
これがそのSwordsの新譜。このアルバムをもって正式に改名、検索エンジンでほぼ確実に引っかからなくなった。6人のメンバーが織り成す空間系ポストロックの音はどこか未来っぽいサウンドだが普通の空間系と違って歌も入れたりしてる。前作と比べてもあまり音楽的に違ったものはないと思う。残念なのは前作の"city life"みたいに途中からガラッと音が変わるような仕掛けの曲が無いこと。このバンドの特徴としては全ての音をまとめてでっかい音の塊にしたような感じで、なにか一つの楽器が他より目立つとかそういうのは無いこと。ストリングスも他のストリングス入りポストロックバンドに比べて控えめで、どっちかというとほとんどギター音が独占してる。是非ライブで聴きたかった…惜しいことを。
Giardini Di Miro
Punk...Not Diet!
Here it is, Italian Postrock. And it's good. Giardini Di Miro succeeds in recreating God Speed You Black Emperor!-esque brass instruments/loud drums/soaring guitar/strings compilation music with an addition of electric bleeps but without too much of the gloomy ambience that many post rock bands have. It still does have an underlying somber tone to it though, yet it is cleverly covered with lush soundscapes.
イタリアのポストロック。これまた珍しい。でも内容は他の国のポストロックに負けず劣らず…どころかむしろかなり良く出来てる。ブラス楽器にドラム、歪みギターにストリングス、更に電子音全てがうまく調合されていて、ポストロックにありがちな暗い雰囲気もない。
Jens Lekman
When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog
"Did you eat your banana from 7-11?"
"Tram no.1 is full of fun, Tram no.2 is cootchie-coo, Tram no.3 is misery, Tram no.4 knocks at your door, Tram no.5 I'm still alive, Tram no.6 I think I'm fixed, Tram no.7...Tram no.7 to heaaaaveeeennn"
"Yeah I got busted. In custody I imagined our melody being played on the piano...Yeah I got busted. I painted a dirty word on your old man's mercedes benz because you told me to do it"
"When people think of Sweden I think they have the wrong idea. Like Cliff Richards who thought it was just porn and gonorrhea. And Lou Reed said in the film "Blue in the face" that compared to New York City, Sweden was a scary place"
Imagine all these lyrics sung in old-fashioned, dreamy, acoustic pop songs with a deep but clear voice. Swedish bands kick ass.
タイトル「僕が君の犬になりたいと言った時」
「セブンイレブンのバナナは食べたかい？♪」
ほう！バナナ！
ほう！
歌詞が最高だよ歌詞が
「一号車は楽しさ一杯
二号車はコチョコチョ
三号車は悲惨
四号車はドアをノックする
五号車は僕まだ生きてる
六号車は僕直ったと思う
七号車は……七号車は天～国～♬」
これ全部さわやかレトロ調の夢見心地アコースティックポップに乗せて低くて抜けのいい声で歌い上げられてて絶妙にハマってる。
終いにはスチールドラムまで…ってスウェーデンアーティスト？ええっ？ｗ
もうこれからスウェーデン産のバンドは無条件で応援してやるよ。
Set Fire To Flames
Sings Reign Rebuilder
Here's another post rock band with a total of 13 musicians. They're from post rock central, Canada, specifically Montreal. 5 of those 13 gangstas are actually former Godspeed You Black Emperor! members. Heavily string-oriented with numerous environmental sounds infused (i.e. sound of traffic, wooden windmill creaking sounds, etc), but yeah, strings are most prominent I'd say. The songs are definitely not as long as GYBE! songs but they follow a similar sort of ambience with overlayering of warm-sounding string instruments.
13人のメンバーの内五人が元Godspeedメンバーっつー正統派ポストロック形式バンド。もちろんポストロックセンターであるカナダ産、具体的にはモントリール出身。音もそのまんま五人分の濃厚凝縮Godspeed成分を残りの8人が薄めた感じ。Godspeed程ひとつひとつの曲が長くはないが、ストリングスを多用してる点ではかなり似ている。あと渋滞の音だとか木製風車の軋む音だとか環境音を一杯取り入れてる所も面白い。全体的にはアンビエントな雰囲気だけど温かなストリングスの音色を上手く重ねているのでバランスの取れた仕上がりになった曲が多いといった印象。
Dead Meadow
Feathers
Stoner rock. Fuzzy guitar sounds stretch lazily across the air while the drum apathetically produces uneven beats and suddenly a dirty sounding guitar bursts in with a random, half-assed solo, ending in a jumble of noise. Also, nasaly vocals. It was made when the musicians were stoned and it is meant to be listened to when you are stoned. No twinkley-twinkley here, just muffled buzzes all the way from beginning to end.
ヤク中毒者ロック。ベッタリくっつくようなヴォーカルに毛羽立ってぼやけているギター、やる気のないドラム。いまいちサイケな感じがしないのは音数が少ないからだろうか。あと全体的に凄くテンポの遅い曲が多い。ただひたすらモヤモヤした質感の曲が次から次へと続く。正にドラッグ野郎ご用達バンド。
DELTA FORCE
Starring CHUCK NORRIS
"Dis iz a haijak! Open cockpit or I'll blow plane!"
"I was in Beirut 20 years ago. You should've been here then. It was beautiful! Beirut had casinos, dances, parties, concerts. It was the Las Vegas of the Middle East."
"It's a go. TAKE THEM DOWN!"
Classic. Totally classic.
デルタフォースは俺の中では歴代「90年代よく見た安っぽい映画」に勝手に殿堂入り。
Lobster Studio - In Session
スタジオロブスター セッション中
*WARNING - NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED DURING THIS PHOTO SHOOT
Went to see Thumbsucker.
As Tim Delaughter of Polyphonic Spree said, it was pretty good. It featured music from both the Sprees and Elliot Smith.
In the movie, main character Justin applies to NYU and is eventually admitted. Cheering amongst the audience when NYU popped up. Seems like we weren't the only NYU students there. It'd be really cool if there really was a Justin and he was my roommate or something.
Keanu Reeves acts out a psychiatrist in Justin's hometown. He was the main joke factor of the movie though. Everyone laughed their asses off whenever he came out on screen. And he's just being serious...while at the same time looking as if he's constantly stoned.
Important theme in movie: MFC = Mother Fucking Cocksucker
The Polyphonic Spreeのティムが薦めてたThumbsuckerを観に行った。スプリーとElliot Smithの音楽が使われていてなかなかいい映画だった。
偶然にも主人公ジャスティンが劇中NYUに願書を送って、大学の面接受けたりしてたのが笑た。ウチの大学しょっちゅう映画に出てくるな。実際ジャスティンが存在してルームメイトだったりしたら面白かったのに。
Got off at Union Square to get to the theatre. Whole ring of police cars surrounding the entire square and numerous TV crew vans. Apparently there had been some sort of bomb threat. Union Square's like where I get off every other day of the week to get to one of my classes. That ain't funny. The subway was shut down for a while.
映画館に行くのにいつも通学に使う地下鉄ルートを使って行ったらどうも外が騒がしい。どうやらユニオンスクェア駅に爆弾を仕掛けるというテロリストからの犯行予告があったらしい。おいおい、ユニオンスクェアって一日おきに必ず降りる駅じゃねーかよｗ シャレんなんねー
駅の周りはピカピカライト回しっぱなしのパトカーが囲んでいて、テレビ局の車も多数発見。近くのヴァージンメガストアまで警備がいやがる始末。午前中は地下鉄を封鎖していたらしい。軍隊まで派遣してるし。いい迷惑だ。
Btw, one of my Freshman homies had his wallet and cell phone mugged on campus. Yeah, some shady looking bozo stuck a gun to his forehead while two others took all his belongings. But he had $1 cash and his credit cards were maxed out. Good thing they didnt check the contents of the wallet.
ところで昨夜友達の一人がキャンパスでサイフと携帯を取られたらしい。怪しい三人組に迫られて一人が銃をつき付けて脅してる間に残りの二人が盗んでいった、と。でも1ドルしか現金がなかった上にクレジットカードも限度額超えてたらしい。その場で財布の中身をチェックされなくて良かったね。全然良くないけど。
Finally we are provided with Broken Social Scene's new album. This self-titled record in my opinion, does not exactly live up to the legendary "You Forgot it in People" album, but is nonetheless a precious compilation of beautiful melodies. There is a lot of layering going on in these tracks. It sort of lost the Raw Power its predecessor had. I was hoping they would try something entirely new, come up with a radically new approach, especially when the Limited Edition features a bonus disc full of tunes that sound pretty much like their old stuff.
ようやくBroken Social Sceneの新譜が発売。多くの人がこれを待ち望んでいた。でも個人的にはやっぱ「You Forgot it in Peole」を超えられないと思う。今回のセルフタイトルアルバムに収録されている曲群は前作より更に多重録音されてるっぽくていまいち前作のようなパワーを感じない。限定版には似たような音ばかりが収録されているボーナスディスクも入ってるんだしどうせなら全く新しい、いままでとは全然違う感じの曲を録って欲しかった。
I've been digging up some random records and among them, Jaga Jazzist's "A Living Room Hush", and "What We Must" stood out. I've never explored this section of instrumental music before so it sounded new and I like it.
ジャガ。Jaga Jazzist のアルバム二枚："A Living Room Hush" ＆ "What We Must"。いい。この系統はあまり聞いてなかったからなんか新鮮。
そういや肉ジャガ食いたい。ジャガバタも。ヒロシに作ってもらうか。
JJ consists of many artists, and one of them, Lars Horntveth, does some solo work. Pooka is one of those solo albums. Although at times it sounds over-dramatic and narly, as a whole the album is great.
Pooka: Jaga Jazzistメンバーの一人、Lars Horntvethのソロアルバム。映画サントラみたいにチープな盛り上げ方する曲もあるけど、総合的には当たりのアルバム。ちなみにこれに収録されているTicsって曲はフジテレビ深夜番組「ニューデザインパラダイス」に使われていたのをなんとなく覚えている。
"Pooka"
プッカってこれしか思い出せな（略
Im testing this thing out, I might suddenly decide to quit someday.