A little about Yokohama indie rock music scene

above: Jamming O.P. under: my name is...

I accidentally found great news - Yokohama's two hottest post-rock/hardcore bands Jamming O.P. and my name is... both were reunited this year and will play together next week. I can't express how great they were especially in a live setting and wait for seeing them again soon. On this occasion, I'd like to talk a bit about indie rock scene in Yokohama.

Yokohama(wiki), where I have lived since I was 9, is approx. 20mins away by train from central Tokyo. It's the second biggest city in Japan followed by Osaka and about 3.6 million people live there. It's a big city in terms of size of population and dimension.

When I was a university student, I had a lot of friends who were in a band so that often went to small clubs in the city to see their plays. At the moment, albit divese, Yokohama indie rock scene was pretty much about post-rock / hardcore / progressive / emo (and the trend hasn't changed since then) - bands based in Yokohama tended to be very skillful and so aggressive on stage. Despite being quite close to Tokyo, Yokohama has their own thriving and unique music scene. I don't think you can find many bands in Tokyo that are similar to Yokohama bands. The scene is that unique I would say.

I love my hometown's music scene as it has its own identity. I always like any local music scenes that have the one. It's a pity people wouldn't pay attention consistently to local music scenes unless a city has a great reputation in producing amazing bands such as Manchester, Glasgow and NY. So, I'd like to say this: if you have a chance to come over to Yokohama, why not popping in a small venue like one of the greatest club in Yokohama Club Lizard and see local bands?

Oricon - Weekly International Album Chart (11/10)

Weekly International Album Chart (Japan) - 11 October 2010

   1. Linkin Park / A Thousand Suns
   2. VA/ DJ KAORI'S INMIX VI
   3. Maroon 5 / Hands All Over
   4. Eric Clapton / Clapton
   5. Santana / Guitar Heaven -Greatest Rock Classics-
   6. David Foster / David Foster Presents Love Again
   7. John Legend & The Roots / Wake Up!
   8. Underworld / Barking
   9. Katy Perry / Teenage Dream
  10. Bad Religion / The Dissent of Man

source: http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/wa/w/
also check the last week's chart here

Only one new entry for this week's International album chart (Bad Religion is the one). However, if you check out other albums in the Top 30, you'll see (if you can read Japanese) more new entries - "Invented" by Jimmy Eat World at #16 and Metallica's three reissues at #22, #25 and #29. Metallica's reissues are all SHM-CDs (=Super High Material CDs) in cardboard sleeves. This format features enhanced audio quality. SHM-CDs are compatible with standard audio players but are only adopted and distributed in Japan. These reissues' release coincided with the band's Japan tour that took place a couple of weeks ago. It is said in Japan that metal music fans would buy anything their favourite bands release. They buy anything from "cardboard sleeve" to "Blu-spec" to "deluxe edition". Regarding that, it can be said that the band's Japanese label Universal International releases these reissues at the best time. Nothing new happened with there reissues. It's just a typical strategy.

Turning Japanese (from guardian.co.uk)

A number of goers came to see Jonsi at Summer Sonic 2010.

Have you ever read a string of articles called "Turning Japanese" on a British broadsheet The Guardian's website? It finished a year ago but it's still available on the website. Here is the link to: www.guardian.co.uk/music/series/turningjapanese

Some of the articles cut into the heart of problems that the Japanese music scene faces. However, as far as I read, the author of this Alex Hoban seemed to slightly misunderstand what the music scene is like and what people there think about...

Anyway,  the beneath is my favourite one from the Turning Japanese series:

 - Turning Japanese: The dark side of touring - The Guardian (21/1/2010)

All bands, who I worked with, seemed to enjoy their stay in Japan really but Late of the Pier reportedly was not the case. Tight schedule and strict time keeping. Unfortunate accident happened. Tiredness from a long-lasting world tour. Oh, poor them...

With contributions from people who are involved in the Japanese live music scene, this article sums up the things that people who want to tour in Japan have to go through:

• High cost of touring in Japan (currency rate + bands are charged high fees by venues)
• difficulties in booking (booking managers are not interested in overseas bands who don't speak Japanese. I think they don't need them as the Japanese live scene thrives enough without international acts)
• Cultural differences

They're all true as far as I'm concerned. Although I'd disagree with some opinions mentioned in the string of articles, Turning Japanese is a good introduction of the Japanese music industry (but just an introduction)..

I will look at the live music a bit more deeper next time.