Ordinarily, I avoid music festivals like the plague. You see, I have a bit of a phobia about large crowds. … But for you, dear reader, I overcame my phobia this year and headed down to Japan Nite, part of Austin’s annual South-by-Southwest (SXSW) film, music, and interactive technology exposition.
Unfortunately, I missed the first show by Jinny Oops!. It’s really unfortunate, because their music seems fun and upbeat, and I’ll bet they put on a good show. But I managed to see all of the other bands – Riddim Saunter, Okamoto’s, Red Bacteria Vacuum, Omodaka, Chatmonchy, and Dolly.
Here is a slideshow with all of the pictures I took accompanied by “TOKI” by Jinny Oops!:
For some higher resolution images, you can go to the Japan Nite set on my Flickr account.
And for you Chatmonchy fans, here is their performance of “Smoke of Love” (恋の煙 – Koi no kemuri).
Based on the feedback I got from my fellow audience members, the real breakaway performances of the evening probably went to Riddim Saunter, whose CD’s sold like hotcakes shortly after their performance; the Okamoto’s, whose 19-year-old lead singer had the stage presence of Mick Jagger and Jim Morrison; and Omodaka, whose music should’ve gone over like a lead balloon in a club like Elysium, but actually swept up the crowd and had them dancing.
On a personal note, I now have a crush on Red Bacteria Vacuum, who I bought a round of drinks for and took pictures with. In all seriousness though, they were a really fun group of women.
If you’ve ever wanted to be a fly on the wall around people who are passionate about anime, manga, and the culture of Cool Japan in America, here’s your chance. I attended Sushi Night this past Saturday with the Austin Anime Meetup Group, where I and 6 others enjoyed the fare at Ryu of Japan and discussed our favorite topics. I recorded much of it on video, which I’ve edited and posted below, and we took lots of pictures.
Enjoy. But more importantly, join us next time. It really is a Gendai Shikaku Bunka Kenkyukai (現代視覚文化研究会), or Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture.
And here are some of the photos from the evening. We did something a little different this time around by passing around the camera and getting shots from all angles (and seeing who can’t take pictures as you’ll see in the slideshow at the end of the video).
If you’re interested in checking out Ryu of Japan yourself, check out their website, or drop by at:
11101 Burnet Road
Austin, TX 78758
(512) 973-9498
If you want to join the Austin Anime Meetup Group, join us at our Meetup site.
On Monday of this past week, Tsugaru shamisen player Toshie Suzuki performed at Kick Butt Coffee’s World Music Night at The Triangle in Austin. Suzuki-san alternated performances on stage with local jazz band Manteca Beat. (Be sure to swing by their site and listen to some of their music.)
Here’s the video of her performance. I apologize in advance for the fact that my video camera doesn’t perform well in low-light. Otherwise, enjoy the video.
The first thing you may notice is that her performance doesn’t sound at all like any other shamisen performance you’ve heard. The Tsugaru style of shamisen uses a much more rhythmic and percussive form, presumably to beat the cold. Suzuki-san said that if people in Tsugaru played shamisen like they did in more formal styles elsewhere in Japan, the player would freeze.
Of all things Japanese, I tend to be weakest in my knowledge of Japanese music, which is sad really. I enjoy J-rock and J-pop, often more than I like American music, and I can’t even understand what they’re saying most of the time. (Give me Gackt or Mucc over Nickelback any day.) Fortunately, my lack [...]
I started AustinOtaku.com as a way to allay my own restlessness, living in the heart of Texas, far away from Tokyo or any of the three Japantowns (nihonmachi) in the U.S.. It’s one of the annoyances of adulthood that you have to settle into a job and worry about finances rather than being able to [...]
Of all the places on Earth to learn nihon buyo (traditional Japanese dance), you’d hardly expect Austin, deep in the heart of Texas, to be one of them. And yet, the city serves as home to the Hanayagi Dance Academy, which is directed by Chizuko Matsumoto (also known by her buyo name, Master “Rokumizu” Hanayagi). [...]
Believe it or not, being an otaku can be quite a time drain. In addition to keeping up the Austin Otaku blog, my spare time is filled with a variety of activities, from anime to social engagements. I present Exhibit A – a summary of the things that will be occupying my mind and my [...]
Asian Kung Fu Generation must have some friends in anime production world. Their songs have been used in hit shows like “Bleach”, “Naruto”, and “Full Metal Alchemist”, and I’m sure that didn’t hurt sales of their music. Sure, they can stand on their own as a band, but big endorsements are never bad. They’re the [...]
I apologize for the delay in putting up a new post. Work, that necessary but evil aspect of life, has kept me quite busy. I am currently working on a review of Austin Book’s manga section as well as a review of local plushie producer nottaTOY. Those reviews should be live this weekend. In the [...]
"Outside the window the rain falls like on that day, non-stop since yesterday, It falls on forever, knocking at the window"about 12 hours agofrom Seesmic twhirl
Wow. What a perfect song for a rainy day. I'm listening to "Ame No Orchestra" by Mucc (http://bit.ly/c2xm95) #pandoraabout 12 hours agofrom Pandora
