Some well meaning fan of jam band Disco Biscuits has done something that probably seemed like a great idea at the time, but it’s crap. About a year ago this video went viral, so you may have seen it, an al fresco performance of ”Apache” by Danish pop savant Tommy Seebach. ”Apache” was originally recorded by The Shadows in June 1960, but with dancing (Danish) Indian girls in tassled bikinis, a bongo player and a spooky voiceover predating Michael Jackson’s ”Thiller,” Seebach’s video stands on its own both as a funky ass musical capsule and a cheesy ass ’70s freakout.

Continue reading »

10:14 AM

Soul Flower Union have a great back story. The band rose out the ashes of two Osaka-based punk groups, Mescaline Drive and Newest Model, back in 1993.

Continue reading »

10:09 AM

At the very beginning of Jon Helmer’s DVD Tents & Bugs and Rock N Roll, we see a dreadlocked Aussie or Kiwi or Brit (damned accents) standing outside the Naeba hotels getting totally blitzed about the fact that, somewhere within the walls of that hotel is Limp fucking Bizkit (profanity added by the present writer to better portray said excitement). This first section having been filmed in 1999, I concluded that either a) this was exactly the sort of time-warp nostalgia experience you look for in a DVD like this, because clearly the memo from on hipster high that the Bizkit suck hadn’t yet been circulated, or quite possibly b) this gentleman just thinks for himself. (For the record, I still think “Break Stuff” is one of the top 5 greatest raging angry songs ever.)

Continue reading »

10:32 PM

As the gender theorists have been telling us for years, simple dichotomies never give the whole picture. (And they are usually instruments of power wielded—knowingly or unknowingly—by those with a vested interest in maintaining the dominant paradigm, but that’s surely a discussion better left to the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra post). So too with the current debate among FRF staffers as to whether wellies or sandals are the better choice of footwear for a three-day outdoor festival with a good chance of rain.

Continue reading »

9:46 PM

If you are looking for Japanese rock 'n' roll swagger at Fuji Rock, one of your best bets this year is The Birthday.

Continue reading »

8:14 PM

Based on a message that appeared on the FRF official site last week I posted that the 8th lineup announcement was most likely the final one. Turns out the fine folks at Smash had two more small additions for us.

Continue reading »

4:23 PM

The pre-festival party on Thursday night is notable for several constants. Ostensibly thrown as a kind of thank-you to the Naeba community, it's gratis--anyone who happens to be there can attend, though the festivities are limited to the two food courts. The locals set up a bon odori platform, around which people dance to traditional music, and the evening is usually climaxed by a brief eruption of fireworks. And then there's the bands at the Red Marquee...

Continue reading »

8:27 PM

Best Thing About Fuji Rock: Being Alone! That’s right, nothing like going to a festival with 30,000 people just so you can get a little solo time! If you are with a bunch of bros or hanging with the wolf pack ala “The Hangover” you might want to break away for some solo beer runs and never come back. Being alone means you’re your inner caveman can come out, and you bum smokes, share a jug of wine, throw a few elbows in the mosh pit, well,…you catch my drift. Anyhoo, catching up with entourage is pretty easy, either meeting at the Heineken tent during the Oasis set or night cap at Palace of Wonder.