This is just a small warning that I’m getting dangerously close to surpassing my bandwidth allowance this month (even though I thought I had fixed the problem by upgrading my hosting package a few months ago). If that happens, the site goes down until the start of the next month. This site is averaging 2500 visitors a day (including RSS feeds), which is taking its toll. I can’t really afford to upgrade my bandwidth allowance right now, so I’m hoping (crossing my fingers) that maybe I’ll just make it to the end of the month with no outage. I’ve taken steps like reducing the number of posts that appear on the front page (from 30 to 20), which I might reduce even more. But let me assure you that I am definitely very happy that a lot of people are enjoying the site and visiting regularly. Thanks for your patronage, it’s what keeps me going. Oh, and let me remind you that I’m definitely open to donations, which you can do by clicking on the Paypal icon in the sidebar. All contributions go to pay the site’s hosting.

FOGA is actually Cubismo Grafico (Matsuda Gakuji). Seems like Chabe (his nickname) wanted to start another unit, and this is what he came up with, this new single from Escalator Records featuring two tracks, “Sunday Niteclub” and “Real Rock Plantation Dub.” Can’t say that it’s doing anything for me, but you can read Patrick’s review, who seems to be enjoying it a lot more than me, and who talks about how the single seems to have sold out everywhere.

The very busy Hachiko exit at Shibuya station.

Shot taken with the A5403CA mobile phone.

The new issue of AXIS (108) is out, and I picked it up last night. The feature is on something that interests me very much: branding. From the AXIS site: “Today, all manner of things can become brands – it’s not just limited to corporations or manufactured products anymore. And there are many ways for something to become a brand: it can be planned from the very beginning or take place without anyone really being aware that it’s happening. In AXIS vol.108 our purpose is not to answer the question “What is a Brand?” but to examine some of the latest and most unique examples of branding and shed light on “how they succeeded in becoming brands,” or “what they are doing to become one.”

Kahimi Karie is back with a new single, the previously mentioned “Nana” (you can listen to a sample here). I was really looking forward to this single, and after listening to it a few times today, I have to say that “Nana” is not leaving much of an impression on me, but I’m quite enjoying the other 3 tracks on the single, one of them an instrumental track (“Divers”), and another a remix (“Free Line (KI’s Tech Down Beat Mix)”). The main track is the one that might sound the most like her nineties output (more of a pop song), but the other tracks seem to continue with what she was exploring in her last full length, TRAPEZISTE, an album I quite like (samples here). Makes me really curious about her upcoming album, MONTAGE, to see in what direction she’ll be going (I’m voting for the relaxed experimental jazz sounds of her last album).

Well, sort of. I’ve had a Philippe Strack designed Fossil watch for about 2 years now, a birthday present from Yuko. It’s been a good watch, although the wear and tear definitely shows (scratched glass, discoloration, etc.). 2 weeks ago it finally died, which I figured meant it was time for a new battery. I brought the watch back to Seibu’s Loft in Ikebukuro, where we got it, and asked for a new battery. Since I didn’t have a warranty or insurance for it (can’t remember if we ever got one), I had to pay 1500 yen for the battery, which seemed fair. With the new battery in, the watch seemed fine. A week later, I woke up and saw that the watch had died again. I went back to Loft and after checking the watch, the very nice man working there said that it wasn’t a problem with the battery, but rather with the watch. Even though I didn’t have a warranty, he said he’d try to push the company that makes the watch to fix it for free. While we were there, Yuko had him look at her Gucci watch that recently got some water damage that she didn’t even buy there (she bought it last year at an online auction), and he fixed it for her, free of charge (the people at Gucci quoted her a crazy price to get it fixed). So today I went back to Loft to pick up my fixed watch (they had called yesterday), and I got there only to find out that they had a brand new watch for me! Gotta love that kind of service.

Some more Nakame street art.

Shot taken with the A5403CA mobile phone.

I’ve also been listening to a new album by COPTER4016882, PERFECT JOKE. It came out on Capsule’s label Contemode, and so you should know what to expect (Capsule definitely see themselves as the P5 of the new millennium – only problem is that they sound a little bit too much like the P5 of the nineties). Yes, this is club pop, and owes its sound to the Shibuya-kei scene (cue Momus to remind us that we are reliving 1998). So why do I mention the album at all? Well, this is not bad stuff at all, and there are quite a few good tracks on here. Again, I think that it’s very compatible with the Spring mood I’m finding myself in these days. You can listen to a few samples at the Contemode site. Patrick says it “should please picopico and Kahimi fans.”

Stickers in Nakame.

Shot taken with the A5403CA mobile phone.

Robert has started profiling the Japanese art scene at his site. He kicks things off with Inoue Yasumichi.

As mentioned the other day, this week I want to talk about some recent Japanese releases that I’ve been listening to. I’ll start things off with a record that for me seems to have become this year’s Spring album, Jazztronik’s NANAIRO. Jazztronik is Nozaki Ryota, and what he does is jazz electronica. I’ve never actually listened to Jazztronik before, and actually kept getting it confused with Jazzanova, but I got a chance to listen to this latest album and it got a hold of me. You know when an album comes along at a certain time of the year, and it just seems to go well with what’s happening around you, and you then start to associate it with that? Well, that’s what happened with this record. It’s actually a lot more dance/pop than what I usually listen to, but I think it just came along at a time, with the nice weather arriving, that made it perfect for iPod outings. It might not be for everyone, but I find that it’s making my rides to work a bit more pleasant.

News of what sounds like a change in direction for Yukari Fresh from Patrick: ” Yukari Fresh is back!… and she’s a punk!? She has a new CD single out on 4/14, under the name Yukari Rotten (in tribute to Johnny, apparently), called C.L.I.J.S.T.E.R.S. The single contains two new songs, “C.L.I.J.S.T.E.R.S.” and “Going to Heaven to See the Househunters & Fat Truckers if it Rains.” An album called NOT DEAD (!) will be out in May! The description at Escalator says that the title track is a “fuckin’ burst electro punk tune” and the long-titled one is a “heavenly electro house tune.”

Also: “On 3/24 a new 2-track single by Cubismo Grafico under the name FOGA is coming out. Limited edition with spray painted cover done by Chabe and friends.”

Some graffiti in Nakame, not far from the Organic Cafe.

Shot taken with the A5403CA mobile phone.

Seems like things are going to get less confusing when it comes to the Tokyo subway system. I heard about this a while back, but didn’t think it would be starting so soon.

From the MAINICHI DAILY NEWS: “The new futuristic vessel “Himiko” sails along Tokyo Bay as the landmark Rainbow Bridge is seen in background, in Tokyo. The 114-ton silver metalic water-bus was designed by popular cartoon artist Leiji Matsumoto, with hopes to appeal to the younger generation, and is to start service in the Japanese capital on March 26.”