So I was looking at my HearJapan folder and figured I can make a top ten album list. That’ll be cool. People that never used this thing are not going to explore the site in the last couple days, but give the people a last minute shopping list, it’s not too late for that. Why not.

Didn’t work out so great. Most of the stuff I got there is gone. Then there’s that credit system. When they made a big deal about redesigning the site a few months ago, I figured the credit thing would be the first thing they’d want to change.

[UPDATE: They did indeed change that. Rant removed.]

(I thought the site was hacked when I first tweeted him. I could use some more sleep.)

@jimhaku You don't need to by credits on HearJapan 2.0. You can buy what you need and checkout. Credits are only for those who want a deal

— HearJapan (@HearJapan) June 28, 2012

Anyway, here’s a list of bands/artists that were on there, at least:

1. 0.8 Byou to Shougeki

   [no longer available]

   This band has done pretty well despite their extremely confusing name and you can get it the usual places.

2. Clams

   [no longer available]

   Cute shoegaze band, you can get some free tracks on last.fm, which I think is where I heard them first and was glad to find and pay for the full album. Now I am not glad because you can’t find that first album anywhere else. Amazon has the Sakura River EP.

3. DJ Baku

   [artist page]
   Some interesting beat production, somewhat more post-rock than hip-hop. Apparently the 2008 release Dharma Dance is not a 3-track EP but a full album, which is available on iTunes. There was either a shorter Japan-only version or I only bought 3 tracks. I was mostly checking it for the doseone appearance, which is worth it if you like that kind of thing.

4. OOIOO

   [artist page]

   Was planning to pick up these other albums but I guess that’s not happening. I recommend the 1st album. Pretty sure I paid $30 for the CD which is like a dollar a minute.

5. Lite

   [artist page]

   Their new stuff with vocalist Caroline Lufkin is cool, but they seem to have picked up a Vampire Weekend influence. I prefer the first few, which…good luck, they ain’t there anymore.

6. Maki Nomiya

   [no longer available]

   Glad I got this stuff! I would have spent way to much for these couple new songs she did recently. (Or just gotten them somehow else.) There was the LOOKER single and a few songs she did with Fernanda Takai (Inc. a very cool cover of P5’s A Message Song, worth tracking down for completists.)

7. Omodaka

   [artist page]

   Omodaka has a pretty solid formula of 8-bit beats and enka samples. My fave is the Plum Song EP. I think you can get his stuff anywhere now though.

8. Tokyo-chutei-iki

   [no longer available]

   Now this is the type of band that justified the entire service: an instrumental 10-man bari sax ensemble. I only got part of one of their albums and now I’m bummed I can’t get the rest of it. They have a facebook page.

   Then there was the free stuff, or there used to be. There was at least one HearJapan branded promo comp. I’ve got one here from 2009 which included Quaff, Dirty Old Men, Asakusa Jinta, The Emeralds, Honey Sac, and Omodaka. Omodaka was the clear winner here, but The Emeralds were pretty good. (They continued more or less as the Rubies.) Asakusa Jinta is one of my favorite bands in theory, but none of their songs have grabbed me much. These other bands, I dunno.

9. Japan Nite

   [no longer available]

   At least two volumes of the promo comp for the popular North American package tour were on here. Included were Geeks, Bo-Peep, The Dolomites, Camisama, Red Bacteria Vacuum, White White Sisters, Vampilla, Suck Piggy, Ydestroyde, Zukanasisters, Sonodaband, DJ Teraoka and the Revolution, and Lolita No. 18. I did wind up getting the White White Sisters album but I got it on Amazon. Don’t have much to say about the other bands except that DJ Teraoka is sampling Seo Taiji.

10. Next Music From Tokyo

    [no longer available]

    There were two much shorter volumes in ’09 & ’10 for this smaller (Canada only) event that included Kulu Kulu Garden, Goomi, Mothercoat, Sgt., Susquatch and Uhnellys. I would say Japan Nite focuses on garage/punk bands and Next Music is more experimental stuff, but that’s not really true anymore, they got some weird stuff going on at Japan Nite now. I’d say the Next Music line up is less jokey or gimmicky bands. Mostly a general high-quality of various styles of post-rock by bands still working on the whole songwriting thing. Some of them will either get there or more likely splinter apart and form new groups that will.

    Japan is still cool, right? Someone’s going to figure out how to sell this stuff, right? Let’s just watch this video I needed an excuse to post and contemplate life and shit:

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In the order they were in my queue:

1. The Outsider: The Story of Harry Partch (2002)
2. Robert Hughes – The Shock of the New (1982)
3. Salvador Dali – A Soft Self Portrait (1967)
4. Brian De Palma – Dionysus (1970)
5. Robert Wilson, Tom Waits & William S. Burroughs – The Black Rider (1992)
6. The Dial-A-Poem Poets: You’re the Guy I Want To Share My Money With
7. Amos Poe – Unmade Beds (1976)
8. Antonello Branca – What’s Happening? (1967)
9. Nicolas Slonimsky (1894-1995) History Making Performances
10. John Cage (1912-1992) – Diary: How To Improve The World (You Will Only Make Matters Worse)

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I don’t have to blog, I get to blog. But who knows when I’ll get to reviewing records from last year and artfully embed a video or two in there. I said I wasn’t going to do more 2011 lists into this year, but I’ve had some other videos floating around in my head and sure enough it comes out to 10 total. Instead of the standard list from most to least Culturally Impactful, I just made a youtube playlist in an order that most amused me. Strap yrself in. %
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Last year I made a ridiculous mega-meta list that continued into this January. Never again. There’s no way anyone cares about my lists of lists…maybe they do but my opinion of other people’s opinion of my opinion doesn’t seem…like…..it’s not as important to me. And I did do it for myself to refer back to, but I haven’t. I really should. There’s only so much you can do tho. I took some time off reading the entire internet every day to study for the JLPT this year and I’ve got 1000+ unread items. I couldn’t buy most of the albums I wanted this year and haven’t listen to some of the ones I did buy. Missed a lot of shows too. But my system is improving. I’m going to be able to get to this stuff, I’m telling myself. I just gotta stop caring about stuff I don’t care about. So many bands…I don’t understand why so many bands exist. I mean, bands, yes, I love bands but…so many. I’m saying it’s too many. Can we work on making the bands we have better? Let’s maintain our resources is all saying. If you weren’t in a band in 2011, don’t start a new one in 2012. It’s already impossible and it’s getting harder. Even if you’re already famous a guest spot on a Justin Beiber track is your only shot of living without a roomate in 2012. And when that dude goes it’s ALL over. Luckily he’s young. I’m sure he’ll become a totally normal adult with a long life and also the entire world economy and ecosystem will not collapse, destroying everything and everyone but for those who envy the dead.

1. Perfume – JPN

   ~No comment~

2. Fucked Up – David Comes To Life
   

   It is. He did. (What am I doing.)

3. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu – Moshimoshi Harajuku

   Maybe it’s not a full album and not even every song is great. But video of the decade‘s gotta count for something. That’s right, I’m calling it. Everybody, you’ve got 9 years to try to top that. Huh huh!

4. Dream Morning Musume – Dorimusu 1

   The first disc is fans-only. The second disc cannot be argued with. (Literally, I have misplaced the second disc. I don’t really need it, but I would like it. Also, I need it. If you see it around please let me know.) This CD is priced at 3333 Yen. Do you what that comes out to in dollars at the current exchange? (It’s right in the link but) TOO MANY…for any album that could not guarantee 100% satisfaction and emotional closure. Which it did, maybe even before I got it. As soon as I put that order in I could begin to reassemble the scraps of my former life, before I had ever heard of any incarnation of this group. Everything else was sweet, sweet gravy. Thank you, Dream Morning Musume, for making this album.

5. Wild Flag – S/T
   

   This band did everything right with how they handled their business. They wrote some songs, then played live and got people interested based on the strength of their material and performance. (Backstory helped, but look at any failed supergroup.) They then recorded a single that was first a free download OR you could buy the 7″. (Now it’s a paid download.) Then they toured, then they recorded an album. It doesn’t make it a perfect album, but the songs are pretty good, and what it does is it proves the band is worth further attention. Hate to use this as a lecture, but it was such a perfect approach. With all the bullshit going on and so much music coming out, I had it in the back of my mind that I needed to hear this as soon as it came out. And I did. Got a thousand things in the pile here. This did not go into the pile.

6. Mastodon – The Hunter
   

   Got the deluxe but haven’t watched the DVD yet, which makes this a terrible review of that product. But c’mon, it’s only a couple dollars more. If you’re gonna buy the package why not, I figure. Really dug the Crack the Skye one. That album was better of course. I like this one a lot, but they really couldn’t top the concept with anything huger. I think it was a good approach. I like some other extreme influences creeping in more than the prog overload on CTS. You can’t really overdo prog it’s almost the point, but like Blasteroid has a little Converge in it. (Rubbing off from their tour together 09 tour. Yes, I did say “rubbing off”.) Brann sure sings a lot on this one. Only complaint you can say about Mastodon is maybe they should so so much production on the vox. Because they can not always pull off the harmonies live. (No matter how close they get it they can’t sound like multiple versions of themselves.) But that’s not the record’s problem. It’s the system, man. You can put 100 fx on the guitars but the mic needs to be raw or the whole thing’s considered a sham or whatever.

7. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up

   Ok, I’m old now so I don’t really get new rap anymore. I did not start hating black people. But let me tell you something: these guys are older than me. They can still make records. And it sounds like something new. I still like new things. Just not all the time. If there’s someone in a new band from an old band I liked as a young person it helps a lot to ease the fear and confusion I now constantly experience in my early 30s….now I’ve lost track of my own sarcasm. I really like this. It’s not a joke review. Please…just go if you want. You can go.

8. Boris – New Album
   

   I dunno, 3 albums this year I feel like I gotta pick one. Sometimes I feel like Boris is playing an elaborate joke on music critics. But at least they do it better than Lou Reed in that they make something you want to listen to.

9. Motorhead – The World Is Yours CD/DVD Set
   

   Another 2 disc-er. It’s Motorhead. They seem to get more and more consciously retro Rock n’ Roll and less the style that inspired a lot of Metal, which you could just as well call Metal but Lemmy doesn’t and who am to contradict Lemmy? Not to crap on me, but I’m not Lemmy. I think everyone in a rock band or not, should take some time out of each day to remind themselves that they are not Lemmy. A good exercise is to ask yourself in any situation, “What would Lemmy do?” The answer is “Not the thing you are going to do next.” Because you are not Lemmy. Even on a rare occasion where you might do the same thing that Lemmy would have been doing, for example, if you were at a bar with Lemmy and you both tried to walk through a door at the same time because you asked yourself what he might do next and you thought the answer was to walk through that door at that moment, and you were right, you would not only embarrass yourself, and Lemmy—the worse possible occurrence—you would be wrong, because Lemmy did not ask himself if he would walk through that door, he just did it. Or he tried to. So please. You can watch the Live at Wacken DVD instead. It’s Motorhead, you’ll like it. RIP Wurzel. I’m not doing a top 10 saddest deaths, but I like the Wurzel era stuff.

10. Shonen Knife – Osaka Ramones
    

    Couldn’t put this near the top of the list, but it’s way better than it should be. Maybe you remember when The Queers and bunch of bands did straight covers of entire Ramones albums? This is a lot better. Not just sticking to one album helps, they obviously are playing their favorites. There’s the unusual pick of the late-period Scattergun and a weird twist to Chinese Rocks — they just call it Chinese Rock and they seem to have turned a single entendre song about heroin into a metaphor for their music. So you’ve got to think if they’ve done it on purpose or not. “Everybody” knows they’re from Japan, but they get around enough, you don’t think they get called Chinese sometimes when they’re out and about? They’re living on Chinese Rock. If you spend more than a little time on this band, you’ve got to decide if they’re just that dumb and it’s cute or they’re actually really, really smart. I think they got it all figured out.

We’re probably still doomed tho. Happy New Year.%