Music

TOPICS:

10/22/07
Locked

Previous

PAGE: 

1 ... 

14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18

 ... 453

Next

Hunter

Hunter

SUICIDEGIRL

New York, USA

OCT 04, 2007 07:10 PM





Fujiya and Miyagi played the Bowery Ballroom here in NYC last week, and I wasn't really sure what to write afterwards. Their songs are smooth and beat-driven, and sometimes they remind me of Can, which can only be a good thing. They know what they're doing when mixing live instruments with electronic sounds, and they're certainly good to listen to while chilling on one's couch and smoking a hookah...but live, they're a little on the mellow side for someone who likes to jump around and thrash in the pit at shows (me). I also find it alternately cool and annoying that they have a fake Japanese name and admit in a song that they are "only pretending to be Japanese" O RLY, clearly not Japanese-looking-or-sounding guys?? Then again, they get props for naming themselves after Pat Morita's character in The Karate Kid. All in all, I am pro-them.



I am even more pro-them after seeing this news item on Pitchfork:







Camelot for Kids is a nationwide organization that offers assistance and therapy for children and teens with mental and behavioral problems, such as autism. They help kids via outreach programs, schools, and residential treatment centers, and music plays a big role in therapy.



Josh Scholl, Director of Community Relations for Camelot's Des Plaines, Illinois treatment center, used to work in the music business, and he understands the value of rocking out to live bands, no matter who you are. Scholl has helped line up a pair of private shows for the Camelot kids taking place over the next two months at Chicago's Empty Bottle.



Tomorrow evening, October 5, Fujiya & Miyagi will perform a short set for the Camelot folks before taking the stage that night for a regular show. They will also participate in a question and answer session.





Now each time I smoke a hookah on my couch, I will turn their beats up extra loud and feel happy I'm listening to a band that supports rad charities and music therapy. This goes without saying, but music is good for more than just dancing around to and/or writing scathing criticism of. In ways that are documented but not yet fully understood by science, tunes from Mozart to Moby can help people overcome a variety of conditions.



Of course, you don't have to be disabled to benefit from music. So whatever your status, turn up the rock and start feeling good.



Pictures from the show:





















jnthn

jnthn

New York, NY
October 2002

OCT 05, 2007 01:24 AM

I'm kind of sorry I missed this. I'd been thinking about them since my friend placed a song of theirs on my ipod before I left her: "Don't they sound like Can? Like Neu?"

I was suspect of their faux Japanese presence, especially with such good psyche/kraut coming from Japan -- well the Boredoms, Acid Mothers.

Regardless I was hooked by that track, maybe not so sad to hear I missed a mellow show for what probably was a night of Hookahs and CAN.

sickboyedd

sickboyedd

United Kingdom
January 2004

OCT 05, 2007 08:25 AM

They were pretty great at Pukkelpop this year, definitely mellow, but then again so was I. They do look a bit like ageing indie funsters, the ones you find at the back of gigs nodding in time to the beat. I find myself slowly migrating towards them every year until soon, I too will join the head beat movement...

Tangus

Tangus

Winter Park, FL
November 2005

OCT 05, 2007 12:22 PM

I miss Bowery Ballroom, it's a rad venue.

Calamity

Calamity

SUICIDEGIRL

New York, USA

OCT 05, 2007 09:11 PM

I wanted to ask you how the show was, but apparently I just found out. smile Good on them for doing something positive to give back, too.

I knew they weren't Japanese with that name. I totes called it. wink

sitar

sitar

Philadelphia, PA
June 2004

OCT 07, 2007 02:49 PM

i love the ballroom.
little charlie's clamhouse across the street is awesome too.