The crowd watching Japanese math-funk band Zazen Boys perform at last year’s Music Terminals outdoor concert in Taoyuan gave the band and lead vocalist and guitarist Mukai Shutoki such a warm response that it more than made up for the scorcher of a day: “It was very hot,” said Shutoki. “The heavy sunshine made us feel sunburned. The people surprised us, their passion is as hot as the weather.”
The eclectic, eccentric front man said that he felt a “special passion” from the Taiwanese that has been missing in Tokyo for some time. The band, which tours extensively, played to a packed crowd of local youths who crowded to the stage and filled the field with dancing bodies.
“We’re very happy that the audience feels free dancing to our beats,” said Shutoki, who returns tomorrow for a show at Legacy.
He envisions his avant-garde band, successor to his previous group Number Girl, as “Led Zeppelin in kimonos” and labels their albums in a similar fashion — numerically. The first two albums were well-received but the third, which was more ambient, improvisational and experimental earned mixed reviews. In addition to a slew of live albums, the band released a fourth studio album in 2008 that features more synthesizers and a funk edge.
“A few years ago we started to make songs using a laptop,” said Shutoki, who likes to compose while touring. “The atmosphere in the hotel room outside Tokyo is very lonely, so I could make some lonely sounds.”
He is evasive when asked to analyze or explain what inspires him, referring instead to a response that Japanese artist Ohtake Shinro made when asked about his point of view on his art works: “When people asked him … he answered ‘No special idea in it, because it’s boring to care about this’ — I deeply relate to him in this.”
He gives the example of a painter using a certain color on a canvas because it feels right and touches you, and said that the reason never comes to one’s mind but allows others to “decide freely.”
Zazen Boys’ music is more aggressive and physical when they perform live, with heavy beats and what Shutoki calls “illusory lyrics.” In their first attempt to “challenge minimal house music” the band adds to it the “original style of Zazen Boys” he said, which is based on math rock, complex rhythms and extended improvisational songs, with a newer synth-funk sound.
Self-described as a “weird Japanese rock band,” Shutoki’s Zazen Boys rely on the fact that while you may not know what their music is, you’ll know if you like it.
Japan is celebrated for its exceptional levels of customer service. But the behavior of a growing number of customers and clients leaves a lot to be desired. The rise of the abusive consumer has prompted authorities in Tokyo to introduce the country’s first ordinance — a locally approved regulation — to protect service industry staff from kasuhara — the Japanese abbreviated form of “customer harassment.” While the Tokyo ordinance, which will go into effect in April, does not carry penalties, experts hope the move will highlight a growing social problem and, perhaps, encourage people to think twice before taking out their frustrations
Oct. 14 to Oct. 20 After working above ground for two years, Chang Kui (張桂) entered the Yamamoto coal mine for the first time, age 16. It was 1943, and because many men had joined the war effort, an increasing number of women went underground to take over the physically grueling and dangerous work. “As soon as the carts arrived, I climbed on for the sake of earning money; I didn’t even feel scared,” Chang tells her granddaughter Tai Po-fen (戴伯芬) in The last female miner: The story of Chang Kui (末代女礦工: 張桂故事), which can be found on the Frontline
There is perhaps no better way to soak up the last of Taipei’s balmy evenings than dining al fresco at La Piada with a sundowner Aperol Spritz and a luxuriant plate of charcuterie. La Piada (義式薄餅) is the brainchild of Milano native William Di Nardo. Tucked into an unassuming apartment complex, fairy lights and wining diners lead the way to this charming slice of laid-back Mediterranean deli culture. Taipei is entirely saturated with Italian cuisine, but La Piada offers something otherwise unseen on the island. Piadina Romagnola: a northern Italian street food classic. These handheld flatbreads are stuffed with cold
In the tourism desert that is most of Changhua County, at least one place stands out as a remarkable exception: one of Taiwan’s earliest Han Chinese settlements, Lukang. Packed with temples and restored buildings showcasing different eras in Taiwan’s settlement history, the downtown area is best explored on foot. As you make your way through winding narrow alleys where even Taiwanese scooters seldom pass, you are sure to come across surprise after surprise. The old Taisugar railway station is a good jumping-off point for a walking tour of downtown Lukang. Though the interior is not open to the public, the exterior
RSS